# Atlas, a simple blog-styled theme with an optional sidebar

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/atlas-a-simple-blog-styled-theme-with-an-optional-sidebar/127863>\
**Category:** Theme\
**Created:** [September 7, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/atlas-a-simple-blog-styled-theme-with-an-optional-sidebar/127863 "2019-09-07T02:38:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 1

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**Author:** ![awesomerobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/awesomerobot/32/142900_2.png) [@awesomerobot](https://meta.discourse.org/u/awesomerobot)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/atlas-a-simple-blog-styled-theme-with-an-optional-sidebar/127863/1 "2019-09-07T02:38:25Z")

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Atlas features an alternate topic list layout intended to highlight topic excerpts, and also includes space for an (optional) sidebar. Categories feature user-dismissable headers populated by the “About” topic.

 ![12%20PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/b/8/b8f1197639f15c182e9c2945e958ede81483639e.png)

🔭 [Preview on theme creator](https://theme-creator.discourse.org/theme/awesomerobot/atlas) (note that excerpts aren’t turned on, so the preview is a bit limited)

🐙 [Github repo](https://github.com/awesomerobot/atlas): `https://github.com/awesomerobot/atlas`

❓[Installing a theme or theme component](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-install-a-theme-or-theme-component/63682)

ℹ Important notes:

- The sidebars are added using the [Custom Sidebar component](https://github.com/awesomerobot/discourse-custom-sidebar) , which can be setup to feature a post as the sidebar content for specified categories. Configuration details are in the repo’s readme.

- The theme works best with the box category style (admin \> settings)

- Excerpts can be enabled using a hidden site setting called `always_include_topic_excerpts`. To enable this setting you need console access to your server.

🛠 Future improvements

- There are some hard-coded colors in this theme, I need to update those to be editable by color schemes

- Settings to turn certain features (like category headers) on and off

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_[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/atlas-a-simple-blog-styled-theme-with-an-optional-sidebar/127863)._