# Can a Discourse theme/template be customised to have this format?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-a-discourse-theme-template-be-customised-to-have-this-format/100007
**Category:** UX
**Created:** [October 19, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-a-discourse-theme-template-be-customised-to-have-this-format/100007 "2018-10-19T15:42:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dolanator](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dolanator)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-a-discourse-theme-template-be-customised-to-have-this-format/100007/1 "2018-10-19T15:42:36Z")
Can a Discourse theme/template be customised to have this format?
I need each forum category to have subforums listed like that and to be able to see a link to the latest post in each subforum on the right. You should also be able to see who the last poster was and the name of the last active thread. All in just a 2-column format, as you can see in this picture. There needs to be a clear association, on the same row, between the name of the subforum and the latest active thread in that respective subforum. So I don’t need a disconnected “last reply” column on the right. I need something that looks like a table layout.
Is this possible with Discourse? I am looking for a forum software that can support such a layout.
The picture is just an outline, btw, it’s not how the theme would actually look like.
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### Author:  [@awesomerobot](https://meta.discourse.org/u/awesomerobot)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-a-discourse-theme-template-be-customised-to-have-this-format/100007/2 "2018-10-19T16:14:44Z")
That’s not a layout currently available in Discourse, but it would be achievable through customization. It’s probably a bit complex for someone who’s new to Discourse to achieve — but you may be able to contract someone to build it for you in the #Marketplace category.
One of our default category layouts, “Categories with Featured Topics” is _somewhat_ close to what you’re asking for, but it shows topics from all subcategories (rather than showing one per subcategory) and it’s also missing the poster details you’re asking for.
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### Author:  [@dolanator](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dolanator)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2018, 4:55pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-a-discourse-theme-template-be-customised-to-have-this-format/100007/3 "2018-10-19T16:55:05Z")
@awesomerobot Thanks for the reply.
I have some experience in working with website (and forum) front-ends and some familiarity with JS backends. I’ve installed and customised phpBB3-based forums before. But I’ve no idea what’s the exact stack on which Discourse is built. From what I could gather it’s based on a ruby/JS app with a JS backend, a Postgres database – all configured to run in a Docker container.
Can you tell me in just a few words how templating and layout is handled by Discourse? Or maybe point me to the link where this is explained in the documentation. Maybe I can get an idea on how such a layout can be achieved. Is it based on Pug or some similar templating engine?
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2018, 4:56pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-a-discourse-theme-template-be-customised-to-have-this-format/100007/4 "2018-10-19T16:56:13Z")
> [@Developing Discourse Themes & Theme Components](https://meta.discourse.org/t/developer-s-guide-to-discourse-themes/93648):
>
> Discourse Themes and Theme Components can be used to customize the look, feel and functionality of Discourse’s frontend. This section of the developer guides aims to provide all the reference materials you need to develop simple themes for a single site, right up to complex open-source theme components. This introduction aims to provide a map of all the tools and APIs for theme development. If you prefer a step-by-step tutorial for theme development, jump straight to: Themes vs. Theme Compon…
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### Author:  [@dolanator](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dolanator)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-a-discourse-theme-template-be-customised-to-have-this-format/100007/5 "2018-10-19T17:01:15Z")
Hm, I see it’s using Handlebars for templating and SCSS for styling.
Thanks for the link @pfaffman