Can Categories mode show something other than most recent poster?

Product Support

AI-generated summary

In a discussion titled ‘Can Categories mode show something other than most recent poster?’, Ed_S raises a concern that in smaller, less active forums, the Categories view often displays the same user avatar repeatedly — the most recent replier — which may give the impression of one user dominating the space. He suggests showing the thread author or a sample of contributors instead, to make the forum appear more inviting to newcomers.

Canapin responds with helpful guidance, linking to a solution that displays the topic author’s avatar instead of the last replier’s. This solution modifies an existing template and affects all topic lists (e.g., /latest). For a change limited to the /categories view only, Canapin provides another guide with step-by-step instructions. He also notes that Discourse templates may change over time, so adjustments might occasionally be needed — though updates may not be required for years.

The post includes a screenshot illustrating the desired outcome and a tip that the information was found via a search using the tags #support display topic author avatar.

Ed_S thanks Canapin for the pointers, indicating the guidance is appreciated and likely actionable.

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In a smaller and less active forum, it’s easy for many of the most recently bumped threads all to show the same user avatar, because one of the users has just responded to several threads. This gives the impression of dominating the space.

Is it possible to show instead - as a site setting - the thread author, or a sample of the contributors?

I want my small and inactive forum to look attractive to newcomers - I choose the Categories view because it gives an overview of the various things we discuss. But it has this disadvantage.

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Hi Ed!

This does exactly what you want, but also alter the topics list like /latest layouts.

It works by overriding an existing template.

If you want to change only the /categories layout, you can follow these instructions:

Note that templates sometimes change in Discourse, so the new code may need adjustments from time to time (it could also go for years without any modification needed).

:information_source: I got all of this info by searching #support display topic author avatar :mag: :smiley_cat:

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Thanks for the pointers!