Closed Sidebar by Default

[nathank (Nathan Kershaw)]

	Summary	allows admins to control the default behaviour of the Discourse sidebar per group
	Repository	GitHub - nathan-nz/closed-sidebar-by-default: Allows control of the default sidebar behaviour · GitHub
	Install Guide	How to install a theme or theme component
	New to Discourse Themes?	Beginner’s guide to using Discourse Themes

Install this theme component

This simple Theme Component allows admins to control the default behaviour of the Discourse sidebar per group.

Use case

The most common use-case is a cleaner and simpler UI for casual visitors. For example, if use for Discourse Meta, people would land on this:

instead of the rather busier:

Settings

There is one setting, a simple group selector. It defaults to anonymous_users (ID 4), but you can use any group(s).

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to @don for making the original Theme Component which this is forked from:

Can I default to a hidden sidebar?

Hello Nolo, I’ve made a component to achieve this. I hope it helps https://github.com/VaperinaDEV/closed-sidebar-by-default

[Andrew_Rowe]

yes, I have been using Don’s version for some months and really like it. I think when a brand new user lands on the site, it can be a little overwhelming, they have no idea what they are looking at. Hiding the sidebar makes the UI a little less confusing. By my way of thinking, once someone visits the site many times they know where to look for the menu when they need it.

[Jonathan5]

@nathank

original Theme Component which this is forked from

I like the idea of having the sidebar closed by default. What is the difference between the two theme components?

[Lilly (Lillian)]

Don’s version doesn’t have a group setting

[Jonathan5]

Thank you very much. I tried to give you a thumbs up but messed it up by clicking the heart too much, and ended up having to wait “54 seconds”! Hence this short message.