# Creating sub-communities in a discourse server
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [April 14, 2023, 11:55am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693 "2023-04-14T11:55:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@anonmyous-alien](https://meta.discourse.org/u/anonmyous-alien)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2023, 11:55am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/1 "2023-04-14T11:55:07Z")
Suppose I create a server of schools, will it be possible for schools to create different communities inside the discourse server. The school might have a profile picture, an about us, etc. Or this should be done using creating the schools as users?
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### Author:  [@Canapin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Canapin)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2023, 12:04pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/2 "2023-04-14T12:04:08Z")
Welcome, @anonmyous-alien 👤 👽
> [@anonmyous-alien](#):
>
> Or this should be done using creating the schools as users?
It depends on the goal you want to achieve and the purpose of your forum.
Is it for the schools’ owners? Teachers? Students?
What would the discussions be focused on?
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### Author:  [@anonmyous-alien](https://meta.discourse.org/u/anonmyous-alien)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2023, 12:07pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/3 "2023-04-14T12:07:29Z")
Actually I took the wrong analogy my apologies, a better one would be of NGO. So like each NGO shall have its own aim, purpose and funding that they received. And each NGO would be able to create multiple projects and events which they are organising
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2023, 12:07pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/4 "2023-04-14T12:07:40Z")
I have one group that has different categories for schools and a theme component that changes the site logo depending on what group the user is in. It also changes the home page to the associated category using [Custom Homepage for Groups](https://meta.discourse.org/t/custom-homepage/199623).
Is there a reason that each NGO shouldn’t just have its own Discourse?
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### Author:  [@anonmyous-alien](https://meta.discourse.org/u/anonmyous-alien)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2023, 12:15pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/5 "2023-04-14T12:15:16Z")
> [@pfaffman](#):
>
> Is there a reason that each NGO shouldn’t just have its own Discourse?
Okay that would make sense, what about projects and events? So for managing projects and events would they create different categories?
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2023, 12:19pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/6 "2023-04-14T12:19:18Z")
Events would just be a topic, I’d think. Unless it was some large event like a conference that needed a topic for every presentation or something?
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### Author:  [@anonmyous-alien](https://meta.discourse.org/u/anonmyous-alien)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2023, 12:29pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/7 "2023-04-14T12:29:47Z")
Yes events would be topics and each project would be a category right?
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### Author:  [@Canapin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Canapin)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2023, 12:31pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/8 "2023-04-14T12:31:04Z")
A category or a tag. 🙂
If events are organized on your forum, you can also be interested in these official plugins:
> [@Creating and managing events](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-event/149964):
>
> bookmark This guide explains how to create and manage events using the Calendar and Event plugin in Discourse. It covers how to create events, set event options, interact with events, and view the upcoming events calendar. person_raising_hand Required user level: All users (with appropriate permissions) Enabling events Events are a feature of the [Calendar and Events plugin](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-calendar-and-event/97376). To use this feature: Enable the Calendar and Events plugin Configure related settings For detailed instructions…
> [@Discourse Calendar and Events](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-calendar/97376):
>
> discourse2Summary Discourse Calendar and Events adds dynamic and interactive calendar and event features to your Discourse site.open_bookInstall Guide This plugin is bundled with Discourse core. There is no need to install the plugin separately. Enabling Calendar and Events The Calendar and Events plugin can be enabled either by the toggle or from its settings, both accessible from your admin/plugins page: Features Somewhat unsurprisingly, Discourse Calend…
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### Author:  [@anonmyous-alien](https://meta.discourse.org/u/anonmyous-alien)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2023, 12:32pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/9 "2023-04-14T12:32:20Z")
What if I want to upload photos and files in a particular project which should be visible as soon as I open the category, that is also possible right?
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### Author:  [@Canapin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Canapin)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/10 "2023-04-14T12:35:27Z")
You can upload files of any type (you can choose which extensions are authorized) in a topic, and media embedding is supported for some internal or external content.
If you want to know better what Discourse is capable of, in addition to asking questions here, I suggest you experiment at [https://try.discourse.org/](https://try.discourse.org/) as a user, and/or start a free trial so you can see what the admin options look like.
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### Author:  [@anonmyous-alien](https://meta.discourse.org/u/anonmyous-alien)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2023, 12:36pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/11 "2023-04-14T12:36:17Z")
Okay thank you very much!!
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### Author:  [@Heliosurge](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Heliosurge)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/12 "2023-04-14T23:30:57Z")
Just to add to what others have mentioned.
You can use groups for individual categories(Schools) I would use say a 2 group model as example.
ie
## School A category
1. Group A Members with request to join option this way a problem member can be booted from group if needed.
2. Group A Staff. This group would be Category Moderators one or more would be owner of Group A members.
To arrange topics/projects you have a couple of options. Subcategories and Tags. You may want to create a Sub category only visible to group staff to have a direct place for staff discussions.
Category settings might include for main Category see everyone. create/reply Members & Staff group.
Add plugins as others have suggested and your maybe close to what your looking for.
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### Author:  [@mattdm](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mattdm)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2023, 1:01am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/13 "2023-04-15T01:01:29Z")
> [@anonmyous-alien](#):
>
> Okay that would make sense, what about projects and events? So for managing projects and events would they create different categories?
1. I don’t think categories are a good choice for this, because they are relatively heavyweight. By definition, both projects and events are limited in time. A category is basically forever.
2. Actually… although I love Discourse, it’s neither a project management tool nor an event planning one. It might not be the right software for what you envision.
But, uh, really — what _are_ you wanting to do?
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### Author:  [@satonotdead](https://meta.discourse.org/u/satonotdead)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2023, 3:17am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/14 "2023-04-15T03:17:43Z")
You can use multisite too, from the same Discourse base.
It’s not the default installation and could be a little tricky but works and it’s secure if you know what you do or hire someone who knows.
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### Author:  [@jimkleiber](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jimkleiber)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2025, 1:51pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/15 "2025-06-26T13:51:49Z")
> [@pfaffman](#):
>
> I have one group that has different categories for schools and a theme component that changes the site logo depending on what group the user is in.
I’m hoping to enable `max_category_nesting=3` so that I can effectively have my first-level of categories act as sub-forums, having their own categories and sub-categories.
In doing this, I would LOVE to dynamically change the site logo based on which first-level category someone is visiting.
1. Is your site-logo changing theme component available publicly?
2. Do you think it could be easily adapted to change based on which category someone is visiting, not to which group someone belongs?
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2025, 5:53pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/16 "2025-06-26T17:53:17Z")
> [@jimkleiber](#):
>
> Is your site-logo changing theme component available publicly?
It isn’t mine and I’m not quite sure how they did it. I’m pretty sure that it’s going to be broken pretty soon, though. They also changed it so that clicking the home icon would go to that category.
> [@jimkleiber](#):
>
> Do you think it could be easily adapted to change based on which category someone is visiting, not to which group someone belongs?
You want to change the site logo depending on what category they are visiting?
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### Author:  [@jimkleiber](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jimkleiber)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2025, 5:56pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/17 "2025-06-26T17:56:01Z")
> [@pfaffman](#):
>
> I’m pretty sure that it’s going to be broken pretty soon, though.
Ahh ok.
> [@pfaffman](#):
>
> You want to change the site logo depending on what category they are visiting?
Yes, my idea is to maybe have a slim global menu above using the Brand Header component, and then have the site logo change based on which category someone is in, so that the first-level categories give a feel of being in a branded subforum.
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### Author:  [@Moin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Moin)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/18 "2025-06-26T18:12:01Z")
> [@jimkleiber](#):
>
> In doing this, I would LOVE to dynamically change the site logo based on which first-level category someone is visiting.
I think [https://forums.cfl.ca](https://forums.cfl.ca) has something like this
I think this is the repository with the component: [GitHub - cfl-dev/cfl-category-headers: Custom category headers for CFL Discourse forum · GitHub](https://github.com/cfl-dev/cfl-category-headers)
It cannot simply be used for another forum because the images and categories are not configurable. However, it may still be helpful as a model for your own implementation
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/19 "2025-06-26T18:14:07Z")
I see. I think it might be simple enough to use the category logo and have a theme component override the logo component. I think you could find someone to do it in #Marketplace for $300-500.
EDIT: I’m not sure that it’s as easy to override the home-logo component as I thought it is. Or maybe it is easy and I just don’t know how.
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### Author:  [@jimkleiber](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jimkleiber)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-sub-communities-in-a-discourse-server/261693/20 "2025-06-26T18:31:00Z")
Oh, this makes me so very happy—to see this exists and that you provided the source code for it!
And especially that it’s just a simple CSS fix that I could do myself. Goodness, so much easier than I had imagined.
Thank you both for your help 🙂
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