A discussion is underway about custom sidebar sections on Discourse. TheDarkWizard suggests allowing site administrators to create custom sections visible only to specific groups, enabling more tailored user experiences. Nacho_Caballero supports this idea, proposing the ability to filter global section links based on group membership. Lilly is working on a theme component to address this feature and expects it to be included in the core in the future. In the meantime, Lilly recommends exploring their existing navigation menu modifier component.
Hey all,
Congrats on the latest announcement :)! Everything looks great. I noticed that as part of the announcement, we can create custom sidebar sections that are visible to everyone. I would like to further suggest that site administrators receive the ability to make custom sections that only certain groups can see. This will allow for the creation of unique experiences better tailored and suited to certain groups, making different kinds of onboarding and expected UI/X experiences easier.
I like the idea of adding a global section where I can add custom links, but I don’t want everyone to see a link if they don’t have permission to click it (maybe because it points to a topic in a category that is only accessible by members of a group).
Is it possible to filter global section links based on group membership?
Looks like @TheDarkWizard had the same idea just a few minutes quicker to the draw. 
I’ve merged the topics to keep the requests grouped together. 
i’m working on a theme component for this and will have it this week. i do expect this to be in core in future though.
also “navigation menu” not sidebar
i’m meantime you can check out my existing navigation menu modifier component that includes some options for showing and hiding sections for anon and regular users.