# Customisability in discourse? **URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/customisability-in-discourse/355634 **Category:** Support **Created:** [March 4, 2025, 11:51am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/customisability-in-discourse/355634 "2025-03-04T11:51:12Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 2
### Author: ![Canapin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/canapin/32/119591_2.png) [@Canapin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Canapin) #### Post date: [March 4, 2025, 12:57pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/customisability-in-discourse/355634/2 "2025-03-04T12:57:06Z")
Welcome 🙂 > [@lilstranded](#): > > ut are there any built-in controls for more detailed styling, or do I need to rely on code for everything? Besides the color palette, it will be CSS/SCSS, and more if needed (JS, HTML). You might be interested in this: > [@Developing Discourse Themes & Theme Components](https://meta.discourse.org/t/beginners-guide-to-developing-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… You can create themes and components. Components are like “subthemes” (they can contain styles and features), and any component can be enabled for one or multiple themes. ![The image displays a download page for a mobile app, highlighting installable themes that include various customization options and frontend features, with toggle options like "Category list mobile," "Discotoc," and "Emoji." (Captioned by AI)](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/6/7/f/67f8b0dec66197f2419360e9d5f48928c805bb0b.png) ![This image shows a screenshot of the "Components" section of a forum theme called "DiscoTOC," detailing various default components that can be added or modified to customize the style of a forum, such as emoji fluffs, groups CSS classes, and progress bar settings. (Captioned by AI)](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/a/9/3/a9322422ac8b44fd3dacbe6426dabc809450c19d.png) There’s a command line tool that helps for creating themes and components and I suggest you have a look at it: > [@Install the Discourse Theme CLI console app to help you build themes](https://meta.discourse.org/t/install-the-discourse-theme-cli-console-app-to-help-you-build-themes/82950): > > The [[discourse] Discourse Theme CLI](https://github.com/discourse/discourse_theme) is a ruby gem that allows you to use your editor of choice when developing Discourse themes and theme components. As you save files the CLI will update the remote theme or component and changes to it will appear live! Installing To play with it, make sure you have Ruby 2.5 or up installed. If you are on Windows, you have 2 options: Option 1: [Windows Subsystem for Linux](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Subsystem_for_Linux). Windows 10 has access to a full Linux environment, you can use it to install … There’s also a special page that lists most Discourse HTML elements so you can have an overview of what they look like, and create your styles accordingly. The page must be enabled with the **Styleguide enabled** site setting. Example: > **[Unicyclist.com](https://unicyclist.com/styleguide/molecules/topic-list-item)** > > Explore, learn, share, and meet riders from all around the world! --- _[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/customisability-in-discourse/355634)._