# Customizable Navbar Component

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/customizable-navbar-component/381096
**Category:** Theme component
**Created:** [September 1, 2025, 3:44am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/customizable-navbar-component/381096 "2025-09-01T03:44:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![piffy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/piffy/32/254198_2.png) [@piffy](https://meta.discourse.org/u/piffy)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2025, 3:44am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/customizable-navbar-component/381096/1 "2025-09-01T03:44:08Z")

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## Background

Need quick access to custom links (like _Home_, _Rules_, or _Badges_) directly in a navigation bar? This theme component makes it easy to add and configure a custom navbar that shows up at the top of the page.

## How to install

| | | |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ℹ | **Summary** | Adds a customizable navbar that displays links defined in theme settings. |
| 🛠 | **Repository** | [GitHub - ScottMastro/discourse-customizable-navbar: Customizable navigation bar for Discourse · GitHub](https://github.com/ScottMastro/discourse-customizable-navbar) |
| ❓ | **Install Guide** | [How to install a theme or theme component](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-do-i-install-a-theme-or-theme-component/63682) |
| 📖 | **New to Discourse Themes?** | [Beginner’s guide to using Discourse Themes](https://meta.discourse.org/t/beginners-guide-to-using-discourse-themes/91966) |

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## What it does

This component lets you define a custom navigation bar using two theme settings:

- **`navbar_name`**  
A list of labels that will be displayed in the navbar.

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/5/5/f/55fa70d8d07acbdf306d208bb1d23e5ca25c7d3b.png)

- **`navbar_location`**  
A list of URLs corresponding to each label above.  
Example:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/7/0/d/70d9391c6da82ccd4c4f9affc378aa71dd29c5b4.png)

The two lists are matched by position, so the first `navbar_name` entry links to the first `navbar_location`, and so on. URLs can link to anywhere.

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## Special cases

- If a user is **not logged in** , the component automatically uses a default navbar: `About`, `Rules`, and `Login` (or optionally hide it for anonymous users)
- Any link containing `/admin` will only display for **admin users**.
- The `/messages`, `/new`, and `/unread` locations automatically display **notification bubbles** showing live counts for new/unread private messages or topics.

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## Example

With the settings above the navbar will render as:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/9/6/7/96789df2e78597c2ba164126863ce70c8de47728.png)