# Easily create Ideas categories using the Topic Voting plugin

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/easily-create-ideas-categories-using-the-topic-voting-plugin/399365
**Category:** Announcements
**Tags:** topic-voting, categories
**Created:** [April 16, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/easily-create-ideas-categories-using-the-topic-voting-plugin/399365 "2026-04-16T15:02:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
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### Author: ![lindsey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/lindsey/32/318210_2.png) [@lindsey](https://meta.discourse.org/u/lindsey)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/easily-create-ideas-categories-using-the-topic-voting-plugin/399365/1 "2026-04-16T15:02:56Z")

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We’ve made it easier to create ideas / feature request type categories on Discourse! This update leverages our existing [Discourse Topic Voting](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-topic-voting/40121) plugin, but simplifies the setup process and makes it easy to manage related settings during category creation.

> **Note:** On our hosting, Discourse Topic Voting is available on the Business or higher tiers.

In this topic, we’ll review the major changes and share how you can start using this today.

## **🔬 What’s changed**

When creating a new category, you’ll now see three types:

 ![Choosing the category type when creating a new category.](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/f/7/e/f7e7c61fd3bfd2cd5d2d4874cd7172c9faf22091.png)

When you select the **Ideas** category type, we’ll set up everything you need for this category type — most importantly, enabling the `Allow users to vote on topics in this category` which lets members vote on topics that they like (see [our Feature category here on Meta](https://meta.discourse.org/c/contribute/feature/2) for an example of how this looks).

- On the **General** tab, the **Category name** and **Style** fields are automatically configured

 ![The Category name and Style fields are automatically populated for ideas type categories.](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/2/f/2/2f2203e6241ca4acd412b9be26dff6afce74d703.png)

- On the **Ideas** tab, the most useful settings for this type of category are available for you to adjust as needed. We’ve also added a new **Limit member votes** setting, which makes it easy to completely disable vote limits if you do not want this limitation in your community.

 ![The Ideas tab shows all the settings that are preconfigured for this category type.](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/2/1/9/2196f0efa7764e74b606e9db1574df4a07ee25c2.png)

All these settings can be customized to meet your exact specifications. These defaults are based on how we use this type of category in our own community and how we’ve seen it be most successful in other Discourse communities.

## **⚙ Turning on ideas type category setup in your community**

**For now, this is considered an experimental change!** We’re welcoming your feedback, which will help us make improvements and roll this out further.

To turn this on, head to the **[Upcoming changes](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-upcoming-changes-a-system-to-manage-new-features-and-changes-to-existing-functionality-in-your-community/392894)** page in your admin area (`/admin/config/upcoming-changes`) and find the **Enable idea category type setup** item. Update the **Enabled for** … field to opt your site in to this new design:

 ![The Upcoming Change item associated with improved ideas category setup.](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/e/7/3/e7366e34216efda1a9e3c88b06160f9f1b9e4679.png)

## **📣 What do you think?**

Over to you: we’d love to hear what you think of this new feature. What do you like and dislike; what is working well, and what could be improved?

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_[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/easily-create-ideas-categories-using-the-topic-voting-plugin/399365)._