How to enable the sidebar?

Product Support

AI-generated summary

The discussion revolves around enabling the sidebar in Discourse. philkunz asks how to enable the left sidebar menu in a new self-hosted install. cocococosti explains it’s done via Site Settings under ‘Navigation Menu’, with options like Legacy, Header Dropdown, and Sidebar. Canapin provides screenshots illustrating these options. philkunz shares a screenshot showing the missing setting, prompting Canapin to inquire about the installation type. philkunz confirms it’s self-hosted via Cloudron.io, which is outdated (2.8.14 vs 3.1), leading Canapin to recommend upgrading via the official guide. damienalexandre asks about the trial version, and Canapin clarifies that trial users have the sidebar by default, but the old hamburger menu is deprecated.

1

I feel a bit dumbfounded, but I can’t figure how do I enable the main left sidebar menu.
Any hints?

I’ve just spun up a completely new install.

2

From an admin account, go to the Site Settings, and select ‘Sidebar’ in the navigation menu setting.

3

I add a few screenshots to illustrate the setting’s values:

The navigation menu site setting has 3 values:

4

Where do I find the navigation setting though?

Screenshot 2023-01-29 at 15.53.28
Screenshot 2023-01-29 at 15.53.281950×1110 202 KB

6

Are you using a trial version of Discourse or a self-hosted one?

Can you paste a full screenshot of the desktop view of your forum?

7

Self hosted.

Screenshot 2023-01-29 at 16.47.09
Screenshot 2023-01-29 at 16.47.091920×969 52.4 KB

8

If I go to your forum, the page tells me it’s version 2.8.14. Discourse is now at version 3.1. You should do an upgrade.

<meta name="generator" content="Discourse 2.8.14 - https://github.com/discourse/discourse version 2.8.14">

Did you follow the standard install? A fresh install should always install the latest version of Discourse.

10

I’m using the Cloudron.io Discourse source, since we have a corporate install of that one. Wasn’t aware that they are behind. But makes sense now.

11

“One-click” Discourse installations are usually not recommended here.

One of the main reasons is that we don’t know how they configure their stuff, so it’s not a standard install, and thus you’re less likely to find free support here on meta if you encounter issues. :slight_smile:

If you just started your forum and if you can do that, I’d strongly advise you to install Discourse following the official guide :slight_smile:

12

I’m using the Trial version and there is no sign of this setting as well.

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Is it on purpose that Trial users cannot try all the settings? Or am I missing something?

Thanks!

13

Welcome, Damien!

Basic hosted plans, including trial, ship with the sidebar by default.
The old hamburger menu isn’t available anymore and will be discontinued, and thus the enable new notifications menu setting, which relies on the old hamburger menu, isn’t available anymore as well. :slight_smile: