How to organize some of my multiple language categories as I import them to Discourse?

Community Building

AI-generated summary

A user, Canapin, is seeking advice on organizing multiple language categories as they import them to Discourse. They have several inactive language categories, with German being the only active one. Canapin proposes keeping the German category as a subcategory and moving all other languages to an Other Languages category, using tags instead of subcategories for the latter. However, they question whether this solution might be confusing for users, as it uses two different systems.

Don suggests two alternatives: using groups to restrict access to the Other Languages category and implementing a plugin that uses tags to categorize topics by language. This plugin, mentioned in a Meta Discourse post, allows users to select their preferred languages and only see relevant topics.

Codinghorror shares a Meta Discourse post that may be relevant to the discussion.

Riking proposes another solution: keeping the multiple subcategories and promoting the German category to a top-level category with one or two subcategories, given its large size.

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Hi,

The forum I’m importing is in English, and had a few categories in other languages:

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Only the German category is active nowadays. Others have very little use. See the last activity dates:

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We’re going to keep the German category, but what should we do with the others? I don’t really want to add noise in categories by keeping undeeded ones.

Below, my current solution is keeping the Other Languages category, and putting all topics in it except German.

German will still use a subcategory by itself, but other languages will use tags.

In the Other Languages category, the subcategory selector is set to “non” by default to prevent seeing 99.9% posts as German posts:

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(French is a closed category with a redirection to another forum)

But I wonder if doing like this would be confusing for users.

A language is a language, Why some would be using categories when others would use a different system (tags)?

I’m not 100% right it’s the best solution, but I struggle to see a better one.

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Hello Canapin

In my opinion

  1. Use group for restrict the Other language category and add a notice banner topic, a button or some notification for user. If they want to activate that category, join the group. (users can choose which content they want to see)

  2. There is a really nice plugin from Pavilion which is use tags. I used it one of my site. There is an option Content Language. It create a new field in composer which is Language(s) When users create new topic they have to add the content language(s) and this tags the topic to the correct language(s). Users can select in settings/interface which languages interest and only those topics appears on the forum. But this one maybe not for forums which contains million topics because all topics have to have Language tags.

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All I can think of is this at the moment

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Another option is to keep the several-subcategories, and promote German alone to a top-level category with one or two subcategories, as it’s your biggest one.

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