Is a 3rd column possible/advisable for the main index?

AI-generated summary

TGP is exploring whether a 3-column layout is possible or advisable for the main categories index in Discourse, suggesting the third column could feature curated content like wiki entries or member success stories. They acknowledge this may be a desktop-first idea and reference an older thread that implies such layouts are uncommon. They also propose an alternative: replacing the existing second column with a curated list showing new replies/posts per category. TGP reflects on UX philosophy—balancing mobile convenience with intentional, desktop-oriented design for productivity—and ends with appreciation for Discourse. In a lighthearted follow-up post, they joke about accidentally viewing their own forum content while checking their image upload. Remah suggests exploring sidebar theme components, providing a search link for relevant options. TGP thanks Remah and commits to further research.

Is a 3-column layout possible on the main categories index? My partner and I were discussing things the other day and thought it might be nice to have a third column featuring, say, the latest wiki entries or content tagged “member success stories”.

Thinking something like this chunky, Pixlr mock:

I feel it’s moot—and this old thread certainly suggests as much—considering it’s clearly a desktop-first mindset, but we like the idea so I figured I’d ask just in case.

Or maybe there’s a way to replace the existing second column with such a curated list that simply displays the number of new new replies/posts next to the category name? That might work too.

There’s a school of thought that says give 'em what they want. Everyone seems to want mobile these days. As much as everyone in our community so far loves how well Discourse works on mobile, there’s something to be said about driving a more deliberate, intentional behavior through intentional UX choices that favor, shall we say, a more traditional approach.

Small screens are great for casual browsing, but when you want to get real, actual work done, ya know?

Thanks for being awesome. We love Discourse. :slight_smile:

< lulz >
That feeling when you open the image posted to the Discourse support community to make sure it displays alright—and see someone posted something awesome on your own forum and have to run back to check it out.
< /lulz >

You could look at sidebar theme components for some existing options.

The search text is:
Sidebar #customization:theme tags:theme-component

The search URL is:
https://meta.discourse.org/search?context=topic&context_id=137907&q=Sidebar%20%23theme%20tags%3Atheme-component&skip_context=true

Thank you, @Remah I’ll do some more homework.