# Ordering topics - how do the links work?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/ordering-topics-how-do-the-links-work/151294
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [13 במאי, 2020, 5:48am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ordering-topics-how-do-the-links-work/151294 "2020-05-13T05:48:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@nathank](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nathank)
#### Post date: [13 במאי, 2020, 5:48am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ordering-topics-how-do-the-links-work/151294/1 "2020-05-13T05:48:48Z")
I’m trying to reduce the prominence of a particularly busy widely visible category in our /latest view, as it is turning off quite a lot of our new users who are joining the forum to primarily access a private category. I still want them to see / know about the busy category, but not be overwhelmed by the stream of topics / replies in it.
Can you suggest a smart way of doing this? I know that I can do the following, but none quite hit the spot:
1. Remove access to that category
- no good, I need them to get _some_ exposure to it, especially if @mentioned
2. Mute the busy category for all of these users
- drastic as the category now vanishes completely. But could work if I make a route back to it
- can’t do it for just one group in the UI, challenge to manage with new joiners+++
3. Turn down the search priority of that category
4. Make a clever implementation of this Theme component:
> [@Custom Top Navigation Links](https://meta.discourse.org/t/custom-top-navigation-links/87225):
>
> discourse2Summary Custom Top Navigation Links allows you to add links to Discourse top navigation.eyeglassesPreview [Preview on Discourse Theme Creator](https://discourse.theme-creator.io/theme/Discourse/custom-top-navigation-links)hammer_and_wrenchRepository Link [https://github.com/discourse/Discourse-nav-links-component](https://github.com/discourse/Discourse-nav-links-component)open_bookNew to Discourse Themes? [Beginner’s guide to using Discourse Themes](https://meta.discourse.org/t/beginners-guide-to-using-discourse-themes/91966) Install this theme component Features Desktop Mobile Settings: …
However, I can’t quite work out which Topic List Sort order to use. If I use /latest?order=category, it puts the categories in reverse alphabetic order, which is weird. Can they be reversed?
Any other suggestions?
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### Author:  [@maiki](https://meta.discourse.org/u/maiki)
#### Post date: [13 במאי, 2020, 11:20am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ordering-topics-how-do-the-links-work/151294/2 "2020-05-13T11:20:39Z")
Difficult to consult without context. I have suggestions ranging from “don’t worry about it” to “mute that and explain it as…”.
I start from the point of view that `/latest` has a literal value, and maybe you ought to not point new folks there, until they’ve learned to mute categories on their own.
🤔
Yeah, that’s pretty sound advice!
🧐
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### Author:  [@nathank](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nathank)
#### Post date: [13 במאי, 2020, 1:35pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ordering-topics-how-do-the-links-work/151294/3 "2020-05-13T13:35:26Z")
> [@maiki](#):
>
> Yeah, that’s pretty sound advice!
Yes it is! You have done pretty well without much context; I’m certainly grappling with how much to worry about it, and how to teach them to mute things.
The context is our forum which started off as a simple COVID-19 national multidisciplinary health forum, kept private. We are attempting a transition from a busy single category discussion board to a much richer collaboration platform which also caters for a very complex array of specialist interests. It is the first online forum experience for most of the users, who are very email centric.
> [@maiki](#):
>
> maybe you ought to not point new folks there, until they’ve learned to mute categories on their own.
Indeed; I’m trying to find an alternative which will give them the specialised content that they are after, with a taster of the broader stuff.
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### Author:  [@maiki](https://meta.discourse.org/u/maiki)
#### Post date: [13 במאי, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ordering-topics-how-do-the-links-work/151294/4 "2020-05-13T19:22:40Z")
> [@nathank](#):
>
> Indeed; I’m trying to find an alternative which will give them the specialised content that they are after, with a taster of the broader stuff.
I like everything to be muted and have folks opt-in; not proposing this, just the context. Because it is then kinda hard to find stuff, I front-load onboarding messages, and point out where things are and how to start tracking it.
`/latest` is just a firehose sometimes, I never make it the default view. I’d give a category listing, and then your super busy category can be fixed or will always be at the top due to updates, but it won’t be a wall of a single-category posts.
One final thought: ask everyone. Your site can’t accommodate everyone (it’s sounds very popular!), so ask everyone what their personal struggles are with the site, and try to address there. Sometimes a solve is a strategic re-wording in a help message.
And now others will advise… 🙂
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### Author:  [@nathank](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nathank)
#### Post date: [16 במאי, 2020, 9:27pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ordering-topics-how-do-the-links-work/151294/5 "2020-05-16T21:27:21Z")
> [@maiki](#):
>
> I’d give a category listing, and then your super busy category can be fixed or will always be at the top due to updates, but it won’t be a wall of a single-category posts.
Thanks heaps for the tips; I’ve taken your advice and have settled on a categories view with the busy category pinned down under the ones I would like them to see first. 🤞 it works well for people.
> [@maiki](#):
>
> One final thought: ask everyone. Your site can’t accommodate everyone (it’s sounds very popular!), so ask everyone what their personal struggles are with the site, and try to address there.
Good suggestion; you’ve really got to go and actively seek feedback, eh?
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### Author:  [@maiki](https://meta.discourse.org/u/maiki)
#### Post date: [16 במאי, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ordering-topics-how-do-the-links-work/151294/6 "2020-05-16T22:05:40Z")
> [@nathank](#):
>
> you’ve really got to go and actively seek feedback, eh?
Especially **in** communications platforms; otherwise the tone and policies are set by the folks with a disproportionate amount of attention on them. 😩