# Right Sidebar Blocks
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067
**Category:** Theme component
**Tags:** official, desktop, right-sidebar-blocks
**Created:** [June 25, 2022, 2:55am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067 "2022-06-25T02:55:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Discourse)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2022, 2:55am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/1 "2022-06-25T02:55:24Z")
| | | |
| --- | --- | --- |
| :discourse2: | **Summary** | **Right Sidebar Blocks** shows a sidebar to the right of topic lists with a configurable list of blocks. |
| 👓 | **Preview** | [Preview on Discourse Theme Creator](https://discourse.theme-creator.io/theme/Discourse/right-sidebar-blocks) |
| 🛠 | **Repository Link** | [https://github.com/discourse/discourse-right-sidebar-blocks](https://github.com/discourse/discourse-right-sidebar-blocks) |
| 📖 | **New 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
> [@](#):
>
> :discourse2: As this is an #official theme component maintained by the Discourse team, #Support, #Contribute > Bug, #Contribute > UX, and #Contribute > Feature requests can be made in the respective categories here on Meta, and tagged with the appropriate theme component tag. Click on a link below to get one started. 👍
>
> [❓ **Support**](https://meta.discourse.org/new-topic?category_id=6&tags=right-sidebar-blocks "Ask for support on configuring and using Right Sidebar Blocks") [🐛 **Bug**](https://meta.discourse.org/new-topic?category_id=1&tags=right-sidebar-blocks "A bug report means something is broken, preventing normal/typical use of the theme component") [👀 **UX**](https://meta.discourse.org/new-topic?category_id=9&tags=right-sidebar-blocks "Discussion about the user interface of Right Sidebar Blocks, and how features are presented (including language and UI elements)") [💡 **Feature**](https://meta.discourse.org/new-topic?category_id=2&tags=right-sidebar-blocks "Discussion about how existing Right Sidebar Blocks features can be improved or enhanced, and how proposed new features could work")
### Features
The component includes a few blocks you can display in the sidebar:
- popular-tags
- top-contributors
- recent-replies
- category-topics
- custom-html
- category-list
- subcategory-list
- upcoming-events-list\*
- minimal-gamification-leaderboard\*\*
> ℹ The user directory must be enabled for the Top Contributors list to be populated. If your list is blank, search `enable user directory` in your admin settings to make sure it’s enabled.
\* Only available when used with the [Calendar](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-calendar-and-event/97376) plugin.
\*\* Only available when used with the [Gamification](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-gamification/225916) plugin.
You can also use other Ember components as blocks, you just need to use the correct name. For example, core includes a `signup-cta` Ember component, and you can use it in the sidebar as is. Note that you can’t use components that expect a set of parameters, but you _can_ build your own Ember component in a separate theme and reference it just by its name in the sidebar’s `blocks` setting.
You can control some features for the provided blocks via parameters.
| name | description | default | value | available for |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `count` | limits number of results | varies | number | all except custom-html |
| `excerptLimit` | limits length of each reply excerpt | 150 | number | recent-replies |
| `id` | category id | | category id (category-list uses comma-separated) | category-topics, category-list |
| `content` | contents to display | | html | custom-html |
| `scopeToCategory` | only shows in category or subcategory X | | category id | popular-tags |
| `excludedTags` | list of excluded tags | | tagnames | popular-tags |
| `displayInSpecificCategories` | list of categories to show the widget | all | comma-separated numbers | popular-tags |
| `id` | leaderboard id | | number | minimal-gamification-leaderboard |
| `tag` | which tag to display | | tag name | tag-topics |
| `period` | time period of top topics | weekly | all, yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily | top-topics |
| `title` | title of the block | varies | string | tag-topics, category-list, top-contributors |
| `excludedGroupNames` | excludes specified groups | | Group names | top-contributors |
| `order` | orders the contributors | | String (likes\_received or likes\_given) | top-contributors |
| `period` | time period for top contributors | yearly | all, yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily | top-contributors |
| `includeSubcategories` | includes subcategory events | false | false, true | upcoming-events-list |
| `upcomingDays` | events started before the provided value | 180 | number | upcoming-events-list |
| `timeFormat` | format of event date / time | LT | [momentjs format](https://momentjs.com/docs/#/displaying/format/) | upcoming-events-list |
### Settings
| Name | Description |
| --- | --- |
| blocks | |
| show in routes | Advanced users only: limit sidebar to the selected routes.
Examples: discovery.latest, discovery.unread, discovery.new, discovery.top, tag.show, “c/category-slug” (for categories), “tag/sample-tag” (for tags).
When empty, the sidebar is shown on all list routes. |
`blocks`: choose the blocks to display and adjust their ordering
`show_in_routes`: decide on which topic list routes to display the sidebar. By default, it will show it on all discovery routes except for `/categories`.
| Translation | Default |
| --- | --- |
| top\_contributors.heading | Top contributors |
| top\_contributors.view\_all | View all |
| popular\_tags.heading | Popular tags |
| popular\_tags.view\_all | View all |
| recent\_replies.heading | Recent replies |
| subcategory\_list.heading | Subcategories |
| top\_topics.heading | Top topics |
| category\_list.heading | Categories |
### Screenshots
Note that the component comes with only very basic styling, the assumption is that admins using the component will add their own styling in their own theme.
### Interactions
When used in conjunction with the [Discourse Calendar](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-calendar-and-event/97376) plugin, you can add a sidebar block for your upcoming events. The block name is `upcoming-events-list`, and the date format can be customized following [this syntax](https://momentjs.com/docs/#/displaying/format/) (for example, `MMMM D, YYYY` ). You can also configure how far in the future to look, and if subcategory events are included (see the table above)
> :discourse2: **Hosted by us?** Theme components are available to use on our Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans.
> Last edited by @nathank 2026-07-14T22:53:56Z
>
> > **Check document**
> >
> > Perform check on document:
---
### Author:  [@Alaa](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Alaa)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/8 "2022-07-17T01:29:05Z")
What should I add in the “name” parameter if I use custom-html?
---
### Author:  [@nathank](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nathank)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/9 "2022-07-18T17:30:59Z")
Great to see this as an #official Theme Component! It certainly opens up a new world of customisations.
I’ve got 2 questions:
1. In the sidebar, I want to display the `/latest` topic list similar to the way that `category-topics` displays them. Is this possible? `recent-replies` almost gets there (especially if the excerpt is hidden), but I really want to include topics without replies.
2. Is it possible to only display the sideblocks in certain categories? What I mean is that the only route displayed is the Category Topic List, and only for the categories I specify.
---
### Author:  [@pmusaraj](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pmusaraj)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/10 "2022-07-19T14:54:48Z")
Apologies, the documentation for this is lacking (I will update it now). The name of the param for `custom-html` is `content`.
> [@nathankershaw](#):
>
> I want to display the `/latest` topic list
We don’t have anything ready-made for the full `/latest` list, but you build your own and add it to the configuration using its name. Should be very similar to the category/tag lists, just without a filter.
> [@nathankershaw](#):
>
> Is it possible to only display the sideblocks in certain categories?
Currently, no, you can’t show it on specific categories only. You _can_ however use `discovery.category` in the `show in routes` setting, that will only show the sidebar on category routes (but on all of them, not a subset).
---
### Author:  [@Alaa](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Alaa)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2022, 6:12am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/11 "2022-07-20T06:12:09Z")
Thank you, is it possible to include the sidebar in each topic as well?
---
### Author:  [@albert\_vu](https://meta.discourse.org/u/albert_vu)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2022, 9:03am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/12 "2022-07-22T09:03:09Z")
Just noted a limitation of the component, especially when it comes the `category-topics` & `subcategory-list` blocks, and that is adding multiple blocks of either of these types with **different `id`** always resulted in them surfacing topics/subcategories of the uppermost block in the launch editor (I assume).
One bug I’m having right now is after playing around with the `subcategory-list` block for around 10-12 times, it stop showing altogether on our staging site (see video below).
---
### Author:  [@pmusaraj](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pmusaraj)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2022, 2:09pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/13 "2022-07-25T14:09:58Z")
The `subcategory-list` block does not take a parameter at all. When used, it will show the subcategories of the current category based on which current category you have navigated to… so it doesn’t make sense to use that block more than once.
That is also why the `subcategory-list` isn’t showing in your video. If you’re on a non-category route, that block does not show.
For `category-topics`, in your video I see the same ID used twice: `7`. I did a local test and with different IDs I get different topics displayed (i.e. I can’t reproduce the reported bug).
---
### Author:  [@Helga\_Razinkova](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Helga_Razinkova)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2022, 9:10am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/14 "2022-07-26T09:10:45Z")
Hi, a huge thank you for this awesome plugin!
I’ve got a question about the **subcategory-list** sidebar: is there an option to display it only for a particular category?
Our developers have had a look, and it seems there is no parameter id support for subcategory-list, is this something you could add, please?
---
### Author:  [@Helga\_Razinkova](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Helga_Razinkova)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2022, 9:55am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/15 "2022-07-26T09:55:48Z")
And regarding the **top-contributors** block: is there a way to fetch the results for a period of a week?
---
### Author:  [@pmusaraj](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pmusaraj)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2022, 2:28pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/16 "2022-07-26T14:28:13Z")
> [@Helga\_Razinkova](#):
>
> about the **subcategory-list** sidebar: is there an option to display it only for a particular category?
Currently, no, this option does not exist. It makes sense to add it, although, I would imagine that it should support multiple IDs so you can show the block for a list of categories (A, B and C, for example). I am happy to review PRs on the repo, if your developers think they can add this, that would be great. (Otherwise, I can add it to a list of nice-to-haves in the theme component.)
> [@Helga\_Razinkova](#):
>
> is there a way to fetch the results for a period of a week?
Do you mean a) to fetch the results and cache them for a week or b) to fetch the top contributors for the last week on every load? The latter should be easy to add, caching is a little trickier.
---
### Author:  [@miss](https://meta.discourse.org/u/miss)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2022, 3:31am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/17 "2022-07-27T03:31:24Z")
@pmusaraj can you add
> padding: 3px 4px 3px 4px
for the popular-tags ?
Thanks.
---
### Author:  [@Helga\_Razinkova](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Helga_Razinkova)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2022, 6:22am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/18 "2022-07-27T06:22:51Z")
Hi @pmusaraj, thanks a lot for your reply!
Our developer has shared the PRs here, please have a look: [Implement the `displayInCategories` parameter which allows to specify a list of categories where the `subcategories-list` block is displayed by d521bb85 · Pull Request #10 · discourse/discourse-right-sidebar-blocks · GitHub](https://github.com/discourse/discourse-right-sidebar-blocks/pull/10)
> [@pmusaraj](#):
>
> Do you mean a) to fetch the results and cache them for a week or b) to fetch the top contributors for the last week on every load? The latter should be easy to add, caching is a little trickier.
The second variant would be perfect! We need to display the list of top contributors for the last week indeed. Thank you so much!
---
### Author:  [@pmusaraj](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pmusaraj)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/19 "2022-07-27T17:32:23Z")
> [@miss](#):
>
> can you add
>
> > padding: 3px 4px 3px 4px
>
> for the popular-tags ?
The component intentionally has very little styling so that consumers can add their own styles in their own themes/theme components.
> [@Helga\_Razinkova](#):
>
> Our developer has shared the PRs here, please have a look: [Implement the `displayInCategories` parameter which allows to specify a list of categories where the `subcategories-list` block is displayed by d521bb85 · Pull Request #10 · discourse/discourse-right-sidebar-blocks · GitHub](https://github.com/discourse/discourse-right-sidebar-blocks/pull/10)
Thanks, that PR is great and it’s now merged!
I will also shortly work on adding configurability to the top contributors block (or if someone else is faster, happy to review a PR).
---
### Author:  [@nathank](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nathank)
#### Post date: [July 28, 2022, 4:18am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/20 "2022-07-28T04:18:30Z")
> [@pmusaraj](#):
>
> We don’t have anything ready-made for the full `/latest` list, but you build your own and add it to the configuration using its name. Should be very similar to the category/tag lists, just without a filter.
I’m not sure where to find the code for that - would you mind directing me? I’d like to look at modifying the category-topics so that having no ID gives you all categories (and thus effectively the `/latest` list)
> [@pmusaraj](#):
>
> I will also shortly work on adding configurability to the top contributors block (or if someone else is faster, happy to review a PR).
It would be great to have that in all the blocks!
---
### Author:  [@Helga\_Razinkova](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Helga_Razinkova)
#### Post date: [July 28, 2022, 6:35am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/21 "2022-07-28T06:35:07Z")
@pmusaraj Awesome! Thank you so much for your help, looking forward to using the top contributors block 🙂
---
### Author:  [@Kuro22](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Kuro22)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2022, 5:29am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/22 "2022-08-14T05:29:58Z")
Hi! I’m not sure if this component is causing errors. But once disabled, there are no more errors seen. 🤔 Could someone take a look at this to help me figure out the issue? Would appreciate it a lot.
With it enabled, visiting a certain topic on desktop, clicking the site logo in the top bar in the attempt to return to the homepage would bring me to a never-disappearing loading screen and throw errors in the browser console (as below). No related error logs seen in the `mysite/logs` path.
```plaintext
d6ca234baf8d2d5e65f414f31e198fe956d9a939.js?__ws=www.bfsu.cafe:98 Uncaught (in promise) TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'findFiltered')
at new CategoryTopics (d6ca234baf8d2d5e65f414f31e198fe956d9a939.js?__ws=www.bfsu.cafe:98:18)
at h.createComponent (base-component-manager.js:37:1)
at h.createComponent (ember-component-manager.js:54:1)
at C.create (manager.js:558:1)
at Object.evaluate (runtime.js:3301:1)
at Object.evaluate (runtime.js:1312:1)
at Dt.evaluateSyscall (runtime.js:5232:1)
at Dt.evaluateInner (runtime.js:5188:1)
at Dt.evaluateOuter (runtime.js:5180:1)
at Wt.next (runtime.js:6191:1)
at Wt._execute (runtime.js:6175:1)
at Wt.execute (runtime.js:6166:1)
at qt.handleException (runtime.js:5369:1)
at Kt.handleException (runtime.js:5605:1)
at Lt.throw (runtime.js:5302:1)
at Be.evaluate (runtime.js:2580:1)
at Lt._execute (runtime.js:5285:1)
at Lt.execute (runtime.js:5266:1)
at Ht.rerender (runtime.js:5634:1)
at Er.render (index.js:7578:1)
at index.js:7896:1
at It (runtime.js:5074:1)
at Rr._renderRoots (index.js:7876:1)
at Rr._renderRootsTransaction (index.js:7928:1)
at Rr._revalidate (index.js:7970:1)
at invoke (backburner.js:351:1)
at p.flush (backburner.js:241:1)
at h.flush (backburner.js:447:1)
at q._end (backburner.js:999:1)
at _boundAutorunEnd (backburner.js:648:1)
CategoryTopics @ d6ca234baf8d2d5e65f414f31e198fe956d9a939.js?__ws=www.bfsu.cafe:98
createComponent @ base-component-manager.js:37
createComponent @ ember-component-manager.js:54
create @ manager.js:558
（匿名） @ runtime.js:3301
evaluate @ runtime.js:1312
evaluateSyscall @ runtime.js:5232
evaluateInner @ runtime.js:5188
evaluateOuter @ runtime.js:5180
next @ runtime.js:6191
_execute @ runtime.js:6175
execute @ runtime.js:6166
handleException @ runtime.js:5369
handleException @ runtime.js:5605
throw @ runtime.js:5302
evaluate @ runtime.js:2580
_execute @ runtime.js:5285
execute @ runtime.js:5266
rerender @ runtime.js:5634
render @ index.js:7578
（匿名） @ index.js:7896
It @ runtime.js:5074
_renderRoots @ index.js:7876
_renderRootsTransaction @ index.js:7928
_revalidate @ index.js:7970
invoke @ backburner.js:351
flush @ backburner.js:241
flush @ backburner.js:447
_end @ backburner.js:999
_boundAutorunEnd @ backburner.js:648
Promise.then（异步）
n @ backburner.js:28
flush @ index.js:46
_scheduleAutorun @ backburner.js:1218
_end @ backburner.js:1009
_boundAutorunEnd @ backburner.js:648
Promise.then（异步）
n @ backburner.js:28
flush @ index.js:46
_scheduleAutorun @ backburner.js:1218
_end @ backburner.js:1009
_boundAutorunEnd @ backburner.js:648
Promise.then（异步）
n @ backburner.js:28
flush @ index.js:46
_scheduleAutorun @ backburner.js:1218
_end @ backburner.js:1009
_boundAutorunEnd @ backburner.js:648
Promise.then（异步）
n @ backburner.js:28
flush @ index.js:46
_scheduleAutorun @ backburner.js:1218
_ensureInstance @ backburner.js:1206
scheduleOnce @ backburner.js:845
k @ index.js:522
queueRerender @ mount-widget.js:124
scheduleRerender @ widget.js:319
rerenderResult @ widget.js:365
F @ hooks.js:207
（匿名） @ hooks.js:247
dispatch @ jquery.js:5430
_.handle @ jquery.js:5234
frame:251 You dismissed the flag, but third party cookies are disabled on your browser so the flag will come back the next time you visit the page.
```
I see info about this component in the js file mentioned in the first line of the error log above.
```plaintext
// line 96-103 of d6ca234baf8d2d5e65f414f31e198fe956d9a939.js?__ws=www.bfsu.cafe
const filter = "c/" + categoryId;
this.category = _category.default.findById(categoryId);
this.store.findFiltered("topicList", {
filter
}).then(result => {
const results = result.topic_list.topics;
results.forEach(topic => {
topic.url = "".concat((0, _getUrl.default)("/t/")).concat(topic.slug, "/").concat(topic.id);
```
---
### Author:  [@pmusaraj](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pmusaraj)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/23 "2022-08-15T18:23:40Z")
Ah, yes, sorry about that. It should be [fixed now](https://github.com/discourse/discourse-right-sidebar-blocks/pull/14), you just need to pull the latest update of the theme component.
---
### Author:  [@Kuro22](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Kuro22)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2022, 5:49am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/24 "2022-08-16T05:49:37Z")
Thanks! Works great now.
---
### Author:  [@Helga\_Razinkova](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Helga_Razinkova)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2022, 6:55am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/25 "2022-08-22T06:55:51Z")
> [@pmusaraj](#):
>
> I will also shortly work on adding configurability to the top contributors block (or if someone else is faster, happy to review a PR).
Hi @pmusaraj, sorry if I’m coming over as pushy - just wanted to know if there’s any ETA regarding this implementation.
It would be an awesome addition 🙂
Thank you so much!
---
### Author:  [@carson](https://meta.discourse.org/u/carson)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2022, 4:09pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067/26 "2022-10-19T16:09:00Z")
Thank you for this awesome component!
I noticed that my entire header and footer disappears globally when I have this enabled (everything in my header.html and footer.html). Was this intentional? But to work around this I have to use the PluginAPI to manually add a header/footer.
[Next page](https://meta.discourse.org/t/right-sidebar-blocks/231067.md?page=2)