# sidebarMod: Add/Remove Sidebar Links and Sections
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/sidebarmod-add-remove-sidebar-links-and-sections/261279
**Category:** Development
**Tags:** sidebar
**Created:** [April 11, 2023, 5:49am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/sidebarmod-add-remove-sidebar-links-and-sections/261279 "2023-04-11T05:49:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@shyguy](https://meta.discourse.org/u/shyguy)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2023, 5:49am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/sidebarmod-add-remove-sidebar-links-and-sections/261279/1 "2023-04-11T05:49:02Z")
# [sidebarMod](https://gist.github.com/ftc2/c2e23fab9cfd3ff14972972f459e9c4e)
**here’s [my script](https://gist.github.com/ftc2/c2e23fab9cfd3ff14972972f459e9c4e) for modding the sidebar** (first mentioned in the [custom sidebar sections topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/custom-sidebar-sections-being-tested-on-meta/255303)).
it uses promises and MutationObserver to watch the sidebar for changes (e.g. from expanding or collapsing) and add/remove stuff in a performant way.
i think i made it flexible enough for most use cases. you can add links (positioned by appending, prepending, or inserting before/after existing links), remove sections, remove links, and even remove `⋮More`.
it’s even possible to change the behavior if the viewer is a guest or a registered user. for example, i’m using it to remove a custom section that is irrelevant to guests.
it’s a nice complement to the new custom sidebar sections feature (enabled via `SiteSetting.enable_custom_sidebar_sections`), so i didn’t bother adding a feature to _create_ sections.
let me know if you find bugs or need extra features.
## installation
create a new theme component and paste it into `Head`. remember to enable it for your theme.
## configuration
you only need to edit `injections` and `removals` near the top.
i suggest just leaving it as-is at first so you see what it’s doing. i tried to make the example config illustrative.
i’m personally using it like this:
```javascript
/**
* link positioners:
* (bool) prepend, append: prepend/append link to section
* (str) addBeforeKebab, addAfterKebab: add link before/after existing link
* link visibility:
* (str) injectFor: inject link only for 'anon' users, only for 'registered' users, or for 'both' (default: 'both')
*/
injections: [
{ sectionSelector: '.sidebar-section[data-section-name="community"]',
links: [
{ text: 'Guidelines', kebab: 'guidelines', title: 'Guidelines for using this site', href: '/guidelines', icon: 'gavel', addBeforeKebab: 'faq', injectFor: 'registered' }
]
},
{ sectionSelector: '.sidebar-section[data-section-name="categories"]',
links: [
{ text: 'Site Map', kebab: 'site-map', title: 'Site Map', href: '/t/32', icon: 'map-marker-alt', prepend: true }
]
}
],
/**
* section options:
* (str) removeFor: remove section only for 'anon' users, only for 'registered' users, or for 'both' (default: 'none')
* (str) removeMore: remove '⋮More' only for 'anon' users, only for 'registered' users, or for 'both' (default: 'none')
* useful if you know it's empty due to link removals
* link removal options:
* (str) removeFor: remove link only for 'anon' users, only for 'registered' users, or for 'both' (default: 'both')
*/
removals: [
{ sectionSelector: '.sidebar-section[data-section-name="community"]',
links: [{ kebab: 'badges', removeFor: 'anon' }]
},
{ sectionSelector: '.sidebar-custom-sections .sidebar-section[data-section-name="my-topics"]',
removeFor: 'anon'
}
],
```
* * *
## questions from me
i investigated doing this with [the API](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/main/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/lib/plugin-api.js), but i don’t think enough stuff is implemented.
if i wanted to do this “the right way” instead of hacking things into the DOM, how would i do that? would i need to make a plugin with ruby? any hints would be appreciated.
---
### Author:  [@shyguy](https://meta.discourse.org/u/shyguy)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/sidebarmod-add-remove-sidebar-links-and-sections/261279/2 "2023-04-16T19:13:02Z")
updated to work with `data-link-name`
[https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/2eb60c9713ed15b81718f896811c0b4da4aee003](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/2eb60c9713ed15b81718f896811c0b4da4aee003)
---
### Author:  [@literarymachine](https://meta.discourse.org/u/literarymachine)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/sidebarmod-add-remove-sidebar-links-and-sections/261279/3 "2023-08-01T15:16:12Z")
Thanks, this was really helpful for me implementing a custom sidebar section that needs to be updated on page transitions (see [Making custom changes to the sidebar programmatically](https://meta.discourse.org/t/making-custom-changes-to-the-sidebar-programmatically/273027)). One problem I have is that when the custom links are clicked, a full page refresh is triggered. Did you somehow get around this?
---
### Author:  [@literarymachine](https://meta.discourse.org/u/literarymachine)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2023, 2:38pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/sidebarmod-add-remove-sidebar-links-and-sections/261279/4 "2023-08-02T14:38:56Z")
FYI, found a solution here: [Reload page body when clicking a link in a custom header](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reload-page-body-when-clicking-a-link-in-a-custom-header/90543)