# Subcategories suddenly missing
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/subcategories-suddenly-missing/303912
**Category:** WordPress
**Tags:** lazy-load-categories
**Created:** [April 15, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subcategories-suddenly-missing/303912 "2024-04-15T15:32:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@davidkingham](https://meta.discourse.org/u/davidkingham)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subcategories-suddenly-missing/303912/1 "2024-04-15T15:32:55Z")
I used to be able to see the subcategories when publishing a post to Discourse, now I can only see top level categories in the dropdown. I do have the option checked for displaying subcategories in the WP plugin so there seems to be a regression here.
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### Author:  [@angus](https://meta.discourse.org/u/angus)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2024, 9:00am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subcategories-suddenly-missing/303912/3 "2024-04-16T09:00:14Z")
Hey David, I just tested this out and it’s working for me. Here’s what I did with my test setup ([wp-discourse.pavilion.tech](https://wp-discourse.pavilion.tech) is connected to [demo.pavilion.tech](https://demo.pavilion.tech)).
1. Created a new sub-category: [Eclipses - Pavilion's Demo Community](https://demo.pavilion.tech/c/astronomical-events/eclipses/10)
2. Turned on “Display Subcategories” in [WP Discourse](https://github.com/discourse/wp-discourse) Publishing settings.
3. Forced a category update in [WP Discourse](https://github.com/discourse/wp-discourse) by checking “Force Category Update”.
4. The eclipse sub-category appeared in the category list in [WP Discourse](https://github.com/discourse/wp-discourse).
5. Publishing to the eclipse category worked as expected.
Could you walk me through some similar steps reproducing the issue?
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### Author:  [@david](https://meta.discourse.org/u/david)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2024, 9:02am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subcategories-suddenly-missing/303912/4 "2024-04-16T09:02:48Z")
I wonder if this is related to the experimental ‘category scaling’ mode? Maybe worth trying? (@davidkingham do you have that enabled?)
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### Author:  [@angus](https://meta.discourse.org/u/angus)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2024, 9:57am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subcategories-suddenly-missing/303912/5 "2024-04-16T09:57:09Z")
Yes, I’ve reproduced the issue as follows:
1. Set the Discourse site setting “lazy load categories groups” to “admins”.
2. Perform steps 1 to 3 (above).
3. Subcategories do not appear in [WP Discourse](https://github.com/discourse/wp-discourse).
@davidkingham could confirm whether you’re using the “lazy load categories groups” site setting?
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### Author:  [@davidkingham](https://meta.discourse.org/u/davidkingham)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2024, 1:41pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subcategories-suddenly-missing/303912/6 "2024-04-16T13:41:05Z")
Thanks guys, yes I had it set to admins, disabling it does not bring the subcategories back.
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### Author:  [@angus](https://meta.discourse.org/u/angus)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subcategories-suddenly-missing/303912/7 "2024-04-16T14:43:50Z")
You may need to also invalidate your [WP Discourse](https://github.com/discourse/wp-discourse) and / or Discourse caches.
1. Update the details of a category in Discourse.
2. Select “Force Category Update” in the [WP Discourse](https://github.com/discourse/wp-discourse) Publishing settings and “Save Options”.
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### Author:  [@davidkingham](https://meta.discourse.org/u/davidkingham)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subcategories-suddenly-missing/303912/8 "2024-04-16T15:03:02Z")
That did the trick, thank you Angus!