# Topic list tabs for user-customizeable saved filters
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953
**Category:** Feature
**Tags:** rfc
**Created:** [13. März 2016 um 03:45 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953 "2016-03-13T03:45:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [13. März 2016 um 03:45 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/1 "2016-03-13T03:45:56Z")
On some forums with a large variety of content, users will be most interested in topics that fall into a subset of the categories or tags available. When this becomes the rule, rather than the exception, forum admins can configure the home page to be the category listing rather than the `/latest` page. But then users must choose which door to go down - and they may be interested in seeing a listing from multiple categories at once.
A few topics have been posted about this in the past:
- [Specialized Timeline?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/specialized-timeline/40840)
- [Filter topic with specific tag inside single category](https://meta.discourse.org/t/filter-topic-with-specific-tag-inside-single-category/21916/5)
- [Category selector for latest](https://meta.discourse.org/t/category-selector-for-latest/36371)
- [Add a “Filter” button to index page](https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-a-filter-button-to-index-page/8483)
The basic idea is to add a few features that can help admins and intermediate-to-advanced users of a site like this create custom topic list views to so they can easily browse the content they are interested in at any given time.
Two alternative approaches are described below:
1. Create Custom Filter modal to add new Topic List Tab(s)
2. Add Favorites List to the Categories section in User Preferences
# Approach #1
## Create Custom Filter modal to add new Topic List Tab(s)
# Summary of Changes
1. Add `custom filter...` option to the Categories drop down.
2. Click to open a Create Custom Filter modal
3. Custom Filter Modal allows multiple categories to be selected and saved as a new tab.
4. When the tab is selected, a gear icon button is visible to allow re-opening the modal to update the filter or delete it.
# Mockups
#### Custom Filter…
Add `custom filter...` option to the bottom of the drop down.
Click to open a Create Custom Filter modal
#### Create Filter Modal
Select multiple categories to be included in topic list.
Name the tab and save it.
#### Tab Shown on Topic List Page
Tab is on topic list page (unselected)
#### Select Tab on Topic List Page
When the tab is selected, topics meeting the criteria of the filter are shown.
A gear icon button is visible in the upper right to allow re-opening the modal to update the filter or delete it.
#### Update or Delete Tab
After clicking the gear icon, filter name and criteria can be updated, or the tab can be removed completely.
Other possible enhancements
1. Allow admins to share a custom filter tab with everyone
2. Include tags in custom filter
3. Create custom filters from a search query
# Approach #2
## Add Favorites List to the Categories section in User Preferences
Here’s an alternate proposal based on @kegurler’s comment below.
1. Add a Favorites list to the the Categories section on the User Preferences page.
2. If any categories are added to this list, a Favorites tab is visible on the topic list page.
If the list is blank, the tab is not shown.
Using the existing Muted categories list instead to solve this problem is not great because I likely do not want to fully mute categories. Also, on forums with a large number of categories, it’s nicer to choose a small list to call Favorites rather than Mute a large list.
This approach does not allow for adding multiple tabs with different filters, and would not be as open to further enhancements like filtering based on query strings.
But it’s worth considering starting with this approach as it is simpler than the first one and may satisfy a large proportion of the use cases.
## Mockups
#### Add Favorites list to Categories section to User Preferences page
#### When list is not empty a Favorites tab is visible on the Topic List page
---
### Author:  [@kegurler](https://meta.discourse.org/u/kegurler)
#### Post date: [13. März 2016 um 08:11 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/2 "2016-03-13T08:11:23Z")
Thanks for raising attention to this issue again 🙂
Your work seem good however I have another idea. Maybe, it is not necessary to have one more tab in homepage (favorites). Users can go to their profile settings and choose which categories they want to see in homepage. Therefore, current category tab will be specialized as user wish.
---
### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [13. März 2016 um 09:30 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/3 "2016-03-13T09:30:50Z")
Great idea.
Seems like it could be much simpler. And even if there is interest to do more it could be a better way to start building this feature.
I’ve updated the original post with an alternative approach based on @kegurler’s comment.
---
### Author:  [@Navidad20](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Navidad20)
#### Post date: [11. Januar 2017 um 18:47 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/4 "2017-01-11T18:47:22Z")
Has there been any progress on this?
---
### Author:  [@fahadullah](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fahadullah)
#### Post date: [24. Februar 2017 um 16:41 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/5 "2017-02-24T16:41:22Z")
Is there any update on this feature? I think this would be great. My community has been asking me for this feature ever since we’ve moved to Discourse from vB.
---
### Author:  [@dmacjam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dmacjam)
#### Post date: [12. März 2017 um 17:52 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/6 "2017-03-12T17:52:20Z")
I also think it better to use the second approach as the proposed feature will be more consistent with current features - watched, tracked and muted categories.
> If any categories are added to this list, a Favorites tab is visible on the topic list page. If the list is blank, the tab is not shown.
I have a different idea for the second step above. I see it as a feature of core Discourse (enabled/disabled by admin) and therefore I think Favorites tab should always be visible and if the list is blank, I suggest to inform/link user to user preferences where it is possible to add favorite categories. The rationale is that it will be more intuitive for users because user preferences might be too hidden for somebody. By this approach we can combine intuitiveness of first approach with consistency to current features of second approach.
---
### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [13. März 2017 um 06:08 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/7 "2017-03-13T06:08:00Z")
I’d prefer to get some input from the team about this feature before diving too deep into any more of the details.
---
### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [13. März 2017 um 13:08 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/8 "2017-03-13T13:08:34Z")
> [@dmacjam](#):
>
> Ich denke auch, dass der zweite Ansatz besser ist, da das vorgeschlagene Feature konsistenter mit den aktuellen Funktionen wäre – den Kategorien „Beobachtet“, „Verfolgt“ und „Stummgeschaltet“.
Ich stimme dem zu, mache mir aber Sorgen darüber, was passiert, wenn man 20 Kategorien favorisiert. Außerdem wird es ziemlich schwierig sein, den Unterschied zwischen „Favorit“ und „Beobachtet“ zu erklären.
Ich denke, dies könnte ein Bereich für die Exploration im #customization:plugin-Bereich sein; unsicher, ob dies zum Kern gehört oder nicht.
---
### Author:  [@LeoMcA](https://meta.discourse.org/u/LeoMcA)
#### Post date: [31. März 2017 um 11:48 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/9 "2017-03-31T11:48:10Z")
I like the second approach, but question the need for a favourites field at all. Couldn’t the “Favourites” list just be populated with topics from categories which are watched or tracked?
Similarly on the categories page, and in the various menus which contain lists of categories, “my categories” (those which I’ve expressed interest in, i.e. tracked and watched categories), could be given a greater precedence, like in a separate section at the top.
---
### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [31. März 2017 um 13:22 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/10 "2017-03-31T13:22:24Z")
> [@LeoMcA](#):
>
> Couldn’t the “Favourites” list just be populated with topics from categories which are watched or tracked?
I think you can make a strong case for having Watched or Tracked be automatically added to this list.
But I would also like to be able to add categories I care more about _without_ adding any more noise.
I don’t want to see every topic in these categories show up with little bubbles in my unread list and I don’t want to get notifications about them. I just want to be able to have a view like Latest that hides things I don’t care as much about.
So why not just Mute the other categories? Well, I’d still like to have access so something like Latest that _does_ show all categories.
> [@LeoMcA](#):
>
> Similarly on the categories page, and in the various menus which contain lists of categories, “my categories” (those which I’ve expressed interest in, i.e. tracked and watched categories), could be given a greater precedence, like in a separate section at the top.
That makes complete sense.
---
### Author:  [@Shrike](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Shrike)
#### Post date: [7. April 2017 um 16:53 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/11 "2017-04-07T16:53:26Z")
Thanks for RFC, it’s exactly a feature I’m lacking in Discourse when I start thinking about massive usage.
Approach #2 (as something that visible and editable in user settings) looks consistent with current approach at first but I guess it’s another feature. In User Settings we have several sets of categories to manage user’s track status. But here we’re talking about visibility of topics on home page. I think it’s ok to have a hidden category for home page but have it in “Tracked first post” set.
So I’d not mix these conceptions (I also at first came up with the idea to have additional settings for hiding category in user settings).
I like the idea to manage category visibility on the main page (Approach #1). But setting explicitly visible categories could be pretty limiting. Because it’s automatically leads to the fact that users will be missing all new categories (topics from them). So I’d suggest to exclude categories instead of to include.
Ideally it could be two modes in the dialog: choose what to exclude and choose what to include.
In anyway let me emphasis that from my point of view it’s a very important feature. Not particular implementation but conception of filter topics on main page. Because it’s the most often reasoning against Discourse I heard (“there’re a lot of unrelated stuff on main page!”) from (non-tech) people.
---
### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [10. April 2017 um 10:46 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/12 "2017-04-10T10:46:01Z")
Another observation here to consider when refining the proposed solution here:
> [@Creating user guides for your community](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-user-guides-for-your-community/57343/9):
>
> The first thing that most users who customised their profile did was mute every category except for the one covering their Jaguar.
I think this is problematic.
It would be preferable IMHO if the design encouraged those users could just “star” or “favorite” that one category, instead of having mute all the others.
---
### Author:  [@LeoMcA](https://meta.discourse.org/u/LeoMcA)
#### Post date: [16. Juni 2017 um 15:51 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/13 "2017-06-16T15:51:21Z")
Ich schlage bescheiden einen Ansatz vor, der #2 mit einigen Ideen kombiniert, [die ich bereits geäußert habe](https://meta.discourse.org/t/category-creep-and-information-overload/62493/2?u=leomca), sowie diesen Kommentaren:
> [@LeoMcA](#):
>
> Ich mag den zweiten Ansatz, bezweifle aber die Notwendigkeit eines Feldes für „Favoriten“. Könnte die Liste der „Favoriten“ nicht einfach mit Themen aus Kategorien gefüllt werden, die beobachtet oder verfolgt werden?
> [@mcwumbly](#):
>
> Ich denke, man kann ein starkes Argument dafür vorbringen, dass Beobachtete oder Verfolgte automatisch zu dieser Liste hinzugefügt werden.
>
> Aber ich möchte auch Kategorien hinzufügen können, die mir wichtiger sind, ohne dabei mehr Lärm zu erzeugen.
## Ansatz #2½
- Eine Favoritenliste zum Abschnitt Kategorien auf der Seite „Benutzereinstellungen“ hinzufügen
- Eine Option „Meine Kategorien“ zum Kategorien-Auswahlfeld auf allen Seiten mit Themenlisten hinzufügen
- Dies funktioniert wie die Option „Alle Kategorien“, enthält aber nur Themen aus Kategorien (und Kategorien auf der Registerkarte Kategorien), die verfolgt, beobachtet oder favorisiert wurden
Ich denke, der Vorteil dieses Ansatzes gegenüber Ansatz #2 besteht darin, dass er die aktuelle Beziehung zwischen dem Kategorien-Auswahlfeld und den Tabs rechts davon beibehält:
Derzeit filtert das Kategorien-Auswahlfeld auf Kategorienebene (zwischen allen oder einer bestimmten Kategorie), und die Tabs filtern weiter auf Themenebene (zwischen verschiedenen Themenstatus und Sortierungen).
Ansatz #2 schlägt vor, einen Kategorienfilter in einen Bereich einzufügen, der derzeit nur Themenfilter enthält. Dieser Ansatz platziert denselben Kategorienfilter in dem Bereich, der derzeit Kategorienfilter enthält. Man könnte ihn vielleicht „Favoriten“ statt „Meine Kategorien“ nennen – obwohl ich denke, dass „Meine Kategorien“ besser zum Ausdruck bringt, dass dies auch beobachtete/verfolgte Kategorien enthält.
Ein weiterer Vorteil dieses Ansatzes ist, dass er es ermöglicht, nach Ihren favorisierten Kategorien in Tabs zu filtern, nicht nur in „Neueste“. Ansatz #2 schlägt im Wesentlichen eine Registerkarte „Neueste Favoriten“ vor. Dieser Ansatz schlägt im Wesentlichen dieselbe Registerkarte „Neueste Favoriten“ vor, zusammen mit den Registerkarten „Neue Favoriten“, „Ungelesene Favoriten“, „Kategorien-Favoriten“ und „Top-Favoriten“ – sodass Benutzer ihre favorisierten Kategorien auf die gewünschte Weise konsumieren können.
### Mockups
Unter der Annahme, dass der Benutzer beispielsweise #Contribute > Feature beobachtet, #howto:admins verfolgt und #Customization > Plugin sowie #Contribute > UX favorisiert
#### my/latest
#### my/new
#### my/unread
#### my/categories
---
### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [17. Juni 2017 um 04:34 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/14 "2017-06-17T04:34:55Z")
Yep, looks good to me! I think this is an improvement over the original proposal #2.
---
### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [5. August 2017 um 13:27 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/15 "2017-08-05T13:27:16Z")
A few more related topics (original post is too old for me to edit):
- [https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-we-have-favorite-categories/4497](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-we-have-favorite-categories/4497)
- [https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-do-you-think-about-favorited-categories/6386](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-do-you-think-about-favorited-categories/6386)
- [Allow users to star or favorite categories then list them at the top](https://meta.discourse.org/t/allow-users-to-star-or-favorite-categories-then-list-them-at-the-top/38643)
---
### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [5. August 2017 um 13:28 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/16 "2017-08-05T13:28:10Z")
Has anyone explored the idea of having a persistent sidebar on the left for category navigation?
More and more, I’m finding myself wishing for something for navigation and filtering the topic list by category that follows the pattern used by Gmail (for labels) or Slack (for channels).
The “Category + Latest” style for the category page is a step in that direction, but once I choose the category, then I lose the sidebar navigation. I also think the style could be super simple, basically just a vertical list (a la Gmail labels or Slack channels):
> #### All categories
>
> Foo
> Foo/Red
> Foo/Blue
> Bar
> Bar/Green
> Bar/Pink
> Baz
>
> #### All tags
>
> ping
> pong
> pang
Selecting one category or tag would filter the list accordingly on the right. Selecting “All Categories” would show everything.
* * *
In addition, Gmail lets you determine which labels to show by default with the options (Show, Show if Unread or Hide). Similarly, Slack gives you the option to Star a channel, which makes it show up in a shorter, curated list.
I think something similar here would still help too:
> #### Favorites
>
> _Categories_
> Foo
> Bar/Pink
>
> _Tags_
> Ping
In addition to having easy navigation to any individual favorited category or tag, it’d be cool if selecting “Favorites” would filter the list to everything that matches any “favorited” category or tag.
---
### Author:  [@Stranik](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Stranik)
#### Post date: [5. August 2017 um 13:55 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/17 "2017-08-05T13:55:48Z")
If I understand correctly after translation, I did something similar. But I want to say, this plugin is not universal. It may not work. It was created only for one specific site. In the source code of the plugin, hard-coded a specific way, with the website address… But you can look at its code. To do something similar. Remove all unnecessary.
- [https://github.com/Toxu-ru/discourse-sidebar-blocks](https://github.com/Toxu-ru/discourse-sidebar-blocks)
You can try to use another: **discourse-sidebar-blocks**
And just to write a widget for categories.
```
$.ajax({
url: "/categories.json",
dataType: 'json',
async: false,
success: function(data) {....
```
---
### Author:  [@erlend\_sh](https://meta.discourse.org/u/erlend_sh)
#### Post date: [6. August 2017 um 08:18 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/18 "2017-08-06T08:18:38Z")
> [@mcwumbly](#):
>
> Has anyone explored the idea of having a persistent sidebar on the left for category navigation?
Yes, but only in mock ups:
> [@Proposing a left-aligned slide out hamburger menu](https://meta.discourse.org/t/proposing-a-left-aligned-slide-out-hamburger-menu/30287):
>
> Continuing the discussion from [Full height, slide out hamburger menu](https://meta.discourse.org/t/full-height-slide-out-hamburger-menu/29789/): Here, I will make my argument in support of the [left-aligned hamburger menu convention](https://meta.discourse.org/t/full-height-slide-out-hamburger-menu/29789/32), combined with a reworking of Discourse’s default navigation of index pages. Upon entering [meta.discourse.org](http://meta.discourse.org), you would see this: Drilling into a Category, you see this: Hamburger menu has absorbed the top sub-navigation. Hamburger menu is shown by default on index pages (on Desktop, not Mobile) Fills the same nee…
---
### Author:  [@erlend\_sh](https://meta.discourse.org/u/erlend_sh)
#### Post date: [28. September 2017 um 14:51 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/20 "2017-09-28T14:51:21Z")
Wir fördern die Entwicklung eines Plugins durch einen Entwickler. Ansatz #2 scheint der richtige Weg für ein MVP (Minimum Viable Product) zu sein. Ich poste unten eine finale Spezifikation, basierend auf den Mockups von @mcwumbly und @LeoMcA.
Einige Änderungen:
- Der primäre Interaktionsort sollte die Seite /categories sein, wo ein Stern angeklickt werden kann, um eine Kategorie zu favorisieren. (Mockup unten).
- Ich denke nicht, dass dies zur Seite „Benachrichtigungen“ hinzugefügt werden sollte. Favoriten haben keinerlei Auswirkungen auf Benachrichtigungen. Ich entscheide mich stattdessen für die Seite „Schnittstelle“ (Interface).
## SPEZIFIKATION: Kategorien favorisieren
### 1. Einen Stern-Button auf der Seite /categories einblenden
Stern-Symbole in /categories sind /hidden und werden per Toggle ein- und ausgeblendet, ähnlich wie bei Themen: 
#### Kategorien
(Könnte auch geprüft werden, wie es aussieht, wenn die Sterne bei übergeordneten Kategorien linksbündig angeordnet sind)
#### Unterkategorien
### 2. Eine Liste der Favoriten zur Seite `Benutzereinstellungen : Schnittstelle` hinzufügen.
### 3. „Favoriten“ im Kategorien-Dropdown anzeigen
Wenn Kategorien zu den Favoriten hinzugefügt wurden, ist auf der Themenlisten-Seite ein Tab „Favoriten“ sichtbar.
Wenn die Liste leer ist, wird „Meine Favoriten“ nicht angezeigt.
Angenommen, der Benutzer beobachtet #Contribute > Feature, verfolgt #howto:admins und favorisiert #Customization > Plugin sowie #Contribute > UX, würde der Benutzer Folgendes sehen (hier als „Meine Kategorien“ dargestellt):
#### my/latest
#### my/new
#### my/unread
#### my/categories
(Klickbare Sterne fehlen im Mockup. Außerdem könnte dieser Bildschirm möglicherweise nicht umsetzbar sein.)
### Erweiterungsziele (Stretch Goals):
- Favorisierte Kategorien sollten oben auf /categories und im Kategorien-Dropdown aufgelistet werden.
- Der Benutzer kann „Meine Kategorien“ als standardmäßigen Index festlegen.
- Administratoren können eine Voreinstellung für „Meine Kategorien“ definieren, sodass registrierte Benutzer bereits mit einigen Standard-Favoriten eingerichtet sind.
---
### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [28. September 2017 um 16:00 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953/21 "2017-09-28T16:00:45Z")
So glad to hear this, @erlend_sh
I have a few thoughts, which may deserve mock ups, but I’m on my phone right now.
1. We’ve [hidden the category drop-down](https://meta.discourse.org/t/simplifying-the-top-menu/68849). Would really like a way to have a simple top menu tab for the favorites topic list rather than bringing back the whole drop-down.
2. Perhaps, rather than a separate categories page for my/categories, the “starred/favorites” categories could be shown together as a separate group at the top of the existing categories page?
3. Seems like it’d make sense and be consistent to be able to star/unstar a category from the category topic list page (next to the drop-down where I can watch/mute it, etc).
[Next page](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-tabs-for-user-customizeable-saved-filters/40953.md?page=2)