# Traditional multi level hierarchy vs flat discourse hierarchy

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/traditional-multi-level-hierarchy-vs-flat-discourse-hierarchy/125809
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [8월 14, 2019, 7:02오후 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/traditional-multi-level-hierarchy-vs-flat-discourse-hierarchy/125809 "2019-08-14T19:02:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 8

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### Author: ![PackElend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/packelend/32/95294_2.png) [@PackElend](https://meta.discourse.org/u/PackElend)
#### Post date: [8월 22, 2019, 3:40오후 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/traditional-multi-level-hierarchy-vs-flat-discourse-hierarchy/125809/8 "2019-08-22T15:40:04Z")

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> [@angus](#):
>
> This won’t work because it violates one of the restrictions I mentioned.
> 
> ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/7/4/74b7fe99b58de0bd9d1cc542b813425e43f16fa8.png) angus:

you are right my mistake, I got lost in details last night.

> [@angus](#):
>
> I’m not sure, but I think you’re assuming that if you’re in the local nodes category and filtering by ‘continents’, you’ll also be able to filter by nations and cities at the same time. This also won’t work.
> 
> ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/1/e/1e49e21d078d5dbd3f79e219264eb58e3db3c788.png) PackElend:

[1] Isn’t it possible to add additional drop-down boxes ?  
That would somehow simulate `advanced search`

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/1/4/148fc554168c5846ae28ac37b6ed7040c3dcdd1a.png)

> [@angus](#):
>
> it’s going to take a while before this becomes a problem for you, i.e. years.

agree. I’m trying to bring together _old_, deep structured thinking with the approach of discourse.

> [@angus](#):
>
> At that stage, the assumptions on which you’re running your community will have changed.

but still, as you said

> [@angus](#):
>
> You need a hierarchy that makes it possible for your users to find the content that’s relevant to them.

not sure if there will be only

> [@angus](#):
>
> discussion on a ‘national’ level (query whether that would make sense anyway)

as there is a focus on projects on very low, geographical limited, area.  
Of course, certain topics will have national or global significance. How to moderate that/put all in the right context/make it available in the right corner of discourse is properly something where learning by doing applies.

If we decide to rely on tags only, your `tag intersection` approach could help tremendously.  
Before we do that step, we need to customize the `tags` and `intersection` landing page to look somehow the same as the `categories` landing page, is that feasible?  
I think of making the layout of [https://se23.life/tags](https://se23.life/tags) to use boxes filled with “sub-tags” as implied in [Higher level of granularity for category & subcategory styling - #7 by PackElend](https://meta.discourse.org/t/higher-level-of-granularity-for-category-subcategory-styling/57071/7) (but there I ask to improve boxes for subcategories).  
In addition, as soon as you click on box or tag within a box, it triggers the query `https://thepavilion.io/tags/intersection/tag1/tag2/tag3/...`. The result is rendered to displayed in the same fashion as the box style (or whatever we consider as appropriated).

As you see I’m still caught in the multi-level route as it is the same analogy, when you zoom in from global to local scale. That is for any new user the most natural navigation route to get to his local node.  
I hope you are proved correct by

> [@angus](#):
>
> You don’t necessarily need a hierarchical structure in your discussion forum that strictly matches the administrative hierarchy of the places around which discussion is happening.

but there might be concerns that a level becomes bloated by too many tags. For example, having all cities of the USA or China in the subcategories China and USA, respectively can get messy.

> [@angus](#):
>
> You need a hierarchy that makes it possible for your users to find the content that’s relevant to them.

agree but although I’m properly

> [@angus](#):
>
> investing too much in making this structurally similar to how you see the ideal state of your service from a 10,000 foot view

😁. That statement will help to de-emotionalise the deep level approach.

> [@angus](#):
>
> Moreover, the problem you’ll face will be largely one of organisation, rather than one of hierarchy. For example, you could just group the city sub-categories in a modified navigation bar according to nation if you wanted to.

can you explain it in more detail or is there an example around?  
Is this navigation bar customization somehow the same as asked in very beginning of this post, marked by [1]

I created kind of mockups visualizing a possible roadmap, postulating that level nation and cities cannot live side by side by making each of them a subcategory of local nodes.

1. Landing page is categories  

2. Landing page is categories but local nodes spring up like mushrooms  

3. lading page tags, custom theme takes care of categories like layout

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