Hyan reports an issue where users can create topics without selecting a category, even though the site setting “allow uncategorized topics” is unchecked. They note that topics were migrated from an older site and previously allowed uncategorized posts. Lilly and Lhc_fl suggest locating uncategorized topics via the URL /c/uncategorized/1 or /c/1-category/1. After moving all topics out of “uncategorized,” Hyan still observes that the composer doesn’t enforce category selection visually — no placeholder text like “Select a category before typing here” appears, and the cursor isn’t disabled. However, upon submission, an error prevents posting without a category, which works as intended. maiki requests a screenshot to investigate and later notes that the setting default composer category may influence the initial category selection in the composer. Hyan confirms via screenshots that no uncategorized topics remain, the setting is disabled, and the enforcement only occurs at submission, not during composition. The core question remains: why the UI doesn’t visually indicate the requirement to select a category during editing, despite the backend validation working.
I encounter the same issue as below topic. The user is neither staff nor moderator (new registered). But they can create topic without selecting a category.
Two highlights, the topics were migrated from an old site, and the “allow uncategorized topics” is checked before (I’m changing it to unchecked). In the site setting there’s a “WARNING: If there are any uncategorized topics, you must recategorize them before turning this off.” does this mean in my site there’re uncategorized topics preventing this setting working?
How can I find all uncategorized topics then? Thanks in advance.
If you had allow uncategorized topics enabled, then there should be an uncategorized option in the categorized drop down field of the advanced search page.
Thanks, @Lilly@Lhc_fl I’ve moved all topics from “uncategorized” and with “allow uncategorized topics” unchecked, users can still post without selecting a category. I expect in post editor there’s placeholder text “Select a category before typing here.” and mouse pointer is disabled. Are there’s any other places I need to change?
Please provide a screenshot showing the composer with no category selected. I’m unable to reproduce the issue with the settings configured to not allow “uncategorized” topics.
Update - Though the composer’s placeholder doesn’t mention “have to select a category”, when I try to submit the topic, there’s a error popup to prevent me from doing. This is good but I still wonder why the placeholder text is not placed in editing composer.
