# Discourse category approval rules by trust group

> Require approval only for the risky cohort in a category, instead of forcing every topic and reply through the same moderation gate.

- Canonical HTML: https://growth.iangoh.com/growth-ideas/discourse-category-approval-rules-by-trust-group/
- Source: [meta.discourse.org](https://meta.discourse.org/t/more-flexible-category-level-topic-and-reply-approvals/401132)
- GrowthDex source hub: [Discourse Meta: More flexible category-level topic and reply approvals](/sources/discourse-meta-more-flexible-category-level-topic-and-reply-approvals-me/)
- Last checked: 2026-05-30
- Rarity: rare
- Budget: free
- Channels: Community, Support, Operations
- Stages: moderation design, spam control, queue hygiene, community ops


## Why this can grow

Approval queues go bad in two directions. Some communities approve nothing and let spam or low-quality posts leak into the archive. Others approve everything and bury moderators under unnecessary review work. Discourse's newer category approval controls make that tradeoff less blunt. Teams can require approval for everyone except certain groups, or for no one except certain groups, which lets the queue focus on first-timers, high-risk cohorts, or especially sensitive categories without slowing the whole community.

## Ian's take

From scaling consumer platforms across MENA and Southeast Asia, my default is to distrust growth work that only looks good in a slide. My bias is to treat this as a small market test first. Make the audience narrow, make the promise concrete, and let the first real response decide whether it deserves more work. I would run it small enough to learn quickly, then only scale the parts that real users repeat, save, reply to, or buy from. For this tactic, I would watch one clear growth signal before putting more time or budget behind it.

## Action plan

1. Define one narrow startup segment where discourse category approval rules by trust group can create a measurable lift.
2. Turn the tactic into one offer, page, campaign, or workflow for the Community and Support channel.
3. Use the evidence from meta.discourse.org to set the first version of the message, format, and audience.
4. Launch a small test for 7 to 14 days with one success metric: one measurable growth signal.
5. Review the result, keep the winning message, remove weak variants, and turn the learning into a repeatable growth playbook.

## Source-backed example

Discourse shipped category-level topic and reply approval controls in April 2026 so admins can gate new topics or replies for everyone except selected groups or for no one except selected groups from the category moderation tab.

## Adjacent tactics in the same lane

- [Discourse support category type with solved defaults](/growth-ideas/discourse-support-category-type-with-solved-defaults/) - 2 shared channels, 2 shared stages
- [Category group moderation before global mod promotion](/growth-ideas/category-group-moderation-before-global-mod-promotion/) - 3 shared channels
- [GitHub contributing tab before first PR](/growth-ideas/github-contributing-tab-before-first-pr/) - 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [GitHub issue form auto-labels, assignees, and project routing](/growth-ideas/github-issue-form-auto-labels-assignees-and-project-routing/) - 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage

## Read GrowthDex essays

Browse the plain-English essay index at [GrowthDex Blog](/blog/).

## Related GrowthDex essays

- [The support queue should know what kind of thread it is](/blog/the-support-queue-should-know-what-kind-of-thread-it-is/) - support-led growth, community-led growth, brand trust

## Advisory

If you want help turning this into a working growth system, Ian Goh offers advisory at https://iangoh.com/advisory.