# Discourse support category type with solved defaults

> Spin up a dedicated support category type so answer workflows, solved states, and support-specific defaults exist before the queue gets noisy.

- Canonical HTML: https://growth.iangoh.com/growth-ideas/discourse-support-category-type-with-solved-defaults/
- Source: [meta.discourse.org](https://meta.discourse.org/t/easily-create-support-categories-using-the-discourse-solved-plugin/398338/1)
- GrowthDex source hub: [Discourse Meta: Easily create Support categories using the discourse-solved plugin](/sources/discourse-meta-easily-create-support-categories-using-the-discourse-solv/)
- Last checked: 2026-05-30
- Rarity: rare
- Budget: medium
- Channels: Community, Support, Documentation
- Stages: support architecture, answer retrieval, community ops, queue hygiene


## Why this can grow

Support threads decay when the category is really just general discussion with different branding. Discourse's support category type fixes that at setup time. It gives the team a question-and-answer lane with the solved plugin defaults exposed in one place, which means answer marking, filters, and support behavior are not bolted on later after bad thread habits already spread. That lowers cleanup work and makes the archive more useful to both searchers and moderators.

## 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 support category type with solved defaults 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 announced in March 2026 that admins can create a Support category type that automatically configures the fields and settings needed for support and question-and-answer workflows with the Discourse Solved plugin.

## Adjacent tactics in the same lane

- [Discourse topic template before support post submit](/growth-ideas/discourse-topic-template-before-support-post-submit/) - 3 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [Discourse solved tags on mixed discussion categories](/growth-ideas/discourse-solved-tags-on-mixed-discussion-categories/) - 2 shared channels, 2 shared stages
- [Discourse category approval rules by trust group](/growth-ideas/discourse-category-approval-rules-by-trust-group/) - 2 shared channels, 2 shared stages
- [Ideas category type with topic voting defaults](/growth-ideas/ideas-category-type-with-topic-voting-defaults/) - 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.