Back to GrowthDex
Growth idea action plan

Topic list sidebars from closed guidance topic

Attach a closed guidance topic as a category or tag sidebar so recurring instructions stay visible beside the live thread list.

rare tacticmedium budget

Why this can grow a startup

A forum often hides its best operating instructions in a pinned topic that disappears the moment new posts arrive. Discourse Topic List Sidebars solves that by letting the operator reuse a topic as a sidebar on a category, tag, or even top-level discovery pages. That keeps checklists, submission advice, and important links in view without forcing every visitor to open a separate thread first. It is a simple way to keep the forum legible while the topic list keeps moving.

Company example

Discourse recommends creating sidebar topics in their own category or tag, then closing and unlisting them before using their topic IDs to populate sidebars across categories, tags, or even the all-topics views.

Source and metric

Source: Discourse Meta: Topic List Sidebars

Sidebars can appear on category pages, tag pages, and `/latest`, `/new`, `/unread`, or `/top`, and parent-category sidebars can inherit into subcategories.

Source discovered: May 30, 2026

CommunityDocumentationWebsitewayfindingdocs discoverabilitycommunity onboardinginternal linking
GrowthDex operator note

When to use it

Use this when Community, Documentation, Website is relevant to wayfinding, docs discoverability, community onboarding and you can run a bounded test with a medium budget.

When not to use it

Do not use it as a substitute for customer evidence, a clear owner, or a measurable stop condition. Local platform rules and market behavior still need checking.

Founder checklist

  1. Read Discourse Meta: Topic List Sidebars and identify what is directly supported.
  2. Choose one channel context: Community, Documentation, Website.
  3. Define the test around Sidebars can appear on category pages, tag pages, and `/latest`, `/new`, `/unread`, or `/top`, and parent-category sidebars can inherit into subcategories..
  4. Set an owner, evidence window, and stop condition before launch.

Explore the context

Creator and Community GrowthCommunityDocumentationWebsite

Related tactics

Category banners from About-topic copy

Turn each category's About topic into a persistent banner so newcomers see the purpose, rules, and next click before they post.

uncommonCommunity, Website, Support

Discourse doc category index sidebar for evergreen answers

Promote the best recurring answers into indexed documentation categories so the forum keeps its community energy without burying durable guidance.

rareCommunity, Documentation, SEO

Twilio Code Exchange use-case gallery before blank API evaluation

Lead with usable code samples for common jobs before the evaluator has to imagine the product from raw reference docs alone.

uncommonDocumentation, Activation, Community

Roadmap introduction lane for newcomers

Add a short introduction lane or explainer section to a public roadmap so first-time visitors know how to read the board before they start interpreting statuses.

rareWebsite, Product, Community

Discourse topic template before support post submit

Prefill support categories with the fields you actually need so bug reports and setup questions arrive with enough context to answer on the first pass.

uncommonCommunity, Support, Documentation

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.

rareCommunity, Support, Documentation
Advisory bridge

Apply this with an operator

Build creator and community systems around real incentives, trust, and repeat participation.

Work with Ian