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.
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.
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. For activation, the useful question is not whether users liked the page. It is whether they got to the first meaningful win faster. For this tactic, I would watch one clear growth signal before putting more time or budget behind it.
Action plan
- Define one narrow startup segment where topic list sidebars from closed guidance topic can create a measurable lift.
- Turn the tactic into one offer, page, campaign, or workflow for the Community and Documentation channel.
- Use the evidence from meta.discourse.org to set the first version of the message, format, and audience.
- Launch a small test for 7 to 14 days with one success metric: one measurable growth signal.
- Review the result, keep the winning message, remove weak variants, and turn the learning into a repeatable growth playbook.
Source-backed 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: Discourse Meta: Topic List Sidebars (meta.discourse.org)
GrowthDex source hub: Discourse Meta: Topic List Sidebars
Last checked: 2026-05-30
Adjacent tactics in the same lane
If this page is close to your problem, these tactic pages usually belong in the same working set.
- Discourse doc category index sidebar for evergreen answers 2 shared channels · 1 shared stage
- Category banners from About-topic copy 2 shared channels · 1 shared stage
- Discourse support category type with solved defaults 2 shared channels
- Public feedback portal synced to internal roadmap 2 shared channels
Related GrowthDex essays
- The forum should route the newcomer before they post community-led growth, support-led growth, product feedback
Read GrowthDex essays
The Blog turns real growth tactics into plain-English case studies by niche, channel, and buying situation.
Why this is worth your time
GrowthDex starts with tactics that founders, marketers, and product teams have actually tried. Each essay turns the evidence into a practical move you can test without pretending one case study is a guarantee.
Ian Goh has helped grow consumer platforms across Southeast Asia, India, and MENA. His work includes scaling Tiki to 100M+ users, doubling BIGO's MENA revenue in 7 months, and increasing OYO's direct booking share across 6 Southeast Asian markets.
- Helped scale Tiki to 100M+ users.
- Doubled BIGO's MENA revenue in 7 months.
- Raised OYO's direct booking share by 50% across 6 Southeast Asian markets.
Want help turning this into a growth system?
If you want someone to pressure-test this against your real market, Ian works with founders on growth, market entry, and operator-led distribution.
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