# Left sidebar: is the top menu useful?
**URL:** https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/left-sidebar-is-the-top-menu-useful/1438
**Category:** Site Feedback
**Tags:** feedback
**Created:** [25 September 2023 07:10 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/left-sidebar-is-the-top-menu-useful/1438 "2023-09-25T07:10:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@clairecarouge](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/clairecarouge)
#### Post date: [25 September 2023 07:10 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/left-sidebar-is-the-top-menu-useful/1438/1 "2023-09-25T07:10:16Z")
Discourse forums are highly customisable and it is hard to get the right setup on the first time. We want to make it as simple as possible for everyone to find what they need. A part of this is looking at the various quick links in the left sidebar. This sidebar is entirely customisable, as such we are wondering if the current default setup is functional.
In particular, the top menu in the sidebar is not collapsible and the links in that menu should be chosen with care as they take valuable real estate. This is what the current section looks like:
We would like to know if:
- You find these links useful.
- You would prefer to have other links in that section. Note: since the Categories and Tags sections of the sidebar are entirely customisable by users, we will not add links to any category or tag page here.
- You would prefer to have fewer links with some hidden in the `More` section.
One proposal would be to put all the current links into the `More` section except for the `My Posts` link.
Please let us know in replies to this topic what would be your preferred mix.
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### Author:  [@Scott](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/Scott)
#### Post date: [25 September 2023 23:51 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/left-sidebar-is-the-top-menu-useful/1438/2 "2023-09-25T23:51:29Z")
I only use the ‘latest topics’ link to see the list of all posts - it used to be always visible but changed to be behind the ‘more…’ link recently
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### Author:  [@Aidan](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/Aidan)
#### Post date: [26 September 2023 05:22 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/left-sidebar-is-the-top-menu-useful/1438/3 "2023-09-26T05:22:36Z")
Oops! That was my fault.
Note that is the same as selecting latest in the top bar:
which is what I pretty much always use. Would that suffice for your use case too @Scott?
Speaking of the top bar, “Docs” and “Groups” is available there, so there isn’t too much loss in functionality by hiding them under “More”:
About and FAQ are a little more hidden. I don’t know if anyone ever clicks on them, but there aren’t that many places you can find that info, though I suppose putting them under More is exactly the use case for something like that, thought it does reduce it’s discoverability.
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### Author:  [@Scott](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/Scott)
#### Post date: [26 September 2023 05:56 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/left-sidebar-is-the-top-menu-useful/1438/4 "2023-09-26T05:56:08Z")
The top bar isn’t always available, e.g. inside a post there’s only the side bar
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### Author:  [@clairecarouge](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/clairecarouge)
#### Post date: [26 September 2023 06:46 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/left-sidebar-is-the-top-menu-useful/1438/5 "2023-09-26T06:46:02Z")
I agree with @Scott : the most used shortcuts should be in the sidebar because it’s always visible.
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### Author:  [@clairecarouge](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/clairecarouge)
#### Post date: [26 September 2023 06:50 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/left-sidebar-is-the-top-menu-useful/1438/6 "2023-09-26T06:50:27Z")
Maybe I could add what inspired my query is the Discourse Meta forum: [Discourse Meta - The Official Support Forum for Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/latest)
Its default page is the latest topics and the sidebar is minimalist. “Topics” points to the latest topics.
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### Author:  [@Aidan](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/Aidan)
#### Post date: [29 September 2023 07:46 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/left-sidebar-is-the-top-menu-useful/1438/7 "2023-09-29T07:46:29Z")
> [@clairecarouge](#):
>
> I agree with @Scott : the most used shortcuts should be in the sidebar because it’s always visible.
Okey doke. So do we have agreement on what should be shown by default and otherwise hidden under more?
I’m seeing this as what people want to see:
> My Posts
> Latest Topics
and the rest under “More”.
Agreed?
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### Author:  [@clairecarouge](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/clairecarouge)
#### Post date: [6 October 2023 02:49 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/left-sidebar-is-the-top-menu-useful/1438/8 "2023-10-06T02:49:02Z")
Either:
> Latest Topics
> My Posts
Or
> Latest Topics
and everything else under More.
If I’m the only one wanting “My Posts” then it’s not worth keeping outside More. But in any case, put “Latest Topics” first.
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### Author:  [@Aidan](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/Aidan)
#### Post date: [6 October 2023 04:05 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/left-sidebar-is-the-top-menu-useful/1438/9 "2023-10-06T04:05:33Z")
Done.
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### Author:  [@Aidan](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/Aidan)
#### Post date: [10 October 2023 00:22 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/left-sidebar-is-the-top-menu-useful/1438/10 "2023-10-10T00:22:13Z")