# Sub-categories?

**URL:** <https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56>\
**Category:** Site Feedback\
**Created:** [September 2, 2024, 9:05am UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56 "2024-09-02T09:05:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 19\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ttcoder](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/ttcoder/32/9_2.png) [@ttcoder](https://genode.discourse.group/u/ttcoder)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 9:05am UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/1 "2024-09-02T09:05:47Z")

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Anyone else feels it’s time to split up and dispatch posts from the unique “General” category ? We don’t want to ‘go crazy’ and create many empty (or one-post) categories, but going from just one to 3 or 4 would strike a good balance, I believe.

I’m going to spend a few days playing with the discourse configuration. Seems the “add custom section” admin button is the one to use (?).

At least, the “edit categories” button does not do anything useful for me here. Using FireFox, I cannot add new categories at least.

Based on posts created so far, I’m thinking of creating categories like…

- Hardware (improving existing – and extending to new – hardware support)
- Software : Genode & SculptOS (announcements, feedback on Genode development, suggestions)
- Software : third party (for the ‘genode-world’ repo and other third party Genode developers)

Thoughts ?

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**Author:** ![ttcoder](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/ttcoder/32/9_2.png) [@ttcoder](https://genode.discourse.group/u/ttcoder)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 9:13am UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/2 "2024-09-02T09:13:51Z")

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Got it, seems I’m missing the “New category” button due to discourse configuration : [Create a category in Discourse - Site Management - Discourse Meta](https://meta.discourse.org/t/create-a-category-in-discourse/197224?silent=true)

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**Author:** ![squizzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@squizzler](https://genode.discourse.group/u/squizzler)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 2:04pm UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/3 "2024-09-02T14:04:40Z")

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I agree that being able to filter the forum by category would be a great benefit. It does not matter if some of the categories are not well populated so long as the homepage remains “flat” rather than being reorganised into into a tree structure, which would be inappropriate with current post volumes.

I think the tags could be used more effectively than I have seen in other forums. For instance in addition to your proposed hardware category there could be tags for x86, ARM, RISC-V, POWER, USB, WiFi, GPU etc.

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**Author:** ![ttcoder](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/ttcoder/32/9_2.png) [@ttcoder](https://genode.discourse.group/u/ttcoder)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 2:33pm UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/4 "2024-09-02T14:33:01Z")

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> [@squizzler](#):
>
> For instance in addition to your proposed hardware category there could be tags for x86, ARM, RISC-V, POWER, USB, WiFi, GPU etc.

Sounds like it would make it easier to later return to a topic by searching for it, i.e. make the forum a bit like a “knowledge base”.

Is tagging something that is done moderator-side, or user-side ? I do see “tags” buttons here when visting a Category (or the “All categories” page), as a mod.

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**Author:** ![ttcoder](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/ttcoder/32/9_2.png) [@ttcoder](https://genode.discourse.group/u/ttcoder)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/5 "2024-09-02T14:56:35Z")

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In the future we could also have a “[Genodians.org](http://Genodians.org)” category, as an alternative to reddit for discussing articles.

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**Author:** ![spenc](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/spenc/32/71_2.png) [@spenc](https://genode.discourse.group/u/spenc)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 4:00pm UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/6 "2024-09-02T16:00:49Z")

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I’ll post more in depth when I’m on my laptop, but I think this is a good idea. Imo the best part of categories is to be very visible and communicate what type of posts are encouraged. As in, there’s a ‘projects I’ve been working on’ category so people can see that and decide to post their cool project. If we add a ‘general programming’ category we might have posts about that, but as-is its not clear that like, programming techniques or static verification type things are on-topic.

So its kinda a question of values, what sort of things do we want to see?

Tags seem useful for categorizing the site as it is actually used, so people can filter for things that specifically interest them, and yea for searching later

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**Author:** ![spenc](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/spenc/32/71_2.png) [@spenc](https://genode.discourse.group/u/spenc)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/7 "2024-09-02T16:10:33Z")

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I would personally split it something like:

Using Genode/Sculpt  
Community Projects  
Tech Support  
General Programming

& yea genodians is a good idea too

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**Author:** ![ttcoder](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/ttcoder/32/9_2.png) [@ttcoder](https://genode.discourse.group/u/ttcoder)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/8 "2024-09-02T16:22:13Z")

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Good point on having a category _explicitely_ named “Help” or “Tech support”, better than relying on people asking for help in a section named more generically “Genode & SculptOS”… Those in need of help should feel welcome requesting that. Would the “Using Sculpt” category be somewhat duplicate, then ? Or maybe, let’s put it this way – genodians generally need help in 3 ways:

- end-user help (where to click), which necessarily relates to SculptOS
- system composition (and debugging it) (like hamed’s recent posts, or my questions from last year), which necessarily relates to the Genode framework itself
- programming help, which would go to “General Programming” (“developer’s corner”).

One could argue that system composition help does not need its own category and can go in the programming (or let’s use the more generic wording “developement” ?) category.

As to the others, I went with slightly different wording, we could change it too.

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**Author:** ![spenc](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/spenc/32/71_2.png) [@spenc](https://genode.discourse.group/u/spenc)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/9 "2024-09-02T16:39:43Z")

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I like your naming a lot better,

and good point about where composition fits being ambiguous, I could see it going either way. Kinda like the whole ‘programming via XML’ sort of things, is it configuration? Is it programming? Is there a difference?

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**Author:** ![squizzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@squizzler](https://genode.discourse.group/u/squizzler)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 5:51pm UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/10 "2024-09-02T17:51:39Z")

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> [@ttcoder](#):
>
> Is tagging something that is done moderator-side, or user-side ? I do see “tags” buttons here when visting a Category (or the “All categories” page), as a mod.

I think it must be done moderator-side, unless it is something that requires elevated user privileges.

If it is the latter, and because Genode probably attracts a more savvy audience, I would suggest the moderators set a lower threshold for being able to create new tags. Edit - on the same basis perhaps turn off the “you’ve just earned your first quote/like/post edit badge”!

I prefer the idea of tags, categories by comparison seem a bit “old-skool filesystem tree” and whilst a conversation has to go in the “best-fit” category, I think it can have several tags.

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**Author:** ![ttcoder](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/ttcoder/32/9_2.png) [@ttcoder](https://genode.discourse.group/u/ttcoder)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 9:04am UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/11 "2024-09-03T09:04:02Z")

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I kinda like the idea of ‘querying’ for information (à la BeOS!) but after looking into it, almost none of us (including me) are allowed to access the tag interface, as it requires “trust level 3” : [Trust Level Permissions Reference - Using Discourse - Discourse Meta](https://meta.discourse.org/t/trust-level-permissions-reference/224824)

(edit: so you were quite right in pointing the finger at user privilege)

@genodelabs @chelmuth It seems that requirement can be dialed down though : [https://d11a6trkgmumsb.cloudfront.net/original/4X/8/e/1/8e1907ba8b90d72b582737ff3f0b339e3ea7004d.png](https://d11a6trkgmumsb.cloudfront.net/original/4X/8/e/1/8e1907ba8b90d72b582737ff3f0b339e3ea7004d.png)

I.e. we could set “min trust to create tag: trust level 1” and leave “min trust to tag topic” unchanged at 0, for a start.

I like the idea that users can contribute to creating the tags, even if I help with ‘refactoring’ them after the fact 😉

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**Author:** ![ttcoder](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/ttcoder/32/9_2.png) [@ttcoder](https://genode.discourse.group/u/ttcoder)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 9:06am UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/12 "2024-09-03T09:06:29Z")

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So I moved most posts from #General into their respective categories. Fairly happy with the result as it’s balanced – just wish I’d find the right wording to differentiate the #Help / Tech Support and #Genode and SculptOS categories, i.e. express that questions which are general in nature can go to #Genode and SculptOS , whereas troubleshooting questions specific to a given user would be a better fit in #Help / Tech Support

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**Author:** ![ttcoder](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/ttcoder/32/9_2.png) [@ttcoder](https://genode.discourse.group/u/ttcoder)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 9:51am UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/13 "2024-09-03T09:51:31Z")

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Moderators (me and Spencer) can now click the ‘edit title’ and access the widget to create/add tags. Added #arm and #arm64 so far for testing, looks like it works.

Adding tags to a topic might require less privileges than creating tags though, any of you folks see the add-tag widget ?

As to creating new tags, please do go through Spencer and me.

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**Author:** ![chelmuth](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/chelmuth/32/1_2.png) [@chelmuth](https://genode.discourse.group/u/chelmuth)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 10:10am UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/14 "2024-09-03T10:10:25Z")

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> [@ttcoder](#):
>
> Adding tags to a topic might require less privileges than creating tags though, any of you folks see the add-tag widget ?

I just added arm64 to the Rockchip topic the same way you created and added tags. Note, I shouldn;t have special privileges with this account.

_EDIT: Seems I was one trust level 3 while doing the above. Now with level 1 “basic user” I can only add tags when creating a new topic myself._

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**Author:** ![pfr](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/pfr/32/108_2.png) [@pfr](https://genode.discourse.group/u/pfr)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2024, 3:56am UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/15 "2024-09-24T03:56:54Z")

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Any chance we can get a “Noob’s Corner”, perhaps as a sub category of Genode & SculptOS?

I’m hesitant to post anywhere out of fear that I’ll expose myself as an imbecile.

I’d love a place where I can ask stupid questions without clogging up the intelligent discourse threads.

**EDIT**  
Never mind, it seems I found my [home](https://genode.discourse.group/t/about-the-help-tech-support-category).

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**Author:** ![hamed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d6d6ee/32.png) [@hamed](https://genode.discourse.group/u/hamed)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2024, 2:05pm UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/16 "2024-10-01T14:05:33Z")

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Is there an option to mark that the topic creator got their answer and the thread can be closed?

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**Author:** ![ttcoder](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/ttcoder/32/9_2.png) [@ttcoder](https://genode.discourse.group/u/ttcoder)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/17 "2024-10-01T14:10:17Z")

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The moderation-admin ‘stats’ page mentions something about “solved topics”, but there is no such moderation option on any given topic’s page, that I can see. Someone more versed into Discourse features would know more

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**Author:** ![ttcoder](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/ttcoder/32/9_2.png) [@ttcoder](https://genode.discourse.group/u/ttcoder)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/18 "2024-10-01T14:27:13Z")

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Do you have a ‘pencil’ button next to the topic’s title (in #General if not here) ? That would allow editing the title to add something like [SOLVED] next to it. Otherwise I can do it.

P.S. I also have plans for collecting knowledge from all those topics into a centralized wiki, but that will take time, and time is short ATM. At a later point, though…

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**Author:** ![chelmuth](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex006/user_avatar/genode.discourse.group/chelmuth/32/1_2.png) [@chelmuth](https://genode.discourse.group/u/chelmuth)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2024, 6:17pm UTC](https://genode.discourse.group/t/sub-categories/56/19 "2024-10-01T18:17:34Z")

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Maybe the doc refers to [Solved | Discourse - Civilized Discussion](https://www.discourse.org/plugins/solved.html)…
