What else needs to be customizable for a category?

Codidact Platform Ideas
1

From the spec for categories:

To define a category, one must specify:

  • name (this is the name to be shown in the UI)
  • permitted types of top-level posts (question, discussion, article (blog post), etc) – note that for MVP we have not defined these additional post types and question is the only option initially
  • tag set to use (same as main or category-specific)

I think this list is not complete. I’ve seen mention of two other per-category settings we might want:

  • Minimum trust level to post (to optionally limit canonical/wiki categories)
  • License or default license (people posting work for critique often want something more restrictive than CC)

Do we want to tackle either of these for MVP? If so, how? A minimum TL to post sounds like a logical idea but potentially opens other cans of worms, like editing restrictions. We haven’t really talked about license flexibility; over on TopAnswers people can choose a license (from a list) for each post and set a personal default, and here I’m raising the idea of a category default. We probably need to do something, but it could get complicated. On the other hand, we want to avoid placing barriers before interested communities, such as Photography and Writing.

What should we do here? And are there other significant customizations we should think about from the beginning when designing categories?

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2

Which theme/design to use.
Which privileges configuration.

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3

I think categories should define, which links will be shown in the category navigation and how they’ll be named. For example, a q&a category might want:

  • questions (top level post list)
  • tags (tag list)
  • search (search start)
  • ask question (new top level post)

And a blog category might want:

  • posts (top level post list)
  • my posts (top level post list with filter)
  • search (search start)
  • new post (new top level post)
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4

A blog category might want the tags list (if it’s an active blog), but I take your general point: the links shown in that top bar within the category should be customizable both in terms of what appears and what language is used “ask question” vs “new post” vs “new critique” etc).

Categories should also have a short description (suitable for use in a tooltip over the name) and maybe a longer “intro” block, a paragraph or so, to be used in a dismissible notice. (Intended use: people newly visiting that category. The same text could also be used in a “list of categories” page.)

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5

I don’t remember if this has been discussed before or not, but will there be a “meta” category, or is meta planned at all?

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6

Meta is a category, yes. Sites need meta; we’ll implement it as a category, not as a whole separate site.

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