# "In the sidebar panel, I want to create a sublist under a menu item. Is that possible? If so, could you please provide examples?"

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721>\
**Category:** Dashboard\
**Tags:** dashboard-2\
**Created:** [24 July 2024 08:27 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721 "2024-07-24T08:27:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 14\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Nandhini-Subramaniya](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/nandhini-subramaniya/32/92882_2.png) [@Nandhini-Subramaniya](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Nandhini-Subramaniya)\
**Post date:** [24 July 2024 08:27 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/1 "2024-07-24T08:27:40Z")

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![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/a/9/a9afd94fb6968d03560a9784b4d67f699fd8f60e.png)  
Is that possible to bring sidebar panel like this in the dashboard 2.o  
I want to customize the sidebar panel like above image.

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**Author:** ![smanjunath211](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/smanjunath211/32/95742_2.png) [@smanjunath211](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/smanjunath211)\
**Post date:** [24 July 2024 09:38 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/2 "2024-07-24T09:38:11Z")

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> [@Contextmenu location](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/contextmenu-location/22780/45):
>
> In fact, this is @BartButenaers & @Steve-Mcl's contextmenu node, as used in my dashboard. The dashboard size is deigned for my phone in landscape, and the menu works great there too! The changes made by @dceejay have made it now that the menu popup always appears in the same location, regardless of the browser. Also, really liking @hotNipi's artless-gauges, their simplicity seems to make data easier to absorb.

try here..

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**Author:** ![Nandhini-Subramaniya](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/nandhini-subramaniya/32/92882_2.png) [@Nandhini-Subramaniya](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Nandhini-Subramaniya)\
**Post date:** [24 July 2024 10:13 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/3 "2024-07-24T10:13:28Z")

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could please provide reference link for better understanding along with code

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**Author:** ![smanjunath211](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/smanjunath211/32/95742_2.png) [@smanjunath211](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/smanjunath211)\
**Post date:** [24 July 2024 10:25 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/4 "2024-07-24T10:25:01Z")

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the above post is a link only. go through the complete post and you will get some idea.

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**Author:** ![joepavitt](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/joepavitt/32/59722_2.png) [@joepavitt](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/joepavitt)\
**Post date:** [24 July 2024 13:57 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/5 "2024-07-24T13:57:22Z")

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We don't support this currently in FlowFuse Dashboard (Dashboard 2.0), and would be a little tricky to orchestrate/configure, although open to ideas on how we could present that in the Node-RED editor.

What @smanjunath211 has linked to is a discussion about (the [now deprecated](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/announcement-node-red-dashboard-v1-deprecation-notice/89006)) Node-RED Dashboard 1.0

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**Author:** ![Bobo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/bobo/32/8401_2.png) [@Bobo](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Bobo)\
**Post date:** [25 July 2024 03:53 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/6 "2024-07-25T03:53:58Z")

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Just another vote for this concept. For several weeks now I have been lamenting the fact this is not possible. Heavy use of the dashboard is quite limited without being able to group similar pages together.

@joepavitt  
Would you not present it the same way as any other widget in the editor, indented immediately below its parent?

Cheers  
Bob

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**Author:** ![joepavitt](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/joepavitt/32/59722_2.png) [@joepavitt](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/joepavitt)\
**Post date:** [25 July 2024 07:02 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/7 "2024-07-25T07:02:09Z")

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Absolutely, its a matter of how we store that "parent", is it a page itself? Just a "container", i.e. a nee type of confog node in Node-RED?

If pages can now have parents of both UI Base _or_ "UI Page Container" (insert better name here) then we'd need to have a new option on `ui-page` that provides an option of "parent type" so that the dropdown list then updates accordingly.

It's all possible, just want to be we present the best UX wothout ovwrhelming users with options, and making it more annoying for users that don't want to use this feature.

Thanks for the +1 though. I'll get an issue opened this morning and have a think on the technical details

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**Author:** ![Bobo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/bobo/32/8401_2.png) [@Bobo](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Bobo)\
**Post date:** [25 July 2024 07:07 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/8 "2024-07-25T07:07:44Z")

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I guess the child page needs to be unique, but still inherit normal page (currently existing type) properties, so it is just a page like its parent. It's unique in that it can only attach itself to a parent page.

My 2 drachmas worth. 😁

Thanks  
Bob

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**Author:** ![Bobo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/bobo/32/8401_2.png) [@Bobo](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Bobo)\
**Post date:** [5 August 2024 04:26 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/9 "2024-08-05T04:26:17Z")

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Hi @joepavitt

I realise this probably isn't high on the list but just wondering if you had had a chance to think about how this could be implemented?

Cheers  
Bob

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**Author:** ![joepavitt](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/joepavitt/32/59722_2.png) [@joepavitt](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/joepavitt)\
**Post date:** [5 August 2024 07:05 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/10 "2024-08-05T07:05:29Z")

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Thanka for chasing Bob, I've opened: [Nested Pages in Side Navigation · Issue #1156 · FlowFuse/node-red-dashboard · GitHub](https://github.com/FlowFuse/node-red-dashboard/issues/1156)

But not had a chance to put more thought/time into it

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**Author:** ![shrickus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/shrickus/32/517_2.png) [@shrickus](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/shrickus)\
**Post date:** [6 August 2024 13:40 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/11 "2024-08-06T13:40:33Z")

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Although I know nothing about the new dashboard and how it's implemented, my first thought was to use a special character in the page name to provide the indented "structure" being requested.

For instance, in a unix file system, the `/` separates the parent container name from the child file name -- perhaps you could just group the pages under similar container names, but without having to actually have a new type of container "page"?

So in the above example both of these page names:

```
Dropdown/Page 1
Dropdown/Next page

```

would show up under the heading "Dropdown".

This could even allow multi-level nesting, if that is desired. Other fairly intuitive separators could be a vertical bar `Metrics|Temperatures` or greater than `Top Level>Middle Tier>Bottom Page`

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**Author:** ![joepavitt](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/joepavitt/32/59722_2.png) [@joepavitt](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/joepavitt)\
**Post date:** [6 August 2024 17:51 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/12 "2024-08-06T17:51:32Z")

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This is a great idea for a quick win. The only difficulty I could think of here is where the configuration would live for whether or not the sections are collapsable. Also, if you want to change the header/section name, you'd then have to go through each of the pages and update manually.

I do like it for cleanliness/ease of use, but impracticalities may be a blocker?

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**Author:** ![shrickus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/shrickus/32/517_2.png) [@shrickus](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/shrickus)\
**Post date:** [6 August 2024 18:29 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/13 "2024-08-06T18:29:41Z")

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I see your point... well then the least impactful implementation may be to add a new page property (e.g. "path"), default it to a blank string, and only show the indention if that field is truthy?

As for configuration to collapse or not -- I'd say that if a page path is set, you are specifying that you want it to show up collapsed. Otherwise, I'm not sure there is much utility to just showing an indented group of pages, is there?

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/1X/d073cd938eafa2e558d7c2cd59003b3ef4963033.png) [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [5 September 2024 18:30 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/in-the-sidebar-panel-i-want-to-create-a-sublist-under-a-menu-item-is-that-possible-if-so-could-you-please-provide-examples/89721/14 "2024-09-05T18:30:26Z")

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