Customizing the Topic Page

You can control how articles and subtopics appear on the topic page. The default style applies to all topics. You can also add topic highlights to style specific topics differently. Your changes appear in the preview as you make them.

To customize the topic page:

  1. In the Navigation Menu, browse to Publishing > Themes.

  2. On the Themes page, go to the Custom Themes section and click the Edit button next to the theme you want to customize.

  3. In the Themes workspace, click the Pages tab, select Topic, and expand the Layout and Sections section.

  4. Enable the Show Topic Tree setting to display the topic tree navigation.

  5. Enable the Show Tags Filter setting to display the Filters option, which lets users select tag categories to filter articles within a topic.

  6. Enable the Show Topic Articles On Top setting to display topic articles above subtopics.

  7. To customize the default style, click the Edit icon next to Default and configure the following settings:

    • Topic Style: This field is set to default and cannot be modified.
    • Number of Cards in a Row: Provide the number of topic cards to display in a row.
    • Number of Topics to Display: Provide the number of topic cards to display before the Load More button appears.
    • Select a topic card layout: Vertical, Vertical Center, or Horizontal.
    • Show Title: Click the Toggle button to display the topic title.
    • Show Title Border Bottom: Click the Toggle button to display a border under the topic title.
    • Show Icon: Click the Toggle button to display the topic icon.
    • Show Image: Click the Toggle button to display the topic image.
    • Show Description: Click the Toggle button to display the topic description.
    • Show Article and Subtopics Count: Click the Toggle button to display the total number of articles and subtopics in a topic.
    • Show Go to Topic Link: Click the Toggle button to display the "Show all" link.
    • Show Card View: Click the Toggle button to display each topic as a card. When you enable this option, set the following:
      • Background Color: Click the color tool and select the card background color for light mode and dark mode.
      • Text Color: Click the color tool and select the card text color for light mode and dark mode.
    • Set the following Item Style settings:
      • Number of Items to Show: Provide the number of article titles or subtopics to display in the topic card.
      • Number of Items in a Row: Provide the number of items to display in a row within a topic card.
      • Show Article Icon: Click the Toggle button to display the article icon next to article titles.
      • Show Meta Information: Click the Toggle button to display article metadata.

  8. Click the Apply button to view the changes, and then click Back.

  9. To customize how articles appear under topics, expand the Article Sections section and configure the following settings:

    • Number of Articles to Display: Type a number, or click the increment increment and decrement decrement buttons to set the number of articles to display within a topic.
    • Number of Columns to Display: Type a number, or click the increment increment and decrement decrement buttons to set the number of columns.
    • Enable Article Count: Click the Toggle button to display the article count in the topic.
    • Show Title Border Bottom: Click the Toggle button to display a border below the section title.
    • Show Meta Information: Click the Toggle button to display article metadata. When you enable this option, the Meta Information Fields list appears. You can:
      • Click Add to add a metadata field, such as Alternate ID, Article Type, or Availability Date.
      • Drag fields to change the order in which they appear. The Summary field has a fixed position.
      • Click the Delete icon next to a field to remove it.

  10. Click Save to keep your changes to the theme, or click Publish to publish them.

Highlighting Topics

A topic highlight lets you display selected topics with their articles, or with their articles and subtopics, and configure how they look and behave on the topic page. Each topic highlight is linked to a topic style. All topics that use that topic style are displayed with the topic highlight settings instead of the default style.

Before you begin: Create the topic style as a custom attribute in the Admin Console.

To add a topic highlight:

  1. In the Navigation Menu, browse to Publishing > Themes.

  2. On the Themes page, go to the Custom Themes section and click the Edit button next to the theme you want to customize.

  3. In the Themes workspace, click the Pages tab, select Topic, and expand the Layout and Sections section.

  4. Click the Add Topic Highlight button.

  5. In the Topic Style field, type the name of the topic style you created in the Admin Console.

  6. Configure the following settings for the topic cards:

    • Number of Cards in a Row: Provide the number of topic cards to display in a row.
    • Number of Topics to Display: Provide the number of highlighted topics to display.
    • Select a topic card layout: Vertical, Vertical Center, or Horizontal. Only the Vertical layout lets you display articles and subtopics in the card.
    • Show Title, Show Title Border Bottom, Show Icon, Show Image, Show Description, Show Article and Subtopics Count, and Show Go to Topic Link: Click the Toggle button for each element you want to display on the topic card.
    • Show Card View: Click the Toggle button to display each topic as a card, and then set the Background Color and Text Color for light mode and dark mode.

  7. If you selected the Vertical layout, select one of the following options from the Type list:

    • Show articles: Displays the articles in the highlighted topic.
    • Show subtopics and articles: Displays the subtopics and articles in the highlighted topic.

  8. Configure the following Article Style settings:

    • Sort Order: Select the order in which articles are listed, such as Newest First or Oldest First.
    • Number of Articles to Show: Provide the number of articles to display.
    • Number of Articles in a Row: Provide the number of articles to display in a row.
    • Show Article Icon: Click the Toggle button to display the article icon next to article titles.
    • Show Meta Information: Click the Toggle button to display article metadata.

  9. If you selected Show subtopics and articles, configure the following Subtopic Style settings in addition to the Article Style settings as described in Step 8:

    • Number of Subtopics to Display: Provide the number of subtopics to display.
    • Number of Subtopics in a Row: Provide the number of subtopics to display in a row.
    • Select a subtopic card layout: Vertical, Vertical Center, or Horizontal.
    • Show Title, Show Title Border Bottom, Show Icon, Show Image, and Show Description: Click the Toggle button for each element you want to display on the subtopic card.
    • Show Card View: Click the Toggle button to display each subtopic as a card, and then set the Background Color and Text Color for light mode and dark mode.
    • Show Articles in Subtopics: Click the Toggle button to display articles within each subtopic. When you enable this option, configure the Articles in Subtopics settings: Sort Order, Number of Articles to Show, Number of Articles in a Row, Show Article Icon, and Show Meta Information.

  10. Click the Apply button to view the changes.

  11. Click Save to keep your changes to the theme, or click Publish to publish them.