Overview
RCA Menu Scope is a site module for Joomla 4, 5, and 6 that renders a documentation sidebar from an existing menu. It shows section headers, sibling product hubs, and deep links only under the active hub. A small companion system plugin makes the module appear on every page under your anchor without ticking hundreds of menu assignments.
Current retail line: module 2.0.11 and companion plugin 1.0.4 (pro update feeds).
Why this exists
Documentation sites need a left nav that changes shape as you move through the tree. On a hub landing page you want sections and hub titles. On a deep article you want the same sections and hubs, but only the current hub should expand to show Overview, Quick Start, FAQ, and the rest.
Core Menu modules can limit start and end levels, but they do not understand “active hub accordion” or “sibling hubs without children.” Mega menu tools can approximate it if you rebuild navigation for their layout engine. In practice that means another menu, another mental model, and hours lost in settings. Menu Scope reads the menu you already maintain in Joomla.
What it does
The module reads one menutype, optionally scoped to an anchor menu item. It computes section level and hub level from your parameters (with sensible adjustments when the anchor is not at level 1). It outputs a vertical list styled for a narrow left column.
When Show all sections is on, every section under the anchor stays listed; inactive sections do not show foreign hubs. When Show sibling hubs is on, other product hubs in the active section appear as links without their children. Only the active hub shows deeper article links, subject to Depth below hub.
When Hide outside anchor is on and an anchor is set, the module outputs nothing on pages outside that branch, so your blog and shop pages stay clean.
Companion plugin (branch visibility)
Joomla’s module assignment matches exact Itemid values. A parent menu tick does not automatically include every child documentation page. The companion plugin System — RCA Menu Scope branch visibility injects the module on every page under the anchor when visibility scope is set to Anchor branch. You assign the module once (typically to the anchor Itemid or a small set) instead of every doc page.
What it is not
Menu Scope is not a megamenu builder, not a replacement for Menus, and not a way to invent URLs. It renders what your menu already contains. It does not create menu items; pair it with RCA Auto Menu or your normal menu workflow if you add articles often.
Typical site layout
Template left position (for example left in Helix Ultimate), one Menu Scope module instance, center column for the article, optional right “On this page” anchors from the article headings. That is the same three-column documentation layout RCA uses on recreatinganew.com.