Quick Start

This quick start gets a working documentation sidebar in one pass. Adjust levels if your menu depth differs.

Step 1 — Install both extensions

Install mod_rca_menu_scope and plg_system_rca_menu_scope_visibility from your RCA pro download or updater. Enable System — RCA Menu Scope branch visibility under System → Plugins.

Step 2 — Pick your anchor

In Menus, choose the single menu item that roots your documentation area. Example: Documents on the main menu, type Category Blog, pointing at your documentation category. Note that Itemid; you will use it as the anchor.

Keep one coherent tree under that anchor. Duplicate “Documents” entries in a second menutype plus aliases on the main menu works, but it doubles Itemid confusion. Many sites run faster with one menutype and one anchor.

Step 3 — Create the module

Open Content → Site Modules → New. Choose RCA Menu Scope.

Set Title to something internal (for example Docs sidebar). Set Position to your template’s left column (for example left). Set Status to Published.

Step 4 — Module options (recommended starting set)

On the module tab:

Visibility scope: Anchor branch (recommended).

Menu: the menutype that holds your documentation items (often Main Menu if everything lives there).

Anchor menu item: your Documents (or equivalent) item from step 2.

Hide outside anchor: Yes.

Section level: 2 when the anchor is level 1 (sections such as Bugfixes and Free Extensions sit one step below Documents).

Hub / accordion level: 3 when product doc roots (for example RCA ArrowChat Docs) sit below sections.

Depth below hub: All (0) unless you want to cap deep nesting.

Show sibling hubs: Yes.

Show all sections: Yes.

Caching: No caching on the module while you are testing; use global or short cache later if needed.

Step 5 — Menu assignment

On the Menu Assignment tab, select Only on the pages selected and tick your anchor item (Documents). With anchor branch visibility and the plugin enabled, child doc pages still receive the module.

Step 6 — Clear cache and test

Clear System → Clear Cache. Open a deep doc page (for example Requirements under a product hub). You should see sections, sibling hubs, and the expanded link list under the active hub only.

If the left column is empty on child pages, see Troubleshooting — almost always visibility scope, plugin disabled, or wrong anchor Itemid.