Liquid forum topic lists: loop through sb.forum correctly

Inside a community area, customers need to recognize the discussion that matches their question. sb.forum supplies the topic rows for the selected forum. Despite its singular name, it is a collection, so a template must loop through it before reading a title or other row property.

What this object gives you  ·  Choose the correct page and customer context  ·  Supported values and how to use them  ·  Example: help customers choose a relevant discussion  ·  Use discussion status without overstating the answer  ·  Make and verify the change  ·  Common problems and recovery  ·  Keep the portal useful over time

What this object gives you

Use {% for discussion in sb.forum %} and then read discussion.title. An expression such as sb.forum.title treats the collection as one discussion and is not the correct Core pattern.

These rows summarize discussions. Open the topic route to display the actual posts. A resolved marker helps readers spot a potentially useful outcome, but they still need to read the discussion and check whether it applies to their own situation.

Choose the correct page and customer context

Use a forum page with a valid selected ForumId and its normal paging context. A general forum directory uses sb.forums instead. A single discussion page uses sb.topic.

Open the intended portal in Settings → Customer Portal, then choose Page templates. You need permission to administer communities or the applicable portal-edit override. Work on the existing page for this task; adding an object name to a different page does not make its records available. Keep existing forms, input names, navigation and scripts intact.

Liquid is a presentation language. Expressions inside {{ ... }} print values; statements inside {% ... %} control a loop or condition. A collection must be looped through before reading an individual row. These examples are display fragments to adapt within a working template, not replacement page templates.

Supported values and how to use them

Example: help customers choose a relevant discussion

<ul class="discussion-list">
{% for discussion in sb.forum %}
 <li>
 <a href="/topic/{{ discussion.id | escape }}">{{ discussion.title | escape_once }}</a>
 {% if discussion.resolved %}<span>Resolved</span>{% endif %}
 <span>{{ discussion.post_count }} posts</span>
 </li>
{% else %}
 <li>No discussions are available in this forum context.</li>
{% endfor %}
</ul>

Keep the portal’s existing paging and filtering controls. A Liquid loop only displays the rows supplied for the page; it is not a request for every discussion in the entire community. Use clear link text so a keyboard or screen-reader user can distinguish the discussions.

Use discussion status without overstating the answer

A customer investigating an intermittent pump alarm may find several similar titles. A title naming the equipment and symptom, combined with a resolved indicator, helps them select a promising discussion. It does not establish that the posted solution is approved for every model.

When a discussion exposes a reusable answer, the support team can review it through the knowledge process and publish an appropriately scoped article. Preserve the distinction between a community conversation and a reviewed instruction.

Make and verify the change

1. Write down the customer task this change should improve. For example, make the correct request or relevant knowledge easier to find. Decide what should appear when there is no data.
2. Copy the current template into your approved change record before editing. Add the fragment in the correct page context without removing functional controls.
3. Choose Save Changes to save the draft, then Design to preview it. Check a populated example and an empty or signed-out example as applicable.
4. Inspect desktop and narrow-screen layouts. Test long customer names, long titles, missing optional values, readable links and keyboard navigation.
5. Use Review changes → Publish when the draft is ready. A saved draft does not update the live visitor page.
6. Open the actual portal as an intended customer and follow the full task. Verify another relevant role or customer scope where visibility differs. Record the account, page, role and outcome with the change.

Common problems and recovery

Keep the portal useful over time

Encourage descriptive discussion titles and keep reviewed knowledge easy to reach from community navigation. Do not use activity counts as a substitute for answer quality or customer impact.

Use clear labels and meaningful empty states. Do not display a raw ID when a customer needs a descriptive name, and do not describe an absent value as a service failure. After changes to portal roles, topic placement, custom fields or language coverage, revisit the relevant customer examples. A successful render alone does not establish that the instructions, links and customer visibility are still correct.

Continue learning

• Plan and publish a safe Liquid portal customization
• Build a forum directory
• Show the forum breadcrumb
• Render a selected discussion
• Configure the customer portal