Sidebar

The Sidebar package lets you define your app's navigation menu as a tree of items. You describe each entry — its title, icon, and where it links — and the package resolves the URLs, hides entries the current user can't access, and highlights the item that matches the current page.

Quick start

Define your menu in app/sidebar.php, returning a Sidebar built from a list of items:

<?php

use Redot\Sidebar\Item;
use Redot\Sidebar\Sidebar;

return Sidebar::make([
    Item::make()
        ->title(__('Posts'))
        ->icon('fa fa-newspaper')
        ->route('posts.index'),

    Item::make()
        ->title(__('Content'))
        ->icon('fa fa-folder')
        ->children([
            Item::make()
                ->title(__('Categories'))
                ->icon('fa fa-tags')
                ->route('categories.index'),

            Item::make()
                ->title(__('Users'))
                ->icon('fa fa-users')
                ->route('users.index'),
        ]),
]);

The layout reads this file each request, so any item the current user is not authorized to reach is hidden automatically, and the item matching the current route is marked active.

Building items

Chain these onto Item::make():

• title — the label shown in the menu.
• icon — an icon class string, e.g. fa fa-home.
• route — the named route to link to (with optional route parameters). Setting a route also enables permission filtering and active-state detection for the item.
• url — an explicit URL, used as-is. Use this for links that aren't named routes; it wins over route for the link itself.
• external — mark the link as external so it opens in a new tab.
• children — nest items one level deep to render the entry as a dropdown.
• badge — show a badge inside the sidebar item. Pass a callback that returns a number; the returned value is rendered as the badge's inner text.
• hidden — hide the item. Pass true to always hide it, or a callback (receiving the current user) for conditional visibility.

Examples

A top-level link

Item::make()->title(__('Posts'))->icon('fa fa-newspaper')->route('posts.index');

A dropdown group

Items with children render as a dropdown. A group disappears entirely if all of its children are hidden or filtered out:

Item::make()
    ->title(__('Content'))
    ->icon('fa fa-folder')
    ->children([
        Item::make()
            ->title(__('Categories'))
            ->icon('fa fa-tags')
            ->route('categories.index'),
    ]);

Showing a badge

Use badge to show a numeric count inside a sidebar item, such as pending posts, unread messages, or other dashboard counters. The method accepts a callback, and the callback should return the number to display as the badge text:

Item::make()
    ->title(__('Posts'))
    ->icon('fa fa-newspaper')
    ->route('posts.index')
    ->badge(fn () => Post::query()->where('status', 'pending')->count());

Conditionally hiding an item

Pass a boolean to hide based on config, or a callback for per-user logic:

Item::make()
    ->title(__('Categories'))
    ->route('categories.index')
    ->hidden(config('blog.features.categories.enabled') === false);

An external link

Item::make()->title(__('Docs'))->url('https://example.com/docs')->external(true);

Notes

• An item is hidden automatically when the current user isn't allowed to reach its route. Items defined with only a url are not permission-filtered — gate those yourself with hidden.
• Active highlighting follows the matched route: an *.index route also stays active on that section's create/edit pages, and an active child bubbles its active state up to its parent.

Related

• Helpers — route_allowed() and related permission helpers.
• Components overview