Anchor sidebar settings disclosure to the header

Austin Regneryrequested to merge
aregnery/move-settings into master

What does this MR do and why?

Behind the hide_unpinned_sidebar_items feature flag, this moves the settings disclosure from the sidebar footer up into the context header, next to the customize-sidebar (ellipsis) toggle, so its position is consistent across all three navigation modes (Flat / Organized / Everything). Previously the control sat in the footer and, in "Everything" mode, rendered inline as a category section.

Details:

  • The settings disclosure <portal-target> now lives in the context header and renders as an icon-only button where space is tight.
  • In the collapsed (icon-only) sidebar, the target keeps its former footer placement. The footer target is the exact complement of the header one, so settings always has a single place to portal into — including panels with no context header (e.g. the search panel).
  • The tooltip on the icon-only toggle is anchored above the button in the header, and to the right in the collapsed sidebar.
  • The selected-indicator bar on the toggle is suppressed while the selected background is kept, so the always-present control reads as less cluttered. aria-current="page" is unaffected.

References

Tailored navigation: Concrete fixes and polish ... (#621643) • Taurie Davis, Paul Gascou-Vaillancourt+ • Next 1-3 releases

Screenshots or screen recordings

Before After
CleanShot_2026-09-30_at_9.50.27_AM_2x CleanShot_2026-09-30_at_10.59.19_AM_2x
CleanShot_2026-09-30_at_9.50.38_AM_2x CleanShot 2026-09-30 at 10.59.27 AM@2x.png
CleanShot 2026-09-30 at 9.50.47 AM@2x.png CleanShot_2026-09-30_at_10.59.34_AM_2x

How to set up and validate locally

  1. Enable the feature flag in the Rails console:

    Feature.enable(:hide_unpinned_sidebar_items)

  2. Visit any group or project (a pinnable, non-organization panel), e.g. http://127.0.0.1:3000/flightjs/Flight.

  3. Confirm the settings control appears at the top of the sidebar, next to the customize-sidebar (ellipsis) toggle, as an icon-only button.

  4. Open the customize-sidebar menu and switch between Flat, Organized, and Everything — the settings control stays anchored at the top in all three modes.

  5. Hover the settings button: the tooltip appears above it.

  6. Collapse the sidebar to icon-only: the settings control moves to its former footer position and the tooltip appears to the right.

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Edited by Austin Regnery

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