# Phase 27: Top Nav Restructure & Search Bar Rethink - Discussion Log

> **Audit trail only.** Do not use as input to planning, research, or execution agents.
> Decisions are captured in CONTEXT.md — this log preserves the alternatives considered.

**Date:** 2026-04-10
**Phase:** 27-top-nav-restructure-and-search-bar-rethink
**Areas discussed:** Nav bar content & links, Collection consolidation, Search bar placement, Search overlay rethink

---

## Nav Bar Content & Links

### Setups Elevation

| Option | Description | Selected |
|--------|-------------|----------|
| Home + Collection only | Minimal — just landing page and collection. Settings via user menu. | |
| Home + Collection + Discover | Adds dedicated Discover link for browsing catalog/setups. | |
| Home + Collection + Setups | Elevates Setups to top-level nav alongside Collection. | ✓ |

**User's choice:** Home + Collection + Setups
**Notes:** User confirmed threads should not be elevated to top-level. Setups warrant their own section.

### Search Bar Behavior

| Option | Description | Selected |
|--------|-------------|----------|
| Always catalog search | Nav search bar always searches global catalog. Simple and consistent. | ✓ |
| Context-aware search | Different search per page (catalog on Home, local gear on Collection). | |
| Catalog search + local filter | Nav always catalog, plus inline filter on Collection/Setups pages. | |

**User's choice:** Always global catalog search
**Notes:** User initially considered blended local+global search (showing local gear first, then global results below) but decided to keep it simple for now. Blended search deferred to future phase.

### Anonymous Nav

| Option | Description | Selected |
|--------|-------------|----------|
| Hide Collection/Setups | Anonymous users only see Home + search + Sign in. | |
| Show with auth prompt | All links visible; Collection/Setups trigger auth prompt for anonymous. | ✓ |

**User's choice:** Show with auth prompt
**Notes:** Encourages sign-up by showing what's available.

### Mobile Behavior

| Option | Description | Selected |
|--------|-------------|----------|
| Hamburger menu | Logo + search icon + hamburger on mobile. | |
| Bottom tab bar | Nav links move to fixed bottom bar (Home, Collection, Setups, Search). | ✓ |
| Keep all inline | All links stay in top bar on mobile. | |

**User's choice:** Bottom tab bar
**Notes:** User specified: use Lucide icons, not emojis.

## Collection Consolidation

| Option | Description | Selected |
|--------|-------------|----------|
| Keep pill tabs | Gear and Planning stay as pill tabs, minus Setups tab. | ✓ |
| Remove tabs, merge | Show gear and threads in one scrollable page. | |

**User's choice:** Keep pill tabs (Gear + Planning only)
**Notes:** None.

## Search Overlay Rethink

| Option | Description | Selected |
|--------|-------------|----------|
| Same overlay as today | Full-page CatalogSearchOverlay, just triggered from nav bar. | ✓ |
| Dropdown results panel | Lighter dropdown below search bar, user stays in page context. | |

**User's choice:** Same full-page overlay
**Notes:** None.

## Landing Page Hero

| Option | Description | Selected |
|--------|-------------|----------|
| Remove hero search, keep text | Remove search bar from hero, keep heading/subtitle. | |
| Remove entire hero | No hero at all. Landing page starts with content sections. | ✓ |

**User's choice:** Remove entire hero
**Notes:** Nav search bar replaces the hero search. "Go to Collection" link no longer needed since Collection is in persistent nav.

---

## Claude's Discretion

- Exact responsive breakpoint for mobile bottom tab bar
- Nav link styling approach
- Search bar appearance in nav (full input vs compact icon)
- Bottom tab bar Lucide icon choices
- Animation transitions
- FAB behavior on desktop

## Deferred Ideas

- Blended local+global search — user interested but wants careful UX design, deferred to future phase
- Setup page redesign — user wants this added to backlog to align Setups page with other pages
