diff --git a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/HtmlRenderer.scala b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/HtmlRenderer.scala
index 3c35c761caf2..d71fe03a9c13 100644
--- a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/HtmlRenderer.scala
+++ b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/HtmlRenderer.scala
@@ -44,7 +44,13 @@ class HtmlRenderer(rootPackage: Member, members: Map[DRI, Member])(using ctx: Do
           Using(Files.walk(file)) { stream =>
             stream.iterator().asScala.toSeq
               .map(from => Resource.File(resourceFile.toPath.relativize(from).toString, from))
-          }.get
+          }.fold (
+            { t =>
+              report.warn(s"Error occured while processing _assets file.", t)
+              Seq.empty
+            },
+            identity
+          )
         }
       }
     val resources = staticSiteResources ++ allResources(allPages) ++ onlyRenderedResources
@@ -115,7 +121,7 @@ class HtmlRenderer(rootPackage: Member, members: Map[DRI, Member])(using ctx: Do
           )
         )
 
-      nav.children match
+      nav.children.filterNot(_.hidden) match
         case Nil => isSelected -> div(cls := s"ni ${if isSelected then "expanded" else ""}")(linkHtml())
         case children =>
           val nested = children.map(renderNested(_))
diff --git a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/Locations.scala b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/Locations.scala
index 58627ecc7964..1c55cb8124e1 100644
--- a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/Locations.scala
+++ b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/Locations.scala
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ trait Locations(using ctx: DocContext):
     cache.get(dri) match
       case null =>
         val path = dri match
-          // case `docsRootDRI` => List("docs", "index")
           case `apiPageDRI` =>
             if ctx.args.apiSubdirectory && ctx.staticSiteContext.nonEmpty
               then List("api", "index")
diff --git a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/Renderer.scala b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/Renderer.scala
index ef83b4f92196..45a080d4828a 100644
--- a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/Renderer.scala
+++ b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/Renderer.scala
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import java.nio.file.Files
 import java.nio.file.FileVisitOption
 import java.io.File
 
-case class Page(link: Link, content: Member | ResolvedTemplate | String, children: Seq[Page]):
+case class Page(link: Link, content: Member | ResolvedTemplate | String, children: Seq[Page], hidden: Boolean = false):
   def withNewChildren(newChildren: Seq[Page]) = copy(children = children ++ newChildren)
 
   def withTitle(newTitle: String) = copy(link = link.copy(name = newTitle))
@@ -74,12 +74,12 @@ abstract class Renderer(rootPackage: Member, val members: Map[DRI, Member], prot
             )
           updatedTemplates.result()
 
-        val newTemplates = updateSettings(Seq(siteContext.staticSiteRoot.rootTemplate), newSettings.to(ListBuffer))
+        val newTemplates = updateSettings(Seq(rootTemplate), newSettings.to(ListBuffer))
         val templatePages = newTemplates.map(templateToPage(_, siteContext))
 
         val newRoot = newTemplates.head
 
-        if newRoot.children.size == 0 && newRoot.templateFile.rawCode == ""
+        if newRoot.children.isEmpty && newRoot.templateFile.rawCode.isEmpty
         then rootPckPage.withTitle(args.name)
         else {
           val newRootPage = templateToPage(newRoot, siteContext)
diff --git a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/SiteRenderer.scala b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/SiteRenderer.scala
index 123cdb6316fd..ad97b19fbb24 100644
--- a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/SiteRenderer.scala
+++ b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/renderers/SiteRenderer.scala
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ trait SiteRenderer(using DocContext) extends Locations:
   def templateToPage(t: LoadedTemplate, staticSiteCtx: StaticSiteContext): Page =
     val dri = staticSiteCtx.driFor(t.file.toPath)
     val content = ResolvedTemplate(t, staticSiteCtx)
-    Page(Link(t.templateFile.title.name, dri), content, t.children.map(templateToPage(_, staticSiteCtx)))
+    Page(Link(t.templateFile.title.name, dri), content, t.children.map(templateToPage(_, staticSiteCtx)), t.hidden)
 
   private val HashRegex = "([^#]+)(#.+)".r
 
diff --git a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/LoadedTemplate.scala b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/LoadedTemplate.scala
index 84b84b03850a..c8388a8112bd 100644
--- a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/LoadedTemplate.scala
+++ b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/LoadedTemplate.scala
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ case class LazyEntry(getKey: String, value: () => String) extends JMapEntry[Stri
 case class LoadedTemplate(
   templateFile: TemplateFile,
   children: List[LoadedTemplate],
-  file: File):
+  file: File,
+  hidden: Boolean = false):
 
   private def brief(ctx: StaticSiteContext): String =
     try
diff --git a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/SidebarParser.scala b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/SidebarParser.scala
index 2b3ddd552207..f383156a2b3d 100644
--- a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/SidebarParser.scala
+++ b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/SidebarParser.scala
@@ -6,48 +6,86 @@ import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.`type`.TypeReference;
 import collection.JavaConverters._
 import java.util.Optional
+import scala.beans._
 
 enum Sidebar:
-  case Root(index: Option[String], pages: List[Sidebar])
-  case Category(title: Option[String], indexPath: Option[String], nested: List[Sidebar], directory: Option[String])
-  case Page(title: Option[String], pagePath: String)
+  case Root(index: Option[String], pages: List[Sidebar.Child])
+  case Category(
+    title: Option[String],
+    indexPath: Option[String],
+    nested: List[Sidebar.Child],
+    directory: Option[String]
+  )
+  case Page(title: Option[String], pagePath: String, hidden: Boolean)
 
 object Sidebar:
+
+  type Child = Category | Page
   case class RawRoot(var rootIndex: String, var pages: JList[RawInput]):
     def this() = this("", JList())
 
     def setRootIndex(s: String) = rootIndex = s
     def setPages(l: JList[RawInput]) = pages = l
 
-  case class RawInput(var title: String, var page: String, var index: String, var subsection: JList[RawInput], var directory: String):
-    def this() = this("", "", "", JList(), "")
-
-    def setTitle(t: String) = this.title = t
-    def setPage(p: String) = this.page = p
-    def setIndex(i: String) = this.index = i
-    def setSubsection(s: JList[RawInput]) = this.subsection = s
-    def setDirectory(d: String) = this.directory = d
+  case class RawInput(
+    @BeanProperty var title: String,
+    @BeanProperty var page: String,
+    @BeanProperty var index: String,
+    @BeanProperty var subsection: JList[RawInput],
+    @BeanProperty var directory: String,
+    @BooleanBeanProperty var hidden: Boolean
+  ):
+    def this() = this("", "", "", JList(), "", false)
 
   private object RootTypeRef extends TypeReference[RawRoot]
 
-  private def toSidebar(r: RawInput): Sidebar = r match
-    case RawInput(title, page, index, subsection, dir) if page.nonEmpty && index.isEmpty && subsection.isEmpty() || title == "Blog" =>
-      Sidebar.Page(Option.when(title.nonEmpty)(title), page)
-    case RawInput(title, page, index, subsection, dir) if page.isEmpty && (!subsection.isEmpty() || !index.isEmpty()) =>
+  private def toSidebar(r: RawInput)(using CompilerContext): Sidebar.Child = r match
+    case RawInput(title, page, index, subsection, dir, hidden) if page.nonEmpty && index.isEmpty && subsection.isEmpty() =>
+      Sidebar.Page(Option.when(title.nonEmpty)(title), page, hidden)
+    case RawInput(title, page, index, subsection, dir, hidden) if page.isEmpty && (!subsection.isEmpty() || !index.isEmpty()) =>
       Sidebar.Category(Option.when(title.nonEmpty)(title), Option.when(index.nonEmpty)(index), subsection.asScala.map(toSidebar).toList, Option.when(dir.nonEmpty)(dir))
+    case RawInput(title, page, index, subsection, dir, hidden) =>
+      report.error(s"Error parsing YAML configuration file.\n$schemaMessage")
+      Sidebar.Page(None, page, hidden)
 
-  def load(content: String): Sidebar.Root =
-    val mapper = ObjectMapper(YAMLFactory())
-    val root: RawRoot = mapper.readValue(content, RootTypeRef)
+  private def schemaMessage: String =
+    s"""Static site YAML configuration file should comply to the following description:
+      |rootIndex: <string> # optional
+      |pages:
+      |  - <subsection> | <page>
+      |
+      |<subsection>:
+      |  title: <string> # optional
+      |  index: <string> # optional
+      |  directory: <string> # optional
+      |  subsection: # optional
+      |    - <subsection> | <page>
+      |  # either index or subsection needs to be present
+      |<page>:
+      |  title: <string> # optional
+      |  page: <string>
+      |  hidden: <boolean> # optional
+      |
+      |For more information visit:
+      |https://docs.scala-lang.org/scala3/guides/scaladoc/static-site.html
+      |""".stripMargin
 
-    val rootIndex: String = root.rootIndex
-    val pages: List[Sidebar] = root.pages.asScala.toList.map(toSidebar)
-    Sidebar.Root(Option.when(rootIndex.nonEmpty)(rootIndex), pages)
-
-  def load(file: java.io.File): Sidebar.Root =
+  def load(content: String | java.io.File)(using CompilerContext): Sidebar.Root =
+    import scala.util.Try
     val mapper = ObjectMapper(YAMLFactory())
-    val root: RawRoot = mapper.readValue(file, RootTypeRef)
+    def readValue = content match
+      case s: String => mapper.readValue(s, RootTypeRef)
+      case f: java.io.File => mapper.readValue(f, RootTypeRef)
+
+    val root: RawRoot = Try(readValue)
+      .fold(
+        { e =>
+          report.warn(schemaMessage, e)
+          RawRoot("", java.util.Collections.emptyList())
+        },
+        identity
+      )
 
     val rootIndex: String = root.rootIndex
-    val pages: List[Sidebar] = root.pages.asScala.toList.map(toSidebar)
+    val pages: List[Sidebar.Child] = root.pages.asScala.toList.map(toSidebar)
     Sidebar.Root(Option.when(rootIndex.nonEmpty)(rootIndex), pages)
diff --git a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/StaticSiteLoader.scala b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/StaticSiteLoader.scala
index 7fd2410de140..9ec6bf032ce4 100644
--- a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/StaticSiteLoader.scala
+++ b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/StaticSiteLoader.scala
@@ -24,10 +24,22 @@ class StaticSiteLoader(val root: File, val args: Scaladoc.Args)(using StaticSite
       }
   }
 
+  /** Method loading static site structure based on YAML configuration file.
+   *
+   * The rendered static site will only contain pages that are present in YAML.
+   * The following rules are applied:
+   *  - Each subsection will be a separate directory.
+   *  - Nested subsections will result in nested directories.
+   *  - If the subsection object contains location of index and doesn't contain any item,
+   *    items are loaded using file system from the directory of the index file.
+   *  - By default, directory name is a subsection title converted to kebab case.
+   *    However, you can override default name by setting "directory" property of the subsection object.
+   *
+   */
   def loadBasedOnYaml(yamlRoot: Sidebar.Root): StaticSiteRoot = {
     val rootDest = ctx.docsPath.resolve("index.html").toFile
     val rootIndex = yamlRoot.index
-      .map(Paths.get(root.getPath, _).toFile)
+      .map(ctx.docsPath.resolve(_).toFile)
       .filter(_.exists)
       .fold(emptyTemplate(rootDest, "index")) { f =>
         val loaded = loadTemplateFile(f)
@@ -36,13 +48,13 @@ class StaticSiteLoader(val root: File, val args: Scaladoc.Args)(using StaticSite
         loaded
       }.copy(title = TemplateName.FilenameDefined(args.name))
 
-    def loadChild(pathFromRoot: Path): Sidebar => LoadedTemplate = {
+    def loadChild(pathFromRoot: Path): Sidebar.Child => LoadedTemplate = {
       case Sidebar.Category(optionTitle, optionIndexPath, nested, dir) =>
         val indexPageOpt = optionIndexPath
           .map(relativizeIfNeeded)
           .map(_.toFile)
           .filter(_.exists)
-          .map(loadTemplateFile)
+          .map(loadTemplateFile(_))
         val title = (
           optionTitle.map(TemplateName.SidebarDefined(_)) ++
           indexPageOpt.map(_.title)
@@ -70,18 +82,12 @@ class StaticSiteLoader(val root: File, val args: Scaladoc.Args)(using StaticSite
         }
 
         LoadedTemplate(indexPage, children, categoryPath.resolve("index.html").toFile)
-      case Sidebar.Page(optionTitle, pagePath) =>
+      case Sidebar.Page(optionTitle, pagePath, hidden) =>
         val path = relativizeIfNeeded(pagePath)
         val file = path.toFile
-        val templateFile = loadTemplateFile(file)
-        val withUpdatedTitle = optionTitle.fold(templateFile) { t => templateFile.title match
-          case _: TemplateName.FilenameDefined => templateFile.copy(title = TemplateName.SidebarDefined(t))
-          case _ => templateFile
-        }
-        LoadedTemplate(withUpdatedTitle, List.empty, pathFromRoot.resolve(file.getName).toFile)
-      case Sidebar.Root(_, _) =>
-        // Cannot happen
-        ???
+        val title = optionTitle.map(TemplateName.SidebarDefined(_))
+        val templateFile = loadTemplateFile(file, title)
+        LoadedTemplate(templateFile, List.empty, pathFromRoot.resolve(file.getName).toFile, hidden)
     }
     val rootTemplate = LoadedTemplate(rootIndex, yamlRoot.pages.map(c => loadChild(ctx.docsPath)(c)) ++ loadBlog(), rootDest)
     val mappings = createMapping(rootTemplate)
@@ -175,7 +181,7 @@ class StaticSiteLoader(val root: File, val args: Scaladoc.Args)(using StaticSite
 
       val children = currRoot.listFiles.toList
         .filter(_.toPath != indexPageOpt.getOrElse(null))
-      Some(LoadedTemplate(indexPage, children.flatMap(loadRecursively(_, destMappingFunc)), destMappingFunc(indexPage.file)))
+      Some(LoadedTemplate(indexPage, children.flatMap(loadRecursively(_, destMappingFunc)).sortBy(_.templateFile.title.name), destMappingFunc(indexPage.file)))
     }
     else if (currRoot.exists && ctx.siteExtensions.exists(ext => currRoot.getName.endsWith(ext))) {
       val templateFile = loadTemplateFile(currRoot)
diff --git a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/common.scala b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/common.scala
index 6c7677729e89..e409fe4ae636 100644
--- a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/common.scala
+++ b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/common.scala
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ final val LineSeparator = "\n"
 
 def yamlParser(using ctx: StaticSiteContext): Parser = Parser.builder(defaultMarkdownOptions).build()
 
-def loadTemplateFile(file: File)(using ctx: StaticSiteContext): TemplateFile = {
+def loadTemplateFile(file: File, defaultTitle: Option[TemplateName] = None)(using ctx: StaticSiteContext): TemplateFile = {
   val lines = Files.readAllLines(file.toPath).asScala.toList
 
   val (config, content) = if (lines.head == ConfigSeparator) {
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ def loadTemplateFile(file: File)(using ctx: StaticSiteContext): TemplateFile = {
     rawCode = content.mkString(LineSeparator),
     settings = settings,
     name = name,
-    title = stringSetting(allSettings, "title").map(TemplateName.YamlDefined(_)).getOrElse(TemplateName.FilenameDefined(name)),
+    title = stringSetting(allSettings, "title").map(TemplateName.YamlDefined(_)).orElse(defaultTitle).getOrElse(TemplateName.FilenameDefined(name)),
     hasFrame = !stringSetting(allSettings, "hasFrame").contains("false"),
     resources = (listSetting(allSettings, "extraCSS") ++ listSetting(allSettings, "extraJS")).flatten.toList,
     layout = stringSetting(allSettings, "layout"),
diff --git a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/templates.scala b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/templates.scala
index ace8dd97a2e0..8d7cc04cfec6 100644
--- a/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/templates.scala
+++ b/scaladoc/src/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/templates.scala
@@ -115,25 +115,9 @@ case class TemplateFile(
     // Library requires mutable maps..
     val mutableProperties = new JHashMap(ctx.properties.transform((_, v) => asJavaElement(v)).asJava)
 
-    val tag = new Tag("highlight"):
-      override def render(context: TemplateContext, nodes: Array[? <: LNode]): Object =
-        super.asString(nodes(0).render(context), context) match
-          case "diff" =>
-            s"<pre><code class=\"language-diff hljs\" data-lang=\"diff\">${super.asString(nodes(1).render(context), context)}</code></pre>\n\n"
-          case _ =>
-            report.warn("Unsupported highlight value. Currenlty supported values are: `diff`", file)(using ssctx.outerCtx)
-            s"```${super.asString(nodes(1).render(context), context)}```\n\n"
-
-    val tag2 = new Tag("link"):
-      override def render(context: TemplateContext, nodes: Array[? <: LNode]): Object =
-        super.asString(nodes(0).render(context), context) match
-          case sth =>
-            report.warn(s"Unsupported link tag. Link to $sth can't be resolved", file)(using ssctx.outerCtx)
-            "/"
-
     val parseSettings = ParseSettings.Builder().withFlavor(Flavor.JEKYLL).build()
 
-    val rendered = Template.parse(this.rawCode, parseSettings).`with`(tag).`with`(tag2).render(mutableProperties)
+    val rendered = Template.parse(this.rawCode, parseSettings).render(mutableProperties)
 
     // We want to render markdown only if next template is html
     val code = if (isHtml || layoutTemplate.exists(!_.isHtml)) rendered else
diff --git a/scaladoc/test/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/SidebarParserTest.scala b/scaladoc/test/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/SidebarParserTest.scala
index b40a7c9c5e52..2f9584c88b96 100644
--- a/scaladoc/test/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/SidebarParserTest.scala
+++ b/scaladoc/test/dotty/tools/scaladoc/site/SidebarParserTest.scala
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import org.junit.Assert._
 class SidebarParserTest:
 
   private val sidebar = """pages:
-    - title: Blog
     - title: My title
       page: my-page1.md
     - page: my-page2.md
@@ -16,6 +15,7 @@ class SidebarParserTest:
     - title: Reference
       subsection:
         - page: my-page3.md
+          hidden: true
     - index: my-page4/index.md
       subsection:
         - page: my-page4/my-page4.md
@@ -37,16 +37,15 @@ class SidebarParserTest:
     Sidebar.Root(
       None,
         List(
-        Sidebar.Page(Some("Blog"), ""),
-        Sidebar.Page(Some("My title"), "my-page1.md"),
-        Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page2.md"),
-        Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page3/subsection"),
-        Sidebar.Category(Some("Reference"), None, List(Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page3.md")), None),
-        Sidebar.Category(None, Some("my-page4/index.md"),  List(Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page4/my-page4.md")), None),
-        Sidebar.Category(Some("My subsection"), Some("my-page5/index.md"),  List(Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page5/my-page5.md")), None),
-        Sidebar.Category(None, None,  List(Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page7/my-page7.md")), None),
-        Sidebar.Category(None, Some("my-page6/index.md"),  List(Sidebar.Category(None, Some("my-page6/my-page6/index.md"),  List(Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page6/my-page6/my-page6.md")), None)), None),
+        Sidebar.Page(Some("My title"), "my-page1.md", false),
+        Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page2.md", false),
+        Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page3/subsection", false),
+        Sidebar.Category(Some("Reference"), None, List(Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page3.md", true)), None),
+        Sidebar.Category(None, Some("my-page4/index.md"),  List(Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page4/my-page4.md", false)), None),
+        Sidebar.Category(Some("My subsection"), Some("my-page5/index.md"),  List(Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page5/my-page5.md", false)), None),
+        Sidebar.Category(None, None,  List(Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page7/my-page7.md", false)), None),
+        Sidebar.Category(None, Some("my-page6/index.md"),  List(Sidebar.Category(None, Some("my-page6/my-page6/index.md"),  List(Sidebar.Page(None, "my-page6/my-page6/my-page6.md", false)), None)), None),
       )
     ),
-    Sidebar.load(sidebar)
+    Sidebar.load(sidebar)(using testContext)
   )