Restructure "Examples Hub" from top-level nav to contextual links

[Reccetech]

Summary

The "Examples Hub" is currently a top-level navigation item in the solo-docs site, equal in prominence to "Simple Solo Setup" and "Using Solo." It links directly to the raw GitHub directory https://github.com/hiero-ledger/solo/tree/main/examples, taking users off the docs site entirely. This placement overstates the relevance of the examples to most visitors and delivers a poor experience.

Problem

1. Wrong audience for the placement. The examples are advanced operational recipes (multi-cluster backup/restore, node governance transactions, local builds from source, version upgrade testing). They are not relevant to first-time or beginner Solo users, who make up the bulk of top-of-funnel traffic. Placing this at the top level implies it belongs in the same onboarding flow as "Simple Solo Setup."

2. Examples are stranded. Because the examples live in the Solo repo and are only linked from a nav item, there is no contextual guidance on which example to use or when. A user reading about local builds has no natural path to local-build-with-custom-config; a user reading about node governance has no natural path to node-create-transaction.

Proposed Changes

1. Remove the "Examples Hub" top-level nav entry

Delete the Examples Hub entry from menu.main in hugo.yaml.

2. Add contextual "Example" callouts in Advanced Solo Setup pages

Link relevant examples inline from the pages where they are most useful:

Example	Link from
hardhat-with-solo	Using Solo → EVM Tools → Hardhat
local-build-with-custom-config, one-shot-local-build	Advanced Solo Setup → local builds page (issue #164)
node-create-transaction, node-update-transaction, node-delete-transaction	Advanced Solo Setup → CLI reference, node management section
multicluster-backup-restore, state-save-and-restore	Advanced Solo Setup (new backup/restore page, or existing network deployment page)
external-database-test	Advanced Solo Setup → network deployment (Falcon)
version-upgrade-test	Simple Solo Setup → Managing / Upgrading Networks
running-solo-inside-cluster	Advanced Solo Setup → CI Workflow
rapid-fire, one-shot-falcon	Advanced Solo Setup → CLI reference
consensus-node-jvm-parameters	Advanced Solo Setup → JVM Debugger / performance
network-with-domain-names	Advanced Solo Setup → network deployment
address-book	Reference or Advanced Solo Setup

3. Add an "Examples" page under Advanced Solo Setup (optional but recommended)

A single content/en/docs/advanced-solo-setup/examples.md page that:

• Briefly explains what the examples are (Taskfile-based recipes in the Solo repo)
• Lists all examples with one-line descriptions and direct GitHub links
• Notes prerequisites (taskfile CLI, a running cluster)
• Is linked from the Advanced Solo Setup _index.md

This replaces the top-level nav entry with a properly scoped, discoverable page for users who want a full inventory of examples.

[deshmukhpranali]

Hey @Reccetech, thanks for the detailed write-up. After looking at this more carefully, I think the current approach is the right tradeoff for a few reasons:

• The external link icon already signals off-site navigation - consistent with how Release Notes is handled on the site, so users know before clicking that they're going to GitHub or an external link.

• Maintenance burden - an example.md page would need updating every time the Solo team adds a new example. Since examples live in the Solo repo and are maintained by that team, keeping the GitHub directory as the source of truth means no drift between docs and reality.

• Contextual links already exist - The pattern you're suggesting for inline links is largely already in place for the most relevant examples.

@jeromy-cannon would love your guidance here.

[jeromy-cannon]

My preference is to adhere to DRY and KISS.

There are different strategies we could follow depending on the desired results. Let me know what is wanted, and I can see if I can offer some solutions that might fit well.