The open universtity have created a new type of resource called a Resource Page. that allows you to do exactly what you are doing without any of the hassle of hidden topics.
Unfortunatly "resource page" only works on Moodle installs that are running on the postgres database.
I don't think there are any plans for the OU to widen the support of this unit but hopefully someone will make it MySQL compatible. There is a new feature issue on the Moodle Tracker about course sub pages http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-13908 that you can vote on.