Disclosed are systems, methods and computer-readable storage devices related to displaying a network topology on a display screen of a computing device. The network topology includes a first group of components in an expanded format and a second group of components in a collapsed format. An input is received that is associated with the second group of components, and is arranged to cause the second group of components to be expanded into the expanded format. Finally, the method includes, based on a parameter and the input, automatically collapsing the first group of components from the expanded format into the collapsed format.