How to Add a Course Category v2

Overview

In Learning Management System (LMS), course categories are used to organise courses into a clear and structured hierarchy. They help administrators, teachers, and learners easily find, manage, and navigate courses, ensuring a more efficient and user-friendly learning environment.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how to add and organise course categories.

NOTE:  You must have Admin or Manager access to perform these actions. 

Step Tutorial

Adding a Category

1. On the homepage, go to Site administration.

2. Select Courses from the sub-menu.

3. Under Courses section, select Add a category.

Fill out the necessary details needed for the new category.

1. Parent Category* - By default, Top is selected here. This creates a new top-level category. Selecting an existing category will create a subcategory under that category.
2. Category Name - Enter a unique category name. For example, you may use the program or qualification name.
   
3. Category ID - The ID number of a course category is used only when matching the category with an external system and is not displayed anywhere on the site. If the category has an official code, it may be entered here; otherwise, this field can be left blank.
4. Description - Enter a description for this category. This field is optional and may be left blank.

Once done, click Create category.

After a category is created, the Manage course categories and courses page will appear. The newly created category will be listed among the existing categories.

Adding a Sub-category

It can be helpful to create a subcategory within a course category. For example, you might have a category for a qualification, with the core and elective units for that qualification set up as separate courses. In this case, you could create subcategories such as Core Units and Elective Units to better organise the courses and make them easier to navigate.

1. On the Manage course categories and courses page, locate the category where you want to add a subcategory. Click the kebab menu (three dots) and select Create new subcategory.

2. The same fields used when creating a category will appear. The only difference is that the Parent category field will already display the category where the subcategory will be created.

After filling out the required details, click Create category. The page will refresh and display the newly created subcategory.

Editing and Deleting a Category

To edit an existing category:

1. Click the kebab menu (three dots) next to the category.

2. Select Edit.

3. Update the necessary details.

4. Click Save changes.

To delete a category:

1. Click the kebab menu (three dots) next to the category.

2. Select Delete.

If the category contains courses, a confirmation message will appear asking how you want to handle those courses.

Move contents to another category – Select another category where the courses will be moved.

Delete all – cannot be undone – This will delete the category and all courses within it.

After selecting the preferred option, click Delete.

If the category does not contain any courses, you will simply be asked to confirm the deletion. Click Delete to proceed.

Sorting Categories

Categories can be sorted by name or ID number.

To sort categories:

1. Go to the Manage course categories and courses page.

2. Under the Course categories section, locate the Sorting area.

3. Select the categories you want to sort by ticking the checkbox next to the category name.

4. Choose the sorting scope:

1. This category
2. Selected categories
3. All categories
   

5. Select your preferred options in Sort by Category or Sort by Course.

6. Click Sort to apply the changes.

Hiding a Category

Categories can be hidden or shown by clicking the eye icon next to the category name.

When a category is hidden:

1. The category name appears greyed out.
2. The eye icon appears with a strikethrough.
   

NOTE: Hidden categories are only visible to site administrators or users who have permission to view hidden courses.

 

And that’s how to add course category and use its features in the LMS!

Congratulations on completing this tutorial. We hope this has been helpful to you and your organisation. For any questions or concerns regarding this function, please reach out to the contact support via email.

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FAQs

How do I move a course from one category to another?

To move a course to a different category in the LMS:

1. On the Manage courses and categories page, locate the course you want to move.

2. Select the course(s) by ticking the checkbox beside the course name.

3. In the Move selected courses to dropdown field, select the course category where you want to move the selected course(s). 

Click Move to confirm.

NOTE: You must have Admin or Manager permissions to move courses between categories.

What is the best practice for using course categories for version control?

Course categories can be used to help manage different versions of courses and keep your LMS organised over time.

A recommended best practice is to create an ARCHIVE subcategory within an existing course category. When a course is updated or replaced by a newer version, the previous version can be moved to this ARCHIVE subcategory rather than being deleted.

By storing older versions in an ARCHIVE subcategory, you can maintain historical records while ensuring that learners and staff can easily identify the current course versions.

TIP: You may also choose to hide archived courses or restrict editing permissions to prevent accidental use or modification.

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