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Adding A Catalog Widget

The Catalog Widget enables you to present a catalog of learning events for Users. Catalog Widgets are based on previously set up Search Widgets. If you have not already created a Search Widget, you will need to do so before you can create a Catalog Widget.

The Catalog Widget groups training by Category. Users can search for training by root Categories, and then drill down through the sub category hierarchy to find available Learning events. Notice there are three links on each Catalog item:

Click the Catalog name link to open the search results, and list all learning events with the catalog name as a Category, as well as any sub Categories under it, through the entire hierarchy.
Click the Sub Categories link to display the next level of the Catalog, and list the Sub Categories link for the next level, as well as learning events for the next level.
Click the Learning Events link to open the search results page and display the learning events with the Catalog name as its Category. Learning events displays results for a single level in a Category structure.

Notice in the illustration above that each Category has an image. Images can be added to Categories when you add or edit them under the Categories Control Panel menu. You can also set up a default image to be used for all Categories.

You can create Catalogs for a single type of learning event or a combination of event types. You do this during the Widget setup by choosing a Search Widget that is already set up to search for only these learning event types. Learning event types available for cataloging include:

Learning Plans
Classes
Courses
Enrollments
External Training
ILT Sessions
Training Offerings
User’s Names

As with other Widgets, The Catalog Widget can display the Catalog in either Card View or List View. You can also sort by Name, or use Filters. When Users click the Learning Events link, or drill down to learning events in sub Categories, a Search Results page displays the available learning events, along with facets on the left side of the page to refine the results.

Setting Up a New Catalog Widget

You can add a new Catalog Widget from the Widgets page. On the Control Panel:

Click on the LearnCenter Design menu to expand it.
Click Widgets.
Click Add Widget.
Select Catalog from the Select Widget Type drop-down list. The Add Widget page opens.

Use the Details tab to give the Widget a Name and Description.
Select the appropriate Status.
Select the Content tab.

Select a Search Widget from the drop-down list. These are Search Widgets you have already created. If you have not already created Search Widgets, there will be nothing to choose from here.

Note the warning message stating that the Search Widget’s list of Categories will be ignored. This is because you will be determining which Categories you want to use for the Catalog Widget.

For Show Selected Categories, select either:

All Categories, which will use all Categories in the LearnCenter
Manually select root categories. If you select this option, additional fields display to enable you to search for and select the Categories you want to include.

You can only select root Categories here. Users will be able to drill down to look through sub Categories on the Widget.

Select the Only display content in categories the group/user is also mapped to check box to display only the items that are mapped to the same Categories to which the end User or Group is also mapped. What this means is:

If John Smith and Course 1 are both mapped to the Human Resources Category, when John looks at the Catalog Widget, Course 1 will display to him.
If John Smith is mapped to the Finance Category and Course 1 is mapped to the Human Resources Category, John will not see Course 1 on the Catalog Widget.
If the Sales Team Dynamic Group is mapped to the Sales Team Category, but Course 1 is mapped to Human Resources Category, then the Users mapped to the Sales Team Dynamic Group will not see Course 1 when they view the Catalog Widget.

WARNING: Selecting this check box makes your selection implicit, and inheritance from root or parent Categories does not apply. Users and items must be mapped to the exact same Category or sub Category in order for the items to display to Users on the Widget.

Select the Apply to Mapped Items check box to filter even further by only displaying the items within containers (Learning Plans, Enrollments, and Training Offerings) that are also mapped to the same Category as the User. What this means is that everything mapped to a container such as a Learning Plan (Courses, Enrollments, etc.) must also be mapped to the same Category as the User in order for the User to see it on the Widget.

USE CAUTION: Be sure to inspect the learning items that are mapped to Learning Plans to ensure that they are also mapped to the same Category as the Learning Plan and the Users. If required Learning Plan mapped items are not mapped to the same Category as the Learning Plan Users, then Users will not be able to complete the Learning Plans, because they will not have access to all of the Learning Plan’s required learning items.

For example if this check box is selected and:

Learning Plan ABC is mapped to the New Users Category

Course 1 – Required. Mapped to the New Users Category
Course 2 – Required. Not mapped to any Category
John Smith – Mapped to the New Users Category

John Smith cannot complete Learning Plan ABC, because Course 2 does not display to him on the Widget.

Select the Filters tab.

Indicate which Filters will display to Users on the Widget by selecting the appropriate check boxes. At a minimum, you must select Keyword. Clearing this check box makes Name and Description unavailable for selection, and no filters will display on the Widget.
Click the Display tab.

Use the Display tab to indicate what elements will display to Users on the Widget.

Type a new name for the Widget Header or use the default “Catalog” text.
Indicate whether the default view will be Card view or List view.
Use the check boxes under Display for Catalog to indicate which items you want to display on the Catalog. By default, the Name must display. You can select or clear the following check boxes:

Name Link opens Search Results - Select this check box to display hyperlinks for catalog names. Clear the check box to hide the Catalog Name hyperlinks for the Catalog names. You may want to clear the check box to make it easier to read large, multi-level Catalogs where the results page might return an excessive number of learning events. If cleared, the names still display on the Catalogs, but they no longer contain hyperlinks. Users can click the Sub Categories or Learning Events links to drill down further.
Count – this field is for future use.
Description – to include the description of the catalog item.
Image – to include an image for the Card or List view. These are the images you can now include in Category properties. If a Category does not have an image, the default Category image is used for that Category in the Widget. If there neither a default image nor Category image, an empty box is displayed in place of the image.
Subcategories – to include the Sub Categories link so that Users can drill down through the sub Categories to find Learning Events.
Learning Events – to include the Learning Events link so that Users can view the available Learning Events for the Category.
Only Display if > 0 – If this is selected, the Sub Categories link and the Learning Events link are only displayed on the Widget if a count exists for either. If a value is zero, there is nothing for Users to open, so you may not want to display a link. As a best practice, you may want to clear this field so that the end result on the Catalog has a cleaner display.

(Optional) If you would like any of the filter labels to display differently in your output for Users, rest your pointer near the default label and select . A field displays and you can type something else for the label. If you want to return the label to the original default text, click Restore Label. Click the check icon to accept the change, or click the x icon to start over. You cannot change the label for Name and Description.

(Optional) If your LearnCenter is SSO-enabled and you are planning to embed this Widget on a non-LearnCenter web page, click Embed. See Widget Portability - BETA for complete details on using the Embed tab.
Click Save.

What Users See

Depending on the setup, Users might see the Catalog Widget like any of the following illustrations.

In the example above, the Catalog setup includes Category images and hyperlinks for Category Names. The following image displays a Catalog that has the Name Link opens Search Results check box on the Catalog Widget setup Display tab cleared.

The following is an example of how the Catalog Widget displays on to smaller platforms. Notice that a filter icon appears when the display screen is too small to include the facets section of the Catalog.

When Users click the icon, the facets display on top of the results page.