Note: Review the following rules and best practices around adding Custom Categories – this will ensure that all who access your courses will be able to find them during facilitation, reporting, and eLearning.
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Rules |
Considerations |
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Only those with the 'Category Editor' access can add, edit, and delete Custom Categories |
Persons with the ‘Diamond Admin’ access in Alchemy Manager are automatically given the ‘Category Editor’ role. However, others with any level of admin access can be a Category Editor. Only Diamond Admins and Alchemy Administrators can assign the Category Editor role to admins as needed. |
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Locking down a Custom Category will impact the ability to use and edit that category |
“Only allow owner and Diamond Admins to use and edit category” If you select this option when creating or editing your own custom category, it will only allow the owner (you), or someone with Diamond Admin access, to move courses in and out of the category. It will also restrict the ability to edit or delete that category by others. |
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You can only move Company-Specific Activities |
Alchemy Activities cannot be moved to another category. You can only move activities that you create such as Company Specific Courses or Options. However, Alchemy provided Courses, Observations and Stand-Alone Tests & Evaluations cannot be moved. |
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You must have access to a Activity to move it |
You cannot move Activities that belong to other Worksites You can only move Activities that you have access to; if you need to move an Activity and do not have access to it, please contact your main Alchemy administrator to request that the Activity be assigned to your Worksite. |
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Related courses will be moved together |
Child courses cannot be split across categories As a reminder, all Alchemy provided courses are comprised of a Parent (topic) and Child (content, the course itself). Parents can have more than one associated child course, and all of these components will be moved together. |
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Custom Categories are only visible by moving a course to the Category |
Category changes affect Player, Manager, Learning Plans & eLearning Moving a course to your custom category will only make your category visible to the worksites that have access to the course. It will change how others access the course while facilitating, reporting, training online, and organizing training goals. |
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Deleting a category does NOT delete its Activities |
Orphaned Activities go back to the Company Specific category If you delete a category that contains courses, then the courses will be reassigned to the Company-Specific category. If you would like to disable a category and its courses, you’ll need to archive all of the Activities as well. |
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Communicate Changes |
Be sure to communicate category changes to your facilitators and administrators. Make sure to communicate category changes to everyone who would be impacted by this change, including other worksites with access to the Activities being moved. |
Best practices
Below are Custom Category best practices, along with information on your recommended course of action.
Note: “Your courses” refers to your Company Specific Parent courses.
Consider how you’ll manage your categories
- Recommended: Manage your categories centrally
- Pros: One person manages everything, company-wide consistency in facilitation and reporting
- Cons: Individual locations have specific needs which may not be met
- Manage your categories Locally
- Pros: Each location is responsible for their own categories, locations can opt in or out of using Custom Categories, highly personalized
- Cons: Inconsistencies in naming can lead to difficulty with reporting and Learning Plans
Use strategic naming conventions and Course Codes
Recommended: Use clear, broad, location-specific names. This creates consistency and ease in reporting, Learning Plans, eLearning, and facilitation:
- ATX Safety Standards
- STL Safety Standards
- CORP Professional Development
Avoid duplicate, unclear, overly narrow names. This can create confusion with reporting, Learning Plans, eLearning, and facilitation.
- XWorkplace Safety (duplicates Alchemy category)
- XMy Courses (unclear)
- XATX Line 1, Pos 3, 2nd Shift Training (too narrow)
Recommended: Course Codes are unique and cannot be repeated. It is recommended that they include clear, location-specific names, and an internal Index Number. No spaces can be used for Course Codes.
- ATXEHSCourse1234 (references location, topic and internal index number)
Use good category etiquette
Custom Category DO’S:
- DO: Utilize your company’s naming convention
- DO: Minimize the number of categories you build
- DO: Ask permission before moving your courses into someone else’s category
- DO: COMMUNICATE CATEGORY CHANGES TO ALL AFFECTED LOCATIONS
Custom Category DON’TS:
- DON’T: Edit another location’s category
- DON’T: Build a lot of small categories
A few more considerations:
- Brush up on Parent / Child course concepts
- All Alchemy courses are comprised of a Parent (topic) and Child (content, the course itself), and Parents can have more than one Child. Use case: a Parent with equivalent English and Spanish language courses.
- You can choose to prevent admins from moving your courses into Alchemy categories
- Have your corporate Alchemy contact reach out to Alchemy Support to turn off this option.