How do I create and use Topics?

In this article we will cover Topics in Curator. Topics are used to tag and organize your learning content. We will review aspects like where to find, create, and edit topics in the following sections. 

• Creating New Topics
• Subtopics
• Locating and Managing Topics in the Library
• Assigning Topics to Content 
• Using Topics in Learning Cards

Creating new Topics 

Topics are a way to tag and search for content.  For instance, if you have a lot of technology themed content, you can create a Technology "topic" and apply it to each of those pieces of content. You can apply more granular tagging with subtopics which we will discuss later in the article. 

1. Click Create 
2. Expand the left sidebar 
3. Click Libraries
4. Click My Library
5. Click Add Topic

Fill in a Topic Name (1).  This is what you will use to filter and search for the Topics in Create, Library, and On-Demand content suggestion features. You can also add a Description (2), Thumbnail Image (3) to represent the Topic, and an External Reference (4) for On-Demand learning connectivity. To finish creating a topic, hit Create (5). 

Subtopics

Like a subfolder in a folder, you can have subtopics to further organize your custom tagging and filtering capabilities. When you want to create a subtopic of an existing topic, in the Library you will select Add Topic (the same as you did in the last section when adding a Topic). Then you will enter your Topic (1) name. To make it a subtopic, select the checkbox (2)  "Make a Subtopic" and Select a Topic (3) you want it to be placed under. 

Next, you can add a Description (1) to your Topic as a reference for you and other organizational users. For example, if your Topic is titled “Ed-Tech”, you could add a description stating, “Content and courses that include details about Educational Technology or Ed-Tech.” External Reference (2) is where our On-Demand users can add a web link (please contact your Customer Success rep if you are interested in learning more). When complete, select Create (3) to finalize your Topic creation. When you’ve hit Create, the Topic Details page for your new topic will be shown. 

Locating and Managing Topics in the Library 

In any My Library (1) or Organization Library (2) window, you will see Popular Topics (3), the three most used topics you or your Organization have created. To see all of your Topics, you can click View All (4) next to Popular Topics which will open up a new list window where you can filter and search through topics.

Once in the Topics list you can Search (1), Filter (2), and select the ellipsis(...)(3), to Edit (4) your topics.

To Filter(1) through your Topics select the checkbox(2) next to those you would like to see and click Submit(3).

You will be able to view subtopics by selecting the arrow (1) next to a Topic. Selecting the arrow will expand the main topic to show the subtopics. Clicking on the Topic Title (2) will open a view of the content tagged in this Topic.

Assigning Topics to Content

To assign a topic to existing content, learning cards, and courses, navigate to the desired item in the Library by using Search all resources (1) or by selecting the specific content type (2).

Once you have found the item, select the ellipsis(...) (1) and Edit (2), or click the item’s Title (3) and select Edit (4) in the top right of the item details window.

In the Assigned Topics (1) section you will be able to search and select topics that apply to the item. Select one or more topics (2) you want to assign to the item. Once you have added your selected topics, save by selecting Update (3) at the bottom of the screen. 

Using Topics in Learning Cards

Topics also make pulling content into your courses easier. When creating a Learning Card in the Create Timeline, you can select the Library (1) source to pull content from the Library. You can then Search (2) and Filter (3) for Topics, making content even easier to find and utilize.