Categories keep your training library organized and easy to browse. They control where courses appear and in what order. Access is handled separately by Content Roles.
To create or edit a Category, see Create / Edit Categories. If you use the New Course Editor, see Create / Edit Categories (New Course Editor).
Think of it like Netflix genres
On Netflix, one movie can show up under Sci-Fi, Comedy, and New Releases at the same time. It’s still one movie. It’s just easy to find from more than one place.
Categories in LightSpeed VT work the same way. A course can live in as many Categories as you’d like. For example, a “Handling Customer Objections” course could appear in Sales Skills, Customer Service, and New This Month.
How courses are ordered
When you place a course in a Category, you give it a rank. The rank controls the order courses appear in within that Category, starting with rank 1 at the top.
Because each placement has its own rank, the same course can sit in a different spot in each Category. It might be first in New This Month and fifth in Sales Skills.
You never have to assign Categories
There’s nothing to set up on the user side. LightSpeed VT automatically shows each user the Categories that contain courses they have access to. If a Category has no courses a user can access, they simply won’t see it.
That means you can organize your library however you like without worrying about who sees what. Content Roles take care of that part.
Turning a Category on or off
Each Category can be set to Active or Inactive. When you make a Category Inactive, it’s hidden from all users, along with the courses in it. This is handy for seasonal content, programs that aren’t ready to launch, or anything you want to pause without deleting.
The simple way to remember it
- Content Roles decide what a user can see.
- Categories decide where it shows up and in what order.
- Every course needs at least one active Category to appear in the library.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does one user see more courses in a Category than another user?
It’s because the two users have different Content Roles. Categories aren’t the cause.
Say your Sales Skills Category holds 10 courses. One user is in a Content Role that includes all 10, so they see all 10. Another user is in a role that includes only 5 of them, so they see 5. The Category is the same for both users. Each person just sees the courses they have access to.
To change what someone sees, update their Content Roles or individual course assignments, not the Category.
Do I need to give users access to a Category?
No. Users automatically see any Category that contains at least one course they have access to.
Can a course be in more than one Category?
Yes, as many as you like. Each placement gets its own rank, so you control the order in every Category separately.
Will a course show up twice if it’s in two Categories?
It will appear in each Category it belongs to, just like a movie that shows up under more than one genre. It’s still one course, with one set of progress. A user who finishes it in one Category will see it completed everywhere it appears.
Why can’t a user see a Category at all?
There are two possible reasons. Either the Category is set to Inactive, or the user doesn’t have access to any of the courses in it. Once the Category is active and the user has access to at least one of its courses, the Category will appear for them.
What happens if I make a Category Inactive?
The Category and its courses are hidden from all users. Nothing is deleted. User access and progress stay exactly as they were, and everything reappears when you set the Category back to Active. If a course also belongs to another active Category, it will still appear there.
If I remove a course from a Category, does anyone lose access?
No, their access doesn’t change. Keep in mind, though, that a course must be in at least one active Category to show up in the library. If you remove a course from its only Category, users won’t see it until you add it to a Category again.
How do I change the order of courses in a Category?
Update each course’s rank in that Category, with rank 1 showing first. This only changes the order in that one Category. The course keeps its rank everywhere else.
Related articles
- How Content Roles Work in LightSpeed VT: control which users see which courses
- Create / Edit Categories: step-by-step Category setup
- Create / Edit Categories (New Course Editor): Category setup in the New Course Editor
- Content Containers: where Content Roles and courseware are managed