Explore is a feature that lets users discover and access learning content voluntarily - giving them the freedom to explore topics of interest while keeping required learning separate.
We believe that learning content should be accessible to anyone at any time. We also believe people are more motivated to learn new skills when they aren't forced to do it.
Therefore, we want to allow them to discover and learn about topics of interest whenever they feel like it. But, of course, not everything can be voluntary, such as compliance training!
You can find more information in the article below - happy learning!
So, how does Explore work?
You can mark Learning paths or Events as Explorable. In the admin view, this content is labeled Explorable, and on the user side, it is added to the Explore page. Remember that you need to publish what you want on the Explore page before the users can see it.
When it is added to the Explore page, everyone in your organisation will be able to see the content and events!
Adding content to Explore
There are a few ways to add content to Explore:
Via Explore page in the Admin dashboard*
*Keep reading to find out more about the admin Explore page!Via settings for a specific Learning path or Event.
Decide who can participate
If you wish to decide who can and cannot enrol in the learning path or event, switch on the 'Require approval to enrol' setting in the settings.
Beneath, there is an example of it for learning paths:
And this is how it looks like for events - there, the 'Request approval to attend' option is located under the Attendance tab instead:
Quick tip💡You can also add the content to a category so that it is easy for the users to find the content that they need. You can read a lot more on this topic here.
Approving/Declining requests
Under Requires action on your admin dashboard, you will see any users who wish to enrol in a learning path or event. Here, you can accept or decline your users' enrolment.
Quick tip💡 If My team is enabled in the permission, approving requests can also be done via My Team → Actions in the User dashboard.
If it is enabled in your communication settings, the user will get an email informing them if they can enrol or should keep browsing for other content. There is also the option for you to receive an email letting you know there is a pending enrolment request from your users:
Read this article: "Communication and notifications", if you wish to learn more about the platform communication settings!
Manage who can see the Explore pages
As mentioned, everyone in the organisation with access to the Explore page will be able to see all the explorable content in their User dashboard. You can manage who has access and who does not with permissions.
In a specific permission type, scroll to Explore and toggle on 'User' on to give them permission to see the content. If you want this permission type to be able to make the content itself explorable, then you can toggle on Admin.
Learn more about Permission Types here!
Good to know💭 If you don't want the Explore page to be accessible for users at any point, you can always toggle the setting off again.
The admin view
Admins with the Explore permission have a dedicated Explore page in the Admin dashboard. It gives admins with the right permission a single place to manage all explorable content.
Here, you can see all Learning Paths and Events added to Explore, along with their current status: Published, Unpublished Changes, or Draft. Go ahead and also use the search bar and filters - by Type, Categories, or Status - to quickly find what you need, making it easier to manage large volumes of content.
Adding content to Explore
To add new content, click the Add button in the top-right corner. This opens the Add content in Explore pop-up, from which you can select the Learning Paths or Events you want to include.
Note that:
Published content is added immediately and becomes visible to users on the Explore page right away.
Draft content will only appear for users once it is published.
Managing content
Each Learning Path or Event card has a three-dot menu with Settings and Remove options:
Settings: You will be redirected to the content's Explore setting, where you can enable/disable 'Request approval to attend' and add or remove categories.
Remove: The content is removed from Explore and is no longer visible to users. Users’ progress will be saved, but if they haven’t completed it, they won’t be able to continue.
The User View
The learner will find all the explorable content in the 'Explore' tab in their top menu.
When they click on the tab, they will see everything that you have marked as explorable and they will be able to filter the content to display All, Events or just Learning paths.
If you added categories, they can also use the Categories filter to help find what they need:
While waiting for a request to be approved or declined, the content is marked with yellow until an admin has taken action:
FAQs and Best practices
In the following, you'll find answers to the most asked questions about the public and explore.
Can explorable content still be assigned to users?
We know that sometimes there is learning that a certain group must complete while others can do it voluntarily. In this case, you can include that Learning path in a Journey when you plan the learners' journey. Like this, it will work just as if it wasn't explorable for them.
Can an already-assigned Learning path be added to Explore?
You can always add a Learning path (or Event!) to the Explore page, regardless of whether it is assigned or not. It will be just like any other learning content for learners assigned to it. It will appear in the Explore Menu for others, and learners can decide if they want to discover it further.
Are all Learning path settings applied when it is explorable?
It is important to note that not all settings will apply to an explorable learning path. For example, you can't make modules recurring or have a deadline in the Explore setting, but these settings will still be effective when the learning path is assigned directly to learners via a journey.