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CATALOG LIFECYCLE: Creating a New Catalog & Archiving Your Previous One

Coursedog Support
Modified on: Thu, Oct 10, 2024 at 3:50 PM

Table of Contents

Overview
Review & Update Default Website Settings
Create Archive & Preview URLs
Create the Catalog
Assign the New Catalog to the Preview URL
Review & Update the Request Workflow
Review & Update the Homepage
Create and/or Update Custom Pages
Configure Departments
Review Course and Program Page Templates & Create New Ones (If Needed)
Review Sidebar Search Filters (Contemporary Catalog Only)
Create & Configure New Navigations
Update Catalog Settings
Update Catalog-Specific Website Settings
Create a Catalog PDF
Publish New Catalog
Archive Previous Catalog
Related Resources

Skip to 29:41 in order to jump to the portion of the video that walks step-by-step through creating a new catalog and archiving your previous one. 

Overview

  • Coursedog's Online Catalog offers the ability to support multiple catalogs at the same time, allowing your institution to have all of the following: 

  1. Your current academic catalog publicly available on your vanity URL or a Coursedog subdomain (e.g. institutionname.catalog.prod.coursedog.com). 

  2. Last year's catalog on an archive-URL.

  3. Next year's catalog available on a preview-URL.

  • All of these locations are independent of one another, accessible via web, and editable via the Coursedog platform. 

  • This article serves as a step-by-step guide for everything you need to do when it’s time to create a new catalog and archive your previous one. 

  • See the visual attached to the bottom of this article for a quick view of a catalog’s lifecycle. 


Review & Update Default Website Settings

Overview

  • When you create a new catalog in Coursedog – either from scratch or via clone – it will use your default Website Settings.

  • If you clone a previous year’s catalog, the new catalog will not inherit any catalog-specific website settings from the previous year’s catalog.


How to Do It


Create Archive & Preview URLs

Overview | Institution-Based URLs | Coursedog-Based URLs

Overview

  • There are two overarching types of URLs available for your catalogs: institution-based (vanity) and Coursedog-based.

  • Every preview catalog will need a Coursedog-based URL; this is typically the case for archive URLs as well. 

  • For your public-facing academic catalog, you can choose between an institution-based (“vanity”) or Coursedog-based URL; most institutions use a vanity URL. 


Institution-Based URLs

Overview

  • Vanity URLs (also known as “custom” or “standalone”) include your institution’s domain as part of the URL, e.g. catalog.schoolname.edu.

  • If you wish to utilize a vanity URL for your current academic catalog, you will need to reach out to your Coursedog Customer Success representative for help setting that up. 


Versioning

  • If you use a vanity URL, you can branch new URLs off of the core URL to make it easier to track/archive previous catalogs. Just make sure you indicate your desire to do this when you’re creating your initial vanity URL. 

  • For example: 

    • Core Vanity URL: catalog.schoolname.edu

    • Sample Version URLs: 2023.catalog.university.edu & 2024.catalog.university.edu 


Coursedog-Based URLs

Overview

  • With Coursedog-based URLs, your catalog name is a subdomain of Coursedog.com and will indicate the product type (catalog or events) and environment (e.g. “dev” for development, “stage” for staging,and “prod” for production). 

    • The generic format would be: institutionname.producttype.environment.coursedog.com

    • An example Catalog production URL would be: University.catalog.prod.coursedog.com

    • An example Catalog staging URL would be: University.catalog.stage.coursedog.com 

  • Your institution’s Super Admin(s) can set up Coursedog-based URLs.

  • It typically takes 30-60 seconds to generate a URL that is ready to be used, but it can take up to 24 hours for the URL to be active. 

    • Please contact the Coursedog team if any URL takes longer than 24 hours for generation / becoming active.

    • Once you’ve created the link, you can continue to configure the catalog, but you might not be able to view it for a few hours. 


How to Do It (Super Admins Only)

Overview | Create a Preview URL (If one doesn’t already exist) | Create an Archive URL

Overview

A Super Admin should follow the below steps whenever a new Coursedog-based URL is needed.


Create a Preview URL (If one doesn’t already exist)

  • You only need one preview URL per catalog type, so creating a preview URL should be a one-time task. 

  • You can check to see whether or not one already exists at Catalog > Settings > URLs. 


STEP 1: Navigate to Admin Dashboard > Catalog URLs.


STEP 2: Click “+ Add URL”.


STEP 3: Select “Coursedog.com Sub-domain” in the modal.


STEP 4: 

  • Type the subdomain you wish to use in the “slug” field. 

  • We recommend something like institutionname-preview


STEP 5: Skip the Catalog field; we’ll assign the new catalog in a later step. 


STEP 6: Click “Add”. 


Create an Archive URL

You’ll want to create an Archive URL to use when you are ready to “unpublish” the current catalog later. 


STEP 1: Navigate to Admin Dashboard > Catalog URLs.


STEP 2: Click “+ Add URL”.


STEP 3: Select “Coursedog.com Sub-domain” in the modal.


STEP 4: 

  • Type the subdomain you wish to use in the “slug” field. 

  • We recommend something like archive-insitutionname-XX-YY (where XX and YY indicate the catalog year, e.g. 23-24). 


STEP 5: Skip the Catalog field; we’ll assign the new catalog in a later step. 


STEP 6: Click “Add”. 


Create the Catalog

Overview

  • You can create a new catalog in one of two ways: 

    • To clone an existing catalog, go to Settings > Catalogs and click “Clone” next to the current catalog.

    • To create a brand new catalog, go to Settings > Catalogs and click “+ New Catalog”.

  • Schools typically clone the previous year’s catalog as a starting point. 


Cloning a Catalog

  1. Navigate to Catalog > Settings > Catalogs. 

  2. Click “Clone” next to the current catalog. 


  1. In the “Clone Catalog” modal, give the clone a name that distinguishes it from the original, e.g. “XX-YY Catalog”, where XX andYY represent the academic year.

  1. Click “Clone” to create the new catalog. 

  2. Click “Set as Default” next to the catalog you created. 

    1. This will make sure you’re not updating the live catalog on accident.

    2. The “Default” catalog is what Coursedog users will first see when they go to the “pages” tab. 


Assign the New Catalog to the Preview URL

  1. Navigate to Catalog > Settings > URLs.

  2. Click “+ Assign Catalog” next to the preview URL. 

  3. In the Assign Catalog to URL modal, select the catalog you just created. 

  1. Click “Assign”. From now on, when your browser points to the preview URL, you will see the new catalog you’re working on. 


Review & Update the Request Workflow

Overview

  • When a user submits a Page Change Request, that proposal is routed through an approval workflow.

  • It’s best practice to review your workflow each year to ensure that the steps and workflow participants are accurate. 

  • Learn more about configuring Catalog Workflows. 


How to Do It

  1. Navigate to Catalog > Workflows.

  2. Review all settings, emails and participants and adjust as needed. 

  3. Navigate to Catalog > Settings > Requests. 

  4. Confirm that the appropriate workflow is assigned in the dropdown. 



Review & Update the Homepage

Overview


How to Do It

  1. Navigate to Catalog > Pages > Prebuilt Pages > Catalog’s Home Page

  2. Use the homepage builder to update the homepage as needed. 

    1. If you’re changing your catalog URL or aren’t using relative URLs (e.g. /courses), best practice is to review URLs and update as needed. 

    2. If you’re keeping the catalog linked to the same URL or are using relative URLs (e.g. /courses instead of catalog.edu/courses), it’s unlikely you’ll need to make any changes to URLs. 

  3. If you wish to change homepage colors, see “Update Website Settings” below.


Create and/or Update Custom Pages

Overview

  • If you created the new catalog via clone, the catalog will be pre-populated with all existing custom pages from the catalog you cloned. 

  • At this point, you can add, remove, or update any custom pages either via direct editing (if permissions allow) or via Page Change Requests (which puts all changes through an approval workflow).


How to Do It

  • Make sure you’re viewing pages for the intended Catalog using the “Catalog” dropdown. 


Configure Departments

Overview | Update Department Page Layout | Update/Create Departments (If Needed)

Overview

  • If you created the new catalog via clone, the catalog will be pre-populated with all existing department pages from the catalog you cloned. 

  • At this point, you can configure department page layout as well as add, remove, or update any department pages either via direct editing (if permissions allow) or via Page Change Requests (which puts all changes through an approval workflow).


Update Department Page Layout

  1. Go to Settings > Departments > Layout Configuration tab

  2. Add/remove tabs and fields based on the data that’s available in Curric. Examples of typical configs: 

    1. If you don’t have Faculty (which most Curric + Cat customers don’t), hide that tab.

    2. Remove the Degree Designation field from the Programs tab if you don’t have that field populated in Curric


Update/Create Departments (If Needed)


Review Course and Program Page Templates & Create New Ones (If Needed)

Overview

  • You may reuse your existing course, course preview, and program page templates for your new catalog.

  • However, If you wish to make changes: DO NOT change the current templates. Rather, create new ones. 

  • Otherwise, changes you make here will impact your current catalog and potentially your archived catalogs as well. 


How to Do It

  1. Navigate to Catalog > Settings > Page Templates.

  2. Review settings for your current templates.

  3. If you will continue to use the existing page templates, move onto the next step. 

  4. If you wish to make changes, follow these instructions to create new page templates. 


Review Sidebar Search Filters (Contemporary Catalog Only)

Overview

  • You may choose to reuse your existing course and program Sidebar Search Filters for your new catalog. 

  • However, If you wish to make changes: DO NOT change the existing Sidebar Search Filters. Rather, create new ones. 

  • Otherwise, changes you make here will impact your current catalog and potentially your archived catalogs as well. 


How to Do It

  1. Navigate to Catalog > Settings > Sidebar Search Filters.

  2. Review the setup of your sidebar search.

  3. If you will continue to use the existing Sidebar Search Filters, move onto the next step.

  4. If you wish to update, don’t change your current filters. Instead, create new templates to avoid impacting your current and archived catalogs.

    1. Learn more about creating and configuring Sidebar Search Filters. 


Create & Configure New Navigations

Overview

  • You’ll create new navigations for every catalog (in other words: these are never reused from catalog to catalog). 

  • There are two ways to create a new navigation in Coursedog: clone an existing navigation, or create new ones.

  • Schools typically clone the previous year’s catalog navigations as a starting point. 

  • Learn more about creating & editing Navigations. 


How to Do It

  1. Navigate to Catalog > Navigations

  2. If needed, create a new Topbar navigation (this is the static menu at the top of the catalog) by cloning the previous catalog’s Topbar. 

    1. Select “Clone” next to the Topbar you wish to clone.

  1. In the “Clone navigation” modal, assign a name (“label”) that distinguishes this Topbar from the original (e.g. Specify the academic year, such as 21-22 Topbar).

  1. Click “Clone” to create the new Topbar. 

  2. Click into your newly created Topbar. 

  3. Set the Catalog Scope to the catalog you’re working on.

  1. Make any other desired changes. 

  1. Create a new Sidebar navigation (this is the main navigation menu of the catalog) by cloning the previous catalog’s Sidebar. 

    1. Follow the same steps outlined above for the Topbar. 

  2. Assign the new navigations to the new catalog (see “Update Catalog Settings” below). 


Update Catalog Settings

Overview

Now that you have finished reviewing & configuring your new catalog components, it’s time to put it all together. 


How to Do It

  1. Navigate to Catalog > Settings > Catalogs.

  2. Click the new catalog to open its settings. 

  3. Set “Catalog Navbar Navigation” to the Topbar you just created.

  4. Set “Catalog Sidebar Navigation” to the Sidebar you just created.

  5. Set “Catalog Course Page Template” to the appropriate template.

  6. Set “Catalog Program Page Template” to the appropriate template.

  7. Set “Catalog Course Preview Template” to the appropriate template.

  8. Set “Catalog Courses Page Search Configuration” to the appropriate sidebar search filter

  9. Set “Catalog Program Page Search Configuration” to the appropriate sidebar search filter

  10. Set the Effective Dating filters (this will impact which courses and programs appear in your catalog). 

    1. If your school’s definition of Effective Dating doesn’t align with Coursedog’s and you’re using a workaround, talk to your Customer Success contact to determine what you should input here, but generally speaking: 

      1. If you are a PeopleSoft school or a Colleague School using revisions, set the Effective Dates to the applicable terms for that year’s catalog.

      2. If you are any other SIS or do not leverage effective dating in Coursedog, set the Effective Start Date to 12/31/2999. 

  11. Configure additional filters.

    1. Some basic filters you might want to configure: 

      1. Filter to only show active courses and programs

      2. Exclude any departments that don’t own courses or programs (things like Financial Aid, Human Resources, etc.)

    2. Note that “Allowed Instructors” only applies to customers who also use Academic Scheduling.

    3. Learn more about Catalog Filters. 


Update Catalog-Specific Website Settings

Overview


How to Do It

  1. Navigate to Catalog > Settings > Catalogs.

  2. Click “Website Settings” for the catalog you wish to update.

  3. Update settings based on your preferences. 


Create a Catalog PDF

Overview | How to Do It | Troubleshooting

Overview

  • Once your catalog is ready to publish, you can review PDF settings – and then generate a PDF version of your catalog that will automatically appear as an option to download in your catalog’s footer. 

  • Learn more about generating a catalog PDF. 


How to Do It

  1. Configure PDF Settings

    1. Go to Catalog > Settings > Catalogs.

    2. Click “PDF Settings” for the catalog you’re working on; this will open the PDF Settings modal. 

    3. Review and update PDF settings, if desired. 

      1. Select the Document Content:

        1. If you have departments configured and their ownership of courses & programs setup in Curriculum, select the “Include Departments” checkbox and the nested Programs and Courses checkboxes as well

        2. If you do NOT have departments configured, check “Include All Programs and Courses” and unselect “Include Departments”

      2. Leave Display Format alone, unless you want a different display.

      3. Set the Font Size to whatever you prefer, or leave it alone.

      4. Click “Save”.

  1. Generate PDF

    1. From the Catalog Settings screen click “Generate PDF” next to the new catalog.

    2. Turn the toggle to the right to “include the entire catalog content in the generated document”.

  1. Click “Generate”.

  2. Wait a few minutes for the catalog to be generated.

  3. Once the PDF is ready:

    1. You will get an email from Coursedog with a link to the file. 

    2. You can also refresh the app and see a “Download” button for the catalog.

    3. A “Download Catalog as PDF” button will appear in the footer of your catalog.

  4. Test downloading the PDF from the catalog site.

    1. Go to the URL for this catalog.

    2. In the bottom left of the footer, click “Download Catalog as PDF”.

    3. If you don’t see the “Download Catalog as PDF” link in the footer, make sure you have “Hide Download Catalog as PDF” set to No in the Website Settings for the catalog.


Troubleshooting

Check out our CATALOG PDFS: FAQs & Troubleshooting article. 


Publish New Catalog

Overview

Once your catalog is ready to publish, you can do so by assigning the catalog to your live URL.


How to Do It

  1. Go to Catalog > Settings > URLs.

  2. Click “Detach from Catalog” next to the published/live URL. 

    1. In the modal, click “Yes” to confirm. 

  3. Click “+ Assign Catalog” next to the published/live URL. 

  4. In the “Assign Catalog to URL” modal, select the new Catalog. 

  1. Click “Assign”. 

    1. Now when you navigate to the live URL, you will see the new catalog.


Archive Previous Catalog

Overview

You’ll want to assign the previous catalog to the archive URL you created earlier. 


How to Do It

  1. Go to Catalog > Settings > URLs.

  2. Click “+Assign Catalog” next to the archive URL you created earlier. 

  3. In the “Assign Catalog to URL” modal, select the catalog you wish to archive. 

  4. Click “Assign”. 

    1. Now when you navigate to the live URL, you will see the previous catalog.


Related Resources

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