Using the List Manager: Disciplines, Categories, and Associations

The List Manager is the single place to manage the disciplines, categories and associations your courses use. Get these right early — they drive your public class listings, marketplace filters and CPR Class Finder, and they are much harder to tidy once courses depend on them.

Before You Begin

• Find it at Course Builder → List Manager. Four tabs: Discipline, Categories, Associations and Folders.
• Check the usage count before deleting anything. Once a value has been used, archive is your only option.
• Associations are held to a stricter standard than disciplines and categories — read Step 4 before creating one.
• The Folders tab is covered separately in Organizing Records with Folders.

Step 1: Add a Discipline or Category

Both work the same way.

1. Type a name into the Add a discipline… (or category) box.
2. Click + Add.

Each row shows:

• A STANDARD or CUSTOM badge.
• A usage count — Used by 3 courses · 59 classes, or Not yet used.
• An action menu (⋯).

Step 2: Know the Rules on Deleting

The footer spells them out:

Archived values disappear from pickers but remain on historical records. Tick Show archived to see archived values and restore them.

✔ Check the usage count before you try to delete. If it has been used, archive it — the record it is attached to still needs it.

Step 3: Use Category Colors

Custom course category headings can be assigned a color, which makes long course lists far easier to scan on your public page. Default categories use their predefined colors and cannot be changed.

Step 4: Work With Associations

Associations drive class listings, marketplace filters and CPR Class Finder, so they are held to a stricter standard. There is a centralized, approved catalog for consistent naming, plus organization-specific custom associations.

To request approval, use the row action and supply the required justification and contact information.

✔ Duplicate detection works for you. If an equivalent association already exists as approved or pending, your entry is linked to it rather than creating a near-duplicate.

Step 5: Share Registrations by Discipline or Category

Row-level actions let you generate:

• A public registration link for a specific discipline, category or association.
• Embeddable filtered registration forms for external websites.

These links stay valid even if the discipline or category is later renamed.

Best Practices

• Settle your discipline and category list before building a large catalog. Renaming is easy; restructuring after 200 courses is not.
• Color-code custom categories deliberately — it is the cheapest usability win on your public page.
• Search the approved catalog before creating a custom association. Duplicate detection helps, but a good first choice helps more.
• Use Local Only for genuinely internal groupings and request approval only for associations you want discoverable in the marketplace.
• Archive rather than delete when in doubt. Archived values vanish from pickers but keep history intact.

Frequently Asked Questions

✔ You’re all set. Related reading: Organizing Records with Folders for the fourth tab.