Setting up a playlist
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In Totara, anyone can curate a set of resources such as videos, articles and podcasts into a set of resources known as a playlist.
Think of a playlist as a container filled with resources grouped around a topic such as ‘leadership techniques’ or ‘mentoring’.
You can find public playlists available in the course catalogue under Find Learning and then under Playlists.
It’s very easy to set up a new playlist. You can add a playlist to your own library, or to share in a workspace library. I’ll get started by navigating to my library, where I can see any resources that I have already made or that have been shared with me.
To create a new playlist, select the plus icon next to Your playlists.
Similar to a resource, you can add a title and a description for your playlist. Today I’d like to curate a set of resources about public speaking so I’m going to make a new playlist with the title ‘Presentation skills.’
I’ll add a description so that my peers will also know what the playlist includes.
I’ll make this playlist private, so that it’s only available to me to start. I’ll be able to make this playlist public later if I like or keep it private and for my own development.
I’ll select Done to create my playlist. Of course, my playlist is currently empty and doesn’t contain any resources yet.
If you chose to make a private playlist, but wish to make it public later, you can change this using the Share option. Here you can choose for the playlist to be available to a select group of people or to all users on your site.
It’s good to think through how using playlists will affect resources and who they will show to. Playlists have more rights than resources, so the rules of the playlist will overwrite the initial rules chosen for a resource.
If a user adds a resource to a public playlist, then that resource will become public, even if the resource was previously private.
If a resource was created and made available to a limited number of users and then added to a playlist, the resource would become available to everyone that the playlist is available to.
If you do decide to set up a public playlist then this playlist can’t become a private playlist at a later date, so be careful to only make your playlist public if you intend to keep it that way.
I’ll make my playlist public so that I can share the resources with everyone.
I’m going to start adding resources to my playlist. I want to include a video from YouTube, so I’ll copy and paste the URL from YouTube and add a title.
It’s also a good idea to add a hashtag to make your resources easier to find for your peers using the system.
I’m ready to continue so I’ll select Next.
Because I am adding this resource to a public playlist, my resource is automatically made public too.
All resources also need at least one tag to help people find them.
The resource is being added to my playlist, but I can also alert specific people or workspaces that this resource is available by sharing it with them.
I’ll select Done to add my new resource to my playlist.
You can add as many resources as you like to a playlist. This can include resources or courses that already exist on your site, as well as new ones you create. You can continue to add to a playlist over time too, building a useful set of resources.
So that’s how you start creating a playlist in Totara. Why not have a go at creating your own playlist now?