---
title: "What is the catalogue?"
slug: "what-is-the-catalogue"
tags: ["Explainer", "Totara Platform", "Totara Learn", "Totara Engage"]
updated: 2025-10-07T11:07:59Z
published: 2025-10-07T11:07:59Z
canonical: "totara.help/what-is-the-catalogue"
---
> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://totara.help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# What is the catalogue?
Users can access the catalogue by clicking **Explore** in the main menu (/totara/catalog/index.php). The catalogue allows users to browse, search and filter for [courses](/19/docs/courses), [programs](/19/docs/what-are-programs), [certifications](/19/docs/what-are-certifications), [resources](/19/docs/totara-engage-content-types), [playlists](/19/docs/totara-engage-content-types) and [workspaces](/19/docs/what-are-workspaces) available within the system.
[Embedded content](https://www.youtube.com/embed/7b0PfQ-itAI)
Each item in the catalogue is represented by a tile. By default each tile contains the full name of the item and an image.
Course, program, certification, resource and workspace images can be uploaded within their respective general settings page. If an image has not been set for a particular item, the default course, program, certification, resource, playlist or workspace image will be used based on the [theme you are using](/19/docs/inspire-theme-settings). To view more information on an item, click on the image or title.
Note that the information panel is disabled by default on new Totara sites, but can be configured with the [**Details content**](/19/docs/catalogue-settings) setting.
Only those items visible to an individual will be displayed within the catalogue. You can limit the visibility of learning items to certain individuals with audiences and roles.
## Catalogue display options
The catalogue can be displayed differently to users depending on your selection:
- [Explore](/19/docs/what-is-the-catalogue#using-the-explore-catalogue) (default)
- [Grid](/19/docs/what-is-the-catalogue#using-the-grid-catalogue)
- [Report](/19/docs/legacy-catalogue) (legacy, previously known as the **Enhanced** catalogue)
- [Category](/19/docs/legacy-catalogue) (legacy)
To change the display for your catalogue, go to *Quick-access menu > Configure features* (/totara/catalog/config.php) and select the desired option from the **Catalogue default view** setting. If you are upgrading from an earlier version of Totara, you will need to select the Explore catalogue manually.
## Using the Explore catalogue
The Explore catalogue is the default catalogue for Totara 19 onwards. This catalogue provides a simple, modern user interface, with powerful search and filtering functionality, along with the ability to curate suggested learning items using blocks. The configurable settings are the same as the Grid catalogue option, allowing you to easily switch to the Explore catalogue.
Note that when upgrading from an earlier version of Totara and switching to the Explore catalogue, you may want to amend the information displayed on each card. The learning type (e.g. course, playlist, certification) is now a fixed item, but you can configure which text fields will be displayed via the **Item** tab when [configuring the catalogue](/19/docs/configure-the-catalogue).
Featured learning is highlighted with a star icon ().
### Search, filters and sorting
The Explore catalogue displays the search bar and available filters in a unified panel. Users can search the catalogue using the search bar, select a specific category, and apply various filters.
The search functionality works the same as the search in the Grid catalogue.
You can add additional filters to the **Filters** panel by [configuring the catalogue](/19/docs/configure-the-catalogue).
After entering a search query or filtering the catalogue, you can share the results with another user by clicking the link button (). This allows you to copy the link to the catalogue as you're currently viewing it, with your filters and search queries applied. However, note that other users who you share this URL with may not see the same catalogue items as you due to differences in visibility and permissions.
The Explore catalogue can also be sorted and displayed in variety of ways:
- By **Relevance** to the entered search terms
- By the most recently added items (**Latest**)
- With **Featured learning** items listed first (where **Featured learning** has been enabled)
- In **Alphabetical** order ([only available if using one language](/19/docs/what-is-the-catalogue#sorting-when-multiple-languages-are-enabled))
### **Top and bottom block areas**
When using the Explore catalogue you can add blocks to the top and bottom block areas. These appear above and below the catalogue respectively. A catalogue block displaying recently added learning is included in the bottom block area by default.
You can add more catalogue blocks to curate the learning that will appear to users before they enter a search term. When the user applies filters or adds a search term, the blocks in the bottom block area will be hidden. If the default block is removed (and no other blocks have been added), the catalogue will instead show all catalogue items.
Please see [Blocks](/19/docs/what-are-blocks) for more information on the blocks you can add to the catalogue.
## Using the Grid catalogue
The Grid catalogue is enabled by default within all new installations of Totara 12 to 18.
### **Browse menu**
Users can browse the catalogue by scrolling down the page and using **Load More** to display additional content items.
By default, users can also browse items belonging to a specific **Category** or subcategory. Other browsing options are available within the catalogue, and can be set by a Site Administrator via *Quick-access menu > Courses and categories > Configure catalogue* (/totara/catalog/config.php) or via the **Configure catalogue** button.
When [multitenancy](/19/docs/what-is-multitenancy) and tenant isolation are enabled users will only be able to see catalogue content from their own tenant.
### **Sort by**
The catalogue can also be sorted and displayed in variety of ways:
- In **Alphabetical** order ([only available if using one language](/19/docs/what-is-the-catalogue#sorting-when-multiple-languages-are-enabled))
- By the most recently added items (**Latest**)
- With **Featured Learning** items listed first (where **Featured Learning** has been enabled)
- By **Relevance** (available after a text search term has been entered)
### **Display options**
By default, the catalogue can be shown in **Tile view** or **List view**. Display options can be defined by a Site Administrator via the quick-access menu under *Courses > Configure catalogue* > [*General*](/19/docs/catalogue-settings) (/totara/catalog/config.php?tab=general).
### **Search**
Users can also search for items using the **Search** bar. Only those items available to the user will be displayed.
The search functionality will return matching results from any course, program, certification and resource text field that is visible to all users such as item name, summary and text-based custom fields.
You can also search for just part of a word using the partial search functionality. This enables you to search for multiple similar search terms. To do this, replace the end of a search term with an asterisk. For example, if a user were to search for 'organis*', the search results would include terms such as 'organisation', 'organised', 'organisational' and more.
> [!NOTE]
> #### Available from Totara 19.1
>
> ### New catalogue search and recommendation features
>
> Several enhancements have been introduced to improve the catalogue’s search capabilities, accuracy of results, and personalised recommendations.
>
> ### Smarter partial word matching
>
> The catalogue search now handles partial word matching more intelligently. Users will no longer see **No available learning matches your search** simply because they entered part of a word.
>
> ### FTS fallback search option
>
> The FTS fallback search setting provides greater control over how partial matches are handled. The setting configures whether a fallback query should be run against the index for partial word matching.
>
> > [!WARNING]
> > Note: This may have a performance impact on large sites, but may support in finding more results.
>
>
>
> To access the [FTS fallback search setting](/19/docs/catalogue-settings):
>
> 1. Navigate to the **Explore catalogue**.
> 2. Select the three dots () and select **Configure catalogue**.
> 3. Click on the **General** tab, then select your option from the **FTS fallback search setting** dropdown menu:
>
> - **Never**: Only exact word matches are returned.
> - **Always**: Partial word matching is always applied. (May impact performance on very large catalogues.)
> - **Only when no results found**: The system retries the search using partial matching if no exact matches are found.
>
> ### Enhanced wildcard search
>
> Wildcard search behaviour (adding a Asterix) has been expanded, allowing wildcards anywhere within a word.
>
> Previously, wildcards could only be used at the end (e.g. train*→ training, trainer).
>
> Now, searches like the following are supported:
>
> | Search term | Matches |
> | --- | --- |
> | *form | platform, reform |
> | man*er | manager, maneuver |
> | *dev* | developer, codevelopment |
>
>
>
> > [!WARNING]
> > Note: Wildcard search within words requires FTS fallback search to be set to Always.
>
>
>
> ### Spell check suggestions
>
> Spell check functionality has been added to help improve search accuracy.
>
> This setting lets you select which suggester to use (only configured plugins are available).
>
> > [!CAUTION]
> > Note: Totara can use the **PSpell** PHP extension to provide spelling suggestions in search.
> >
> > This extension is not included by default in most PHP installations, so it may need to be manually installed by a technical server administrator. This is typically a quick process using standard package management commands.
> >
> > When you access the **General** tab in the **Configure catalogue** settings in Totara, the system checks if the PSpell extension is available on the server. If it is, you’ll see an option to select it as a suggester. If it’s not installed, the option won’t appear.
> >
> > You can review the [Public Developer documentation](https://totara.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DEV/pages/1088585794/Suggestions) for more information on configuring the suggester.
>
>
>
> To access the Suggested search plugin setting when the PHP extension is installed:
>
> 1. Navigate the **Explore catalogue**.
> 2. Select the three dots () and select **Configure catalogue**.
> 3. Click on the **General** tab, here you will find the **Suggested search plugin setting**, use the dropdown menu to select the suggester to use i.e. [PSpell](https://totara.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DEV/pages/1088585794/Suggestions)
>
> How it works:
>
> - The system detects possible spelling errors when a search is submitted.
> - If an error is found, a correction appears below the search bar, for example:
> - User types: mangement
>
> Suggestion: Did you mean "management"?
> - User types: communecation
>
> Suggestion: Did you mean "communication"?
> - User types: certifacation
>
> Suggestion: Did you mean "certification"?
> - Users can click the suggestion to re-run the search with the corrected term.
> - The original search still runs even when a suggestion is displayed.
>
> Additional notes:
>
> - Suggestions are based on spelling similarity.
> - Suggestions are not displayed in the mobile front-end but are supported in the mobile API.
>
> ### AI-powered recommendations in the catalogue
>
> The catalogue now integrates directly with Totara’s AI-powered recommendation engine to deliver more personalised learning suggestions via the Recommended learning block.
>
> The **Recommended for you** block now includes Programs and certifications available for self-enrolment (requires the Recommendation engine to be configured.)
>
> **Smart, curated learning**
>
> In Totara 19.1, content blocks now offer personalised recommendations—highlighting popular, related, and recently viewed items—based on your interaction history, making it easier to discover relevant learning content.
>
>
>
> Note: From Totara 19.1 ‘Trending’ is no longer available in the **Recommended for you** block, and is now its own Trending block which can be added to the Explore catalogue.
### **Share link**
Users can share their current view of the catalogue using the **Share** button. A unique link is generated and may be sent to other users of the site.
People who you share this URL with may not see the same catalogue items as you due to differences in visibility and permissions.
### **Top and bottom block areas**
When using the **Grid-based catalogue** you can add blocks to the top and bottom block areas. These appear above and below the catalogue respectively. If you are using the **Grid-based catalogue** as your site's home page you can use these areas to display important information or useful links.
Please see [Blocks](/19/docs/what-are-blocks) for more information on the blocks you can add to the catalogue.
### Explore content marketplace
When viewing the catalogue as a Site Administrator or Course Creator, and where a [content marketplace has been enabled](/19/docs/enable-content-marketplaces), a link to **Explore Content Marketplace** is provided.
Please see [What are content marketplaces?](/19/docs/what-are-content-marketplaces) for instructions on using the content marketplace to add new learning items to the catalogue.
## Creating items
When viewing the catalogue as a Site Administrator or a user with the capability to create new catalogue items, a **Create new** option is available to add new courses, programs, certifications, resources, playlists and workspaces (depending on the user's capabilities and the products installed) to the site.
To create a new item in the catalogue, follow these steps:
1. Select **Explore** from the main menu.
2. Click **Create new** in the top-right corner.
3. Select the type of content you wish to create.
4. Follow the steps for creating that content type:
- [Create a course](/19/docs/create-a-course)
- [Create a resource](/19/docs/create-a-resource)
- [Create a certification](/19/docs/create-a-certification)
- [Create a playlist](/19/docs/create-a-playlist)
- [Create a program](/19/docs/create-a-program)
- [Create a workspace](/19/docs/create-a-public-workspace)
## How is the catalogue populated?
### **Totara Learn**
Catalogue entries for courses, programs, certifications, resources and playlists are kept up to date automatically by Totara Learn. When a user changes data relating to learning items, catalogue data is either updated immediately, or else marked as needing to be updated as soon as possible by scheduling a new ad hoc task. Ad hoc tasks are created by Totara Learn as needed and run as soon as possible on the next cron run. Whether the update is immediate, or scheduled as an ad hoc task, usually depends on whether the change affects just one learning item or multiple. For example, changing the full name of a course will cause the catalogue data to immediately be updated, while changing the default value of a course custom field will cause an ad hoc task to be scheduled which will update the catalogue data of all affected courses.
In addition to this, there is a scheduled task that runs once a day by default, refreshing the data in the catalogue to ensure that it is up to date. This scheduled task is a backup process that is designed to catch any changes to data that did not lead to an immediate or ad hoc update. All standard functionality within Totara Learn is designed to make the catalogue up to date as soon as possible. It is possible that some customisations or third-party plugins may need to be updated before they also do this, and the daily scheduled task ensures that the catalogue will be updated at least once per day in this case.
### Changing the catalogue type
When the **Catalogue type** setting is changed from **Report** or **Category** to **Grid** or **Explore**, an ad hoc task is scheduled which will populate the catalogue data when cron is next run. Until the task has run, the catalogue will be empty.
When either the Grid or Explore catalogue is enabled you can also set it to be the home page for your site. You can change the home page to the catalogue by configuring the Default home page for users setting via Quick-access menu > Navigation > Navigation settings.
### **Other actions affecting catalogue data**
There are several other actions within Totara which can affect catalogue data, which include, but are not limited to:
- When the catalogue is set to **Report** or **Category**, all learning items are removed immediately
- When a feature is turned on (such as programs in **Advanced settings**), an ad hoc task is scheduled to populate the catalogue with related learning items
- When a feature is turned off, related learning items are removed immediately
- When a learning type is enabled in the catalogue (in the **Contents** tab in catalogue configuration), an ad hoc task is scheduled to populate the catalogue with related learning items
- When a learning type is disabled in the catalogue, related learning items are removed immediately
- When tags are turned off or on (in **Advanced settings**), an ad hoc task is scheduled to refresh the catalogue data of all learning items
- When tags are turned off or on for a learning type (under *Appearance > Manage tags*), an ad hoc task is scheduled to refresh the catalogue data of the related learning items
Sometimes the catalogue search index may need to be rebuilt, for example if the catalogue is accessed before it has been reindexed after a change is made. If you are experiencing issues with the catalogue search, you can rebuild the search index by following these steps:
1. Navigate to the catalogue via **Explore** in the main menu.
2. Click **Configure catalogue**.
3. On the **Contents** tab, untick each of the content types that are currently in use.
4. Tick each content type again (for content types you want to include in the catalogue).
5. Click **Save**.
Then you can check that searching the catalogue works as expected.
## Sorting when multiple languages are enabled
When multiple languages are installed, the sorting dropdown in the catalogue is removed. Instead, sorting is automatically managed, depending on the status of the catalogue. In order of precedence (highest first):
- If the **text search** is active then sorting is by relevance
- If **Featured learning** is configured then featured items will be sorted first, and the secondary sorting is by latest first (the latest featured item will appear first in the results, and the latest non-featured item will appear just after all the featured items)
- Otherwise, sorting is by latest first
The dropdown/alphabetical sorting box can be re-enabled by setting the **catalog_enable_alpha_sorting_with_multiple_languages** config variable - see **config-dist.php** for details.
The Totara Academy has a whole course dedicated to using the [Catalogue](https://totara.community/enrol/index.php?id=902) in Totara. Here you can learn more on how to use the catalogue, see best practice, and give it a go yourself.
Join the [Totara Community](https://totara.community/) for more resources to help you get the most out of Totara.
© Copyright 2026 Totara Learning Solutions. All rights reserved.