- Pathway Progression: On the Pathway Builder interface, you will see the points in the progression at the top of the board, if you didn’t include a Progression Model, you’ll see “Pathway” displayed. To the right is a column for the destination.
- If a Progression Model was included, you’ll see the related levels followed by the column for the destination.
- If a Progression Model was included, you’ll see the related levels followed by the column for the destination.
- Selected Resources and Components: The left rail displays all the resource cards you imported from the Credential Registry to build your pathway. It also includes component cards. It’s important to understand the distinction between resources and components:
- Resources: These are data already published to the Registry and represent the pre-populated pathway components.
- Component cards: These are empty containers that need to be filled in. Each component card corresponds to a specific CTDL class. You can use assessment, course, and credential component cards to publish new resources to the Registry on-the-fly. This means you can publish the resource and populate the component card simultaneously.
- Resources: These are data already published to the Registry and represent the pre-populated pathway components.
- Start with Destination Card: Begin by selecting the resource or component card from the left rail that represents the end destination of your pathway. Drag and drop it into the destination placeholder. Only one card can be placed in the destination. As you drag component cards onto the board, they will be outlined in red to indicate that they need to be filled in.
- Grid Lines: If you want to see grid lines to guide component placement, you can enable the grid by accessing the settings in the header and selecting “Grid On.” This will display blue guidelines next to each component, helping you align them horizontally and vertically and space them equally apart.
- Drag and Drop Progression: Build your pathway by dragging and dropping cards to indicate the pathway progression towards the destination. If you’re using a progression model, place the cards under the appropriate levels. Before connecting the components, make sure all of them are positioned on the board to represent the progression from left to right, leading to the destination component.
- Save: The Pathway Builder will automatically save every 5 minutes. However, you should use the “Save” button in the header to save your pathway all along the way.
- Fill in Empty Components: Selected resources from the Registry already include all the data you need about those components. If you use the Component Library, you’ll need to fill in the required information and if you’re including assessments, courses, or credentials that are not yet published to the Registry, you can use those empty components to publish those resources to the Registry on-the-fly and create your pathway components.
- Fill in a Component: Drag the appropriate component onto the board and select the (…) to edit. The card will be highlighted in red to indicate it needs to be filled in. Fill in all required information. Where possible, it’s always recommended to add more helpful information. The example below shows a Job that was dragged on the board and edited to fill in the required information. After entering information, select “Save Component”.
- Publish a Registry Resource On-the-Fly: If an assessment, course or credential component is not yet published to the Registry that you own and offer, you can publish that resource to the Credential Registry on-the-fly. Drag the assessment, course or credential component onto the board and select the (…) to edit. The card will be highlighted in red to indicate it needs to be filled in.
- If an assessment, course or credential is already published to the Registry, do not use re-publish it. Instead, use the Registry search and select the already published resource to use with your pathway.
- Make sure to use the toggle at the top of the edit modal by moving it to the right to Create a Registry Resources.
- Complete of the required information. It’s always recommended to add more helpful information so fill in as much information as possible.
- The example below shows a credential that was dragged on the board and edited to fill in the required information.
- After entering information, select “Save Resource.” This will publish the resource directly to the Credential Registry and make it available as a resource on the board for your pathway. You can access the published resource via the Publishing System Organization Summary page or via the search function if you need to make any additional edits.
- Fill in a Component: Drag the appropriate component onto the board and select the (…) to edit. The card will be highlighted in red to indicate it needs to be filled in. Fill in all required information. Where possible, it’s always recommended to add more helpful information. The example below shows a Job that was dragged on the board and edited to fill in the required information. After entering information, select “Save Component”.
- Connectors and Conditions: Depending on the level of expression you prefer, you can proceed with the following steps:
- Connectors: If you only want to add connectors, click on the orange dot on the card that needs to connect to another card’s orange dot, and point it towards the destination card. The connections should always go towards the destination. The Conflicts queue will identify any missing arrows that are required.
- Removing Connectors: To remove a connector, select its icon and use the X to remove the arrow.
- Add Conditions: To add conditions, use the components library and drag and drop condition cards. When dropping them, you’ll need to fill in the required information. Conditions include the name and a quantity, which represents the number of component cards that must be completed to progress through the pathway. For example, a pathway may require completing a course, an assessment, or a work experience, with a quantity of 1.
- Add Constraints: If you want to add constraints to conditions, select that option from the condition cards.
- Connectors: If you only want to add connectors, click on the orange dot on the card that needs to connect to another card’s orange dot, and point it towards the destination card. The connections should always go towards the destination. The Conflicts queue will identify any missing arrows that are required.
- Highlight Connectors: Double click on any card with connectors to highlight (in blue) the pathway to and from that card as well as directly connected cards. Double-click again to remove the highlight.
- Conflicts: As you save your pathway, any conflicts will be visible in the conflicts queue in the header. If you choose to approve a pathway that has conflicts, a listing will be displayed. This is normal though once you complete your pathway, all conflicts need to be resolved. Selecting the “Show Conflicts” will display a list. If you display the list of conflicts, you’ll need to clear them off the board by selecting the X. This will not resolve the conflict, it will stay in the queue until it’s resolved. The Handling Error Messages and Conflicts section provides a listing and explanation for each type of conflict.
- Approve: Once you complete your pathway and any conflicts are resolved, select Approve from the header. Once approved, your pathway will be published to the Credential Registry and will be visible via the Credential Finder: https://credentialfinder.org
- Errors: If you see error messages after approving your pathway, correct the errors and re-approve the pathway. Error messages that prompt corrections include:
- Missing Connections: Every card on the board should have at least one connection to another card, always pointing towards the destination.
- Resources in the Left Rail: If any resource cards remain in the left rail at the time of approval, you need to either delete them or move them to the board and connect them.
- Resources Need to be Published: The resource for a card must be published or re-published prior to approving the pathway. You can publish resources via the Organization Summary page.
