Courses & Catalog Overview
Courses are the foundation of what your music school offers. In Conductly, the Catalog is where you create and manage all of your courses -- from private piano lessons to group guitar classes to summer music programs.
What Is a Course?
A course represents a type of instruction your school offers. Every course has:
- A name (e.g., "Piano Lessons," "Group Guitar," "Summer Music Camp")
- A type that defines how it's taught (Lesson, Class, or Program)
- A format (In Person, Online, or Hybrid)
- A billing type that determines how students are charged
Depending on the course type, a course may also have:
- An optional instrument association (Lesson and Class types)
- Instructors (assigned during creation for Lesson courses; on the calendar for classes)
- Sessions -- the specific, schedulable instances of the course, created as you schedule and assign
Courses do not have capacity, duration, or schedule fields. Capacity is set on the class event when you schedule it on the calendar, and lesson durations and prices come from your rates.
Course Types
Conductly supports three types of courses:
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Lesson | One-on-one instruction between an instructor and a student. | Weekly 30-minute piano lesson |
| Class | One instructor teaching multiple students at the same time. | Saturday morning group guitar |
| Program | A broader offering like a camp, workshop, or multi-week program. | Summer music camp |
The course type affects how sessions are created, how instructors are assigned, and how enrollment works. Catalog filters refer to these types as "Private Lessons," "Group Classes," and "Programs."
Program is simply the third course type -- it works like a course, not a container. Programs don't bundle other courses or sessions, and there is no separate Program detail page or top-level Programs list. Use the Program type to categorize offerings like camps and workshops (it also gets its own section in your online store).
Courses and Sessions
Each course can have multiple sessions. A session is a specific instance of a course -- it combines the course with an instructor, a schedule, and sometimes a location.
For example, the course "Piano Lessons" might have these sessions:
- Tuesday Piano with Ms. Garcia
- Wednesday Piano with Mr. Chen
- Thursday Piano with Ms. Garcia
Students enroll in sessions, not directly in courses. This gives you fine-grained control over scheduling, capacity, and instructor assignments.
Think of a course as "what you teach" and a session as "when, where, and with whom it happens."
The Catalog Page
The Catalog page is where you manage all of your courses. From here you can:
- View all courses in a sortable, filterable list
- Add new courses with the step-by-step creation wizard
- Filter by name, category, status, instrument, or instructor
- Group courses by status, instructor, or instrument
- Sort by last updated, name, course type, status, or instructor
- Bulk delete courses by selecting multiple and using the actions menu
- Restore previously deleted courses
Keyboard Shortcuts
The catalog list supports keyboard shortcuts:
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Up/Down arrows | Navigate through the list |
| Enter | Open the highlighted course |
| S | Focus the search field |
Course Statuses
Each course has a status that controls its availability:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | Available for enrollment and visible in relevant areas. |
| Inactive | Not currently available. Can be reactivated at any time. |
| Canceled | The course has been canceled. |
| Completed | The course has finished its run. |
You can change a course's status at any time from the course detail page by clicking the status badge.
How Courses Connect to Other Features
Courses sit at the center of many Conductly features:
- Instructors -- Assigned to lesson courses at creation, or to classes when you schedule them on the calendar.
- Sessions -- Specific instances of a course, created by scheduling classes on the calendar or by assigning instructors to lesson courses.
- Students -- Enrolled into sessions within courses.
- Calendar -- Sessions appear on the calendar with their instructor's color.
- Billing -- Each course has a billing type that determines how students are charged.
- Online Store -- Courses can be listed in your online store for families to purchase directly.
- Earnings & Payroll -- Instructor compensation is calculated based on their sessions within courses.
Next Steps
- Creating Courses -- Step-by-step guide to adding new courses.
- Managing Sessions -- Learn how to create and manage sessions within courses.
- Enrolling Students -- Understand how enrollment connects students to sessions.