Introducing New and Improved Site Categories and Levels

With almost 15,000 classes on Skillshare, there are more topics to explore than ever before and more students ready to start learning! As our community grows, we recognize that class discovery is a crucial component of the Skillshare experience -- helping students find your classes is a top priority for our team in 2017. Today, we’re excited to share that we’ve updated the class categories listed on Skillshare and added two other new features to make it easier than ever for students to discover your classes.

New Categories and Subcategories

Classes are now grouped into 4 main categories: Creative, Business, Technology and Lifestyle, and each of these categories now includes 5-10 set subcategories that go one layer deeper in subject specificity. Every class on Skillshare will now be categorized into 1 of the 4 main categories along with 1 corresponding subcategory, both of which you’ll select in your class creator. Adding this level of organization means students who are interested in the topic you are teaching will be more likely to find and watch your class.

Skills

Even though your class can only have one 1 category and 1 subcategory, you can now select up to 7 skills to tag to your class that help us best surface your content to interested students. The more skills you add, the better.

Levels

On top of providing more specific categories for students, we’ve also added the ability for you to label your class content as Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced. This way, students will be able to know what content is right for their skill level before they watch your class, providing a more tailored experience for beginners and experts alike.

Beginner: No prerequisite knowledge required. The class includes everything students need to know to complete the project and/or deliverable.

Intermediate: Some prerequisite knowledge recommended for students to learn the most from the lessons. Consider: software skills, conceptual knowledge, disciplinary expertise.

Advanced: Significant prerequisite knowledge required for students to follow and learn from the lesson material.

What To Do Now:

1. Check that each of your classes is in the correct category and subcategory. We’ve done our best to automatically place your class in the most relevant new category and subcategory, but we’d strongly recommend that you take a quick moment to check out each one of your classes and make any necessary adjustments in the “Class Info” section of your class creator. The more accurate your subcategory, the more your class will get discovered by students most interested in watching!

Not sure which subcategory is best? Check out this helpful guide that defines each subcategory in more detail.

2. Make sure each of your classes has 7 skills added. The more specific skills you add to your class, the more often it will appear in student search results. Consider all the subject areas you touch on, keywords that students might search for, and any programs or softwares you cover. Add them in the “Class Info” section of your class creator.

3. Update the level of your classes. Head to the "Class Info" section of your class creator to add in the appropriate level for your class: beginner, intermediate or advanced. 

Have questions? Shoot us an email at teach@skillshare.com. We’re excited to see more students discovering and learning in your classes!