Overview
This article explains the setting that lets Classter automatically show Students and Teachers only the Subjects that belong to the academic period (Timetable Category) that is currently active, instead of every Subject they have ever been enrolled in or assigned to teach.
What This Setting Does
Setting: “Enable Subject filtering based on timetable categories”/Enable_Subject_Filterring_Based_On_Timetable_Categories (Main Settings / General Settings / Basic Customization / Controls, Filters & Checks / Enable Unit filtering based on timetable categories)
When this setting is turned on, any screen that lists Subjects for a Teacher or a Student – for example the “My Subjects” area of the portal – is automatically filtered so that it only shows the Subjects that are linked to the Timetable Category (or Timetable Categories) that the institution has marked as currently active.
When the setting is turned off, Teachers and Students see all of their assigned or enrolled Subjects at all times, with no filtering by academic period.
A companion setting, Public name for Timetable Categories filter Public_Name_Subject_Filterring_Based_On_Timetable_Categories
If this setting is enabled, any list of Subjects or window related on Subjects (such as My Subjects) either in Teachers or Students portal will be automatically filtered using the active timetable categories.
For example, if Subject A is associated with timetable category Semester A and Subject B is associated with timetable category Semester B,
As admin, if you select as default timetable category Semester A, then Subject A will be presented to the Students and the Teachers.
If you select Semester B then the Subject B will be presented to them.
With that you can enroll Semester A and Semester B Subjects to Students and Teachers but only present the active semester Subjects to them.
To see which timetable category is active, you go to Academic Settings / Timetable / Timetable Categories as administrator (Figure 1 & 2)
Figure 1
Figure 2
*FYI: In conclusion this setting filters out and displays only subjects that are related to an active timetable category.
Where It Is Used
My Subjects (dashboard and dedicated page) for Teachers: displays a “Timetable Category” selector that lets a Teacher choose which academic period’s Subjects to view.
My Subjects for Students: automatically shows only the Subjects that belong to the active Timetable Category, without requiring the Student to pick anything.
Student curriculum and enrollment screens: each enrolled Subject can display a small marker showing which Timetable Category it belongs to, so a Student or administrator can see at a glance which term a Subject was taken in.
Absence management, when a Teacher records a session for a Subject on the fly: the Subject list offered is limited to the active Timetable Category, matching what the Teacher would normally see in their own subject list.
Subject setup screen (Timetable tab): this is where an administrator links a Subject to one or more Timetable Categories in the first place.
Business Logic / Behavior
A “Timetable Category” represents an academic period (for example a semester, term, or trimester) that an institution’s schedule is organized around. Timetable Categories are created and managed on their own management screen, where each one can be marked Active/visible to all users and, optionally, as the Default category.
A Subject is only ever filtered out if all three of the following are true: the setting is enabled, at least one Timetable Category is currently active, and the Subject has been linked to at least one Timetable Category that is not among the active ones.
A Subject that has not been linked to any Timetable Category is always shown, to every Teacher and Student, regardless of whether this setting is enabled or which category is active. Linking a Subject to a Timetable Category is what makes it subject to filtering.
A Subject can be linked to more than one Timetable Category at the same time – for example, a year-long Subject can be linked to both the first and second term so that it always remains visible.
Activating or deactivating a Timetable Category is a manual action performed by an administrator, typically once per term or semester; it does not happen automatically based on calendar dates.
Administrators always see every Subject in administrative lists, regardless of Timetable Category filtering. The filtering only applies to the Teacher- and Student-facing subject views described above.
Example
Alpha Institute runs two terms per academic year, “Term A” and “Term B”, each set up as its own Timetable Category.
The Subject “Advanced Statistics” is linked only to the “Term A” category, while “Introduction to Marketing” is linked only to “Term B”. Teacher Maria P. teaches both Subjects across the year, and student George S. is enrolled in both.
While the administrator has “Term A” marked as the active Timetable Category, Maria P. and George S. only see “Advanced Statistics” in their My Subjects list – “Introduction to Marketing” is temporarily hidden. Once the administrator switches the active category to “Term B” at the start of the next term, “Introduction to Marketing” appears automatically for both of them, and “Advanced Statistics” is hidden again until Term A is reactivated the following year.
A third Subject, “Student Wellbeing Seminar,” is not linked to any Timetable Category, so it continues to appear for Maria P. and George S. in every term, unaffected by the active category.
When to Use
When to Enable
Your institution runs distinct terms, semesters, or trimesters with different Subjects in each, and you want Teachers and Students to see only the Subjects that are relevant to the period that is currently running.
You want to avoid confusion or clutter in the My Subjects area when the same Teacher or Student has Subjects spread across multiple terms of the same academic year.
You want to reuse the same Subject list across two or more terms while still controlling, from one place, which Subjects are currently visible.
When to Disable
Your institution runs a single continuous term or does not organize its schedule around Timetable Categories.
You want Teachers and Students to always see the complete list of Subjects they are assigned to or enrolled in, regardless of academic period.
Notes
This setting behaves the same way in K-12 mode and in Higher Education mode. Enabling “Enable Configuration for Higher Education”/Xrisi_parametropoihshs_kolegiou (
Related settings:
Public name for Timetable Categories filter/Public_Name_Subject_Filterring_Based_On_Timetable_Categories (
Enable Configuration for Higher Education/Xrisi_parametropoihshs_kolegiou (
Before enabling this setting, make sure that:
At least one Timetable Category has been created and marked Active on the Timetable Categories management screen.
The Subjects that should be affected by the filter have been linked to the appropriate Timetable Category or Categories from the Subject setup screen’s Timetable tab. Subjects left unlinked will always remain visible.
