When creating a new lab profile, users are directed to the template gallery. The template gallery allows lab authors to easily search for and select pre-created labs to use as the base for a new lab. Lab authors can select templates from the public template gallery maintained by Skillable or create a private gallery available only to their own users. Users can search by name or favorite individual templates and filter by only templates they have favorited for ease of finding frequently used templates. When accessing labs from the template gallery, authors are provided two options:
- The Create option allows you to generate a new lab directly from the gallery simply by defining some information – such as name, series and organization – about where you would like to save the new lab.
- The Preview option allows you to launch the lab so you can review the environment and confirm it is what you are looking for before creating a new lab based on it.
Templates provided by Skillable
Skillable provides templates that include information about components (either virtual or cloud) included in the environment, as well as guidance for how to modify the template and use it as your own.
Skillable templates are available to all lab authors of the platform and provide global filters that can be used to easily identify labs by their fabric (such as Hyper-V or vSphere), Operating System (for virtual environments) or included technologies (such as cloud components or installed software).
Skillable provided templates fall into various Topic Areas that are available as filters. A topic area defines the types of technical scenarios that a template is best suited for. In the template gallery, a topic area defines the general technology that a template is designed to support. Templates in a topic area contain all the necessary configurations and tools to begin building content for that topic but can be further customized by the author to expand on their capabilities, such as adding additional configurations or software.
Organization-specific Templates
Templates from Skillable are designed as a starting point for a wide variety of lab authoring needs. If your organization has more specific needs, such as having a custom software installed, you may decide you would like your lab authors to have this custom environment available to generate new labs from. This is where you would utilize an Organization-specific Template. These templates are available only to users of your Organization and not those outside of it.
Organization-specific templates may use the same filters available to public labs by adding them as Tags on the lab profile. Additionally, you can create your own tags and select the Publish to Template Gallery option on the tag profile to use it as a custom filter for only your users.
Frequently Asked Questions
When I select “Create Lab Profile” I still see the old experience.
If your organization is interested in utilizing this capability, please reach out to our Support or your Account Executive and they can turn on the gallery for your organization.
Can I still create lab profiles from scratch using the traditional method?
Yes! The traditional create lab profile page still exists and can be navigated to by selecting + Create Custom Environment from the top right of the template gallery page.
Can I control what users can edit my Organization’s templates?
Yes! Organization templates are visible to and usable by all users who belong to or manage the Organization or children of it. Your templates simply need to belong to an organization in Skillable Studio, which is above the organization your standard lab authors use.
What topic-focused lab template are available for the Template Gallery?
You can read more about our topic-focused templates. Right now we have topics on the following technologies:
- Coding/Software Development
- DevOps/Cloud Technologies
- Data and Analytics
- End User Productivity
- Information/Cyber Security
- Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence
- Network Administration
- Systems Administration
- Database Administration
I have some suggestions on how this could further benefit our Organization.
That is great to hear! We love hearing feedback about how the platform can better meet the needs of our users, we have a Community Slack channel available for lab authors to collaborate. Please use the proper channel to provide suggestions for improvements.
For all other questions, please contact our Support.
