Overview
This article helps you set up and manage disciplines in Access Volcanic. Disciplines are category labels that describe the primary field or industry of a job, such as Finance, Marketing, or Engineering. They power filters on your job search page and generate dedicated platform pages for each category. Additionally, they drive logic in job alerts, feeds, tailored forms, and ATS integrations.
Key benefits
Power filters on the job search page and related job listings to help candidates find relevant opportunities.
Generate a platform page for each discipline automatically to improve site navigation.
Enable internal-only job postings that can be hidden from public listings when needed.
Drive logic in job alerts, JSON feeds, and tailored application forms for better candidate targeting.
Support ATS integrations by providing consistent job categorisation across systems.
Create hierarchical structures with parent and sub-disciplines for organised job browsing.
Before you start
Before creating and managing disciplines, make sure you have:
Admin access to your Access Volcanic platform.
A clear understanding of which job categories you want to track and display.
Knowledge of any ATS integration requirements for exact discipline name matching.
📌 Note: Platform pages for disciplines use reserved templates and fixed permalinks that cannot be duplicated or fully customised per site.
Working with disciplines
This section covers all the steps and procedures for managing disciplines in Access Volcanic.
Accessing disciplines
You can access discipline management through your Admin Area.
Log in to your Admin Area as an admin.
Go to Settings in the top navigation.
Under Reference Data, select Disciplines.
From this area you can create new disciplines, edit or delete existing ones, and reorder items using drag-and-drop to build parent and child structures.
Creating a discipline
Access the disciplines area.
Click the green New button.
Complete the required and optional fields:
Name: Enter the title of the discipline (required).
Permalink: Leave blank to auto-generate, or enter a custom slug.
Content/Body: Add descriptive copy shown on the discipline page via the Admin area CMS (optional, if your site supports it).
Icon/Image: Upload via Browse (optional).
Tags: Add internal tagging where applicable (optional).
Internal: Tick this checkbox to mark as an internal discipline that hides jobs from public listings.
Click Submit to save and generate the front-end discipline page.
🤓 Tip: If you're unsure about making a change public, temporarily tick Internal before publishing navigation or making linking changes.
Editing an existing discipline
Access the disciplines area.
Locate the discipline in the page tree.
🤓Tip: Use the filter bar at top to filter disciplines by name.
Use the action icons next to each discipline:
View (eye icon): Open the discipline's front-end page.
Edit (pencil icon): Update name, permalink, content, internal status, media, or tags.
Delete (bin icon): Remove the discipline permanently.
Reordering and creating hierarchies
You can organise disciplines using drag-and-drop functionality.
Access the disciplines area.
Drag a discipline up or down to reorder siblings at the same level.
Drag a discipline right under another to create a sub-discipline hierarchy.
📌 Note: Internal and non-internal disciplines have hierarchy restrictions. Non-internal sub-disciplines cannot sit under an internal parent discipline to prevent accidental exposure of internal structures.
Assigning disciplines to jobs
Assign disciplines when posting or editing jobs to ensure they appear under the correct filters and discipline pages.
Manual job posting
When manually posting a job, use the Disciplines field in the job form to select appropriate categories.
ATS integrations
For integrations or integrated applicant tracking systems:
Ensure the discipline value passed from your ATS exactly matches the website's discipline title and reference, including case and special characters.
System-specific requirements:
Bullhorn: Ensure jobs are OPEN and Published, then review Job Mappings in the Bullhorn app within your Admin Area.
Vincere: When generating a Legacy Token for integration, include permissions to List/Create Disciplines.
People XD: Create the discipline in People XD first, then publish a test job tagged with that discipline to verify it appears on your website.
⚠️ Important: Filters only appear on the Job Search page when at least one live job is assigned to that discipline value.
Using internal disciplines
Internal disciplines allow you to manage jobs that should be hidden from public job listings, typically used for internal recruitment.
How internal disciplines work
When a discipline is marked as Internal, it affects job visibility in several ways:
Hidden from job search: The discipline and any jobs tagged with it are hidden from the jobs search page and keyword search.
Hidden on latest jobs sections: Jobs may also be excluded from homepage carousels and job components, depending on your site build.
Mixed tagging behaviour: If a job is tagged with both internal and non-internal disciplines, it remains visible publicly.
Excluding from search engines
To prevent internal jobs from appearing on Google and in job feeds:
Log in to your Admin Area as an admin.
Go to Settings in the top navigation.
Select Site.
Scroll to the Jobs section.
Tick either or both options:
Do not index jobs that are tagged with an internal discipline.
Exclude jobs tagged with internal disciplines in the Indeed feed.
Click Submit.
This adds noindex tags to internal discipline pages, excludes jobs from XML sitemaps and feeds, and prevents search engine indexing.
📌 Note: Already indexed jobs may take time to drop from search results. You can request removals in Google Search Console to speed up the process.
Configuring job search settings
Log in to your Admin Area as an admin.
Go to Settings in the top navigation.
Select Job search (under Site heading).
Control how disciplines behave in search and filtering using the below key settings:
Filters: Choose which filters appear and their display order on the job search page.
📌 Note: A filter value won't appear unless at least one live job is assigned to it.
Search settings > Discipline displays sub-discipline jobs: When enabled, selecting a parent discipline also shows jobs tagged to its sub-disciplines.
📌Note: Collapse filters, Slash mode, No language filter, and Show logo settings vary based on your site build and package.
Best practices
• Use consistent naming and capitalisation across all systems.
• Assign at least one live job to each discipline you want to display.
• Use internal disciplines to stage changes before going live.
• Test discipline assignments with ATS integrations using test jobs.
• Regularly audit discipline assignments to keep filters clean.
• Avoid discipline names that only differ by case or punctuation.
• Create clear, logical hierarchies that help rather than confuse candidates.
FAQs
Q1: Can I make a discipline internal but still show some of its jobs publicly?
Answer: If a job is tagged with both an internal and a non-internal discipline, the job is treated as non-internal and remains visible. It's better to use separate, non-overlapping discipline tags for clarity.
Q2: How do I remove already indexed internal jobs from Google?
Answer: After enabling noindex for internal disciplines in your site settings, request removals in Google Search Console using their URL removal tool. Allow time for search engines to recrawl your site.
Q3: Why doesn't my discipline filter show on the jobs page?
Answer: Filters only appear when there's at least one live job assigned to that discipline value. Assign a job to the discipline and refresh the page.
Q4: Clicking my discipline filter shows no jobs or a 404 error. Why?
Answer: This is usually caused by a permalink conflict. Edit the discipline, set a unique slug, save the changes, then test again.
Q5: Can I change the discipline platform URL or duplicate the template?
Answer: No, these are platform-reserved URLs and templates that can't be changed or duplicated per site. Only custom pages can be duplicated in Design Studio.
Q6: Can I show parent discipline results including child disciplines?
Answer: Yes, enable Discipline displays sub-discipline jobs in Job Search Settings. This includes child discipline jobs when someone selects a parent category.
Q7: Do ATS integrations need exact discipline names?
Answer: Yes, the discipline value from your ATS must exactly match the website's discipline reference, including case and special characters. Otherwise, the field is left blank and jobs won't filter correctly.
Q8: What happens if I delete a discipline that has jobs assigned to it?
Answer: Jobs will lose their discipline assignment and may no longer appear in filtered results. Consider reassigning jobs to another discipline before deletion.
Q9: Can I reorder disciplines on the front-end job search page?
Answer: The filter order is controlled through Your Website → Job Search Settings. The discipline hierarchy order set in the Admin Area determines the display order within the filter.
Q10: How can I find the numeric ID for a discipline?
Answer: Edit the discipline in the Admin Area and check the numeric ID that appears in the URL. This can be useful for integration troubleshooting or API work.
Q11: Are there any limitations with discipline pages?
Answer: Discipline pages use pre-generated paths reserved by the platform that cannot be changed per site. Platform pages for disciplines, blogs, and jobs cannot be duplicated in Design Studio - only custom pages can be duplicated and fully customised.
Q12: How can I manage SEO for discipline pages?
Answer: Use the built-in SEO Settings area (if available in your package) to configure meta titles and descriptions templates for discipline pages at scale.