How to create a course
With the SendPulse online course platform, you can create courses of any format: video lessons, audio lessons, text lessons, add files, and a final test to confirm successful completion of the course.
In this article, we will look at how to create a course on your domain, add lessons and materials using the drag and drop lesson builder, set up course options, invite students and instructors, and create a certificate of completion.
Add a new course
Go to the Courses section, and click Сreate your first course.
Before you create any course, you will see the welcome screen. If you have previously created some courses, click Add Course in the menu on the left.
Click New course.
Enter the course name.
The name of the course will be displayed in the list of courses in your account, on the site that allows to enroll in your course, and on certificates of competion.
Set the URL of the course page
The course URL is a unique link where your students can find the landing page that allows to enroll in the course and get access to lessons in their accounts.
Creating a new address
Select the subdomain of the course address.
The sendpulse.academy
and sendpulse.online domains
are available on the free plan as second-level subdomains. To connect your own domain, switch to a paid plan. After creating the course, you will need to connect the domain in the Sites > Site Settings > General tab. You will then be able to select the connected domain in the course settings.
Read more: How to connect your domain to the course.
Using an existing domain
When creating your next course, you can select previously added domains and create new course pages using them or create courses using new domains.
Enter the URL of the page with the name of the course in the second field.
Click Next, and you will be redirected to the course management page.
Customize your course page
At this stage, you can create custom course landing pages that allow you to add elements and information about your courses without any limits.
Create a course landing page
At the top of the page, you will see your course name and domain. To return to the previous step and edit the name or domain, click Modify.
From scratch
To create a course registration website from scratch, click New site.
Add the necessary website content using blocks, sections, and widgets, and add the Courses login widget.
Read more: Set up elements and How to add a widget for course registration and student account login.
Site template
You can also choose a ready-made website template and customize it to your needs. Select a template language, and click one of the suggested options to view it. Scroll down to the end of the template, and click Select.
Add materials
Under the name of the lesson, click Add lesson. Using the drag and drop lesson builder, you can create lessons, sections, tests for every section and add intermediate certificates to your course.
Creating a lesson
To create a lesson, you can add the following drag and drop builder elements:
Text | Used to add a text block to the page. |
Gallery | Used to add multimedia elements to the page: picture, image carousel, and video. |
Audio | Used to upload audio content. |
File | Used to upload other downloadable materials. |
Task | Used to create assignments and check how students obtained lessons material |
Select a panel element, and drag it to the workspace for further customization.
Read more about lesson settings: How to create a lesson in the drag and drop builder.
To add the next lesson, click on the top left menu, and below the list of lessons, click Add lesson.
You can set a lesson availability date. Schedule your lesson to become available on a specific date or in a specific number of days after the previous lesson. Read more: Schedule your content availability.
Creating a section
You can create a section on the course management page or using the builder.
To create a section using the builder, click on the top left menu, and below the list of lessons, click on the arrow, and select Add Section.
Read more about section settings: How to create a section.
Edit the title, and add a description.
Creating a test
You can create a test to assess the knowledge and skills your students acquired during the course.
To create a test using the builder, click on the top left menu, and below the list of lessons, click on the arrow, and select Add test.
Read more about test settings: How to create a test.
Enter a name for the test. Click on the text of the first question, and answer options to edit them.
You can add answer options and mark the correct answer on the right.
You can also drag and drop additional elements and diversify your page using the left panel.
Customize your course options
You can configure settings that determine how students will be trained. For example, you can set the course format, sequence, conditions, price, etc.
Read more: How to set course options.
Add a certificate
Create a certificate to confirm that the student has successfully completed your course according to the selected criteria.
Go to the Certificates tab.
Customize the style and content of the certificate. Choose the color and format of the text, add pictures, and allow to display some additional information.
Read more: How to create a certificate.
Click Create, enter a name, and assign a certificate of completion to the course.
You can also disable certificate issuance or select a different one in the course settings.
Add instructors
By default, a course has one instructor — the account owner who created the course. You can add more instructors on a paid plan.
To add an instructor, go to your course, and click the instructor icon under the title. Click Invite a new user — you will be redirected to role settings. Enter the user’s personal data, select the role, and click Send invitation.
Read more: How to add instructors.
Add students
You can add students manually via your personal account. They can also enroll in the course on their own via the course website.
To add students, go to the Students tab, click Add.
To add students manually, one by one, or from other courses, select the corresponding tab.
You can also add a tag to downloaded contacts.
Read more: How to enroll students in your course.
To get access to the course self-enrollment page, go to the course, and copy the link.
Read also: How to customize your course registration site.
Run the course
Once you've set up your lessons, test, and course enrollment page, click Start to launch the course.
Remember to also publish the course registration page.
Please note that lessons will be available to students if they are already registered and that the course is live even if you have unpublished the registration site.
If you have set up a free course, then every student who confirms the enrollment in your course will be able to immediately start the lessons.
If your course is paid and time-limited, then the student will be able to access the lessons only from the start date till the end date after having paid for the course.
Read also: How to create and launch an online course in 2022.
Last Updated: 03.10.2024
or