--- title: "create a course" description: "Learn all about building a course and access our step-by-step instructions, FAQs, and everything you need to know!" url: https://help.ivorey.io/en/articles/12050212-create-a-course collection: "courses" updated: 2026-10-31 language: en --- # create a course Learn all about building a course and access our step-by-step instructions, FAQs, and everything you need to know! ## before you dive in This article is one step from our [Master Help Guide: All About Courses](https://cqcighsbi.gleap.help/en/articles/10055762-all-about-courses-a-master-help-guide). We recommend starting with the **visual walkthrough video and examples** inside the Master Help Guide before diving into the technical setup below. Each Master Help Guide acts as your project plan - teaching you the feature, laying out the steps in the right order, and linking to every resource you’ll need along the way. This guide is perfect if you're looking to: - Build a new online course - Set up your course pricing - Upload lessons, videos, and files for your students - Organise your material into categories/modules - Customise the look and feel of your course portal - Create an offer for your course, so people can access it - Control course access dates (e.g. start immediately, or drip access later) * * * ## step 1: create a new course portal and offer > **Info:** **Tip:** Use AI to create your course and course offer for you! [Ask AI](https://help.ivorey.io/en/articles/13631380-ask-ai.md) can generate your full course structure from your own materials, or draft the lesson content itself. The first step is to create a new course portal and course offer. A course portal is also known as 'course product' inside of ivorey. Not to be confused with a product you accept payments for - a course product is essentially an individual portal that will house all of your course lessons and material. click here for the written steps 1. To create a new course portal, from the ivorey main menu, go to **\[Courses\]** \> then along the top menu bar, hover over **\[Courses\]** > and click **\[Products\]**​ 2. Click on the **\[+ Create New\]** button on the top right-hand corner of your screen > then select **\[Start From Scratch\]** 3. Type in your **\[Course Title\]** and **\[Course Description\]** (these can be edited later) > and click **\[Upload Thumbnail\]** to move to the next step​ 4. Upload your **\[Course Thumbnail\]** image from your device (the recommended dimensions are: 1280x720) > and click **\[Set Up Pricing\]** to move to the next step​ 5. Select your preferred **\[Pricing Plan\]**​ 1. **Free:** if you want to offer this course for free, as a lead magnet, or if you plan to use a [Sales Funnel](https://cqcighsbi.gleap.help/en/articles/11131278-all-about-sales-funnels-a-master-help-guide) to sell your course ​ 2. **Recurring:** if you want to offer this course on a subscription basis and you plan to use a simple Course Offer Checkout to sell your course​ **Note:** This option cannot be used as a payment plan. If you’d like to offer a payment plan, payment will need to be collected via another method e.g payment link, proposal or order form 3. **One Time:** if you want to offer this course at a once-off fixed price, and you plan to use a simple Course Offer Checkout to sell your course​ 6. Select your **\[Billing Period\]** (if recurring) > fill in your **\[Price\]** amount > and number of **\[Trial Days\]** (optional)​ 7. Click **\[Create Course\]** to move to the next step 8. Once your course is created, click on the **Settings tab** in the panel on the left-hand side of your screen to configure the remaining settings for your course: 1. **Course tags:** Add tags to your course to help learners quickly filter and discover it. Select: 1. Language 2. Difficulty 3. Topic 2. **Complete your course instructor details:** 1. **Heading:** displayed above the instructor name 2. **Name:** displayed on the course detail and checkout pages 3. **Title:** Displayed below the instructor name 4. **Bio:** This will appear on the course detail and checkout pages 5. **Instructor Headshot:** upload a headshot of your instructor 3. **Customisation:** Add in your logo and favicon images 4. **Learning Experience:** configure your learning experience settings by toggling the settings you’d like **ON/OFF**: 1. **Automatically play next lesson:** when enabled, the next lesson will start playing automatically after the current lesson ends 2. **Automatically play first lesson:** when enabled, the first lesson in a course will start playing automatically when accessed. 3. **Auto complete lessons:** when enabled, lessons are marked complete automatically as learners progress through them. When disabled, learners must mark lessons complete manually 4. **Apply to all courses:** applies these learning experience settings to all courses * * * ## step 2: create your course lesson structure In this step, you will build out your course structure, including modules, sub-modules and lessons, so your students can easily navigate the material. You'll decide how each module should be released (e.g. published, drip, locked). You can also add quizzes, assignments, certificates and badges. click here for the written steps 1. Begin building out the overall structure of your course​. To begin, from the panel on the left > click **\[Outline\]**: 1. To create a new Welcome Badge (optional), click the **\[Add Content\]** button on the top right-hand corner of your screen > and click **\[Add Welcome Badge\]**. Select a badge design > and click **\[Apply\]** **Note:** if you want to design and customise your own badges and certificates, please refer to our [Custom Certificates and Badges](https://cqcighsbi.gleap.help/en/articles/13168668-create-custom-certificates-and-badges-for-courses-and-communities) guide for the detailed steps.​ 2. To create a new Module, click the **\[Add Content\]** button on the top right-hand corner of your screen > and click **\[Add Module\]**. Give your module a name > and click **\[Create Module\]**. Click the ✏ pencil icon to edit your new module, to give your module a description (optional) and upload a module thumbnail (recommended)​ 3. To create a new Sub-module, click the **\[Add Content\]** button, to the right of the module you would like to nest it under > and click **\[Add Sub-module\]**. Give your sub-module a name and ensure the Parent Module is correct. If it's incorrect, hit the **\[X\]** button at the top right-hand corner, and repeat this step. When you're ready, click **\[Create Sub-module\]**. Click the ✏ pencil icon to edit your new sub-module, to give your sub-module a description (optional) and upload a sub-module thumbnail (recommended)​ 4. To create a new Lesson, click the **\[Add Content\]** button, to the right of the module or sub-module you would like to nest it under > and click **\[Add Lesson\]**. Give your lesson a title and ensure the parent Module or Sub-module is correct. If it's incorrect, hit the **\[X\]** button at the top right-hand corner, and repeat this step. When you're ready, click **\[Create Lesson\]**​ 5. To create a new Quiz, click the **\[Add Content\]** button, to the right of the module or sub-module you would like to nest it under > and click **\[Add Quiz\]**. Give your quiz a title and ensure the parent Module or Sub-module is correct. If it's incorrect, hit the **\[X\]** button at the top right-hand corner, and repeat this step. When you're ready, click **\[Create Quiz\]** 6. To add a Funnel Page as a lesson, click the **\[Add Content\]** button, to the right of the module or sub-module you would like to nest it under > and click **\[Add funnel page\]**. Give your lesson a title, then use the **\[Select funnel\]** drop-down to select the funnel, and the **\[Select page\]** drop-down to select the specific page within it that you want to use as the lesson. When you're ready, click **\[Add funnel\]**. **Note:** for more information and guidance on when and how to use funnel pages as lessons, refer to our **Add Funnels to Courses** guide 7. To create a new Assignment, click the **\[Add Content\]** button, to the right of the module or sub-module you would like to nest it under > and click **\[Add Assignment\]**. Give your assignment a title and ensure the parent Module or Sub-module is correct. If it's incorrect, hit the **\[X\]** button at the top right-hand corner, and repeat this step. When you're ready, click **\[Create Assignment\]**​ 8. To create a new Credential (or certificate):​ 1. Module Completion Certificate: Click the **\[Add Content\]** button, to the right of the module or sub-module you would like to nest it under > and click **\[Add Credential\]**. Select a certificate or badge design > and click **\[Apply\]**​ 2. Course Completion Certificate: Click the **\[Add Content\]** button at the top right-hand corner of your screen > and click **\[Add Credential\]**. Select a certificate or badge design > and click **\[Apply\]** ​ ​**Note:** you are limited to only one Course Completion Certificate (credential) per course. If you want to issue multiple certificates for a single course, you can create a workflow > set the trigger to **\[Product Submitted\]** > add the **\[Issue Certificate\]** action for each additional credential you wish to send. If you get stuck, please reach out to our Support Team via the chat widget!​ 9. To import your course structure and content from an already existing course, click the **\[Add Content\]** button on the top right-hand corner of your screen > and click **\[Import from another course\]** 1. Select the course to import from > select the modules, sub-modules, lessons, quizzes, etc. that you want to import > and click **\[Import selected items\]** or choose to **\[Import entire course\]** 10. You can quickly duplicate an existing lesson, quiz, or assignment by clicking the **\[Clone\]** option next to it in your course outline, or from the left panel sidebar overview when editing that item. This creates an editable copy right next to the original, handy for building out similar content faster. 2. You can rearrange the order of modules and lessons if needed. To do this click and hold the six dots (⋮⋮) to the left of a module or lesson, and drag it into the correct placement​ 3. To add live sessions to your course and learn more about the **Live Sessions tab** on the left, please refer to our [Go Live in Courses guide](https://help.ivorey.io/en/articles/13631363-go-live-in-courses.md) 4. Once you have finished building out the structure of your course, you can then decide how each each module and sub-module will be delivered to your members. To the right of your first module, click the **\[Draft\]** drop-down menu > and select from the following:​ 1. **Draft:** this means your members won't be able to see this module while in draft mode​ 2. **Published:** this means that your members will have instant access to this module as soon as they login/access the course​ 3. **Drip:** this means that this module will become available to your members on a specified date or number of days after they gain access to your course (e.g. you might give a member instant access to your first module, but then drip release the second module 7 days after joining)​ 4. **Locked:** this means that the module will stay locked (visible but not accessible) until either a selected lesson, module, or both is completed * * * ## step 3: upload your course content Inside your course, you can upload video, audio, PDF's and add text to any of your lessons. This is the content that will be available for your students to engage with, and download if you wish. click here for the written steps 1. Click the ✏ pencil icon to the right of your first lesson, to open the lesson builder ​ 2. Inside a lesson you can:​ 1. **Upload video/audio content:** a video file needs to be less than 5GB and the recommended size ratio for your video content is 16:9. An audio file needs to be less than 2GB. You can choose to:​ 1. **Upload from Device:** upload the video/audio file from your computer directly, this file will then be hosted and stored in your ivorey media library​ 2. **Import via Media Library:** add audio and video content to your courses directly from Media Storage 3. **Import from Link:** add the file link to a video/audio file that is stored in an external location (e.g. your Google Drive), this file will then be imported to your ivorey media library​ 4. **Embed from URL:** add the embed link to a video/audio file that is hosted on an external platform (e.g. YouTube), this file will then continue to be hosted externally, but your students will be able to watch/listen to it from within your course​ 2. **Edit your Lesson Name**​ 3. **Add written content:** in the description box you can add any text you want your members to read inside your lesson. You can format it using the formatting options along the top menu bar, as well as embed media from external sources, upload images, and use custom values​ 4. **Upload a Lesson Thumbnail:** upload an image from your device, which will be the 'cover image' for your lesson, the recommended dimensions are 1280x720​ 5. **Upload a Media Thumbnail:** if you are uploading video/audio content, you have the option to create a 'cover image' for your video/audio file. You can either upload an image, or click **\[Set this frame as media thumbnail\]** to select a specific frame as the cover image (make sure you're already paused at the frame you want to use) ​ 6. **Upload Downloadable Resources:** upload any additional videos/audios, documents, PDF's or files you want to give your members access to. The maximum file size is 5GB​ 3. Make sure you are clicking the **\[Save\]** button regularly so your content is saved, and when you have finished uploading your content in the first lesson, continue moving through the remaining lessons. You can preview each lesson as you go, by clicking the **\[Preview\]** button​ 4. Inside a quiz you can:​ 1. **Edit your Quiz Name**​ 2. **Add Questions:** ​ 1. Click the **\[+Add Question\]** button > then click the **\[>\]** arrow next to your new question > type in your question text​ 2. Select whether this question is single or multiple choice. If single choice, your students will only be able to select one option as their answer. If multiple choice, your students will be able to select multiple options as their answer. ​ 3. Add as many answer options as you like > fill in the option text underneath each option > then click the **\[Mark the Correct Answer(s)\]** button at the bottom and select the correct answer(s) 4. Provide an explanation about the correct answer(s), or click **\[Remove\]** if you don't want an explanation​ 3. **Upload a Quiz Thumbnail:** this will be the 'cover image' for your quiz, the recommended dimensions are 1280x720​ 4. Select whether your **quiz requires a passing grade**​ 5. **Add a Completion Message**​ 5. Inside an assignment you can:​ 1. **Edit your Assignment Name**​ 2. **Add Instructions**​ 3. **Upload Assessment Material:** such as a PDF, document or spreadsheet, the maximum file size is 5GB ​ 4. **Upload an Assignment Thumbnail:** this will be the 'cover image' for your assignment, the recommended dimensions are 1280x720​ 5. Select whether your this is an **Ungraded Assessment:** if this box is left unticked, your assignment will automatically be graded, tick this box if this assignment does NOT need to be graded.​ 6. **Add a Completion Message**​ * * * ## next steps > **Success:** If you’ve completed the steps above, head back to the [**Master Help Guide on Courses**](https://cqcighsbi.gleap.help/en/articles/10055762-all-about-courses-a-master-help-guide) to move onto the next phase. > > Each Master Help Guide acts as your project plan - teaching you the feature, laying out the steps in the right order, and linking to every resource you’ll need along the way. * * * ## frequently asked questions will my existing members be affected if i change my course content to drip feed? No, your existing members will not be affected if you change your course content to drip feed, they will still be able to access the content that is available to them. The new drip feed settings will only apply to new members. can i set up courses with multiple instructors? Currently, ivorey’s course builder only supports one instructor profile per course, but you can still feature multiple collaborators in several effective ways: 1. **Shared instructor bio** Use a group photo or brand image for the instructor profile and include a combined bio that highlights each instructor by name and expertise 2. **Course description** Introduce all instructors inside the course description using photos, names, and role summaries so students meet the full team before enrolling 3. **Intro or welcome lesson** Add a dedicated “Meet Your Instructors” lesson with video or text to showcase each collaborator and outline their teaching roles 4. **Module intros** If each instructor leads different parts of the course, add their name and a short intro in the corresponding module description. This keeps things clear and personalised throughout the course journey These options allow you to feature multiple instructors clearly and professionally, even with a single instructor profile. You can use one or combine several methods depending on your course structure.how to create custom badge/certificate designs.​ can i design my own certificate or badge? Yes, you can design your own certificates and badges to use inside courses and communities. [Learn how to create these here](https://cqcighsbi.gleap.help/en/articles/13168668-create-custom-certificates-and-badges-for-courses-and-communities).​ why can't i change the name of a module/sub-module/lesson? If you are trying to edit the name of a module, sub-module, or lesson but find that the name reverts back to the old name after saving, this is likely because the content has been set to **Published** or **Drip** mode. Please ensure that you have set the content to **Draft** mode first, before editing and saving. You can then set it back to **Published** or **Drip**.​ why was a contact granted access to a course even though there is no ‘grant access’ action in my workflow? This typically occurs because a Membership Offer is linked directly to a Product. When a course is attached to a product, it will automatically grant access to the buyer immediately upon a successful transaction, bypassing the need for a manual workflow trigger. To verify this, navigate to **Payments** > select your **\[Product\]** > click **\[Pricing\]** > **\[Additional options\]** to show the Membership Offer. You will see if the toggle is ON and which courses are linked to that specific product. why does my course text look different after publishing? Your course text formatting may look different after publishing, if you copy text directly from an external source and paste it into the ivorey editor. Often hidden formatting code from the original source overlaps or overrides ivorey's settings, causing text, colours, spacing, or font settings to change once the content goes live. To avoid this, paste your content into a plain text editor (e.g. Notepad or TextEdit) or to a Google Doc using "Paste without formatting" (Ctrl+Shift+V or Cmd+Shift+V). Then, copy that "clean" text and paste it into the course builder. This strips away the hidden code and ensures your text displays perfectly every time. why doesn't my embedded Vimeo video match the width of the course description box? Vimeo embeds use a fixed 16:9 responsive ratio while the description box follows the backend page layout. To get a perfect fit, we recommend that you to download the video and upload it directly to the Media Library instead. why does my logo look too small in my course lessons, and how can i make it larger? By default, courses often pull a small logo (350 × 180) from your general account settings. But you can override this by uploading your logo directly inside your course’s **Customize** settings (ideally 640 × 640). If needed, further adjustments can also be made using custom CSS in your **Course** > **Details** > **Advanced** settings, if a specific custom layout is required. if a student enrols after specific drip-release dates have already passed, will they automatically see the previous lessons? Yes, when using date-based drip scheduling, any content whose release date has already passed becomes instantly available to all students regardless of when they officially enrolled in the course. This means late enrollees will automatically gain access to any previously released modules upon their first login. However, if you wish to prevent this and keep specific content hidden from everyone until a later time, you must manually use the "Lock" feature within the course builder settings to override the automatic release. why does my course font look different in the preview or lesson page? Course font settings are configured separately for the Product page and the Lesson page. If the font is only updated under the Product page settings, the Lesson page may still display the default font in previews or published lessons. Please ensure that the correct font is selected in both your Product and Lesson page settings. **Note:** If you are pasting in text from an external source, any existing text formatting inside the lesson editor can sometimes override the selected font. Remove text formatting before pasting content if the font still appears inconsistent after updating the settings. how can i download a video from a course lesson as an account admin? Video downloads aren't available on course lessons by default. As an account admin, you can enable this by going to **Courses > Courses > Settings > Course Builder** and toggling on **Video download**. Once enabled, open the lesson containing the video you want in the course builder. A **Download** button will appear on the video player, which you can click to download it directly. how do i turn on/off comments on my course lessons? Go to **Courses** \> open the relevant course > **\[Comments\]** > Find the module you want to update and choose from dropdown to **enabled**, **hidden**, or **locked** the comments sections on that module's lessons. can i embed a third-party chat agent inside a course or membership area? Yes, although the course area does not currently have a native drag-and-drop embed block like the website and funnel builder, you can still add your third-party chat agent using custom code. Go to **Courses** > then along the top menu bar, hover over **Courses** > and click **\[Products\]** > Select the Course and click **\[Settings\]**. Scroll down and expand the **Advanced** section and paste your third-party chat agent embed code (such as a `