Before You Dive In
This article is one step from our Master Help Guide: All About Courses. 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.
About This Guide
This guide is for anyone who wants to create an online course hosted on Ivorey™. A course portal (called a “course product” inside the platform) is the space where your members will log in to watch videos, read lessons, download files, and complete quizzes or certificates.
This guide is perfect if you're looking to:
Build a new online course
Upload lessons, videos, and files for your students
Organise your material into categories/modules
Customise the look and feel of your course portal
Step 1: Create a New Course Portal
The first step is to create a new course portal, 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
Click here for the written steps
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]
Click on the [+ Create a Product] button on the right-hand corner of your screen > then select [Start From Scratch]
Click [Start Building] on the 'Build your Own' tab > then name your course in the pop-up screen > and click [Create Product]
This will open you up into your new course product where you can begin adding your course content and customising the portal to your branding following the steps below.
Step 2: Create Your Course Lesson Structure
The next step is to build out your course content, including categories, lessons, and sub-categories so your students can easily navigate the material.
Click here for the written steps
Click here for the written steps
To set the category and lesson structure inside your course, from the Ivorey™ main menu, go to [Courses] > then along the top menu bar, hover over [Courses] > and click [Products]
Click on your course to open the course builder, and begin building out the overall structure of your course
To create a new Category/Module, click the [+] icon next to 'Product Structure' and select [Create Category] > give your module a title and then click [Save]
To add a subcategory, a lesson, an assessment (e.g a quiz once they finish the lessons inside that category) or a certificate to your category/module, click the [+] icon next to your category title and select the option you wish to add
Once you have finished building out the structure of your course, you can then customise each category/module, and decide how each one will be delivered to your members. Click into your first category/module and update the following:
Title: here you can update the title of your category/module if needed
Description: this is optional, otherwise you can leave blank
Contents: here you will see all of the lessons, subcategories and any assessments or certificates you have added. You can select the status of these to be
Publish/Live
Draft Mode
Locked
Visibility: is where you can decide how the whole category/module will be delivered to your members by selecting one of the following:
Publish/Live: this means that your members will have instant access to this category/module as soon as they login/access the course
Draft Mode: this means your members won't be able to see this category/module while in draft mode
Locked: this means that the category/module will stay locked (visible but not accessible) until either a selected post or another category is completed
Drip: this means that this category/module will become available to your members on a specified number of days after they gain access to your course. Here you can select number of days after someone joins the course that this category/module is made available for them, or you can set it to become available for a specific date. (E.g you might give a member instant access to your first category/module, but then drip release the second category/module 7 days after joining)
Category Thumbnail: this is the cover image that will show for your category/module and will help to create a great brand aesthetic for your course. The recommended image dimensions for this are 1280x720
Once you have updated your category details, click the [Save] button at the bottom right of your screen, and continue this process for each of the categories/modules you have created inside your course
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
Click here for the written steps
To upload content into your course, from the Ivorey™ main menu, go to [Courses] > then along the top menu bar, hover over [Courses] > and click [Products]
Click on your course to open the course builder > then click into the first lesson of the module/category you have created
Inside your lesson you can:
Upload Video Content: the video needs to be less than 5GB and the recommended size ratio for your video content is 16:9. You can choose to upload the video file from your computer directly, or add the file link to your video file if it is stored in an external location (e.g. your google drive)
Upload Audio Content: the audio needs to be less than 2GB. You can choose to upload the video file from your computer directly, or add the file link to your video file if it is stored in an external location (e.g. your google drive)
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 embedding media from external sources, and uploading images
Under 'Post Visibility' you will need to tick [Published] if you want this lesson to be live, or leave in [Draft] if you are still working on it or don't want this lesson to be live yet
You have the option to upload a 'Video Thumbnail' if you are uploading video content. This will be the 'cover image' of your video. If you haven't already added a 'Lesson Thumbnail' in the previous step, you can add one here, and this will be the cover image for your lesson
Under 'Attached Files' you can click [+ Add Files] to upload any additional audios, PDF's or files you want to give your members access to. The maximum file size is 5GB
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
Step 4: Customise Your Course Portal Branding
Now it's time to customise your course portal to reflect your brand's unique style and aesthetic.
Click here for the written steps
Click here for the written steps
To customise the theme branding of your course, from the Ivorey™ main menu, go to [Courses] > then along the top menu bar, hover over [Courses] > and click [Products] > then click [Customise] in the top menu bar
On the next page, click [Customise] in the top menu bar again where you will see the different course theme templates you can use. We recommend using the 'Classic Theme' as we think this offers the most streamlined and user friendly design.
Hover over the course theme you want to use and click the [Customise] button to open up the theme builder
At the top left of your screen, you will see:
The 'Layout' tab - which is the overall brand settings for your course portal
The 'Sections' tab - which is where each section of the course portal can be clicked on to customise your fonts, brand colours, and imagery
Make your way through each drop down inside the Layout and Sections tab and make sure you click the [Save Changes] button at the bottom of the menu bar as you go
Once you have finished customising the course home page, click [Lessons] tab in the middle of your top menu bar and make your way through each of the drop downs inside this tab to customise your lesson page design
When you have customised your course portal to your desired aesthetic, click [Save Theme] > then [Apply Theme] to update your design changes to your course product
Click [Preview] to see what your course portal will look like from the members view, and adjust your branding settings where needed
Next Steps
If you’ve completed the steps above, head back to the Master Help Guide on Courses 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
How can I drip feed my content?
How can I drip feed my content?
To drip feed your course content, from the main Ivorey™ menu, go to [Courses] > then along the top menu bar hover over [Courses] > then select [Products] from the drop down menu
Choose the course you'd like to drip feed
On the right hand side of each module you'll a drop-down menu, select [Drip] and follow the prompts to set up when you'd like the content to go live.
Repeat these steps for each module you'd like to drip out.
How can I lock course modules or lessons?
How can I lock course modules or lessons?
To lock modules or lessons in your course, from the main Ivorey™ menu, go to [Courses] > then along the top menu bar hover over [Courses] > then select [Products] from the drop down menu
Choose the course you'd like to lock the modules in
On the right hand side of each module you'll a drop-down menu, select [Locked] and follow the prompts to lock your module.
Repeat these steps for each module you'd like to lock.
Will my existing members be affected if I change my course content to drip feed?
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.
Still Need Help?
Hit the support chat widget inside Ivorey - we can:
Walk you through any of the steps
Troubleshoot anything that’s not working
We’re here and ready to help via the chat widget in the bottom right of your Ivorey™ account. Or if you are looking for done-for-you support, you can browse our current services here 🤍