This guide is for course providers who sell online lessons, also called modules or e-learning, on an on-demand or blended course. It explains how to release lessons over time instead of all at once (a drip feed), how to set a due date for a lesson, and how the reminder emails about those dates work.
An on-demand course is self-paced online learning. A blended course combines online lessons with scheduled sessions on a course date. On a blended course, you can time a lesson around each learner’s own booked date, even when learners on the same course attend on different dates. Lesson schedules work only for lessons built in Cademy.
Who can use this? System Admins and Course Owners with access to the course can edit lesson schedules. Facilitators cannot open the course editor.
Release Course Lessons or E-Learning Modules in Stages (Drip Feed)
A new lesson opens straight away, so every published lesson is available as soon as a learner starts the course. To release lessons in stages, give each lesson its own opening time. Each lesson has two separate settings: Opens controls when its content becomes available, and Due sets a completion deadline. The options are explained in the next section.
Go to admin.cademy.io and select Courses.
Open the on-demand or blended course. Select Edit Course, then Contents.
Open the lesson. Select Schedule beside its publication status. If the lesson already has a schedule, this control shows its saved timing summary instead. To create and edit lessons, see Build and Organise Lessons in an Online Course.
In the Schedule dialog, use Opens to choose an opening option. For on a set date, a date box and a time box appear next to the option; set the opening date and time in them, in your device’s timezone. For a relative option, enter a whole number and choose days or hours.
Use Due to choose no due date or a deadline option. For on a set date, set the due date and time in the date box and time box that appear next to the option, in your device’s timezone. For a relative deadline, enter a whole number and choose days or hours.
Read any date preview, warning or error below the settings. Correct an error before continuing.
Select Done, then select the lesson’s main Save button. Done applies the choices to the editor; Save stores them.
Reopen the scheduling control to check the saved values. Make sure the lesson is Published when eligible learners should see it.
Repeat these steps for each lesson you want to release later.
Relative amounts must be whole numbers from 0 to 365 days, or 0 to 8,760 hours. Zero means the opening or deadline is at the selected starting point. Closing the dialog without selecting Done discards the changes made in that dialog.
An on a set date time is one moment for every learner. Cademy reads the date and time you enter in your device’s timezone, not the course’s timezone, so check your device before you enter them. Course-start and course-end options follow the timezone of the learner’s course date instead. Set Time Zones for Course Dates explains where that timezone is set.
A saved change applies to every learner on the course, including learners who have already started it. If a lesson’s new opening time has not arrived for a learner, the lesson is locked for them again, even if they had already completed it.
Lesson Opening and Due Date Options and How Each Date Is Calculated
The Opens and Due lists offer the same kinds of option. A due date does not remove access. Other access requirements, such as course access expiry or completing an earlier lesson, still apply.
Option | What it means | Available on |
straight away / no due date | No timed opening restriction, or no completion deadline. | On-demand and blended |
on a set date | One date and time for everyone taking the course. | On-demand and blended |
after enrolling | A number of days or hours after each learner’s enrolment reference date. | On-demand and blended |
before the course starts | A number of days or hours before the booked date starts. | Blended only |
after the course starts | A number of days or hours after the booked date starts. | Blended only |
before the course ends | A number of days or hours before the booked date ends. | Blended only |
after the course ends | A number of days or hours after the booked date ends. | Blended only |
For example, to release one module a week from when each learner enrols, leave the first lesson on straight away, then set the second lesson to open 7 days after enrolling, the third 14 days after enrolling, and so on. This is a fictional example; check the result with a test learner.
For after enrolling, an order-based learner’s timing starts from the Order’s paid date when one is recorded, otherwise its created date. For a learner added manually or imported without an Order, it starts from the Registration’s created date. It does not start when the learner first opens a lesson. A day counted from this date is a period of 24 hours.
If the course gives learners access for a limited number of days, those days are counted from the same date. A lesson set to open after the learner’s access has expired does not open for them unless their access is extended. See Set or Extend How Long Learners Can Access a Course.
A Registration is one person’s place on a course. An Order is the purchase record. These dates can differ from the day the learner attends, so choose a course-start or course-end option when the timing should follow attendance dates.
Check the Date Preview and Warnings in the Lesson Schedule Dialog
When you choose a course-start or course-end option, the dialog shows the calculated timing for the next upcoming course date. This is an example for that date, not one fixed date applied to every learner. If there is no upcoming date to preview, you can still save the rule.
Cademy blocks certain combinations where it can establish that the lesson would be due before it opens, including two conflicting set dates. The error says This lesson would be due before it opens. Set a due date after it opens. and disables Done.
A warning can also identify upcoming course dates where the opening and deadline conflict. A warning does not prevent saving. Check each named date and adjust the rule so learners have time to complete the lesson.
The warning checks the upcoming dates already loaded, starting with a batch of up to 50 dates or blocks. The dialog does not automatically load every date on the course, so a conflict on an unloaded date is not reported. Check that the rule works for the other dates you offer; no warning is not proof that every date is valid. Not every combination can be checked, particularly when you mix after enrolling with a course-date rule.
Time Lessons Around a Learner’s Blended Course Date
On a blended course, course-start and course-end rules use the date on the learner’s Registration. If the learner booked a block of sessions, the start is the first session’s start time and the end is the final session’s end time. If they booked one session separately, the rule uses that session. You cannot choose a different session inside the block as the timing point.
Because each learner’s lesson times follow their own booked date, learners on a later date see the same lesson open later. For example, if a course has two dates and a lesson opens 1 day before the course starts, learners on the second date cannot open it until 1 day before their own date.
Days follow the course date’s local clock time, including a seasonal clock change. Hours count elapsed time. For example, one day before a 09:30 start is 09:30 on the previous local date; two hours after a 16:30 finish is 18:30.
Preparation before attendance: set Opens to straight away and Due to 1 day before the course starts. A learner whose date starts on 10 June at 09:30 has a deadline of 9 June at 09:30. A learner booked for 17 June has a deadline of 16 June at 09:30.
Follow-up learning: set Opens to 2 hours after the course ends and Due to 7 days after the course ends. For a date ending on 12 June at 16:30, the lesson opens at 18:30 that day and is due on 19 June at 16:30.
These are fictional examples. After saving your own rule, use a test learner booked on the relevant date to check the result in the course content.
What Happens to Lesson Dates When a Course Date Changes or a Learner Moves
Changing the booked date’s start or end changes lesson times calculated from that point. Moving a learner to another date of the same course also changes their course-date lesson times. A fixed on a set date rule stays on its chosen date.
A Registration move affects more than scheduling. Review the consequences and restrictions in Move or Transfer a Participant to Another Date or Course before moving a learner.
What Learners See Before a Lesson Opens and After It Is Due
Learners see published lessons they are eligible to access. In a blended course, the course content page, which lists the course’s lessons, shows their booked date in Your Course. On that page, course-date lessons explain their timing below the lesson name with wording such as “Due 1 day before your course starts”. The lesson list on a lesson page does not show that wording.
Before a lesson opens, the course content page and the lesson list on a lesson page both show an availability badge. Opening a locked lesson shows when it will become available instead of its content. A deadline appears as a due-date badge; an incomplete lesson whose deadline has passed shows Overdue. Learners can still complete an overdue lesson while their course access remains valid.
If a learner has no booked date, a lesson that opens relative to the course date stays locked with Awaiting Date. A course-date deadline has no calculated due date until a date is assigned. The “You’re not booked on a date yet” banner appears when a lesson is waiting on that date to open. Booking establishes when the lesson opens; it does not necessarily open it immediately.
A learner who joins after a course-date deadline has passed sees the incomplete lesson as overdue. The deadline is not moved forward simply because they booked late.
The learner guide Start Your Online Course and See When Lessons Open describes these pages from the learner’s side.
Learners Unable to Access Blended or Online Course Content After a Lesson Opens
If learners are unable to open a lesson that you expected to be open, check these in order:
The lesson is published: a lesson in Draft is hidden from learners, whatever its schedule.
The rule follows each learner’s own date: on a blended course with a course-start or course-end rule, the lesson opens at a different time for each booked date. Learners on a later date see it later. Choose on a set date instead if every learner should get it at the same moment.
The learner has a booked date: a learner with no date on their Registration sees Awaiting Date for a lesson timed around the course date.
The learner’s access is valid: check that their place is paid or approved and that their course access has not expired.
An earlier quiz or form is complete: if a lesson before it has a quiz or form learners must complete first, the locked lesson shows Complete the previous lesson until they do.
If the learner is still blocked, the learner guide Can't Access Your Course or a Lesson? What to Check lists what they see in each case.
Lesson Opening and Deadline Reminder Emails to Learners
Cademy emails learners when a scheduled lesson opens and when a lesson deadline is close or has passed. Adding a Registration or changing a lesson’s opening or due-date rule prepares these notifications for eligible learners. This includes learners added manually or imported without an Order. Course-date changes and Registration moves also update the relevant reminder schedules.
These notifications are separate from the confirmation sent when a learner is added or imported, and from the session reminders under the course’s Emails settings. Turning off Send confirmation email or an import’s Send Confirmation does not turn off future lesson notifications.
Each notification is sent to the learner’s email address and links to the lesson.
Opening notifications are checked hourly, so delivery is not guaranteed at the exact minute a lesson opens.
Deadline notifications are checked daily. Each lesson with a due date can send a learner up to four: due in 2 days, due in 1 day, due today, and overdue by 1 day. Their subjects start “Due in 2 days:”, “Due in 1 day:”, “Due today:” and “Lesson overdue by 1 day:”. Choosing hours for a deadline does not create an hourly countdown email.
The learner needs an eligible Registration that has not been cancelled or deleted, a recorded email address and valid course-content access. Email sending must also be enabled for the provider’s account.
No notification is sent for a lesson the learner has completed, for a cancelled Registration, or when the lesson’s live timing is no longer in the sending window.
When a Registration or changed rule is processed after its opening or deadline has already passed, Cademy does not create a retrospective notification for that past moment.
No notification is sent for a lesson while it is in Draft. The notifications stay scheduled, so if you publish the lesson again before a notification is due, it is sent.
An opening date or deadline shown in the course is not proof that an email reached the learner. If a message is missing, check the learner’s Registration, email address, access and saved lesson rule. A System Admin can also review the recorded emails using Find Sent Emails and Check Delivery Status.
Stop Deadline Reminder Emails for One Student Who Is Behind
There is no setting that turns off lesson reminder emails for one student (learner) only. The due date is saved on the lesson, so the reminders follow the same rule for everyone. A learner who is behind on several lessons receives reminders for each lesson that has a due date.
Once the learner completes a lesson, its reminders stop for them.
If the learner has already done the work another way, you can mark the lesson complete for them, which also stops its reminders. This records the lesson as completed in their progress. See Reset or Correct a Learner's Lesson Progress.
To stop deadline reminders for everyone on a lesson, open its Schedule dialog, choose no due date under Due, select Done and save the lesson. To stop opening notifications too, also choose straight away under Opens. This also opens the lesson to every learner straight away.
The last deadline reminder for a lesson is the overdue email about a day after its due date, so a learner receives no more than four for each lesson.
Test a Lesson Release Schedule as a Learner
Use Preview as Student to check saved lesson content, not to test the learner’s release restrictions or deadlines. Admin preview stays in preview mode even if you are also registered on the course.
To check the actual schedule, open the course through a real test learner Registration. For course-date rules, book the test learner on the date you want to check. Compare the outline and locked lesson with the saved rule. To check different cohorts, use learners booked on different dates. Follow Test a Course Before Launch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change or remove a lesson schedule later?
Yes. Open the lesson’s scheduling control. Choose straight away under Opens to remove its timed opening restriction, or no due date under Due to remove its deadline. Select Done, then Save. Other access and completion requirements still apply.
Why are the course-start and course-end options missing?
They are available only on blended courses. On-demand courses support a set date or days or hours after enrolling. Courses without lessons built in Cademy do not use lesson schedules. If a blended course is changed to an on-demand course, a lesson’s saved course-start or course-end rule stops applying: the lesson opens without that restriction and has no calculated deadline. Open the Schedule dialog, where the rule shows Only blended courses can time lessons around the course date., and choose another option.
Will a learner lose access after the due date?
No. The due date is a completion deadline, not an access expiry date. The learner can complete the overdue lesson while their course access remains valid. To set or change how long learners keep access, see Set or Extend How Long Learners Can Access a Course.
Can I set a different release date for one learner?
No. The rule is saved on the lesson. Its calculated date can differ because learners enrolled at different times or booked different course dates; there is no individual lesson-schedule override in this dialog.