This guide is for course providers who build the online lessons (e-learning) of an on-demand or blended course in the course content editor. A lesson holds the learning material, such as text, videos, PDFs, images, quizzes and forms. A section groups lessons, like a module. On-demand courses are self-paced; blended courses combine online lessons with scheduled sessions.
Who can edit lessons?
System Admins and Course Owners can create and edit course content. Facilitators cannot open the course editor. The Contents tab is available for on-demand and blended courses.
If a lesson says it needs to be migrated before it can be edited, contact Cademy Support before changing its existing content.
Open the Course Content Editor (Edit Course > Contents)
Go to admin.cademy.io.
Select Courses.
Open your on-demand or blended course.
Select Edit Course, then select Contents.
The Course Content screen shows your sections and lessons in the order learners see them. Each lesson card can show its icon, description, content-type hints and an Access summary. An amber Draft badge marks a lesson hidden from learners; published lessons have no Draft badge. A section shows a Draft count when it contains hidden lessons.
Create and Organise Sections and Lessons
Add a Section (Module) to a Course
Select New Section. A section named New Section is added to the end of the course.
Select the section name, or open the section’s actions and select Rename.
Enter the new name, then press Enter or select outside the name field.
Add lessons with Add Lesson, or move existing lessons into the section.
Select Save at the top of the page.
Drag sections to reorder them, or open a section’s actions to use Rename, Move Up, Move Down or Delete Section.
A section has no Draft or Published status of its own. Publish the lessons inside it when their content is ready for learners. Publish or Hide Course Lessons explains how. Empty section headings can still appear to learners.
Deleting a section does not delete its lessons.
If other sections are available, its lessons move to a nearby section. You cannot delete the only section while it still contains lessons.
Add a Lesson to a Section
From Course Content, select New Lesson to add a blank lesson to the final section, or select Add Lesson inside a particular section. The new lesson opens in the editor as a Draft, hidden from learners until you publish it. If there is no section yet, Cademy creates Section 1.
Move, Duplicate or Delete a Lesson
Open the lesson’s actions menu from Course Content or the lesson list. Duplicate and copy use the last saved content, so save first:
Duplicate: creates a Draft copy directly after the original, with “(Copy)” added to its name. Check it before publishing. The copy carries the saved Access settings. Check which earlier lesson applies in its new position.
Copy to Course…: see the next section.
Move To: appears when another section exists. Select the destination section to move the lesson to its end. You can also drag lessons within or between sections.
Delete: opens Delete Lesson?, with Cancel and Delete Lesson. Deleting removes the lesson for you and your learners. To hide a lesson for now, use Move to Draft from its actions menu in Course Content. That change saves immediately; see Publish or Hide Course Lessons.
Copy a Lesson to Another Course
Save the lesson before copying it.
Copy to Course… copies the last saved version. Unsaved changes are not included.
Open the lesson’s actions menu from Course Content or the lesson list.
Select Copy to Course….
In Copy Lesson to Another Course, search for the destination course if needed and select it. Only other on-demand and blended courses you can access are listed.
Select Copy Lesson and wait for the confirmation message naming the destination course.
Open the destination course and select Edit Course, then Contents. The copied lesson is a Draft at the end of the final section. If the course had no section, Cademy creates Section 1.
Review the copy, including its Access settings and every Link to Lesson button, before changing it to Published.
Review the copy before publishing. The copy gets its own copies of the lesson’s quizzes. SCORM packages reuse the uploaded file, with separate progress. Lesson links keep their original targets, and saved Access settings are copied. Recheck the lesson order, any booked offer in an exception, and any attendance or course-date setting in the destination. A copied Form block keeps the same form. Each registration, a learner’s place on a course, has its own response to a form, reused wherever that form appears within that registration.
If a copy fails, the dialog shows an error. Check the destination course’s Contents before retrying, in case the copy finished. Adding, duplicating, copying and deleting lessons are saved straight away. Publishing or moving a lesson to Draft from Course Content also saves immediately. Lesson edits, status changes inside the lesson editor, and section or order changes need Save.
Edit Lesson Details and Content
Select a lesson to open it. The lesson list on the left lets you open another lesson, drag lessons into a new order or use New to add a lesson or section. On a smaller screen, the menu button opens the list.
Set Lesson Details and Publication Status
Every new lesson starts as a Draft, hidden from learners even after you save its content. Publish or Hide Course Lessons explains how to make lessons available or hide them again. Publishing from Course Content saves immediately; changing the status inside the lesson editor needs Save.
Access beside the publication status controls when the lesson opens, when it is due and whether it counts towards completion. Icon and Cover add a lesson icon and a wide image above the lesson.
Share controls the course’s listing; it does not replace registration, payment, approval or access-expiry checks. For access expiry, see Set or Extend How Long Learners Can Access a Course.
Choose a Lesson Icon and Cover Image
Select Icon, then choose the Emoji or Icon tab. The Icon tab lets you search and choose an optional colour. Use Clear to remove the current icon.
Select Cover, then choose an image from the media picker or upload a new one.
After adding a cover, use Change Cover to choose another image or Remove to remove it.
Recommended Lesson Cover Image Size
Recommended starting format: 2400 × 600 px, a 4:1 ratio. This is guidance, not a required size. Covers are cropped from the centre, so for a 2400 × 600 px image:
Keep text, logos, faces and important details inside the central 1320 × 330 px safe area, which leaves 540 px on the left and right and 135 px at the top and bottom.
Add and Format Lesson Content (Blocks and Columns)
Select the empty content area and start typing. To add a block such as a video, PDF, image or embed, type / on an empty line to open the block menu, then type the block name to search. A new lesson also suggests some blocks to start with. To continue after the final block, select the blank space directly below it.
The block menu has four groups. The blocks offered depend on where you insert them:
Lesson Blocks: Quiz, SCORM, Form, Gallery and HTML. Add these at the main lesson level, not inside a table, column, toggle, callout or Media & Text block.
Rich Text: Text, Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, Bulleted list, Numbered list, Checklist, Quote, Code Block, Toggle, Callout, Divider, Button Link and Table.
Media: Image, Media & Text, Video, Audio, File, PDF and Embed.
Layout: 2 Columns and 3 Columns, to place content side by side.
Add Videos, PDFs, Images, Links and Embed Codes to a Lesson
Each of these is a block you add with /. Learners with access see the saved content when the lesson is Published and its opening requirements are met.
Video: select Video, then Select a Video to choose a video from the media picker or upload one. You can record your course videos on any platform or device, such as a camera, phone or screen-recording tool, then upload the saved video file, such as an MP4. Your plan can limit the size of each upload; see What Each Cademy Plan Includes and Costs.
Embed: for a video or content hosted elsewhere. Under Paste a link or embed code below, paste a web link or iframe embed code, then select Set Embed or the recognised service’s button: Embed YouTube Video, Embed Wistia Video or Embed Canva Design. Other sites work when they permit embedding. You cannot select Set Embed until the box holds a web link or iframe code; other embed code, such as a script, is not accepted.
Image: choose or upload an image, then resize it or use Change Image. To show two images side by side, add 2 Columns (or 3 Columns), then add an Image block in each column.
Gallery: several images that learners move through. Media & Text: an image beside written content.
PDF and File: show a document inside the lesson or as a download, as described in the next section.
Audio: choose or upload a recording.
Button Link: enter a Button label and Button URL, or use Link to Lesson to point to another lesson. Linking does not open a Draft or locked lesson to learners.
Table: keep File and Embed blocks outside tables, because they are not shown in a table.
Checklist: items learners can tick. Ticks are saved only in that browser and do not count towards lesson or course completion.
HTML: enter HTML and CSS, then select Show Preview. Scripts and unsafe markup are removed.
Choose How Learners See a PDF (Download or View in the Lesson)
To add a PDF, type / and select PDF to show it inside the lesson, or File to show a file card that learners download. Then choose or upload the file. To switch later, select Show as Card on an embedded PDF, or Show as Embed on a PDF file card.
Allow Download is on by default for an embedded PDF. Turn it off to hide the viewer’s Download button. This does not stop the file from being copied. Save the lesson after changing the presentation.
You can also add a PDF to the course description.
Go to Courses > [course] > Edit Course > Description, type / and select PDF. The course description can appear on the public course page, so only add documents meant for that audience.
Format Lesson Text (Toolbar and Shortcuts)
Select text to open the formatting toolbar for bold, italic, underline, links, alignment, font size, colours and more. Turn into changes the block type.
Type these shortcuts at the start of an empty line, then press Space (no Space is needed for the code block and divider):
#,##or###for Heading 1, 2 or 3;-for a bulleted list;1.for a numbered list;[]for a checklist.|for a quote;>for a toggle;```for a code block;---for a divider.
Use Headings to Structure Longer Lessons
When a saved lesson has at least two Heading 1, Heading 2 or Heading 3 blocks, learners on wider screens see heading indicators beside the content. Selecting one jumps to that heading. They are hidden on smaller screens and with a Full Screen SCORM package.
Copy Content From One Lesson to Another, or Move and Delete Blocks
Move your pointer to the left of a main lesson block. The plus button adds a block below it. Use the drag handle to move the block, or open its menu and choose Duplicate or Delete. You can select several main blocks and move or remove them together.
To copy content into another lesson, select the blocks and copy them (Cmd+C on a Mac, Ctrl+C on Windows). Open the other lesson, paste (Cmd+V or Ctrl+V) and select Save. To copy a whole lesson, use the lesson’s Duplicate or Copy to Course… action instead.
For separate quizzes or SCORM progress, duplicate the whole lesson. A duplicated or pasted block can keep the same quiz or the same saved SCORM progress.
Add a Quiz or Assessment to a Lesson
On an empty main lesson line, type / and select Quiz. Select Edit Quiz to add questions and settings, then use the main Save. Add a Quiz to a Lesson explains the full setup and removal steps; View Quiz or Test Results and Mark Answers covers submitted answers.
Choose Quiz Question Types
Quizzes support Multiple Choice, Short Answer, Number, Long Text and File Upload questions. Add a Quiz to a Lesson explains how each is marked.
Set Quiz Marking and Completion Requirements
In Quiz Settings, choose automatic or manual marking, the pass mark, retakes and whether passing is required to complete the lesson. Apply with Done, then Save.
Add a SCORM Package to a Lesson
A SCORM block plays an interactive learning package. Your account needs SCORM access. Cademy supports SCORM 1.2 packages supplied as a .zip file; SCORM 2004 is not supported. On an empty main lesson line, type /, select SCORM, then use Upload File or Media Library. See Add SCORM Learning Content and Fix SCORM Loading or Progress Problems.
Add a Form to a Lesson to Collect Answers
A Form block collects answers inside a lesson. On an empty main lesson line, type /, select Form, then Choose a Form and pick a General or Feedback form. Checkout forms and archived forms are not listed. Two switches, both off at first, set whether learners must submit the form to finish the lesson and whether later lessons stay locked until they do. Save the lesson. See Add Forms to Lessons.
Set a Lesson’s Opening Time, Deadline and Whether It Counts Towards Completion
Open the lesson and select Access. Set its opening time or unlock requirements under When It Opens, its deadline under Due, and whether it counts under Completion. Select Save in the dialog, then Save in the editor. See Set Lesson Access and Completion Rules and Release Lessons Over Time and Set Due Dates.
Save Lesson Changes
Lesson content is not saved automatically. Select Save, or press Cmd+S on a Mac or Ctrl+S on Windows. The top bar shows Unsaved changes while there is pending work. Saving a lesson also saves pending course and section changes. Moving around the course editor can also save them, so do not use it to discard edits.
If you leave a changed lesson, Cademy asks whether to Cancel, Discard Changes or Save Lesson. After an error, check what was saved before repeating an action.
Avoid editing the same lesson in two browser tabs or at the same time as another person.
If two saved versions compete, the most recent save replaces the earlier one.
Preview the Saved Course Layout (Preview as Student)
Preview as Student shows the layout and saved content in Admin. It can show Draft lessons and does not apply learner locks. Use a separate registered learner to check what a specific person can see or open.
From Courses, open the course, then select Edit Course and Contents. A new course must be saved once before Preview as Student appears.
Select Preview as Student from Course Content, a lesson or the quiz editor. From a lesson or quiz, the preview opens that lesson.
If Save Before Previewing? appears, choose Cancel to stay in the editor, Preview Without Saving to open the saved content, or Save & Preview to save first.
Review the course in the new tab. The banner says Previewing as admin. Progress is not tracked. Draft lessons are labelled Unpublished.
The preview does not reproduce every learner behaviour.
It does not track progress, save quiz or form answers, launch tracked SCORM activity or apply lesson locks. To check schedules, locks, completion and progress as a real learner, follow Test a Course Before Launch.
Why a Learner Cannot See a Lesson or Lessons Have Disappeared
If a learner says lessons are missing, have disappeared or the course has no online lesson content, check:
The lesson is a Draft. Draft lessons are hidden from learners, including lessons you have just added or copied. Use the lesson’s amber Draft badge in Course Content to publish it. Publish or Hide Course Lessons gives the steps and the editor alternative. If no lesson is Published, learners see No lessons yet and that the course does not have any content yet.
The lesson was deleted. Deleting removes a lesson for everyone. Check Course Content.
The learner has no access. In place of the lessons, learners see This content is for registered learners when they are not signed in with the account that holds a place, Please Complete Payment when payment is due, Your Place Is Awaiting Approval when you must approve their booking, or Access Expired after their access ends. See Set or Extend How Long Learners Can Access a Course.
The lesson is locked. Check its Access settings for an opening time, earlier work, payment or attendance. An earlier quiz or form can also keep later lessons locked. If the lesson is missing for one learner, check if a participant exception hides it. See Set Lesson Access and Completion Rules.
The course is hosted elsewhere. When Host Externally is on for an on-demand course, registered learners are sent to the course details page with your access instructions instead of the lessons.
Check the Draft badges in Course Content to confirm publication. Preview as Student can show Draft lessons, so it does not prove learner access. Learners can follow Can’t Access Your Course or a Lesson? What to Check.
Course Hosted Elsewhere: Find the Host Externally Toggle
If learners take an on-demand or blended course on another website or learning platform, turn on the Host Externally switch. It is not in the Contents editor. Open the course, select Edit Course, then Settings and Advanced Settings, and turn on Host Externally. Add the access link and instructions under Content Access Details, then save. For the full setup, see Create a Self-Paced Online Course (On-Demand) or Create a Blended Course With Dates and Online Lessons.
If learners study inside Cademy and only need joining information or files, use Give Learners Welcome Information and Files After Booking.
How Learners Open and Complete Lessons
Navigate Between Lessons as a Learner
Learners see:
Published lessons in the saved order, apart from lessons hidden for them by a participant exception.
Locked lessons with a reason, and visible optional lessons with an Optional label.
A completion button that works once required quizzes, SCORM packages and forms are done: Complete & Continue, or Mark as Completed in the final lesson.
When completing a lesson brings an on-demand learner to 100% progress, a Congratulations pop-up appears. It offers Get Certificate when automatic certificates are on, and Add a Review unless reviews are hidden for your account.
To follow learners’ progress, use See Each Learner's Lesson Progress in a Course and Find Learners Who Are Inactive or Have Not Finished. Reset or Correct a Learner's Lesson Progress explains corrections.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can I not see Contents in the course editor?
Check that the course is on-demand or blended. The Contents tab is not shown for an On set dates or On-request course.
Can I add captions or subtitles to a lesson video?
Yes, for a video uploaded to Cademy. Select the Video block, then Change Video to open the media picker. Open the video’s three-dot menu and select Manage Captions. Upload a .vtt or .srt caption file, choose its Language and Caption Label, then select Confirm & Upload Captions. Captions can take a few moments to appear in the player. Auto-captions are on in the Teams plan: Generate Captions under Auto-Generate Captions transcribes the video for you. On the Enterprise plan they are set per account. For an embedded video, such as YouTube, add captions on that service.
Why does a SCORM block show Invalid package?
Use a valid SCORM 1.2 .zip package. Before using Replace, note that replacing a file does not reset saved SCORM progress, and the replacement may not be compatible with it. For a rejected or non-launching package, follow Fix SCORM Loading or Progress Problems.
Can I show a PowerPoint presentation inside a lesson?
An uploaded PowerPoint presentation is added as a downloadable file. To show its slides inside the lesson, export it as a PDF and use the PDF block.
What should I do if the Course Content screen does not load?
Select Retry. If the error continues, contact Cademy Support with the course name and the time the problem occurred.