On-demand online courses let learners work through self-paced content without attending on fixed dates. You can host the lessons in Cademy or give learners access details for content hosted elsewhere.
Permission needed: Creating a course and changing its content, settings or visibility require the Course Owner role. If an action is missing, ask an administrator for your business account to check your role.
Create an on-demand course
Open the Admin Dashboard and select Courses.
Select Create New.
Choose the word your business uses for courses, then select On-demand online course.
In Description, add the Title, images and course-page content that learners should see.
Complete the other course-editor areas: Pricing & Delivery, Contents, Settings and Share.
You can return to the editor from the course dashboard by selecting Edit Course. You can also open Courses, open the course menu and select Edit or Settings.
Set the price, availability and access duration
Price and offer availability
Open Pricing & Delivery.
Enter the Price. Set the price to 0 if the offer should be free.
Select More Options if you need to set Available from (optional), Available until (optional) or Spaces to block.
Select Add Price if the course needs another price option.
The available-from and available-until settings control when that price option can be selected. They do not publish or unpublish the course.
Course access duration
Open Settings, then Access Options.
Under Students should have access to the course, choose Indefinitely / until removed by you or For a limited time.
If you choose limited access, enter the Number of days.
This setting applies to new learners. To check or change one existing learner, open Orders, open their order and use Access Expires. Depending on when the order was created, its access details may still appear in the older booking view.
For the full access-duration workflow, read Setting an Access Limit on On-Demand and Blended Courses.
Add lessons and course content
Open Contents.
If the course is empty, select New Lesson. After you add content, use New... and choose Lesson or Section.
Add the lesson title, then choose from Text, Video, Images, Audio, Button, Attachments, Embed, SCORM or Quiz.
Use Edit to change the lesson and Preview to check it.
Turn on Published when the lesson is ready for learners.
SCORM content cannot run in the lesson editor's Preview. Test it by opening the course as a learner.
For specialist content, see AI Lesson Builder for On-Demand and Blended Courses, Quizzes & Assessments, SCORM Courses and FAQs.
Host the course somewhere else
When the course has no Cademy lessons yet, Contents also shows Host externally. Turn it on and enter the instructions learners need in Content Access Details. Learners see those details after they receive access to the course.
Control who can find the course
Open Courses and use the visibility control for the course:
Public: Visible to all.
Private: Hidden and accessible with a direct link. This option depends on your business plan.
Unpublished: Visible to you and enrolled users.
The course menu also contains Duplicate and Add to Collection. A published course has Unpublish & Archive; an unpublished course has Archive; and an archived course has Restore.
Important: Archiving an on-demand course removes learners' access to its content. Restore it if learners need access again.
Test the learner experience
Open the course dashboard and select Orders.
Select New Order.
Use your own details for the Order Contact and add yourself as the learner.
Complete a free or paid test order using the action shown, such as Create Free Order, Create Paid Order, Create Order or Create Order & Send Invoice.
Open the Admin Dashboard menu, then select User Profile and Student Profile.
Open My Courses, find the course under Your Courses, then open it.
Select Start Course, Continue Course or View Course, whichever is shown.
The order action depends on the price and payment setup. For every order field and payment route, read Manually Creating Booking/Orders & Requesting Payment.
If the course is missing, confirm that the order is complete, you were added as the attending learner, and Student Profile uses the same email address. Also check that the course is not archived.
Track access, lesson progress and certificates
Open Lesson Progress on the course dashboard to review learners across the course.
Open Registrants, select a learner and expand Lesson Progress to review that person.
Open Orders, select an order and check Access Expires to see a date or Never.
Learners can see their course under My Courses & Bookings > My Courses. On the private course page, their access date appears under Your Order or Order Summary when an expiry applies.
To issue a certificate automatically when a learner completes the course, open Settings, then Certificates, and turn on Automatically issue certificate. You can also choose whether to Email student when certificate is issued.
Automatic issuing does not create or email another certificate when that Registration already has an active certificate, even if it uses a different template. Where Custom Certificates are available, use the manual issuing steps in Certificates to issue an additional certificate with a different template.
For more help, read Certificates and Find Course Dates, Locations, Joining Instructions and Content.
Frequently asked questions
How is an on-demand course different from a blended or on-request course?
An on-demand course is self-paced and has no fixed attendance date. A blended course combines dated sessions with online content. An on-request course lets a customer request dates or delivery directly from the provider.
Why can I not see Create New, Edit Course or the visibility actions?
These actions require the Course Owner role. Ask an administrator for your business account to check your role.
Why can a learner not see a lesson?
Check that the lesson's Published switch is on, the learner has a completed order, their course access has not expired, and the course is not archived.
Can I delete an on-demand course?
Use the course menu to archive it. Published courses show Unpublish & Archive, unpublished courses show Archive, and archived courses show Restore.
Why did changing Access Options not update existing learners?
The course setting affects new learners. Open an existing learner's order and update Access Expires separately.
Can I test a SCORM package in Preview?
No. SCORM does not run in the lesson editor's Preview. Create a test order and open the course from your Student Profile.
Why is the course missing from Student Profile?
Check that the order is complete, the person was added as the attending learner, the login email matches the learner email, and the course is not archived.
Why did the learner not receive a certificate after completing the course?
Open Settings > Certificates and check that Automatically issue certificate is on. If the Registration already has an active certificate, automatic issuing does not create or email another one, even if it uses a different template. Check Email student when certificate is issued if the learner should receive an email when a new certificate is issued. Where Custom Certificates are available, follow Certificates to issue an additional certificate manually with a different template.