Did you know you can enable your learners, in any course, to message and/or ask your instructor questions?
Use Case Information
Instructor Messaging can be enabled on any course to allow learners to reach out to an instructor with questions. To enable Instructor Messaging, you must do so in the course settings as well as enter a valid instructor email to receive the messages. Whenever an instructor is messaged, notification can be set up to be triggered through webhook, SFTP, or email.
How to Configure Instructor Messaging
Instructor Messaging can be free or monetized for learners. If there is a fee, the learner will only see the messaging option in the course if purchased prior to accessing. Follow these steps to set up the Instructor Messaging feature:
- From your homepage, select Courses > All Courses.
- Click the Content Title for the course you want to alter and you'll land on the Content step.
- Click Utilities from the left sidebar and then select the Discussions tab.
- Enable Instructor Messaging Enabled?.
- Enter Instructor Email(s) to receive the messages from users.
- Enter Instructor Email(s) to receive the messages from users.
Tip
The email address used does not need to be the instructor's. It can be any relevant email, such as one from your CRM system (e.g., HubSpot).
- Click Save.
Monetizing Instructor Messaging
- While editing the content item, select Enrollment step > Ecommerce tab.
- Fill in a price for the field Instructor Messaging Addl. Price.
- Don't forget to save!
Tip
If you are previewing a course as an admin, instructor messaging will only display if it is not monetized (meaning you haven't set a price under Instructor Messaging Addl. Price).
Note
If you choose to monetize, this will be a one-time fee charged to your users at checkout for the content they purchase.
How to Enable Notifications When an Instructor is Messaged
Using the Thought Industries Admin Notifications, you can automate notifying your instructors when a learner in a course is sending a message. To set up these notifications, please follow the steps below:
- From your homepage, select Users > Notifications > Manager Notifications.
- Click Add Notification.
- Select When an instructor is messaged.
- Select the type of notification. Enter webhook, SFTP, or email needed, and the corresponding course to be notified about.
Tip
You can customize the term displayed to learners for the instructor link in the left menu of the course within Translations. By default, it says "Ask Question". Look for the field sidebar-instructor under the Learner Experience section. This helps if you don't want to refer to an 'instructor' but perhaps an 'expert' or other term.
Learner Experience
Learners will see the option to message an instructor in the left menu inside of a course. After sending a message, learners will receive responses via the email attached to their account.
If you choose to monetize Instructor Messaging, learners will have two opportunities to add it to their purchase. The first opportunity appears immediately after they click checkout, in the initial modal.
The chance will appear again on the subsequent screen where they enter their account information or sign in.
Note
All text displayed during the checkout process for this purchase option is translatable. To access these settings, go to Settings > Translations > Platform Content. If you need help with translations, refer to this article.