The prerequisites functionality allows you to set up course sequences where specific courses must be completed before users can move on to another course.
Use Case Information
When this feature is applied, users will not have access to content before completing the prerequisites set. Users can still purchase or enroll in the content, but a message will display on their dashboard that they do not have access until they meet the prerequisites required. As soon as learners complete the appropriate prerequisite course(s), the next course in the sequence will become available.
Tip
Since certain content objects like ILTs and VILTs do not have the prerequisite feature available, learning paths can be used to set one or more prerequisites for content. They also allow for setting specific milestones, providing different options for completing prerequisites, issuing program certificates, and more. See the Setting up a Learning Path article for more information.
Setting Up Course Prerequisites
- From your homepage, select Courses > All Courses.
- Click the Content Title for the course you want to alter and go to the Enrollment Step.
- Scroll to the bottom of the Access page to find the Prerequisite Content section.
- Use the Prerequisite Courses search box to select the course(s) that learners must complete in order to access the course you're editing.
- Click the green plus (+) icon to add each course.
- Click Save.
After setting up a prerequisite, it's important to also set up ways to communicate these requirements with your learners. Continue on to get ideas about how to accomplish this!
Examples for Messaging about Prerequisites
It is important to indicate any prerequisites on the course detail page so that users are aware of any course requirements prior to purchasing. To accomplish this on the detail page, you can utilize Tabs, Related Content, or a custom widget. Here are some example we suggest:
Tabs:
- From your homepage, select Courses > All Courses.
- Click on Content Title > navigate to the Design step.
- Select Edit Catalog Settings > Detail Page tab.
- Scroll down to Tabs > Add Tab.
- In the Tab Type dropdown menu, select Free Text type > title however you'd like.
- Opt to use the WYSIWIG text editor to hyperlink to the prerequisite and design the tab to your preference.
- Click Save in the Tab box.
- Don't forget to click Save at the bottom right of the page.
Related Content:
- From your homepage, select Courses > All Courses.
- Click on Content Title > navigate to the Design step.
- Select Edit Catalog Settings > Detail Page tab.
- Scroll down to the Related Content section and search for the prerequisite course.
- Use the plus icon to add the course to the Related Content widget on the detail page.
- Click Save.
Tip
If prerequisites are a large part of your use case and the Related Content widget will be dedicated to showing prerequisites on the detail page, you can update the title of the Related Content widget in Translations to better suit what the widget relates to. For example, you can update the widget title from the default "Related Courses" to "Prerequisites".
Custom Widget:
- From your homepage, select Courses > All Courses.
- Click on Content Title > navigate to the Design step.
- Select Edit Catalog Settings > Detail Page tab.
- In the field labeled, Detail Page Layout, This course is using the global layout, select the option Add Custom Layout.
- Select the option Design Layout.
- In the left menu of widgets, select either a Single Column or a Custom HTML widget to identify the prerequisite course.
- Customize as needed.
Note
We recommend considering the first two options before moving on to this option. This last option is considered advanced and a design resource may be needed to accomplish this if you have specific design preferences.
Learner Experience
When users see this course on their dashboard, they will not be able to gain access without first completing the appropriate prerequisite courses. Users will see a message that they have not yet met the prerequisite requirements in any of the dynamic content widgets or the catalog widget. In order for the learner to know which course is prerequisite, you should use one of the example options provided in this article in the section Example for Messaging about Prerequisites.