After earning certificates from content in your Thought Industries instance, learners can share those certificates on their LinkedIn profile right from their dashboard.
Tip
The Learner Access widget is the key for learners to view, download, or share their certificates. Please make sure this widget is included on the learner dashboard, or a place where your learners can access it. Go to Design > Layouts > Dashboard > Edit to design the global dashboard layout.
Setting Up LinkedIn Sharing
- To set up LinkedIn Certificate Sharing, go to Settings > Certification.
- Under the section Certificate Settings, toggle Allow learners to add to LinkedIn profile? to Yes.
- Two additional fields will appear: Issuing Organization Name and Issuing Organization ID. We only require one of these fields to have a value (either one). Get instructions on how to find your LinkedIn ID here.
Note
Although you can include either the Name or the ID for the Issuing Organization (only one is required), we strongly recommend including the Issuing Organization ID.
- Make sure to click Save.
Important Certificate Set Up Notes
When a learner shares a certificate on LinkedIn, information is passed from Thought Industries to LinkedIn. The table below shows each field available in LinkedIn and how it relates to Thought Industries fields. The Pass Over Criteria describes the set up in Thought Industries needed (if any) for the information to be successfully passed to LinkedIn.
| LinkedIn Field Name | Pass Over Criteria | Thought Industries Field Name |
Certificate Field Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Passed automatically | Content Title | N/A |
| Issuing Organization | Passed if value exists in Settings > Certification > Issuing Organization Name | Issuing Organization Name | N/A |
| Issue Date | Passed if the Certificate Field exists in Settings > Certification using the Certificate Field Type: Certificate Issued Date | Label value for the Certificate Field with the Certificate Field Type = Certificate Issued Date | Certificate Issued Date |
| Expiration Date |
Passed if the Certificate Field exists in Settings > Certification using the Certificate Field Type: Certificate Expiration Date AND the Certificate generated to the learner has an expiration date set up (expiration date set up is done at the Content level; go to Content > Actions > Settings > Completion & Certifications > Edit the Certificate) |
Label value for the Certificate Field with the Certificate Field Type = Certificate Expiration Date | Certificate Expiration Date |
| Credential ID | Passed if the Certificate Field exists in Settings > Certification using the Certificate Field Type: Unique Identifier | Label value for the Certificate Field with the Certificate Field Type = Unique Identifier | Unique Identifier |
| Credential URL | Passed automatically | Automatically Generated | N/A |
Setting Up a Certificate Field
Learner Experience
If set up properly, learners can share their certificates from the Learner Access widget on the Certifications tab. Generally, the Learner Access widget is available on the Learner Dashboard.
Note
If the learner doesn't see the Certifications tab, it either means they have not yet earned a certificate or it's possible an admin user has translated the tab to have a different name other than Certifications.
To share a certificate to LinkedIn:
- Complete a course and earn a certificate.
- Navigate to the Learner Access widget and click on the Certifications tab.
- Click Add to profile.
- A new tab will open and the learner will be prompted to login to LinkedIn (unless a session already exists).
- Once logged in, the learner will see the "Add licenses & certifications" screen in LinkedIn.
- Most of the information available will be passed over from Thought Industries and automatically filled in, but the learner can adjust as necessary on this screen.
Tip
If the learner has any issues with information being passed over, make sure the certificate set up meets the Pass Over Criteria outlined earlier in the article under Important Certificate Set Up Notes.
- Most of the information available will be passed over from Thought Industries and automatically filled in, but the learner can adjust as necessary on this screen.
- Click Save in LinkedIn.
- The certification will now display on the learner's LinkedIn profile.
If a user clicks See Credential from the "Licenses & Certifications" area in a LinkedIn Profile, it will bring the user to the Certificate URL in Thought Industries.
