Publishing a course, and what a publish approval adds
Publishing is what puts a course in front of learners. On most accounts it happens the moment you press the button. On accounts that ask for a publish check, the same button sends the course for approval instead.
A publish approval is not the same thing as a course review. Course reviews are the star ratings learners leave in the library; publish approval is somebody approving a version of a course before learners see it.
Before it will publish at all
Section titled “Before it will publish at all”Several things are checked, and the course is refused until they are right:
- A real title. Blank, or still called “Untitled”, is refused.
- At least one module, and at least one module with something in it.
- Every custom field your account marks mandatory.
- A pass mark, if the course has an assessment — and no pass mark if it has none. Both directions are enforced.
- Somebody to see it, if the course is restricted. A restricted course with no assignment would be visible to nobody.
SCORM, xAPI and external courses skip the module and assessment checks, because they have neither.
What publishing does
Section titled “What publishing does”It sets the course live and runs your assignment rules, adding everybody the rules reach. People no longer reached are taken off the list — unless they have already started, in which case they keep their place.
Everybody on the list is notified once.
Two things happen only on the very first publish: the date is stamped, and subscribers to the course’s category are told. Republishing after edits notifies the people it is assigned to, and tells category subscribers nothing.
When a publish approval is required instead
Section titled “When a publish approval is required instead”Two conditions, both needed: the course was built in Learnient’s own builder, and your account has Require a publish check before publishing switched on under Admin, then Learning and Course publish.
SCORM, xAPI, external courses, articles and learning paths never go through a check, and that is not configurable.
The setting cannot be switched on until a published course-publish workflow exists, and while it is on that workflow cannot be unpublished or deleted.
Switching it on is not retroactive. Courses already live stay live; the check applies from the next publish.
Sending a course for approval
Section titled “Sending a course for approval”You press Publish. Instead of refusing, Learnient sends it for approval and tells you so — Send for approval asks you whether it is a quick check or a full approval.
The course takes a status of its own, Pending approval. A course that was already live stays live while the check runs — an approval never takes a published course off air.
You can still edit it. The publish approver is looking at the exact version you submitted, so your edits cannot move what they see.
There is only ever one check per course. Submitting again points the existing check at your newest version rather than opening a second.
Withdraw from approval, in the course’s three-dot menu in the library, cancels it and hands the course back as a draft. It is not a decline — nobody has judged it — and the cancellation is recorded rather than erased.
What a publish approver can decide
Section titled “What a publish approver can decide”Three outcomes. Declining and sending back both require a reason; approving does not.
| Decision | What happens |
|---|---|
| Approve | The version is marked approved and the course publishes |
| Send back | Returns to draft for you to revise and resubmit |
| Decline | Ends the process; the course stays a draft |
Only send back notifies you automatically, with the approver’s reason. Whether you hear about an approval or a decline depends on whether your account’s workflow was built with a notification on that branch, so do not assume silence means nothing happened.
Approving with a retake
Section titled “Approving with a retake”Where people have already completed the course, the approver is asked whether the change is big enough that they should do it again.
Choosing that does not rewrite anybody’s record. Completions stay exactly as earned, on the version sat. What changes is that Learnient now knows which version counts, and anybody who completed an earlier one is shown as needing a retake — their result kept, no longer current.
The learner sees a Retake rather than a restart, and is told their previous result is kept.
It only moves forward. There is no way to undo it, so it is worth being sure the change really does invalidate what people learned.
Approving your own course
Section titled “Approving your own course”Where the workflow sends the approval back to the person who raised it, approving your own check needs the Self approve publish checks permission. Without it the approval is refused.
Holding it is not a bypass. The check still runs and the decision is recorded as self-approved, so a compliance report can tell “approved” apart from “approved by its author”.
Sending your own course back is always allowed — it takes nothing away from anyone, and it is how authors withdraw in practice.
Editing a course that is already live
Section titled “Editing a course that is already live”You can. A published course is fully editable, and learners are insulated by being held on the version they started rather than by locking you out.
The one thing you cannot do is switch assessments off once it is published, because people may have started expecting a pass mark.