Building and publishing a course in the catalogue

This article is for HR staff and instructional designers who build the company’s training offer. It explains how to create a course, build its content (modules, lessons, quizzes, documents), take it through the publication workflow and keep it up to date afterwards.

Before you start #

• The Training module must be installed for your workspace.
• Seeing the catalogue administration list: “Course catalog”, Access level. The menu entry Training › Administer › Catalog only appears at the Execute level, which also lets you create a course and save its metadata.
• Opening a course in the editor: “Learning content & quizzes”, Access level. Editing content, uploading files, opening a working version, using AI and reviewing assignments: Execute level. Moving a course through the publication workflow: Admin level.
• Permissions are set in Settings › Manage Employees › Employee Roles, under FORMATION.

The catalogue list #

Open Training › Administer › Catalog. The “Catalog administration” page shows:

• a row of counters: published courses, courses in progress, courses with no enrolment, and content not updated for more than 24 months;
• a search box (title, code, provider) and two filters, Status and Category;
• the course table: Course, Status, Version, Content (duration, number of modules and blocks), Price, Enrolled and Updated. The “No enrolment” and “Content > 24 months” badges flag a course worth reviewing.

Click a row to open the course in the editor.

Creating a course #

Click New course. The “What kind of training do you want to add?” window offers several routes.

Illizeo content #

For a course whose content you write in the platform (e-learning, virtual class or on-site).

1. Choose the Illizeo content card.
2. Enter the Title. A Code is suggested from the first words; it must be unique, because it is what appears in exports and agreements.
3. Choose the Category from those of the courses already in the catalogue.
4. Tick the Delivery modes: On-site, Virtual class, E-learning (at least one).
5. Click Create and open the editor. The course starts as a Draft, at version v1.0.

External or blended #

For a course run by an external provider or in a classroom. The “New external course” page asks for the title, code, category, level and a short description, then the Partner provider (picked from the provider list, or “Other — type the name”), the Delivery mode (On-site, Blended or Remote), the Total duration (hours), the Cost per participant and, where relevant, the certification the course grants. A summary and a learner preview update as you type. Click Create the course: the editor opens.

The Past training card leads to recording courses taken before Illizeo, described in Tracking certifications and renewals.

Building the content #

The editor has three tabs: Content, Metadata and Publication (plus Submissions when the course includes an assignment). In the Content tab, the “Course outline” tree organises the course into modules and blocks (the lessons).

1. Add a module creates a “New module”; you rename it directly in the tree.
2. Add a block, then choose its type. The block starts with a 15-minute duration and is required.
3. Click a block to open its editor below the tree: Block title, Duration (min), the Required box, then the content specific to the type.
4. Click Save. Until you do, “Unsaved changes” stays on screen.

Move up and Move down reorder blocks. Delete module asks for a second click to confirm and removes its blocks too.

Quizzes #

In a Quiz block, set the Pass mark (%) (80 by default) and Maximum attempts (empty = unlimited). Advanced settings add a time limit, when answers are shown (after each answer, at the end of the quiz or never), shuffling of questions and answers, retrying failed questions only, and the “Blocking quiz” option: the lesson is only completed once the quiz is passed.

Add a question opens the form: type, statement, answers and correct answer, points, and an explanation shown after answering. There are seven types: Single choice, Multiple choice (partial credit possible), True / False, Short answer, Fill in the blanks, Ordering and Matching. Click Confirm question, then Save the block.

The resource library #

The Resource library button, below the catalogue list, shows the PDFs and SCORM packages uploaded from the editor, with their size and number of uses. You can open, rename or delete them. Deleting a material that is in use asks for confirmation (Delete anyway): working versions lose the file, and a live version shows “document not available” to its learners. Nothing is uploaded here: files are added from a Document or SCORM module block.

Writing with AI #

If artificial intelligence is enabled for your workspace, the editor offers:

• the Writing assistant panel, to the right of the Content tab: generate a course outline, draft, rephrase, summarise, translate or proofread a section, generate a quiz, suggest exercises;
• the AI button on a block’s text, and the With AI button in a quiz, which suggests questions for you to tick;
• Generate from a document: from a PDF (20 MB, 100 pages max.) or pasted text, AI suggests modules that you choose to add to the draft.

Nothing is written without your approval, and AI writes in the course’s language. Always review before publishing.

Metadata #

The Metadata tab holds what makes the course findable and presentable: title, tagline, pedagogical summary, category, level, language, delivery modes, announced duration, validity in months (this is what triggers refresher training), learning objectives linked to skills in the framework, prerequisites, cover image, and the Mandatory course and Grants a certificate boxes. These fields can still be edited on a published version. Click Save.

Publishing #

The Publication tab shows the “Publication workflow” in four steps: Draft, Pedagogical review, Management approval, Published.

1. Read the “Pre-publication checks”. Blocking issues (an empty module, a block without a duration, a document without a file, a link without an address, an assignment without instructions, a quiz without questions or without a correct answer, and so on) must be fixed before you continue; items marked “(non-blocking)” are warnings. Some of these messages may appear in French.
2. Click Send to pedagogical review, then Send for approval.
3. Click Publish this version, enter the Release note (required), then Publish.

Learners on the live version move to the new one and keep their per-lesson progress.

Updating a published course #

A published course is never edited in place. Open it and click Open a working version: the live version is copied into the next version (v1.0, then v1.1, v1.2 and so on). Edit it, then take it through the workflow again. Only one working version can be open at a time. In the Versions list of the Publication tab, Compare two versions shows what was added, removed, changed or moved, and the change in syllabus duration.

Reviewing assignments #

The Submissions tab lists learners’ submissions (filter To review or All submissions). Open the attached file, then click Accept (the lesson is completed for the learner) or enter a comment and click Return. A comment is required to return a submission. Trainers also review assignments from their workspace (see The trainer workspace).

Good to know #

• The course type (Illizeo content or external), the provider, the price and the certification are set at creation: the Metadata tab does not offer them.
• An external course also needs at least one module with one block to be published, for example an On-site session block.
• The three workflow steps all require the same permission (Admin level of “Learning content & quizzes”). The screen only offers the next step.
• Sessions for a classroom course are scheduled in session planning: see Scheduling sessions and taking attendance.
• What learners see is described in Taking an online course: lessons, quizzes and assignments.