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      Creating and Managing Custom Courses in the KnowledgeCity LMS

      Creating your own courses with lessons in KnowledgeCity.

      Introduction

      The Courses feature of the KnowledgeCity LMS allows you to create and manage courses for your learners. By organizing course content into chapters and lessons, utilizing various lesson types, adding quizzes, and providing certificates upon completion, this guide will walk you through the process of creating and managing courses.


      Getting Started: Accessing Course Management

      1. Log in to your KnowledgeCity LMS administrator account.
      2. Navigate to the "Courses" section. This can be found in the LMS left-side panel.
      3. The "Custom" tab of the Courses page will open. The page will display a table of existing custom courses once opened, if any already exist, including the Course name, Course ID, and Type.

      Courses displayed in the table under the "Custom" tab can be edited, archived, or removed. Courses requiring archival can be scheduled to be archived or archived immediately with an option of notifying users. A report of available custom courses can be generated using the "Generate report" button found in the top-right area of the page.

      courses-overview
      An example illustration after opening the Courses page of the KnowledgeCity LMS.

       

      Creating a New Course

      courses-new-courseAn example illustration of the "Create Course" modal for starting the course creation process.

      1. Click the "Create course" or similar button to start a new course.
        1. Course name: This is a unique title you may give the new course.
        2. Course ID: This will either be automatically assigned by the system or you may have the option to specify a unique ID.
        3. Default Language: Set a default language for the new course (e.g., English or Spanish)
        4. Course type: Select the "Lessons" option to create a new custom course with lessons (e.g., includes videos, images, SCORM, Designer lessons, PDF lessons, or quizzes). Optionally, you may create a "Class" type course for online/offline events, or an "External" course, which is a course intended to be completed outside of the platform.
      2. Proceed by clicking the "Create course" button within the modal window.
      3. You will be brought to the course "Details" page of the new course. Additional parameters can be applied here including:

        1. Author: Select the name of the course creator from the dropdown menu. If the desired author is not listed, create a new one using the "+" icon.

        2. Level: Choose a difficulty level for the course (e.g., Essential, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced).

        3. Skills students will learn: List the key skills learners will gain from the course.

        4. Course certificate toggle: Toggle this option to enable or disable certificates upon course completion. If disabled, learners will receive a "Passed" status only.

        5. Course thumbnail image: Upload a preview image that will be displayed on the course card.

          1. Supported formats: .png, .jpg

          2. Maximum size: 2 MB

          3. Recommended resolution: 1280x720

        6. Note: These settings will apply to the entire course and are not affected by language versions.

      courses-course-detailsAn example illustration of the "Details" tab of a newly created Lessons-type course.

       

      Adding Language Versions

      The default language of the course is set at course creation.
      1. Adding a New Language: Click the "Add language" button. In the modal window, select the desired language and confirm. Note: Languages already added will not appear in the dropdown list.
      2. Changing the Default Language: Navigate to the tab of the desired language, check the box "Make this language default," and then save.
      3. Removing a Language: Click the "Remove" button to remove a language, this is only available for languages that are not set as default.
      4. Language-specific Parameters: On each language tab, you can customize the following information:
        1. Course name: Specify the name of the course in the current language.
        2. Localization level: Set the level of localization for this language version.
        3. Tagline: Add a short tagline specific to the language.
        4. Short description: Provide a brief description of the course in the current language.
        5. Full course description: Use HTML to style the description (limited to H3 headings, bold, italic, underline, hyperlinks, numbered and bulleted lists).

      courses-new-language
      An example illustration demonstrating the "Add language" button within the course "Details" tab.

       

      Adding Course Content: Chapters and Lessons

      Navigate to the "Content" tab in the top-area of the page. This is where you create the structure of your course by adding chapters and lessons. Note: The content tab is language-specific.

      Creating Chapters

      1. Within the "Content" tab of the page, click the "Add chapter" button to create a new chapter.
      2. Enter the chapter name in the modal window and click "Save."
      3. To rename a chapter, click the "pencil" icon.
      4. Changes to the order of chapters or deleting a chapter will apply to all language versions of the course.

      courses-add-chapter
      An example illustration displaying the "Content" tab of the course page.

       

      Creating Lessons

      Once inside a chapter, you can add lessons using the lesson type buttons (e.g.,  Lesson, Quiz, Designer, SCORM).


      Adding Lesson Types

      1. Lesson

      • Click the "Lesson" button to upload a video or image file.
        • Supported formats: .mp4, .pdf, .png, .jpg, and .gif (Video file, PDF document, or image file)
        • The system will automatically detect the file format and set the lesson type accordingly.
      • After uploading, configure the:
        • Lesson Name: The name of the lesson.
        • Status: Set the availability of the lesson.
        • Runtime: Set manually for image lessons; automatically set for video lessons.

      Important Note: If needed, you can replace a video lesson with a new video file or replace an image lesson with a new image file, but you cannot replace video with image or vice versa. You can delete a lesson with the "Remove" button on the lesson card or by using the bulk action option.

      courses-add-lesson
      An example illustration highlighting the button to create a new "Lesson" within the new chapter of the course.

       

      2. Quiz

      • Click the "Quiz" button to create a new quiz lesson.
        • Configure the Quiz name and status.
        • Click "Edit" to manage quiz questions on a dedicated page. See the "Quiz Lessons" section below for more details.

      courses-quiz
      An example illustration highlighting the button to create a new "Quiz" within the chapter of the course.


      After creating a quiz lesson, click the "Edit" button to manage questions. You will be redirected to a dedicated page for managing quiz questions.


      Adding Quiz Questions

      • Manually Add Questions: Click the "Add question" button to create a new question, specifying:
        • Question title
        • Answer options
        • Correct answers (mark the correct ones)
        • "Can be shuffled" (optional)
      • Import from Question Bank: Click the "Question bank" button to import from a pre-existing bank. Select language, category, mark questions, and click "Add."

      Quiz Settings

      • Click the "Settings" button to customize the quiz:
        • Question limit: Set the maximum number of questions displayed.
        • Max number of attempts: Set the maximum attempts allowed.
        • Minimum passing score:  Set a minimum passing score.
        • Reset course progress if number of attempts was exceeded: Option to reset course progress if number of attempts are exceeded.
        • Show welcome page: Display an informational block before starting the quiz.
        • Shuffle questions: Randomize the order of questions.
        • Shuffle answers: Randomize the order of answer options.
        • Force order: Requires users to answer questions in sequence.
        • Show score: Display the score after completing the quiz.
        • Show passed/not passed message: Display a message indicating whether the quiz was passed.
        • Show correct answers: Allows students to see whether their answers were correct.
        • Action on time out: Specify the action when the quiz timer expires.
        • Show answer result mode:  Configure how results are displayed.
        • Limit time to duration: Set time limits for the quiz.
        • Start/Edit Time/Date: Set the time range for the quiz.
        • Make this quiz the course certification quiz: Marks the quiz as a certification quiz.


      3. Designer

      Designer Lessons provide an interactive learning experience and can be developed using a selection of pre-curated templates, including:

        • Text Question - Text Answers
        • Text Question - Picture Answers
        • Drag and Drop Matching - 3 Picture Boxes
        • Fill in the Blank / Short Answer
        • Picture Question - Text Answers
        • Text/HTML Content Question - Text Answers
        • Picture Area Question
      • Designer: Click the "Designer" button to create a rich interactive lesson.
        • Configure the Lesson name, Status and Runtime.
        • Click "Edit lesson in Designer" to open a special editor to create and edit the lesson.

      courses-designer
      An example illustration highlighting the button to create a new "Designer" lesson within the chapter of the course.

       

      4. SCORM

      By adding a SCORM lesson, you may use a custom SCORM file package to serve as a lesson of the course.

      • SCORM: Click the "SCORM" button to upload and configure a SCORM file package.
      • Configure the Lesson name, Status and Runtime.
      • Choose how the lesson will launch ("Launch mode"). This can be set to open the lesson in a separate window or inline within the course page.
      • Upload your SCORM file package as a .zip file ("Lesson content").
      • You can optionally upload a preview image ("Lesson preview")
      • After completing these steps, click "Save changes" to finalize the lesson creation, or use the "Remove" button to delete if needed.

      courses-scorm
      An example illustration highlighting the button to create a new "SCORM" lesson within the chapter of the course.

       

      Managing Lesson Order

      After creating a lesson you can:

      • Adjust its order within the chapter by dragging and dropping it into a different position.
      • Use bulk actions to delete multiple lessons or change their statuses simultaneously.

      Language Tabs for Lessons
      • At the top of the quiz and lesson pages, you will find language tabs.
      • You can switch between the language tabs to create language-specific content.
      • You can create questions and change content directly without leaving the page.

       

      Working with Lessons in Other Language Tabs

      By default, all lesson and chapter content is inherited from the default language. In this case, you need only to translate the names of the lessons and chapters into the target language.


      If you need to upload unique content for a specific language version:

        • Switch to the language tab.
        • Open the lesson and enable the "Upload custom content for this language" option.
        • Upload your desired file.

       

      Course Files

      Supplementary course files can be included within the course and displayed to learners within the course page. This is an optional feature to supplement your course material.

      1. Navigate to the "Course Files" section, this is used to upload attachments for the course page.
      2. Click "Upload File" to upload files in the following formats: .zip, .pdf, .jpg, .png, .mp3, .mp4, .pptx, .ePUB
      3. Configure "Access to File" settings:
        1. Open: The file is publicly accessible.
        2. Restricted: Only users with access to the course can view.
      4. Use language toggles to control:
        1. File visibility in different language versions.
        2. File naming for each language.

      courses-course-files
      An example illustration highlighting the "Course files" tab of the course where supplementary course files can be added, managed, or removed.

       

      Certification Quiz

      The Certification Quiz is used as a final quiz covering all provided course material.

      1. Navigate to the "Certification quiz" tab of the course page.
      2. Language-specific questions and answers can be applied using the language tab selection.
      3. To begin adding questions and answers to the Certification quiz:
        • Manually Add Questions: Click the "Add question" button to create a new question, specifying:
          • Question title
          • Answer options
          • Correct answers (mark the correct ones)
          • "Can be shuffled" (optional)
        • Import from Question Bank: Click the "Question bank" button to import from a pre-existing bank. Select language, category, mark questions, and click "Add."
      4. See the "Quiz Settings" section above for settings options. Additionally, you may set the following:
        1. Customize Attempt Limit
        2. Limit Time to Duration
        3. Lesson Bypass for Certification Quiz:  Allows users to skip lessons and proceed to the certification quiz.

      courses-certification-quiz
      An example illustration highlighting the "Certification quiz" tab of the course.

       

      Adding Custom Fields

      1. In addition to the default fields, you can add custom fields to the course within the “Details” tab of the course in the top menu of the page.
      2. Near the bottom of the “Details” tab, click the "Add custom field" button.
      3. In the modal window, enter the field name and choose the field type (Text, Number, Date, or Time).
      4. After saving, the new field will be available with actions:
        1. "Pencil" icon to edit the field.
        2. "Trash can" icon to delete the field.

      Important Note: Custom fields are language-specific and only appear on the language tab where they are created.

      courses-custom-fields
      An example illustration highlighting the "Add custom field" button found in the "Details" tab of the course. A modal window appears allowing custom field creation.

       

      Meta Data

      1. Navigate to the "Meta data" tab of the course page.
      2. Here you can configure:
        1. Meta Title: The title of the course that is used in search results and browser tabs.
        2. Meta Description: A brief description used to improve visibility and appeal in search results.
        3. Meta Keywords: Keywords used to help users discover the course through search.
      1. Click "Save Changes" to apply your updates.

       

      Subtitles

      Using the “Subtitles” tab at the top menu, subtitles and (.vtt files) can be applied to video lessons and can be set as language specific. 

      Navigate to the "Subtitles" tab at the top of the page, which allows you to upload subtitles for video lessons. If a course does not contain any video lessons, the system will notify you accordingly. Subtitles can be uploaded in three ways:

      1. Selecting a Language and Uploading a File: Choose the subtitle language for the voice-over and upload the corresponding .vtt file.
      2. Uploading Files with a Language Prefix: Upload subtitle files with a language prefix in the file name (e.g., en-*lesson_name*.vtt). The system will automatically detect the subtitle language based on the prefix.
      3. Using a ZIP Archive: Upload a ZIP archive containing subtitles organized as per the provided template. The system will automatically import the subtitles into the respective lessons. Once uploaded, click the Save button to finalize the process.

      After uploading, make sure to save the changes to make subtitles available to users. Until saved, newly uploaded files remain in "Edit" mode, allowing you to preview and make edits before finalizing. To replace subtitles, upload a new file using the same process. To delete subtitles, click the "trash can" icon.

       

      Conclusion

      By following these steps, you can effectively create and manage engaging courses within the KnowledgeCity LMS through the robust Courses feature page. This feature allows you to tailor your lessons, quizzes, and interactive content to meet the diverse needs of your learners. You can enhance the learning experience by incorporating your own media files, custom fields, and language-specific content, ensuring that your courses are accessible and engaging for a global audience.

      Additionally, the ability to upload supplementary course files and utilize SCORM packages enables you to provide rich educational resources that complement your lessons. Should you encounter any challenges or have further questions about optimizing your course design, your KnowledgeCity Success Team is readily available to assist you. Please don't hesitate to reach out for assistance—your success in creating impactful learning experiences is our priority.