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Step and section settings

Selecting an item in the Builder and choosing Edit Settings opens the inspector on the right. Sections, multi-step pages, and steps share the same panel structure but offer some different settings.

The inspector has two tabs. Step holds the settings described here. Hot Field appears alongside it and configures the hot field currently selected in the content. See hot fields.

Settings​

The Step tab of the inspector showing name, pre-title, featured image, display step name, completion mode, and duration
FieldWhat it does
NameThe item's title.
Pre-titleShort text displayed above the name in course navigation and headings.
Featured imageShown in the step hero and in course navigation. Overrides the underlying resource's own featured image, for this course only.
Display step nameWhen on, the step's name is prepended as an <h2> where the step appears inside a multi-step page.
Completion modeHow a learner completes this step. Defaults to Manual (Mark Complete button).
DurationExpected time to complete, in minutes. Publishes with the step content.
Duration is what drives the expected timeline

Divided by the course's Daily Study Time, duration produces the expected completion timeline that projected progress and behind-schedule notifications are measured against. Steps with no duration contribute nothing to that calculation, so a course with empty durations cannot report anyone as behind schedule.

Resource-specific controls appear in this section too. A video step adds:

  • Show Video Controls, deciding whether playback controls are exposed to the learner.
  • Autoplay: Inherit, On, or Off. The inherit option shows what it resolves to, as Inherit (on), reading the resource's own setting and then the site default under Video Resource Settings. Start muted accompanies it and defaults on, because browsers refuse audible autoplay.
  • Aspect ratio, for embeds that declare no shape of their own, or declare one that crops the content. Enter a ratio like 16:9 or 4:3, or leave it blank to use the video's own shape, falling back to 16:9.
Autoplay cannot reach every player

Plain oEmbed videos and Brightcove Gallery experiences are loaded from another site and ignore the autoplay setting. The editors disable the control for those sources and say why.

Access​

The Access section with sample and hidden toggles and the scheduled availability options

This step is a sample lets non-enrolled users view the content, a free preview of otherwise gated material.

This step is hidden keeps the item in the course structure but does not show it to learners. Useful for parking content you are not ready to release without deleting it.

Scheduled availability​

Three options control when a learner may open the content:

OptionBehaviour
ImmediatelyViewable as soon as the learner gains access to the step.
Enrollment-basedViewable a set number of days after the learner enrolled in the course.
Specific dateViewable from a fixed calendar date.

Enrollment-based scheduling is per learner. The clock starts at each individual's enrollment date, so a cohort that joins over several weeks unlocks content on a staggered schedule. A specific date is absolute and applies to everyone at once.

Progression impact​

Progression blocking decides whether this item must be completed before the learner can move on. With it off, the step can be left unfinished without stalling the course.

For video steps, Video requirement adds a stronger gate on completion itself:

SettingEffect
NoneThe learner may mark the step complete at any time.
PartialSome of the video must be watched before completion is allowed.
FullThe video must be watched through before completion is allowed.
Video requirements need a source that reports progress

Partial and Full depend on playback progress being reported back. Plain oEmbed embeds do not report progress, so a video requirement on a plain-oEmbed step has nothing to measure. Use Brightcove, Vimeo, or YouTube where completion must be enforced. See the video source settings under where things live.

Sections and multi-step pages​

Sections and multi-step pages expose the same panel: naming, access and visibility, scheduled availability, and progression impact all behave as they do for a step, applied to the container and everything inside it.

A section can be converted to multi-step page and vice versa if they qualify. In order to be converted to a multi-step page, a section must not contain any multi-step pages. In order to be converted to a section, a multi-step page must not be nested within a section.

Editing flags in bulk

The Optional, Sample, and Hidden flags are also listed for every step at once in the Steps table of course settings. The inspector is better for configuring one item thoroughly; the table is better for reviewing the whole course at a glance.