Make Courses and Lessons

This guide walks you through creating a course, adding lessons, publishing everything, and checking that students can see the content.

Before You Start

Have these ready:

• A course title and short description
• A thumbnail image for the course
• A list of lessons in the order students should take them
• Lesson text, images, and optional video links

You will create the course first, then create each lesson and link it back to that course.

Step 1: Open The Admin Panel

1. Go to your Strapi admin URL.
2. Sign in with your admin account.
3. Open Content Manager from the left sidebar.

Step 2: Create The Course

1. Go to Content Manager -> Course.
2. Click Create new entry.
3. Fill in the main course details.

Use these fields:

Good course descriptions are short and specific. Aim for two or three sentences that explain what the course covers, who it is for, and what students will be able to do after finishing it.

Click Save when the course fields are complete. You can publish the course now or wait until the lessons are ready.

Step 3: Upload A Course Thumbnail

1. Open the Thumbnail field on the course.
2. Choose an existing image or upload a new one.
3. Use a clear image that still looks good when shown as a small course card.
4. Add descriptive alternative text when the media editor asks for it.

Recommended image shape: a wide image, such as 800 x 450.

Step 4: Create The First Lesson

1. Go to Content Manager -> Lesson.
2. Click Create new entry.
3. Fill in the lesson details.

Use these fields:

The Course field is important. If a lesson is not linked to a course, it will not appear in that course's lesson list.

Step 5: Write Lesson Content

Use the editor to make the lesson easy to scan:

• Start with a short overview of what students will learn.
• Use headings for major sections.
• Keep paragraphs short.
• Use numbered lists for steps.
• Use bullet lists for key ideas.
• Add images when a screenshot, diagram, or example would help.
• Put links on descriptive text instead of pasting long URLs into the lesson body.

Avoid using a Heading 1 inside the lesson content. The lesson title already acts as the page heading.

Step 6: Add More Lessons

Repeat the lesson creation process for each lesson in the course.

Use the Order field to control the sequence:

If two lessons have the same order number, the course page may show them in an unexpected order.

Step 7: Publish The Course And Lessons

Publishing controls what students can see.

1. Open each lesson.
2. Click Publish.
3. Open the course.
4. Confirm the lessons are linked.
5. Click Publish on the course.

Publishing a course does not automatically publish its lessons. Each lesson must be published separately.

Step 8: Check The Student View

After publishing, open the student-facing course page and check:

• The course appears in the course catalog.
• The title, description, level, and thumbnail look correct.
• The lessons appear in the right order.
• Each lesson opens successfully.
• Lesson text, images, links, and videos work as expected.

If the course does not appear, check that the course is published and that at least one linked lesson is published.

Updating A Course Later

To make changes:

1. Open the course or lesson in Content Manager.
2. Make your edits.
3. Click Save to keep changes as a draft.
4. Click Publish when the updated content is ready for students.

Use Unpublish when you want to hide a course or lesson without deleting it.

Quick Checklist

Before sharing a course with students, confirm:

• Course title and description are clear.
• Course thumbnail is uploaded.
• Course level is selected.
• Every lesson is linked to the correct course.
• Lesson order starts at 1 and does not skip around.
• Course and lessons are published.
• Student view has been checked.