Prerequisites
Configuring a course deadline requires Designer or Author access. The deadline setting is available in the course's General Information section.
Compatibility limit: Deadline options are disabled when course availability is set to By period. These two settings are mutually exclusive.
Overview
Course Deadlines allow you to define a completion timeline — either as a fixed calendar date or as a relative duration calculated from each learner's registration date. Once configured, deadline statuses are visible to learners across My Learning, the Homepage, Course View, and the Catalogue on web and mobile. Configurable email, in-app, and mobile push reminders notify learners before the deadline is reached.
Key use case: compliance and mandatory training where completion within a set timeframe must be tracked and reported on.
Deadline types at a glance
| Type | How it works | Best used for |
|---|---|---|
| No deadline (default) | No timeline enforced. No status displayed. | Self-paced or optional content |
| Fixed deadline | A specific calendar date applies to all learners regardless of registration date. | Regulatory campaigns with a shared end date |
| Relative deadline | Duration calculated from each learner's individual registration date. | Onboarding, rolling cohorts, recurring compliance |
I — Configure the deadline on a course
Deadline settings are available in the course's General Information section. The configuration applies to all non-archived, non-completed registrations once saved.
- Open the course in the course editor.
- Navigate to the General Information section.
- Locate the Course Deadline setting.
- Select the deadline type: No deadline (default), Fixed deadline — select a date using the date picker (format dd/mm/yyyy) — or Relative deadline — enter a duration value and select a unit among Days, Weeks, or Months. Default is 15 Days.
- Set the Reminder before deadline — enter a value and unit (Days, Weeks, or Months). Default is 3 Days. A tooltip on this field explains: "Specify how long before the deadline a reminder should be sent."
- Save the course settings.
Updating a deadline on a published course
The platform displays the following warning when modifying a deadline
on an already-published course:
"Updating the deadline will impact all registrations except archived and completed ones."
Learners who have already completed the course, and archived registrations,
are not affected.
When deadline options are disabled
If the course availability is set to By period,
the deadline options are disabled and a tooltip explains:
"No deadline can be set when the course is available by period."
Conversely, a tooltip on the "By period" option explains:
"When a course is available by period, learners will not be able to access it outside of those periods."
II — Learner-side deadline display
Once a deadline is configured, learners see their deadline status across the platform. Four statuses are used, each with a specific message:
| Status | Message shown to the learner |
|---|---|
| Ongoing | "Finish this course before dd/mm/yyyy" |
| Due Soon | "X days to finish this course" |
| Late | "Deadline passed since dd/mm/yyyy" |
| On Time | "Course finished before dd/mm/yyyy" |
Deadline status is visible in these locations:
- Homepage (Learner) — Soon to be late and Late courses are surfaced first in the My Courses section. Learning path cards also display the number of courses with a deadline.
- Homepage (Administrator, Designer and Group Manager) — The dedicated Home widget highlights courses approaching or exceeding their deadline, providing a quick overview of learners requiring attention.
- My Learning — Courses list — Status label on each course card, plus a Deadline Status filter (Ongoing, Soon to be late, Late, On time, No deadline).
- Learning Path creation and editing — The Learning Path editor displays the number of courses included in the learning path that have a deadline (for example, 1 course with deadline or 3 courses with deadlines).
- Course View — left sidebar — Deadline status and date or remaining duration shown below progress and average score.
- Course View — description area — Deadline shown alongside participants count, duration, and comments count. Fixed deadlines display the date (e.g. "Deadline 13/04/2025"); relative deadlines display the duration (e.g. "Deadline 8 weeks").
- Catalogue — Deadline date or duration shown in the course metadata area on the course detail page, with a Deadline filter (Course with deadline, Course without deadline).
- Mobile app — Deadline status, filter, and information on Dashboard, My Learning (Courses and Learning Paths), Course View (including the Information tab), and Catalogue, using the same status messages and colour coding as above.
Priority sorting
Priority sorting is available in My Learning > Courses and in
the homepage course widget, surfacing courses that are soon to be
late or late ahead of others.
III — Notifications and reminders
The platform automatically sends deadline-related communications based on the configured reminder threshold and any deadline updates.
- Email #203 — "Don't forget to finish your course": This email template is used both for deadline reminders and deadline notifications. It includes the current deadline date and is sent when a learner reaches the configured reminder threshold. If the course deadline is updated, the same email template is also used to notify all impacted registered learners of the new deadline.
- In-app reminder: Displayed at the same time as email #203 when the configured reminder threshold is reached.
- Mobile push notification: Sent when a learner's status becomes Soon to be late. Selecting the notification opens the course directly. If dismissed, it remains available in the web and mobile notification centre.
Reminder timing
The reminder is triggered based on the value set in the
Reminder before deadline field. The default is 3
Days. Adjust this per course to match the expected completion effort.
FAQ & Troubleshooting
-
Issue: The deadline option is greyed out and cannot be configured.
Solution: Deadline options are disabled when the course availability is set to By period. These two settings are mutually exclusive. Change the course availability mode to a different option to enable deadline configuration.
Issue: Learners are not receiving the deadline reminder email.
Solution: Confirm that email #203 is active in your platform's email configuration and that the learners' email addresses are valid. If the issue persists, verify that email delivery is not being blocked by your mail provider or spam filters
Issue: A deadline was updated but some learners still see the old deadline.
Solution: Deadline changes apply only to non-archived and non-completed registrations. Learners who have already completed the course are not affected. A notification email is sent automatically to all impacted active registrations when the deadline is changed.
-
Does the relative deadline start from the registration date or the first access date?
— The relative deadline is calculated from each learner's registration date, not from their first access to the course.
Can learners see the deadline in the catalogue before they register?
— Yes. For courses with a fixed deadline, the deadline is shown on the course detail page. Learners can also filter the Catalogue by With/Without deadline.
What happens if the deadline passes before a learner completes the course?
— The status changes to Late. The course remains accessible — the deadline is informational and does not block access. The Late status is visible across My Learning, Homepage, and Course View.
Are completed registrations affected if I change the deadline?
— No. Only non-archived and non-completed registrations are impacted by deadline changes.
What are the default values for the relative deadline and the reminder?
— The relative deadline defaults to 15 Days. The reminder before deadline defaults to 3 Days. Both can be changed per course.
What happens when a course has no deadline set?
— Courses are created with "No deadline" by default. No deadline information is displayed to the learner in this case. -
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