Assign lessons to sections
A lesson appears in the course outline only when it is attached to a course and assigned to one of that course's sections. This page covers doing that reliably across a whole course.
The two fields
Both on the lesson, in Lesson settings → Configuration:
| Field | Effect |
|---|---|
| Attached course | Which course the lesson belongs to |
| Attached section | Where it appears in that course's outline |
The order to fill them in
- Choose the Attached course.
- Save the lesson.
- Choose the Attached section.
- Save again.
The section list is built from the sections of the attached course, so it can only offer the right options once the course is stored.
If the section selector looks empty or wrong, that is almost always the reason.
What each missing field does
| Missing | Result |
|---|---|
| Attached course | The lesson's page returns a not-found result. It exists but is unreachable |
| Attached section | The lesson is reachable by URL but absent from the outline — and still counted in the completion percentage |
The second is worse, because everything looks fine in the administration. It is the reason students report being unable to reach 100%.
Audit a whole course quickly
The lesson list shows a Course and a Section column.
- Open the lesson list.
- Look down the Section column.
- Every dash is a lesson missing from an outline.
That single scan is the fastest structural check available, and it is worth doing before every launch.
Ordering within a section
The section decides where a lesson appears; the lesson's order attribute decides in what position.
The lesson list is sorted by that order, so the admin list matches the student's outline. Use spaced values — 10, 20, 30 — so a lesson can be inserted later without renumbering.
Moving a lesson
To another section of the same course — change the Attached section and save. The lesson moves in the outline; its content, progress and URL are unchanged.
To another course — change the Attached course, save, then choose a section of the new course. Do not skip the second step, or the lesson vanishes from both outlines.
Note that student progress is recorded per course, so moving a lesson between courses changes both courses' percentages.
Reusing material in two courses
A lesson belongs to one course. To teach the same material in two courses, create two lessons.
That is deliberate: each copy carries its own section, order, preview flag, estimated time and permission override, and each course counts its own progress.
Verify
- Open the course as a student with access.
- Confirm every lesson appears, under the right section, in the right order.
- Confirm the number of lessons in the outline matches the number in the lesson list for that course.
- Open the last lesson and confirm the progress percentage can reach 100%.
- Confirm previous/next navigation moves through the whole course.