Connect a lesson to a course
Attached course is the field that gives a lesson somewhere to exist. Without it the lesson is published and unreachable.
Where
Lesson settings → Configuration → Attached course, a list of every course on the site.
What it decides
| Consequence | Detail |
|---|---|
| The lesson's page | A lesson with no course returns a not-found result |
| The outline it appears in | Combined with the section |
| The access rules that apply | The course's login requirement, rule or paid setting |
| The progress it counts towards | Completion is calculated per course |
| Its URL, with nested structure | The lesson sits under its course's address |
| The back link and the course title above it | Both come from the attached course |
Set it first
Attach the course before anything else, and save. The Attached section selector is built from that course's sections, so it needs the course to be stored.
A lesson belongs to one course
There is no multi-course assignment. To teach the same material in two courses, create two lessons.
That is deliberate: each copy carries its own section, order, estimated time, preview flag and permission override, and each course counts its own completion independently.
Moving a lesson to another course
- Change the Attached course.
- Save.
- Choose a section of the new course.
- Save again.
Skipping step 3 leaves the lesson attached to the new course but assigned to a section that belongs to the old one — so it disappears from both outlines.
Also expect the completion percentages of both courses to change, since progress is counted per course.
Detaching a lesson
Clearing the field makes the lesson unreachable rather than deleting it. The content is intact and can be reattached at any time.
That makes it a reasonable way to retire a lesson without losing it — although moving it to a draft state is clearer, because a detached published lesson looks fine in the list while returning a not-found result.
Auditing
The lesson list shows a Course column, linking to the course. Scan it after any bulk work: an empty cell is a lesson nobody can open.
With nested URLs
If the site uses the nested URL structure, the lesson's address is built from its course. Changing the attached course therefore changes the lesson's URL, and any link already shared points at the old address.
For a course that is live, treat a reattachment as a URL change. See Course URL structure.
Verify
- Set the course and save.
- Confirm the lesson list shows it in the Course column.
- Open the lesson URL and confirm it resolves.
- Confirm the course title appears above the lesson.
- Confirm the back link opens that course.
- Confirm the lesson appears in that course's outline, once a section is assigned.