Lesson overrides

Two lesson-level settings make one lesson behave differently from its course: a permission rule, and the preview flag.

The two overrides

They pull in opposite directions: one restricts, one opens.

The permission override

Lesson settings → Configuration → Lesson permission rule (optional override).

When set, it decides access to that lesson. The course's rule is not consulted, and neither is the paid-course setting.

That makes it a genuine replacement rather than an addition — and therefore capable of widening access if the lesson's rule is easier to satisfy than the course's.

Use it for:

• a bonus module reserved for a higher plan;
• an advanced section requiring a role;
• content tied to a different product;
• staff-only material inside a student course.

The preview override

This lesson is a preview opens the lesson to everyone, subject only to the course's Preview lessons also require login.

Use it for marketing: two or three lessons that show what the course is worth.

Do not use both on one lesson

A lesson that is both an open preview and rule-controlled is hard to reason about, hard to test and hard to explain.

Decide per lesson: it is either an exception that opens, or an exception that restricts.

The login requirement is not overridable

A lesson cannot escape its course's login requirement — except by being a preview, when the course allows public previews.

Everything else about a lesson's access can be overridden; this cannot.

Keep overrides rare

If several lessons override the course's rule, the course's access model is wrong. Two better structures:

• Split the course, so each has one consistent requirement;
• Change the course rule to the common case and override the genuine exceptions only.

A course where most lessons carry overrides cannot be reasoned about without opening every lesson.

Every override needs its own message

A student blocked by a lesson override can use the rest of the course, so the course's general no-access text will not explain the situation.

Fill in the lesson's own "Lesson not available" text:

This module is part of the Pro plan. The rest of the course is included in yours.

Test the three states

An override creates a third student state. Test all of them:

1. Satisfies the course requirement but not the lesson's — the interesting case.
2. Satisfies both.
3. Satisfies neither.

Audit overrides

Neither override is visible from the course. To see them, open each lesson, or check from the student side:

1. Open the course in a private window — the selectable lessons are the previews.
2. Sign in as a student with course access — any lesson still unavailable carries a restrictive override.

Do both before launch.

Verify

1. Set the override and update.
2. Test with the three accounts above.
3. Confirm the outline marks the lesson correctly in each case.
4. Confirm the blocked student reads the lesson's own message.
5. Confirm no other lesson changed behavior.