Automatic and manual completion
One setting decides whether lessons complete themselves or wait for the student.
The setting
Settings → POM LMS → Account → Lessons manual check
| State | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Off (default) | Opening a lesson marks it complete |
| On | Students tick lessons in the outline themselves |
It applies to the whole site. There is no per-course or per-lesson override.
Automatic mode in practice
The student opens a lesson; it is recorded as complete and the progress bar advances before they have watched anything.
This suits linear video courses, where opening a lesson and finishing it are near enough the same act, and it removes a step students routinely forget.
It misleads when lessons carry work — exercises, downloads, practice — because the percentage records visits, not effort.
Manual mode in practice
Opening a lesson changes nothing. The student selects the lesson's checkbox in the outline when they are done.
This suits practical courses, and it makes the percentage mean what students think it means.
Its cost is real: some students never tick anything, and their progress stays at zero however much they have watched. That is not a fault, but it does mean progress is a self-report rather than a measurement.
Choosing
Ask what you want the percentage to say.
| You want it to mean | Mode |
|---|---|
| "I have been through this material" | Automatic |
| "I have done this work" | Manual |
If you are unsure, keep the default. Automatic mode never leaves a student with a bar that will not move, which is the failure students report as a bug.
Change it before students start
Switching modes does not recalculate anything.
- Automatic → manual. Existing completions stay. Students carry on from where the automatic mode left them, which may be further than they have really got.
- Manual → automatic. Existing completions stay. New visits start counting; lessons already visited but never ticked are not backfilled.
Neither is destructive, but both leave a cohort whose progress was recorded under different rules. Decide before launch.
Say so in manual mode
Students are not told which mode is running. In manual mode, put a line in the course description:
Tick each lesson in the outline as you finish it — that is how your progress is tracked.
This one sentence removes most of the support requests manual mode generates.
What neither mode does
- Neither enforces order. Students can open any accessible lesson at any time.
- Neither validates anything. There is no minimum watch time, no quiz, no confirmation.
- Neither notifies anyone.
Verify
- Set the mode you want and save.
- Sign in as a test student with access.
- Open a lesson you have not completed.
- In automatic mode, confirm the percentage rose on load.
- In manual mode, confirm it did not, then tick the lesson and confirm it rises.
- Confirm My courses shows the same number.