Labels and messages
Every text a student reads that you can change, and where each one lives. Some are settings, some are per-course fields — the list below is by where the student sees them.
In the account area
| Text | Where it is set | Default |
|---|---|---|
| The account menu entry | Account → Section name | My courses |
| The course column heading | Account → Custom label | The course label |
| The empty-list message | Account → "No courses found" default text | You don't have any active courses |
The access reasons in the table — Free course, Because you purchased…, An active subscription for…, Access granted by permission rule — are not editable. They are translatable, like the rest of the interface.
On a gated course or lesson, signed out
| Text | Where it is set |
|---|---|
| Text above the login form | Account → Login form prepend |
| The sign-in error | Account → Login form error message |
| A course's own login form | The course's Login form field |
A course's own field replaces the site-wide default for that course. Use it when one course needs a different pitch, and leave the rest on the default.
On a gated course or lesson, signed in without access
| Text | Where it is set |
|---|---|
| The message for a signed-in visitor | Account → Content if logged in |
| The course's no-access message | The course's Content if no access field |
| The course's lesson-unavailable message | The course's "Lesson not available" text |
| A lesson's own message | The lesson's "Lesson not available" text |
These resolve from most specific to least: the lesson's own text, then the course's lesson-unavailable text, then the course's no-access text, then a built-in fallback. See The no-access experience.
Merge tags
Content if logged in accepts {user_name}, {user_last_name}, {user_email}, {logout_link} and {my_account_link}.
The course's no-access message accepts {related_product_links}, which is replaced by links to the products that grant the course — the difference between a message that blocks and a message that sells. See The related product links merge tag.
In the course outline
| Text | Where it is set | Default |
|---|---|---|
| The back link | The course's Go back to course field | ← Go back to course intro |
| Section names | The course's Sections repeater | — |
| Lesson names | Each lesson's title | — |
Writing them
A few rules that apply to all of these:
- Say what to do next. Every blocking message should contain a link.
- Keep them short. Students read these in a state of mild frustration.
- Never mention the mechanism. You need to purchase this course is right; anything naming rules, meta fields or settings is not.
- Check the merge tags render by viewing the page as a real student, not by trusting the editor preview.
Translating
All of these are stored as content or as translatable settings, so they can be translated with the tool your site already uses. Translate the settings alongside the rest of your interface strings, and the per-course fields alongside the courses themselves.
Remember the links inside them: a translated message pointing at the English catalogue is worse than an untranslated one.
Verify
Work through the student's path with a test account and read every screen:
- Signed out, on a gated course.
- Signed in, without access.
- Signed in, with access, on a lesson.
- In My courses, with and without courses.
Anything that reads like a system message rather than a sentence you wrote is a text you have not set yet.