Access rules and enrolment in a course platform
Every course platform runs on a set of rules about who can see what. Getting course platform enrolment and access right is mostly a matter of writing those rules down in plain sentences before anything is built.
How does a student get in?
There are only a few doors. The student pays and is enrolled automatically. The student registers for free. You enrol them by hand, for example after a bank transfer or for a company that bought seats for its staff. Or they enter with a code you gave them. Decide which doors your platform has, because each one is a small flow that needs designing and testing.
How long does access last?
Forever, for a fixed period, or for as long as a subscription is active. Each is a fair model; what causes trouble is leaving it unstated. Say it on the sales page and again in the confirmation email. If access expires, decide what the student sees on that day: a clear message with a way to renew is better than a lesson that has silently disappeared.
Should all lessons open at once?
Opening everything suits reference material that people dip into. Releasing lessons on a schedule, or requiring each one to be completed before the next unlocks, suits a subject that builds step by step. Requiring a passed quiz adds a firmer gate. Be careful with strict gates: a student stuck behind a quiz they cannot pass has paid and cannot continue, so decide how they get help.
What about free previews?
Letting visitors watch a lesson or two before paying is one of the most honest ways to sell a course, since they judge the teaching itself. Choose the preview lessons deliberately: ones that are useful alone and show your style, not just the introduction. Make sure the platform marks them clearly as open, and that the step from a preview to enrolling is one obvious button.
How do groups and companies fit in?
If you sell to schools or employers, one buyer pays for many learners. That raises questions an individual sale never does: who adds the learners, can the buyer see their progress, what happens when someone leaves. Some of this is built into the course plugins and some needs extra work, so describe the real situation early instead of assuming it will be simple.
What happens to accounts and sharing?
Students forget passwords, change email addresses and sometimes share a login with friends. Have an answer for each. A working password reset removes most support requests. For sharing, the platform can limit how an account is used, within reason; say in your terms what is allowed. If you offer refunds, decide whether access ends when the money is returned, and ask a qualified professional to review the wording of those terms.
How I handle it
Before I design a course platform I ask you to answer these questions in a short list: the doors, the duration, the order, the previews. That list becomes part of what we agree, and I build it on LearnDash or Tutor LMS to behave exactly that way. If something behaves differently from what was agreed, fixing it is covered by 180 days of support from the day the platform goes live. Send me your rules as you would explain them to a student.
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