If you're a new creator looking to set up your very first course, this article will give you a full overview of using the Thinkific Course Builder — including how to add your course and lessons, what each of the settings within the Course Builder means, and how to publish your course.
Note
If you'd like a quick overview on getting started with the platform, check out Getting Started with Thinkific.
If you're new to online course creation, we recommend checking out 10 Steps to Creating a Wildly Successful Online Course and Create a Course Outline. These articles will give you a detailed outline of what you'll want to consider when creating your course.
-
From the Admin Dashboard, go to Products
-
Select Courses
-
Click + New course
Note
Don't know where to start? Try our AI Course Outline Generator to simplify and accelerate the process of course creation!
Content can be added to your course lesson in 3 ways:
-
Using AI Course Outline Generator,
-
Adding individual lessons, or;
-
In bulk, by using our Content Uploader
Let AI create your course outline for you and accelerate your course creation! Learn more about it here: AI Course Outline Generator.
To start adding lessons to your course, you'll need to first create a new chapter. You can think of chapters as containers that hold one or more lessons.
-
Make sure you are in the Curriculum tab
-
On the left-hand side, click Add Chapter
-
Name the Chapter title field as desired
-
Click Save
Use this option if you already have video, audio and/or PDF content created that you would like to upload to Thinkific. To bulk import your existing course material, click the Content button in the Course Builder, and upload all of your content at once.
Note
You will not need to set up chapters or lessons ahead of time before using the Content Uploader, as you will be able to do this step from the Content Uploader tab.
Once you have created a chapter, you can start adding lessons to your course! Before walking through these steps, you will want to decide which lesson types to include in your course. You can check out our various lesson type here: Thinkific Lesson Types
-
Make sure you are in the Curriculum tab
-
On the left-hand side, locate the chapter you would like to add your lesson to
-
Click Add Lesson
-
Select your lesson type
-
Type the lesson name under Lesson Title
-
Add your content
-
Click Save
If you have already been testing things out, and you have created an existing course that contains content you would like to add to your new course, you have the option to copy content to your course. Learn more about this here: Copy Lessons
The Settings tab of the Course Builder contains adjustable settings for your course, including:
This is where you can update settings like the course name and URL which will show on your course card (your course card is like a short advertisement for your course - it contains the name of the course, an image you select for that course, a short description, as well as the price and number of lessons contained within the course. Your course card appears in various places like your All Courses Page, and Checkout).
Note
Need help coming up with the perfect course name? Check out our free AI Creator tools! Simply enter your product description and get a list of viable options for you to consider.
In this tab, you can also update your instructor, set your security and access preferences, and if you ever need to - delete your course.
Your course image will appear on your course cards; course description will appear on your checkout pages and in different areas depending on your theme.
Learn how to customize your course image & description: Edit Your Product Image & Description
The Course Player is the learning environment where students will be viewing and interacting with your content - customize the look of the Course Player to match your branding, upload your logo, and select the default theme of the player. Available options within this section will be dependent on your current Thinkific plan, and can include:
-
Course Player theme and style - Theme
-
Style - Primary color, and Font
-
Lesson type icon and label
-
Course Player Logo
For more, see: The Thinkific Course Player · Individual Course Player Appearance Customizations
This section includes settings related to how your students progress through and complete your course. Available options will be dependent on your current Thinkific plan, and can include:
-
Video lessons will autoplay and also automatically progress to the following lesson upon completion
-
Video Completion Required - Progress Setting
Video lessons will be marked complete when a student reaches your desired completion percentage
-
By default, there is a chapter completion message popup enabled when students complete a chapter. This can be disabled.
-
Issue a certificate when your students reach 100% completion of your course
-
Create a Custom Completion Page
Customize the page students see when they reach 100% completion of your course. This is optional, and you can always preview your course as a student to see what the default completion page looks like.
-
This will give your students the option to share the course with their network at the completion of each chapter
You can include custom code on your course landing page here (like, for example, if you wanted to redirect your product page to an external sales page).
Note
Note that if you are using AI-generated landing pages, the ability to edit page code is not supported at this time and you will not see this option in your course settings. If you would like to add a redirect to your landing pages, we recommend switching to classic product pages. Learn how to do this here: Build Your Course Page
Manage Course Admin, Revenue Partner, and Affiliate settings for your course here. Learn more about these user roles:
Use SEO to define what your landing pages will look like to search engines and social media. Learn more about this here: SEO - Search Engine Optimization
Access your Course Welcome Email within your course settings to enable or disable the feature and personalize emails sent to your students. Learn more about about this here: Send a Course Welcome Email
The Drip tab is where you can create a drip schedule that allows you to control when students will have access to your course content, whether you have a specific launch date or want to limit the amount of lessons that can be viewed in a certain time period. Learn more about drip scheduling: Drip Schedule
For more, see: Site Welcome Email · Student Order Receipts and Payment Notifications
From the Pricing tab, you can set your pricing options for your course from a selection (free, one-time payment, subscription, or monthly payment plan) as well as set additional pricing options. Learn more about setting your course pricing: Set Your Product Pricing (Guide)
From this last tab in the Course Builder, you will be able to publish your course. Before you publish your course, make sure to check out our pre-publication checklist to ensure that you haven't missed anything! Learn more about publishing your course: Publishing Your Products
Note
Need a little extra help creating or setting up your course? We have a wonderful team of experienced freelancers available to give you a hand! Check out our Experts Marketplace.