You can fully customize the text that appears on your course certificates!
New to certificates? Check out Thinkific Certificates
In this article:
Text above and below course name
Expiry description (if applicable)
Overview
When creating a certificate, you'll see a Content tab where you can customize the text that appears on your certificate. You can customize everything from the certificate title and descriptions to custom fields!
The following fields are available on each certificate:
- Title
- {{Student name}}
- Custom field 1 (optional)
- Custom field 2 (optional)
- Custom field 3 (optional)
- Custom field 4 (optional)
- Text above course name
- {{Course name}}
- Text below course name
- Date issued description
- Note
- Automatically generated Certificate ID
- Expiry description (if applicable) will only appear on the final certificate if you have set an expiry date
Default Fields
You'll notice that some fields listed on the certificate appear by default and will include curly brackets. For example: {{Student name}}
Anything that is included in curly brackets indicates a variable. Variables automatically populate according to who, what, and when your student completes a course.
The following variables are used in certificates:
- {{Student name}} - Automatically populates your student's first and last name
- {{Course name}} -Automatically populates the course name that your student has completed; there is a maximum character limit of 255 characters
- Issued on date {{YYYY-MM-DD}} - The date that the certificate is issued automatically populates in YYYY-MM-DD format. You have the option to customize the "Issued on:" text that appears before this date.
- {{ Credential ID }} - Automatically generates a unique 10-character ID for each issued certificate. Note that this cannot currently be customized.
- Expires on date {{YYYY-MM-DD}} - This will only appear if you have specified an expiry date for your certificate. The date that the certificate expires automatically populates in YYYY-MM-DD format. You have the option to customize the "Expired on:" text that appears before this date.
These fields will always appear on your certificate with the only exception being the Expires on date. The "Expires on:" description and the date itself will only ever appear if you have specified an expiry date for your certificate. If your certificate does not have an expiry date, it will not appear on certificates.
You'll still see an expiry date when customizing your certificate for preview purposes, but not to worry, if you haven't set an expiry, it will not appear on issued certificates!
Customizable Fields
Certificates also have a ton of customizable text fields including:
- Title
- Custom field 1 (optional)
- Custom field 2 (optional)
- Custom field 3 (optional)
- Custom field 4 (optional)
- Text above course name
- Text below course name
- Date issued description
- Note
- Automatically generated Certificate ID
- Expiry description (if applicable)
Each of these fields will include some default text depending on the certificate template you have chosen. The default text is intended to give you an example and you can customize it as preferred!
For any fields that you don't need, you can simply leave the text field blank.
Title
This appears at the top of your certificate indicating that the document is in fact a certificate! The student's name will appear immediately after this title. We recommend using something like:
- This is to certify that
- This certificate is awarded to
- Certificate of Graduation
Text fields are case sensitive if you want to create a title that is all caps or title case!
Custom fields
You can add up to 4 custom fields on your certificate. This is great for licensing or registration related details that are unique to each student! Custom fields must be created before they can be added to a certificate.
Custom fields will only appear on your certificate if you have added custom fields to your site's sign up page. Learn how to set up custom fields here: Create Custom Fields
Text above and below course name
Adding text above your course name is recommended to help give context of the course name to follow. You can use something like:
- For successfully completing the course
- For attending the course entitled
- Has completed all the requirements for
You can also add text below the course name if you would like to add any additional details.
Date issued description
The date that a certificate is issued automatically populates (see Default Fields above for details). The Date issued description text appears to the left of the auto-populated date. We recommend using something like:
- Issued on:
- Date of issue:
Note
This is an optional field where you can include any additional details or fine print you would like on your certificate. The text in this field is in italics and smaller in size, so it works great for additional details that require 1 to 3 sentences.
Automatically generated Certificate ID
This field will contain an automatically-generated certificate ID: a unique 10-character string that is assigned to each certificate, to make it easier for you to verify the authenticity of the certificates you issue. Note that this cannot currently be customized.
Expiry description (if applicable)
This field will only appear on your certificate if you have specified an expiry date. You can check the box at the bottom of the Certificates page in order to specify an expiry date.
Note that, if you have unchecked this box to remove the expiry date from your certificate, the expiry date will still show on the certificate preview to show where the expiry date would appear on the certificate. The expiry date field will not appear on your student's certificate if you have unchecked this box.
The date automatically populates (see Default Fields above for details) and the Expiry description text appears to the left of the auto-populated date. We recommend using something like:
- Expires on:
- Date of expiry:
Important Considerations
- Variables for student name, course name, issue date and expiry date (if applicable) are used throughout your certificate and will be visible on the sample certificate with curly brackets. For example: {{Student name}}
- These variables cannot be added to other text fields on your certificate
- We don't currently have the option to customize text alignment and spacing, however, you can choose from various templates for your preferred alignment and spacing
- Certificate content must be added after choosing a template. If you select a new template after inputting certificate content, you will lose your customizations. You can always click Discard changes on the top right if needed.
- When a certificate is issued, it will populate data based on your current course name, custom fields, etc. If any of this is changed after a certificate is issued, it will only apply to students receiving certificates going forward. For example, if the title of your course was "Course 1" when Student 1 was issued a certificate and you later changed the title to "Course 2", Student 1 will still see "Course 1" on their certificate. To edit a certificate after it has already been issued, see Managing Thinkific Certificates.
More About Thinkific Certificates
Customize Your Certificate Design
How to Assign a Certificate to a Course