Rules

Rules

Overview

The rules engine feature allows a user to define actions that occur under certain conditions, such as:

1. When a learner enrolls in a course, automatically send them a custom message.

2. Award the learner a badge when they complete module X.

3. Add the learner to a specific group if they complete a survey.

4. Send a custom message to a learner when they complete a SCORM section.

5. Award a certificate to a learner when they complete a self-paced course.

Used wisely, rules can make a course more engaging and flexible. For example, you can define a rule so that when a learner completes a beginner-level course, it automatically enrolls them into the intermediate level course or adds them into an "alumni" group of learners who have completed that course.

Please note that by default rules and rule actions do not apply retroactively when they are added. For example, if you add a rule to an assessment it won't be triggered for the users who submitted the assessment before you added the rule. To find out how to apply rules and rules actions retroactively visit the "Retroactive rule actions" section below.

Also note that if you set a rule scheduled at a time that has already passed, the rule won't be executed. For example, if you add an action that sends a custom notification to learners and you schedule it on a date in the past, the notification won't be sent.

Rule actions are never applied to archived learners. For example, if a learner was in a course that was marked for compliance and used automation to automatically re-enroll learners every year, and then that learner was archived, that learner would no longer be automatically re-enrolled.

Also, note that if you remove rules or actions they are not un-applied. For example, if you awarded a learner a certificate for submitting an assessment and later you delete the action the learner's certificate won't be deleted.

Rules can also be used with our Gamification feature to define rules for when points and badges should be awarded to learners. You can add rules for courses, modules, sections, assessments, and accounts.

Adding actions

You can define rules in many areas of your site that can trigger specific actions based on user behavior.  The number of available actions depends on the area where you want to add them. For example, if you add a rule for a course, you'll have more actions to choose from than in the case of account rules. In this section, we'll show you how to add different types of actions.

Add to group

If you want to add users as members into specific groups, select the "Add to group" option from the Membership tab of the "Add action" pop-up. For example, you can use this action to add learners to a group when they enroll in a course.

Then click on Select.

A pop-up will open where you can search for groups. Select the group, then click Submit.

Select the type of message you want to send, then click Save.

Enroll in course

If you want to add an action that enrolls users into a course, select the "Enroll in course" option from the Membership tab of the "Add action" pop-up. You can use this action to enroll learners in a more advanced course when they complete the basic one.

Then click on Select.

A pop-up will open where you can search for courses. Select the course, then click Submit. Note that, if the information is available, the "Course picker" pop-up displays the course style, organization, create date, and a short description.

Select the type of message you want to send, then click Save.

Remove from group

If you want to add an action that removes users from a specific group, select the "Remove from group" option from the Membership tab of the "Add action" pop-up. For example, you can use this action to remove learners from a group when they complete a course.

Then click on Select.

A pop-up will open where you can search for groups. Select the group, then click Submit.

Select the type of message you want to send, then click Save.

Award badge

If you want to award a badge for a user for doing a certain task, click the "Award badge" option from the Awards tab of the "Add action" pop-up. For example, you can award a badge when the learner finishes an assessment.

If your site has games, you can choose the game where you want to award the badge. Select the badge you want to award from the drop-down and select the type of the notification, which can be a drop-down or a pop-up notification.

Award certificate

You can award learners with certificates as they advance through your courses. To add an action that awards a certificate, click the "Award certificate" option from the Awards tab of the "Add action" pop-up. For example, you can use this action to award learners a completion certificate when they finish one of your courses.

Select the certificate you want to award from the drop-down and select the type of the notification then click Save.

Award coupon

You can use automation to award coupons to learners when they do certain activities. For example, you can define a completion rule to automatically send a learner a 50% discount to an advanced course when they complete the intermediate course. To award a coupon, go to the Awards tab of the "Add action" pop-up, then click on "Award coupon".

Select a coupon from the dropdown list of all your currently enabled coupons, and select if you want to use a canned or a custom message. The available template variables in the message are @coupon_code, @coupon_name, and @coupon_items_with_discounts_and_links.

When learners complete the action, they will receive a notification about the awarded coupon. Note that the current version of this feature only lists explicitly specified coupon items in the learner message. If a coupon applies to "all courses" for example, the notification does not include a list of all courses. 

To ensure that learners cannot simply give the coupon to someone else to use when the action is triggered, learners are automatically added as a user in the coupon's scope. To learn more about coupons, visit the E-commerce topic.

Award points

If your site has games, you can award users points for certain activities. For example, you can award users a specific amount of points for submitting an assessment. Users can collect these points to advance through the levels of the game. To award points, go to the Awards tab of the "Add action" pop-up, then click on "Award points".

Select the game where you want to award the points, enter the number of points, and select the type of the notification then click Save.

Hide assessment

If you enable Adaptive learning, you can use automation to dynamically personalize a course based on the previous actions of a learner. To personalize which assessments to hide for specific learners, click the "Hide assessment" option under the Acess tab of the "Add action" pop-up. For example, you can hide an assessment from the learners who already completed it.

Chose the assessment from the drop-down and select the type of the message. 

Hide module

If you enable Adaptive learning you can use automation to dynamically personalize which modules to hide from specific learners by clicking the "Hide module" option under the Access tab of the "Add action" pop-up. For example, you can hide a module from the learners who already completed it.

Chose the module from the drop-down and select the type of the message.

Hide section

To personalize which section to hide for specific learners, go to the Access tab of the "Add action" pop-up, then click the "Hide section" option. For example, you can hide a section from the learners who already completed it.

Chose the assignment from the drop-down and select the type of the message.

Show assessment

If you enable Adaptive learning, you can dynamically personalize which assessment to show for specific learners by clicking the "Show assessment" option under the Access tab of the "Add action" pop-up. For example, you can show an assessment only for the learners who submitted a previous assessment.

Chose the assessment from the drop-down and select the type of the message. 

Show module

If you enable Adaptive learning, you can dynamically personalize which modules to show for learners by clicking the "Show module" option under the Access tab of the "Add action" pop-up. For example, you can show a module only for the learners who mastered the previous module.

Chose the module from the drop-down and select the type of the message. 

Show section

If you enable Adaptive learning, you can dynamically personalize which sections to show for specific learners by clicking the "Show section" option in the Access tab of the "Add action" pop-up. For example, you can show a section only for the learners who completed a previous section.

Chose the section from the drop-down and select the type of the message.

Unlock module

To add an action that unlocks a module for learners, click the "Unlock module" option under the Access tab of the "Add action". pop-up. You can use these actions to unlock certain modules for learners as they advance through the course.

Select the module and define when to unlock it. You can choose to unlock it immediately, at a specific time, or after a specified time.

Lock module

To add an action that locks a module, click the "Lock module" option under the Access tab of the "Add action" pop-up. You can use these actions to lock modules for learners who already finished them.

Select the module and define when to lock it. You can choose to lock it immediately, at a specific time, or after a specified time.

Add tag

You can define actions that add tags to users. Go to the Other tab of the "Add action" pop-up and select the "Add tag" option. This feature can be used for lots of different purposes. For example, combined with Hidden/Shown filters, you can control visibility to sections/modules/assessments based on tags.

Enter the name of the tag then click Save.

Please note that the name of a tag can include variables.

Remove tag

You can define actions that remove tags from users. Go to the Other tab of the "Add action" pop-up and select the "Remove tag" option.

Enter the name of the tag that you want to remove, then click Save.

Add to-do items

If you want to add to-do items for users, go to the Other tab of the "Add action" pop-up, then select the "Add to-do item" option. For example, you can use this action to add to-do items for users if they don't achieve a good result on the quiz.

You can select to send a notification and you can apply a filter so that only certain users receive the to-do item.

Archive

If you want to archive users, select the "Archive" option from the Other tab of the "Add action" pop-up. For example, you can use this action to archive users if they don't visit the site within 60 days. Please note that an archived user can no longer log in but all their data is preserved and accessible for archival purposes.

You can select to send a notification and you can apply a filter so that only certain users are archived.

Deactivate student

You can deactivate learners when they do certain actions by clicking the "Deactivate" option in the Other tab of the "Add action" pop-up. For example, if you want to allow learners to have 7 days of access to a course once they've completed it, you can add a completion action that deactivates the student after 7 days from completion of the course.

You can define when to deactivate the learner immediately, at a specified time, or after a specified time.

You can also choose to send a notification and you can apply a filter so that only certain users are deactivated.

Send custom notification

You can send custom messages to users when they do certain actions by clicking the "Send custom notification" option in the Other tab of the "Add action" pop-up. For example, you can send a custom notification to congratulate learners who complete the course.

You can choose to send a pop-up or a dropdown notification.

Create the custom message using the available variables, define the user category you want to send the message to and the time when you want to send it then click Save.

In the "Send to" dropdown you can choose "Specific user" which allows you to select a user to send the notification to.

Send canned message

You can send canned messages to users who do certain actions. For example, you can send the enrollment canned message to the users who enroll in the course. To send a canned message, go to the Other tab of the "Add action" pop-up,  then click "Send canned message".

Message queues

If the Amazon Message Queues integration is enabled, it allows you to add actions to your learning platform that send messages to the message queue when they are triggered. For example, you can add a "Message queue" completion action to the course that will send a message to the queue when learners finish the course. To add an action the send a message to the queue, click the "Message queue" option from the "Add action" pop-up.

Select the message queue from the dropdown, then enter the content of the message. Here you also use the available message queue variables. When you configured the message, click Save.

Webhook

You can configure our platform to call a third-party API whenever a particular event occurs by clicking the "Webhooks" options under the Integrations tab of the "Add action" pop-up. For example, you can tell the platform to call an API on your own servers whenever a learner completes a particular course. To add this action first, you have to install Webhooks from the App center. 

Enter the endpoint and parameters then click Save.

xAPI

xAPI statements can be added anywhere in your site where automation is enabled. For example, you can invoke an xAPI when creating new accounts, when learners finish courses, modules, assessments, learning paths, and more. To add an action to invoke xAPI first, you have to enable xAPI from the App center. To add an action that invokes xAPI, go to the Integrations tab of the "Add action" pop-up, then click on xAPI.

Enter the required details then click Save.

Retroactive rule actions

By default, when you add a rule action it will only trigger when its associated rule is triggered in the future. If you check the "Apply retroactively? (X users)" option at the bottom of the rule action editor, the action will also be immediately applied to the existing X users that have already triggered the rule in the past.

If no existing users have triggered the rule in the past, this option will not appear.

We currently support retroactive actions for the following rules:

  • course enrollment
  • course completion
  • module completion
  • section completion
  • assessment completion
  • assessment score rules

Site-wide automation

The site-wide automation feature allows you to define actions that apply to courses, modules, sections, assessments, groups, resources, and forums on the whole platform. This makes it easy to set up actions that are triggered, for example, when any course is completed or when any learner is added to a group. Please note that rule action filters still work with site-wide automation.

To set up site-wide automation actions, go to Admin from the main left navigation and visit the Automation area.

Courses

In the Courses tab of the Automation area, you can set up completion, enrollment, unenrollment, and reenrollment actions that are triggered when a user fulfills the condition for any course on the learning platform. To add an action, click on the add button under the action type you want to add.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the available options in each tab.

Modules

In the Modules tab, you can set up added and completion actions. The added actions are triggered when a new module is added to a course and you can award points and badges to instructors for creating new modules. The module completion actions are triggered when a user completes any module on the platform. To add an action, click on the add button under the action type you want to add.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the available options in each tab.

Sections

In the Sections tab, you can set up added and completion actions. The added actions are triggered when a new section is added to a module and you can award points and badges to instructors for creating new sections. The section completion actions are triggered when a user completes any section on the platform. To add an action, click on the add button under the action type you want to add.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the available options in each tab.

Assessments

In the Assessments tab, you can set up added and completion actions. The added actions are triggered when a new standalone assessment is added to a course and you can award points and badges to instructors for creating new assessments. The assessment completion actions are triggered when a user completes any assessments on the platform. To add an action, click on the add button under the action type you want to add.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the available options in each tab.

Groups

In the Groups tab, you can set up added and removed actions. The added actions are triggered when users are added to the group and you can award points and badges, send them notifications, and more. The removed actions are triggered when a user is removed from any group on the platform. To add an action, click on the add button under the action type you want to add.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the available options in each tab.

Resources

In the Resources tab, you can set up actions for sharing resources. The action is triggered when resources are created in the organization or business library, or edited and placed from a personal library into an organization or business library. You can use these actions to reward instructors who create useful shared resources. To add an action, click on the add button.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the available options in each tab.

Forums

In the Forums tab, you can set up actions for posts and replies. The post actions are triggered when a user, who is not a moderator, posts to the forum. The reply actions are triggered when a user, who is not a moderator, replies to a post on the forum. With these actions, you can encourage discussions between learners. To add an action, click on the add button under the action type you want to add.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the available options in each tab.

Rules for courses

You can define actions that should be performed upon completion, enrollment, and unenrollment. Enrollment and unenrollment rules are only available at the course level. Completion rules are available for courses, modules, sections, and assessments. 

Completion actions

To add an action that should be performed when the course is completed, click Admin/Configure, then visit the Completion tab. Note that for Instructor-led and Blended courses first, you have to enable course completion.

To add a new rule, click Add completion actions.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Send the “course completion” canned message
Send the “course completion” canned message
Enroll in a course
Enroll the user into a specific course
Lock module
Lock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content 
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification
Send a custom notification to the user
Deactivate
Deactivate the learner
Unlock module
Unlock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

Enrollment rules

To add an action that should be performed when a learner is enrolled, click Admin/Configure/Enrollment, then visit the Enrollment actions section. To add a new rule, click Add.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Enroll in a course
Enroll the user into a specific course
Send the “enrollment” canned message
      Send the “enrollment” canned message
Lock module
Lock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content 
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification
Send a custom notification to the user
Deactivate
Deactivate the learner
Unlock module
Unlock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

Please note that if the course is set as a goal in a learning path, the enroll in course automation action of the path completely takes over what message on the course is sent. The canned message in the target course is always ignored when a learner is added via automation. This allows the learning path to control the learner experience. For example, it allows the path to silently enroll someone into a specific course regardless of how that course is set up for regular enrollment.

Unenrollment rules

To add an action that should be performed when a learner is enrolled, click Admin/Configure/Enrollment, then visit the Unenrollment actions section. To add a new rule, click Add.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Enroll in a course
Enroll the user into a specific course
Send the “unenrollment” canned message
Send the “unenrollment” canned message
Lock module
Lock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content 
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification
Send a custom notification to the user
Deactivate
Deactivate the learner
Unlock module
Unlock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

Reenrollment actions

To add an action that should be performed when a learner is reenrolled, click Admin/Configure/Enrollment, then visit the Reenrollment actions section. To add a new rule, click Add.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Send the “reenrollment” canned message
Send the “reenrollment” canned message
Enroll in a class
Enroll the user into a specific class
Lock module
Lock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content 
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification
Send a custom notification to the user
Deactivate
Deactivate the learner
Unlock module
Unlock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

Inactivity rules

To add an action that should be performed when a learner is inactive, click Admin/Configure/Enrollment, then visit the Inactivity section. First, you must specify how many days a learner must not visit this course before they are considered inactive in the course (we ignore completed and deactivated learners). Click on the Edit icon under Inactivity.
Then select the number of days, and click Save. 

You can then add inactivity rules that are triggered when a learner becomes inactive in that course. The rules are triggered after the number of days specified earlier have passed. To add a rule, click Add under Inactivity actions.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Enroll in a course
Enroll the user into a specific course
Send the “unenrollment” canned message
Send the “unenrollment” canned message
Lock module
Lock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content 
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification
Send a custom notification to the user
Deactivate
Deactivate the learner
Unlock module
Unlock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

Deactivation actions

To add an action that should be performed when a learner is deactivated, click Admin/Configure, then visit the Deactivation tab. First, you must specify how many days a learner must not visit the course before they are deactivated. Click on the Edit icon under Deactivation.

Then select the number of days, then click Save.

You can then add deactivation rules that are triggered when a learner is deactivated from the course. The rules are triggered after the number of days specified earlier have passed. To add a rule, click Add under Deactivation actions.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Enroll in a course
Enroll the user into a specific course
Lock module
Lock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content 
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification
Send a custom notification to the user
Deactivate
Deactivate the learner
Unlock module
Unlock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

You can add "Deactivation countdown" rules that can trigger a variety of actions, the specified number of days before the student is deactivated. You can start adding rules by clicking on Add rule under Deactivation countdown.

Select the number of days, then click Save.

You can add as many rules as you like. For example, one set of actions when the student has 30 days left, and another set of actions when the student has 3 days left. To add actions, click on Add action.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Enroll in a course
Enroll the user into a specific course
Lock module
Lock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content 
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification
Send a custom notification to the user
Deactivate
Deactivate the learner
Unlock module
Unlock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

When adding deactivation and deactivation countdown rules, you can use the following deactivation-related variables in the custom message of the action.

  • @deactivate_students_after (the number of days you've set deactivation for)
  • @days_left (the number of days the particular learner has left before they're deactivated)
  • @days_in_class (the number of days the particular learner has been in the course)

Compliance rules

If Compliance is enabled and has a duration (not forever), then you can add "Expiration countdown" rules that can trigger a variety of actions, the specified number of days before the learner's compliance expires. You can start adding rules by clicking on Add rule.

 Select the number of days, then click Save. 

You can add as many rules as you like. For example, one set of actions when the learner has 30 days left, and another set of actions when the learner has 7 days left. To add actions, click on Add action.

You can choose from the following options:

For more information on Compliance please click here.

Start/Finish actions

You can use automation to perform actions at the start and/or finish of an instructor-led or blended course. This is a useful feature if you want to remind learners that a course is about to start.

To add start/finish actions, go to the Admin/Configure/Schedule tab of the course, and click the Add rule button.

The rules can be before, on, or after the start/finish of the course.

If you select the Before or After options, you can determine the days and hours when the rule will be triggered before or after the start/finish of the course. Please also note that currently, the start/finish of a course is a date rather than a date/time, so we consider a course to start/finish on the date at 00:00.

After the start/finish rule is added, you can edit or delete it.

To add an action to the rule click the Add action.

Select the action from the pop-up. In the case of start actions, you can choose between "Lock/Unlock course", "Add/Remove tag", "Deactivate" and "Send custom notifications" actions.

Send custom notification

If you want to send a custom notification action, enter the subject and the content of the message, select the user type then click Save. Note that there's a "Learners" option in the "Send to" section, which allows you to specify that the message is sent to all enrolled learners.

Lock/Unlock course action

With Lock/Unlock actions, you can lock or unlock a course X days before or after it starts/finishes. A message will be sent that will notify instructors or administrators about locking/unlocking the course. The "Send to" section allows you to specify that the message is sent to instructors or administrators. Please note that in the background, the task runs every hour and checks if the course has started. However we don’t have guarantee that the taks will start at 00:00. It may start any time between 00:00 and 00:59.

A locked course can appear in the catalog and can allow enrollment, but learners cannot enter the course until it's unlocked. If a learner is enrolled in a locked course, its locked status is displayed in the dashboard tile and the start/finish date of the course is displayed for reference.

If a learner tries to access a locked course, they are redirected to the dashboard and a warning is displayed.

A course can be locked manually via its "Admin" box. By default, a course is unlocked, and its locked/unlocked status is shown in the Admin area. Click on "lock" to manually lock the course.

If the course is locked then you can manually unlock it by clicking the "unlock" link.

Archive course action

In the case of finish action, you can also choose the Archive course action. With this action, you can archive a course X days after it finishes. 

Choose the Archive course action, then configure the message that will notify instructors or administrators about archiving the course. The "Send to" section allows you to specify that the message is sent to instructors or administrators.

Rules for modules

There are Rules tabs for modules, where you can specify what actions occur when a learner completes a module. To add a new rule, visit the Completion tab, then click Add under Completion actions.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Enroll in a course
Enroll the user into a specific course
Lock module
Lock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content 
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification
Send a custom notification to the user
Deactivate
Deactivate the learner
Unlock module
Unlock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

Automation tab

Courses

In the Automation tab of the course, you can see all the rules that have been set up for a course and its modules. To enable the Automation tab, go to Admin/Configure and click the checkbox under Tabs.

After it is enabled, click Automation from the left bar.  Under Courses, you can see all the rules for enrollment, unenrollment, inactivity, deactivation, and completion actions.

Under Modules, you can see all the rules for the modules within the course.

To edit rules directly from Automation, click Edit.

You can change rules by clicking their icon or you can click under Remove to delete them.

To disable editing/removing directly from Automation click on Read-only.

Groups

In the Automation tab, group administrators can see all the rules that have been set up for the group. To enable the Automation tab, go to Admin/Configure and click the checkbox under Tabs.

After it's enabled, click Automation from the left bar. Here you will see all the actions added for group members. To edit rules directly from Automation, click Edit.

You can add actions that are executed when group members are added or removed. To add an action for members, click on Add.

You can change existing rules by clicking their icon or you can click under Remove to delete them.

To disable editing/removing directly from Automation click on Read-only.

Rules for sections

There are Rules tabs for sections, where you can specify what actions occur when a learner completes a section. To add a new rule, visit the Completion tab, then click Add under Completion actions.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Enroll in a course
Enroll the user into a specific course
Lock module
Lock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content 
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification
Send a custom notification to the user
Deactivate
Deactivate the learner
Unlock module
Unlock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

Rules for assessments

There are rules tabs for assessments, where you can specify what actions occur when a learner completes an assessment. To add a new rule, visit the Completion tab, then click Add under Completion actions.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Enroll in a course
Enroll the user into a specific course
Lock module
Lock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content 
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification
Send a custom notification to the user
Deactivate
Deactivate the learner
Unlock module
Unlock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

Rules for groups 

You can add rules for group members that should be performed when a member is added or removed from the group. To set up rules, go to Admin/Configure/Membership. 

To add a new rule, click Add under Added actions or Removed actions, depending on what type of rule you want to add.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Enroll in a course
Enroll the user into a specific course
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification 
Send a custom notification to the user
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

Rules for accounts

Account rules include actions when users are added when users log in, and when users are inactive. In the Rules area, you can add actions for accounts that are trigger when the account is added, and when users log in.

To add actions that are triggered when users are added, click Add under "Added actions".

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

To add an action that is triggered when users log in, click Add under "Login actions".

A pop-up will open where you can select Webhook or xAPI.

In the Inactivity tab, you can add actions that are triggered if users don't login into their accounts for a specified period of time. Go to Admin/Accounts/Inactivity where first, you must specify how many days users must not visit the site before they are considered inactive. Click on Edit under Inactivity, enter the number of days, then click Save.

You can then add inactivity actions that are triggered after the number of days specified earlier have passed. To add an action, click Add under Inactivity actions.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Enroll in a path
Enroll the user into a specific path
Enroll in a course
Enroll the learner into a specific course
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification 
Send custom notification to the learner
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

Rules for game levels

You can define actions that are triggered when a particular game level is achieved. By default, the "Achieved level" canned message is sent, but you can add any kind of action, including awarding badges, points, certificates, and more. To add a new action that will be triggered when learners achieve a certain level in the game, click Add in the "Level actions" area of the level. Game level rules are available for site-wide games and course games.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

You can choose from the following options:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Send the “achieve level” canned message
Send the “achieve level” canned message
Enroll in a course
Enroll the user into a specific course
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification
Send a custom notification to the user
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

Mastery rules

You can add mastery rules that trigger specific actions when a learner drops below the threshold in a particular competency for a defined period of time. To define rules, go to Mastery, then visit the Rules tab and click on Add rules.

Select the competency, the Threshold, and the Duration then clicks Save.

After the rule is created, click on Add action. You can add multiple actions to a rule.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab:

The available actions are the following:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Enroll in a course
Enroll the user into a specific course
Lock module
Lock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content 
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification
Send a custom notification to the user
Deactivate
Deactivate the learner
Unlock module
Unlock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

Score rules

You can define actions that are taken when a learner earns a particular score for an assessment. To do this, go to the assessment, and visit the Score rules tab then click "Add rule" under Score rules.

Note that in the case of multiple submissions, we automatically remove any points and badges that were previously awarded by a rule action when a submission is graded, and we consider the rules for each submission. For example, if a learner submits once and scores 60%, so gets an award of 10 points, then submits it again and scores 80%, the previous 10 points are removed, and then the learner receives 20 points.

Each rule can define a lower and an optional upper range for the score.

You can add multiple rules to an assessment. After the rules are added, you can edit or delete them.

After the rule is added, you can set the actions which should be taken when a rule is triggered. Click Add action under the rule.

A pop-up will open with multiple tabs and a list of the options in each tab.

The available actions are the following:

Add to group
Add the user as a member into a specific group
Archive
Archive the user
Award badge
Award a badge to the user
Award certificate
Award a certificate to the user
Award coupon
Award a coupon to the user
Award points
Award points to the user
Enroll in a course
Enroll the user into a specific course
Lock module
Lock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content 
Remove from group
Remove the user as a member from a specific group
Send custom notification
Send a custom notification to the user
Deactivate
Deactivate the learner
Unlock module
Unlock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content
Webhook
Invoke an API. Click here for more details regarding Webhooks. 
xAPI
Invoke xAPI. Click here for more details regarding xAPI.

You can add multiple actions for each score rule. To edit actions click the icon and to remove actions click on under Remove.

E-commerce rules

In the Admin/E-commerce/Configure/Rules area, administrators can add actions that are performed when users abandon their shopping cart.

We define an abandoned cart as one where:

  • we know the identity of the user (i.e. a visitor's name and email if required, or a logged-in user)
  • they've added some items to the cart
  • they've ticked any required policy checkboxes
  • they do not click Purchase or they click Purchase but do not complete the purchase process

To add an action click on Add.

A pop-up will open where you can choose to send a custom notification, invoke an API, or invoke an xAPI.

If you select Custom notification, it can be configured to be triggered after X amount of time. For example, you could send a message to the user with help on how to complete the purchase, or provide them with an email to contact for help.

You can add multiple abandoned cart actions. To edit existing action click their icon and if you want to delete them click on under Remove.

If the cart becomes no longer abandoned, those actions are automatically suppressed.

Forum rules

You can use automation to add actions that are triggered when a user, who is not a moderator, posts and/or replies on a forum. To add actions, go to the configure "Configure" option.

Here you can click the Add button under "Post actions" and "Reply actions".

A pop-up will open where you can select the actions that you want to add.

For example, you could award a user 5 points for posting to a forum and 2 points for replying to a posting.

News feed rules

You can use automation to add actions that are triggered when a user, who is not a moderator, posts and/or replies on a course or group News feed. To add actions, go to the configure Admin/News Feed are of the course or group. Please note that these automation actions don't currently apply to announcements, just postings.

Here you can click the Add button under "Post actions" and "Reply actions".

A pop-up will open where you can select the actions that you want to add.

For example, you could award a user 5 points for posting to the News feed and 2 points for replying to a posting.

Adaptive learning

If you enable Adaptive learning you can use automation to dynamically personalize a course based on the previous actions of a learner. The feature is based on our automation feature, which enables you to personalize modules, assessments, and learning paths. To learn more about Adaptive learning click here. Dynamic personalization allows you to use automation to personalize which modules, assessment, and path goals are shown/hidden from specific learners. 

Once Adaptive learning is installed via the App center, the "Hide/Show module", "Hide/Show assessment", and "Hide/Show Sections" automation actions will show within courses.

Rule action filters

You can now add one or more optional filters to any rule action. Click on "+" from the Filters section of the Add action pop-up.

You can chain more filters together. When your filters are finished click Save.

Once the filter is saved you can reuse it.

To delete saved filters click on Delete.

After adding the filters the action is only taken for users that satisfy the filters.

Customizing canned messages

Most options have a default canned message that you can customize if you like. The @badge_name, @certificate_name, etc. variables are substituted automatically by our site. The @why variable inserts the reason that the action occurred, such as "This happened because: you completed module one."

If you click Custom, you can customize the message for that action:

 Here are some additional variables that can be included in custom messages:

  • '@class_name',
  • '@class_name_with_link',
  • '@group_name',
  • '@group_name_with_link',
  • '@lesson_name',
  • '@lesson_name_with_link',
  • '@organization_name',
  • '@site_name',
  • '@site_name_with_url',
  • '@userid',
  • '@user_first_name',
  • '@user_last_name',
  • '@user_full_name',
  • '@user_full_name_with_link'

If you've added custom account fields via Admin/Accounts/Fields, then the values of these fields are now available as variables in rule actions. Specifically, the account field "Abc Def" would be available as the field @user_abc_def. (@user_ + the name of the field in lowercase with spaces replaces with underscores). For more details on how to add custom account fields, please visit the Accounts topic. 

Please note that variables with links are not supported in the subject of messages only in the body of messages.

Custom notifications

You can keep users up to date with the help of custom notifications. You can set up rules that send custom notifications to learners in the case of enrollment, unenrollment, inactivity, and/or completion.

Click Add in the corresponding section and select "Send custom notification" from the available options.

Enter the subject of the message and its content, then select the users who will receive the message and the time when you want the message to be sent.

After all the information is entered click Save.

Please note that variables with links are not supported in the subject of notifications only in the body of notifications.

Pop-up notifications

This feature allows you to choose certain notifications to pop up rather than just appear in a drop-down. This is a useful feature to showcase notifications such as earning a badge or completing a course. When you create an "award badge", "award points", "award certification", "course completion canned message" or "path completion canned message" action, you can choose between a Pop-up and a Drop-down notification.

Depending on which type of notification you selected, learners can see the notification as a pop-up.

Or as a notification in the drop-down list in the upper-right corner.



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