Publishing
Publish your materials to make them available for assignment.
Publishing transforms your draft into a live material that can be assigned to learners. This page covers the publishing flow, versioning, and notifying users of updates.
Before You Publish
The publish dialog validates your material and highlights any issues:
Requirements
- Thumbnail: Every material needs a cover image (16:9 recommended).
- Title: A descriptive title is required.
- Content: At least one module with at least one unit.
- Complete units: All units must have required content (questions need answers, etc.).
Validation
When you click Publish, Enlytning checks your material:
- Missing thumbnails are highlighted.
- Incomplete units are flagged with specific errors.
- Highlighted fields and linked content items guide you back to the area that needs fixing.
The Publish Dialog
Click Publish in the editor header to open the publish dialog.
What You'll See
- Thumbnail preview: Your material's cover image, or an Add a thumbnail area if one is missing.
- Title and description: Edit these before publishing if needed.
- Summary stats: Module count, unit count, and estimated time.
- Content outline: Expandable list of modules and units with validation indicators.
Publish Options
The publish dialog has a single Publish action.
After a successful publish:
- Admins see a Go to assignment action in the success toast.
- Admins can also assign the material later from Manage > Material.
Informing Users
When publishing updates to an already-assigned material, you can notify learners.
The "Notify assigned users" Toggle
In the publish dialog, toggle Notify assigned users to:
- Send a notification to all users currently assigned to this material.
- Notify collaborators on the material as well.
- Let them know new content is available.
- Useful for important updates they should be aware of.
When to Inform
Use this for significant content updates. Skip it for minor fixes or formatting changes to avoid notification fatigue.
Versioning
Each time you publish, Enlytning creates a new version of your material.
For steps to view prior versions and create drafts from them, see Version Control.
How Versions Work
- First publish: Creates Version 1.
- Edit and republish: Creates Version 2, 3, etc.
- Version history: Each version is preserved and timestamped.
Version Impact
| Learner Status | What They See |
|---|---|
| Not started | Latest published version |
| In progress | The version they started with |
| Completed | Their completion references the version they finished |
This ensures learners have a consistent experience even as you make updates.
Viewing Version History
To see past versions:
- Go to Manage > Material.
- Select the material.
- View the version history in the material details.
Post-Publish Actions
After publishing:
Assign the Material
Admins can assign published materials:
- If you see Go to assignment, click it to open the assignment flow immediately.
- Or go to Manage > Material.
- Find your published material.
- Click Assign to start the assignment flow.
See Publish & Assign for details.
Continue Editing
Publishing doesn't lock you out:
- Return to the editor anytime.
- Make changes to your content.
- Republish to create a new version.
Your edits exist as a draft until you publish again.
Add to Learning Path
Published materials can be added to Learning Paths:
- Go to Manage > Learning Paths.
- Create a new path or edit an existing one.
- Add your material as a step.
Unpublishing
You cannot unpublish a material, but you can:
- Unassign all users: Remove active assignments.
- Set to unlisted: Hide the material from learner-facing lists and views.
These actions prevent new assignments while preserving historical data.
Troubleshooting
"Validation failed" Error
The publish dialog shows specific errors:
- Expand the content outline to find flagged items.
- Use the highlighted fields and linked content items to navigate to the problem area.
- Fix the issue and try publishing again.
- If you still need help, use the Ask Assistant action in the error toast to open the AI Assistant with your publish issue prefilled.
Common validation issues include:
- Missing title
- Missing thumbnail
- Thumbnail upload still processing
- No modules in the material
- A module with no units
- A page unit with no content
Question-based units also have type-specific rules:
- Single choice: At least 2 answer options, with exactly 1 marked correct
- Multiple choice: At least 2 answer options, with at least 1 marked correct
- Match: At least 2 match items
- Ranking: At least 2 ranking items
- Checklist: At least 1 checklist item
- Executive signature: A signature file must be uploaded
"Some fields need attention"
This is the standard publish error toast when validation fails.
When you see it:
- Review the highlighted title, description, thumbnail, or content items.
- Expand the content section in the publish dialog to see which modules or units need attention.
- Fix the flagged items and publish again.
- If needed, click Ask Assistant in the toast for guided help with the validation message.
Tip
The Assistant is especially useful if you're not sure what a validation error means or where to fix it.
What the publish check looks for
Enlytning validates the material overview and the content inside each module before creating a published version. That means publish errors can come from a missing overview field, an empty module, or a unit whose required content is incomplete.
Material Won't Appear After Publishing
Check these settings:
- Unlisted: If enabled, the material won't appear in lists.
- Role permissions: Ensure users have the right role to see it.
- Assignment: Materials only appear in Learn for assigned users.
Printing or Exporting
Publishing itself does not print or export a material.
To export a material as PDF:
- Go to Workspace > Materials.
- Open the material actions menu.
- Choose Export > PDF.
- This opens the print/export page for the material, where you can print or export it.
If you need help with that workflow, use the AI Assistant.