Drip-Release Schedule

A drip schedule releases lessons over time instead of all at once. Students get a steady cadence of new material to come back to, and the course feels like a real journey instead of a folder of files.

When dripping helps

• You want students to actually finish. A drip pace nudges them back week after week.
• You want a sense of community. Everyone is on roughly the same module at the same time, so discussions and questions stay relevant.
• You want to write as you go. A drip schedule lets you stay one module ahead of your students.
• The material builds. Each module assumes the last one — letting students binge to the end works against learning.

When dripping gets in the way

• Reference content. Cookbooks, troubleshooting libraries, and software walkthroughs are better as instant-access.
• Short courses. A two-module course works as one sitting.
• Premium tiers. If you want a "skip the wait" upsell, give one tier instant access and drip for the rest.

Two ways to drip

By calendar date. Every lesson unlocks on a fixed date. Useful for cohort-based launches — everyone goes through Week 1 on April 1, Week 2 on April 8.

By enrollment date. Every lesson unlocks a number of days after the student joined. Useful for evergreen courses where students enroll at different times.

Setting up a drip

1. Open the course and go to Availability.
2. Switch Drip Schedule to On.
3. Pick By calendar date or By enrollment date.
4. Save.

Then open each module (or each lesson, if you want lesson-level control):

• By calendar date — pick the date and time the module unlocks.
• By enrollment date — pick the number of days after enrollment.

You can mix and match. Some modules can unlock on day zero (immediately), others on day seven, others on day fourteen. The first module is almost always day zero.

What students see

A locked lesson appears in the student's lesson list with a small lock icon and the unlock date or "available in X days". When the unlock time arrives, the lesson opens and the student gets an email reminder (you can turn the email off in Settings → Notifications if you prefer).

Adjusting a schedule mid-course

You can change unlock dates any time. New dates apply going forward.

If you push an unlock back, students who could already see the lesson keep their access — once unlocked, a lesson stays unlocked.

If you pull an unlock forward, every enrolled student sees it open immediately.

Common questions

Can a student skip the schedule if they want to binge? No, not unless you give them a different version of the course. The schedule applies to everyone enrolled.

Can I give one student early access? Yes. Open the student's enrollment in the Students list and click Unlock all lessons for that student only.

What about the certificate — does it wait for the schedule? Yes. The certificate is issued when all required lessons are complete, so dripped lessons gate the certificate the same way they gate access.