docs: invite students guide
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Rotimi Best
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---
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title: How Course Enrollment Works
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description: Understand the ways students can join a course in ClassroomIO—public enrollment, invites, admin assignment, and paid access—and how to restrict who can enroll.
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---
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import { Callout } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/callout';
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import { Step, Steps } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/steps';
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Enrollment is how a student becomes a member of a course group and gets access to lessons, exercises, and the LMS. ClassroomIO supports several enrollment paths. Which ones are available depends on your course price, publish status, and settings.
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## Enrollment paths at a glance
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| Path | Who initiates it | Typical use |
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| --- | --- | --- |
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| **Public self-enrollment** | Student | Open free courses on your landing page |
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| **Course invite link** | You (admin) | Send a secure link to specific people |
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| **Admin assignment** | You (admin) | Add org members directly from **People** |
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| **Paid enrollment** | Student (after payment) or invite | Courses with a price set |
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All paths end at the same place: the student is added to the course **group** and can open the course in the LMS.
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## What students need before they can enroll
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For any self-service path (landing page or invite link), the course must be:
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- **Published** — unpublished courses do not accept new enrollments from the public site
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- **Active** — archived or inactive courses are blocked
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The student must also have (or create) a ClassroomIO account and belong to your organization when they complete enrollment.
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## Public self-enrollment (free courses)
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On a **free** course (`cost` is 0) with **Allow New Students** enabled, anyone who finds your course landing page can enroll:
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1. They open the course landing page on your org site
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2. They click **Enroll**
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3. They sign in or sign up
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4. They land on `/course/[slug]/enroll` and click **Join course**
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5. They are enrolled and redirected to the LMS
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No invite token is required. This is the default for free, published courses.
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<Callout type="info" title="Allow New Students">
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In the course dashboard, go to **Settings** and find **Allow New Students**. When enabled, anyone can self-enroll from the course landing page. When disabled, the public **Enroll** button is hidden and open self-enrollment is blocked — but **course invite links** and **People → Add people** still work.
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</Callout>
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## Course invite links
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Invite links let you give specific people a URL to join a course. Each invite can have:
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- An **expiry** (e.g. 24 hours, 7 days)
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- A **max use** count (one-time or reusable)
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- **Allowed emails** or domains (optional restriction)
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The path is always `/course/<course-slug>/enroll?invite_token=...` on your **org site** (not the admin app at `app.classroomio.com`). The host depends on how your organization is set up:
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- **Default tenant site:** `https://<siteName>.myclassroomio.com/course/your-course-slug/enroll?invite_token=...`
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Example: if your org site name is `ciodevs`, the link starts with `https://ciodevs.myclassroomio.com/...`
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- **Custom domain (verified):** `https://learn.yourcompany.com/course/your-course-slug/enroll?invite_token=...`
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ClassroomIO picks the verified custom domain when you have one; otherwise it uses your `<siteName>.myclassroomio.com` subdomain. Invite emails and the **People** flow generate the correct URL for your org automatically.
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When a student opens a valid invite, they sign in (or sign up) and click **Join course**. ClassroomIO validates the token, expiry, usage limit, and email restrictions before enrolling them.
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For step-by-step instructions on creating and managing invites, see [How to Invite Students](/docs/how-to-guides/invite-students).
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<Callout type="info" title="Invite links work on closed courses">
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**Allow New Students** can be off and invite links still work. The toggle only blocks unsolicited self-enrollment from the landing page; it does not block people you explicitly invited.
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</Callout>
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## Admin assignment (People)
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You can add students without them using the landing page or an invite link. From the course dashboard:
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1. Open **People**
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2. Click **Add people**
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3. Use **Invite Students** to either:
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- **Grant access** to students who already exist in your organization, or
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- **Invite by email** — import new recipients into your org and pre-assign them to this course
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Admin assignment does **not** require **Allow New Students** to be on. Use this when you want a closed course where only people you add manually can access content.
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<Callout title="Already enrolled students">
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Revoking an invite or turning off public enrollment does not remove students who have already joined. It only blocks future enrollments through that path.
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</Callout>
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## Paid courses
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When a course has a **price** set, open self-enrollment from the landing page is blocked unless the student pays or uses a valid invite (depending on your setup). Visitors who open the enrollment page without payment or a token see a message that they need to pay or be invited.
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Paid courses are useful when you want to prevent casual sign-ups on a free landing page while still selling access or issuing invites to specific buyers.
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## Free vs paid vs closed — quick reference
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| Goal | Suggested setup |
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| --- | --- |
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| Anyone can join | Free course, published, **Allow New Students** on |
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| Only people with invite links | **Allow New Students** off (optional), send [course invites](/docs/how-to-guides/invite-students) |
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| Only people you add manually | **Allow New Students** off, use **People → Add people** (no invite link needed) |
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| Paywall + optional invites | Set a price, send invites to buyers who should skip or supplement checkout |
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## Organization-level signup (separate from course enrollment)
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Course enrollment is different from **organization signup**. In **Organization settings**, you can disable public signups so that only users with an **organization invite link** can create an account on your site.
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That setting controls who can join your **org**, not who can join a specific **course**. A student might be in your org but not enrolled in any course until you assign them or they self-enroll on a published course.
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## What students see after enrolling
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Once enrolled, the course appears in the student LMS (home/dashboard). They can open lessons, submit exercises, and download materials according to course settings (for example, lesson download or certificate rules).
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If a student follows an invite or enrollment link while logged out, ClassroomIO sends them through sign-in or sign-up first, then returns them to the enrollment page so they can finish joining.
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## Common scenarios
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<Steps>
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<Step>
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### Open cohort — anyone can join
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Create a free course, publish it, and leave **Allow New Students** enabled. Share the landing page link.
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</Step>
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<Step>
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### Private cohort — only invited emails
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Turn **Allow New Students** off to hide public enrollment. From **People**, send email invites with expiry and optional one-time use. Only people with a valid invite link can join.
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</Step>
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<Step>
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### Staff-only or hand-picked list
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Turn **Allow New Students** off. Add each student from **People → Add people** (existing org members or email import). No public self-enrollment; use direct assignment or invite links as needed.
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</Step>
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<Step>
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### Paid course
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Set the course price on the landing page. Students pay to enroll, or you send invites to people who should receive complimentary access.
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</Step>
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</Steps>
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## Related guides
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- [How to Invite Students](/docs/how-to-guides/invite-students) — create, send, and revoke course invite links
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- [Create a Course Landing Page](/docs/how-to-guides/course-landingpage) — pricing, publish state, and what prospects see before enrolling
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- [Creating Your First Course](/docs/how-to-guides/create-first-course) — create and publish a course
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@@ -7,10 +7,12 @@ import { Step, Steps } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/steps';
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Course invitations in ClassroomIO let you add students to a course by sending them a secure enrollment link by email. Each invite is unique and can have its own expiry and usage limits.
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For a full overview of enrollment paths (public enroll, invites, admin assignment, and paid access), see [How Course Enrollment Works](/docs/how-to-guides/course-enrollment).
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## How course invitations work
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- **Email-based invites:** You enter one or more email addresses (or paste a list). ClassroomIO creates a unique invite per recipient and can send the enrollment link by email.
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- **Enrollment link:** Each invite link points to an **enrollment page** for that course (e.g. `https://yoursite.classroomio.com/course/your-course-slug/enroll?invite_token=...`). When a student opens the link, they see the course details and a **Join course** button.
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- **Enrollment link:** Each invite link points to an **enrollment page** on your org site (not `app.classroomio.com`). The path is `/course/your-course-slug/enroll?invite_token=...` on either `https://<siteName>.myclassroomio.com` (e.g. `https://ciodevs.myclassroomio.com/...`) or your verified custom domain (e.g. `https://learn.yourcompany.com/...`). When a student opens the link, they see the course details and a **Join course** button.
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- **One link per invite:** Invite links are tied to the course and (for paid or restricted courses) to the invite’s rules (expiry, max uses, allowed emails). Students sign in or sign up when they click **Join course**, then they’re enrolled and redirected to the learning dashboard.
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## Free vs paid courses
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@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
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"create-exercise": "How to Create an Exercise",
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"customize-organization": "Customize Your Organization",
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"course-landingpage": "Create a Course Landing Page",
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"course-enrollment": "How Course Enrollment Works",
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"setup-profile": "Setup Profile",
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"certificates": "How to Create Certificates",
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"grade-exercise": "How to Grade an Exercise",
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