A Certificate is a document earned by a Learner for completing a Course. Certificates display details about the completed Course and are available for viewing and download from the User Transcript.
Certificates are configured at the Course level under the Completion section. From here, you can import a customized Certificate, update the Certificate to use a Custom Title, set an Expiry, and opt to allow Learners to upload Certificates earned outside the system.
This article provides instructions on configuring a Course Certificate, information on Default Certificates, and other helpful tips concerning Certificate administration.
For information on creating a custom Certificate through a PDF form editor like Adobe Acrobat, see How to Create a Custom Certificate.
A Course Certificate may only be configured for Online Courses, Instructor Led Courses and Curricula. This option will not appear when editing a Course Bundle.
Enabling a Course Certificate
By default, a Course will not award a Certificate upon completion. If you want your Learners to receive a Certificate following the completion of their Enrollment, you must enable this option for the Course. The following method showcases how to enable a Course Certificate.
- Access the Admin Experience.
- Access the Courses report from the left hand side menu.
- Either create a new, or edit an existing Course.
- Navigate to the Completion section of the Add/Edit a Course page.
- Click the Certificate toggle to turn it ON.
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With the Certificate toggled to ON, a series of settings will become available.
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Certificate Settings
Once the Certificate toggle has been turned ON, a series of settings become available. This section contains information as it relates to each of the settings.
| Setting | Description |
| Certificate |
Certificate is a toggle that when clicked switches between OFF and ON. OFF: A Certificate will not be awarded to a Learner upon completion of this Course. ON: A Certificate will be awarded to a Learner upon completion of this Course. |
| Certificate Source |
Certificate Source is where the actual template of the Certificate is decided. This setting includes the following configuration: File: Click the Choose File button to open the File Manager and select or upload a .PDF file. The uploaded file will be used as the template for the Course Certificate. |
| Use Custom Title |
Use Custom Title is a toggle that when clicked switches between OFF and ON. OFF: The Title of the Course Certificate will be the Course Name. ON: Below Use Custom Title will appear the Title field. The value entered in the Title field will be used as the Custom Title for this Certificate. This will replace the title a Learner sees on their Transcript and the Course Name value on the Certificate if it has been added. |
| Attach Certificate to Completion Email |
Attach Certificate to Completion Email is a toggle that when clicked switches between OFF and ON. OFF: The Certificate will not be included in the CompletionEmail. ON: The Certificate for the Course or Curriculum will be attached to the Completion Email for the Learner to download. Note that this setting is not retroactive. |
| Notes |
Notes is a field where you can enter information specific to the Certificate. The information entered here is visible from the Admin Experience either by editing the Course or using the Certificates report. It is also visible on Custom Certificates that use Notes as a Dynamic Field, where it will be visible to the Learner who receives the Certificate. |
| Expiry |
Expiry allows for you to determine if the Certificate expires at a certain point in time after it has been awarded. Such as in the case of an accreditation awarded for a year only. Expiry includes three selectable configurations: No Expiry: This certificate, once awarded, does not expire. Time from completion: Counting from when the Learner completes this Course. Time from completions allows you to set a number of years, months and days before the Certificate will expire. Date: Date allows you to set the exact point in the future that this Certificate will expire. Click the calendar button to open a date selector. Once a date is selected, click the clock button to determine the exact time of date. |
| Certificate Upload |
Certificate Upload is a section where you can allow Learners to upload and submit Certificates they have earned outside of your Portal. Click the Add Certificate Upload button to add a Certificate Upload. After adding a Certificate Upload a set of new options will appear. Edit Upload Instructions: Click this button to open a rich text field where you can input instructions for a Learner. This message will be presented to an enrolled Learner and should indicate instructions for them related to this Certificate Upload. Label: The identifying title for this Certificate Upload. An example may be 'Drivers License'. Approval: Determine if this Certificate Upload requires approval, and if it does, who is responsible for the approval. Options for Approval include Course Editor, Supervisor, Administrator and Other. Reviewer's Notes: This field becomes available when Approval is required. Reviewer's Notes is a text field that is presented to the Reviewer (the individual responsible for approving the Certificate Upload). |
Approving a Certificate Upload
The Course Uploads report will allow Administrators to view all Learner uploads through the Course Upload feature, including Certificate Course Uploads. This Report will allow filtering of specific data associated with the certificate upload, such as the Certificate Expiry Date, Certificate Issue Date, Certificate Issuer, and more.
For more information, please visit The Course Upload Report article.
Default Certificates
A System Admin can locate the default Certificate in your LMS by navigating to Portal Settings > Defaults. Once your custom Certificate has been created, it can be loaded into the Absorb LMS by clicking Choose File on this page.
If a Course is configured to award a Certificate, the default Certificate configured here will be used for awarded Certificates, unless a separate file is uploaded directly to the Course for that purpose.
If the default Absorb Certificate PDF needs to be re-uploaded to your LMS, it can be found as an attachment to this article.
Date Format
Please note that the date format on Certificates will match the format determined in Portal Settings > Defaults in the Report Date Format field. You can select from the drop-down from YYYY-MM-DD, DD/MM/YYYY, or MM/DD/YYYY. This will also update the date format within your Reports, so please be sure you are comfortable with your changes before saving the new format.
Course Certificate FAQ
This section contains information specific to unique interactions related to Course Certificates.
Are Generated Certificates Stored in the LMS?
It is important to note that the term created isn't entirely accurate when it comes to discussing Certificates. More accurate, is the term generated. This is because when you click to view a Certificate, the Certificate is actively generated as a temporary file based on the Source and Dynamic Fields present. A Learner's Certificate is not saved in the LMS, it is not stored in the File Manager and for all intents and purposes does not exist. A Certificate will only appear as a temporary file when it is viewed. For this reason, we recommend a Certificate is downloaded, or printed by the Learner at the time it is awarded.
Are Certificates Awarded Retroactively?
If a User completed a Course prior to a Certificate being added to it, that User won't be awarded the Certificate retroactively. As a workaround, Admins can manually award a Certificate to a User in this position by editing the enrollment and adjusting the status to Not Complete, saving, then editing the status back to Complete.
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