Copy courses within the same catalog

Introduction

The copy courses feature is especially helpful if you manage a large number of courses and want to quickly create new courses and training plans that have similar settings but vary slightly in terms of content. The course is copied to the same catalog.

This article provides detailed information about how to create a copy of an existing e-learning or instructor-led course, how to edit and manage it, and how the content of this duplicate of a course will be affected.

Alternatively, you can copy courses across catalogs within the same tenant. For more information, see this article.

 

Copy course process

Required role: catalog admin.

 

Creating a copy of an existing course within the current catalog is done in the Learn365 Admin Center:

1. On the Training Management page, select the relevant e-learning or instructor-led course you want to copy.

2. On the opened Course Management panel, select Create course copy option.

 

 

The course configuration panel preconfigured with the content and settings of the original course opens. The catalog admin can adjust and configure any further settings before saving and publishing it.

3. When ready, select Create or Create and close to finish course creation.

 

Basic details section

The duplicate of a course inherits data of the Basic details section of the original course with several exceptions:

• The type of the training is preselected by the original course but can be changed.
  
  
• The name of the course will indicate that it's a copy of the original course until the catalog admin gives it a new name. For example, a copy of a Data Visualization course will be called Copy of Data Visualization.
  
  
• The Web Address filed is automatically expanded and preconfigured with Copyof(course name), for example https://compafi464.sharepoint.com/sites/Academy/SitePages/CopyofDataVisualization.aspx.
  Once the title of the course is updated, the URL of the course will automatically reflect the changes.
  
  
• For instructor-led courses, the Enrollment Type and Minimum Attendance for Completion fields inherit the selection of the original course but can be changed.

   

  

 

Sessions section

Sessions and session groups of the original course are copied to the duplicate, as well as their settings, except for the following: 

• The start and end dates of sessions, either standalone ones or inside session groups, will be the current dates the course was copied. The dates can be adjusted manually.
  
  
• Meeting URL links of sessions and the Let Learn365 schedule the Teams meeting option is toggled off. The Sessions section of the course configuration panel displays a red exclamation mark, which indicates the fields that need to be configured. This happens because sessions don't inherit the room or meeting URL from the original sessions, and these fields need to be completed. An exclamation mark is displayed next to each session that requires a room or meeting URL to be specified.
  
  
• Session instructors aren't inherited from the original course.
  
  
• No users will be enrolled in any of the sessions and session groups.

   

  

 

Content section

The duplicate of a course has the learning items as in the original one, ordered the same way, with no user progress on the learning items. However, there are some points to pay attention to.

 

 

Content packages

• The settings of content packages are inherited from the original course, including the sharing settings and type of access. 
  
  
• Content packages that were made hidden in the original course have the same display configuration in the copied course.
  
  
• Content packages have the same status for the course completion settings as in the original one, either marked as required for the course completion or not.

 

Quizzes

• Quiz is copied from the original course to the copied one only if this quiz is shared to the catalog the original course is in. Quizzes shared to a course aren't copied.
  
  
• The content and settings of quizzes are inherited from the original course. 
  
  
• Quizzes that were made hidden in the original course have the same display configuration in the copied course.
  
  
• If a quiz is removed from the original course after the copy course process is completed, the copied course isn't affected and the quiz in question remains in the copied course. However, if a quiz is removed from the catalog, it will be removed both from the original course and courses copied from it.
  
  
• Quizzes have the same status for the course completion settings as in the original one, either marked as required for the course completion or not.

 

Learning modules

• The content and settings of learning modules are inherited from the original course, except for the case when a quiz is shared to a course only. In this case the quiz won't be copied.
  
  
• All prerequisites set for the learning items of a learning module are inherited from the original course.
  
  
• If a quiz or content package is removed from the original course after the copy course process is completed, the copied course isn't affected and the learning item in question remains in the copied course. However, if a quiz or content package is removed from the catalog, it will be removed both from the original course and courses copied from it.

 

External apps

• The content and settings of external apps are inherited from the original course and can be managed in the copied course.
  
  
• External apps that were made hidden in the original course have the same display configuration in the copied course.
  
  
• External apps have the same status for the course completion settings as in the original one, either marked as required for the course completion or not.

 

Assessments

• The content and settings of assessments are inherited from the original course, including the supervisors assigned and the supervisors' display settings. 
  
  
• Assessments that were made hidden in the original course have the same display configuration in the copied course.
  
  
• Assessments have the same status for the course completion settings as in the original one, either marked as required for the course completion or not.

 

Settings section

The settings of the original course are fully preconfigured for the copied course. However, the following points are to pay attention to:

• If the certificate expiry date is set as a fixed date, then it is to be configured manually. 
  
  
• If the skill revocation date set as a fixed date, then the fixed date field of the skill revocation is empty and to be configured as well as. The reason of this is that the fixed date of the skill revocation is based on the fixed date of the certificate expiry date, which isn't inherited from the original course.
  
  
• If the Forced retake option was enabled in the source course, the copied course will inherit this option. If the fixed date option was selected, this will change to the number of days after completion option in the copied course and will be empty. Admins must configure the Forced retake option to publish the copied course.
  
  
• The Training Audience Targeting settings are inherited from the original course, but the users in the Target Audience field aren't and the field is to be configured individually for each course.

   

  

 

People section

• Learners and admins of the course aren't inherited by the copied course. No users will be enrolled in the copied course.
  
  
• By default, the catalog admin who perform copying of a course becomes an admin of the new copied course.

   

  

 

Course publishing settings

Publishing settings of the original course aren't inherited by the copied course. By default, the copied course is unpublished.

 

Create the course

To complete creation of the copied course and save your configurations, select Create.

Once selected, the Create command expands and you can either create the course or create the course and close the course configuration panel. The process in details is described here. 

 

Course completion settings 

Course completion settings are fully inherited from the original course and can be edited for the copied course after the course creation in done. 

 

Asset Storage

By assets, we mean any documents, videos, or images uploaded in the Learn365 Admin Center via the rich text editor, for example, in training or learning module descriptions.

When you copy a course within the same catalog:

• If an original course was created before September 16, 2024, catalog-level assets of the copied course remain in the Microsoft SharePoint storage. Course-level assets are moved to the Azure Blob Storage.
• If an original course was created after September 16, 2024, assets of both the original and copied courses are stored in the Azure Blob Storage.