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Scheduling and Delivering Courses

Learn how to schedule and deliver a course in Arist, from choosing a Basic or Custom schedule and setting the cadence to enrolling learners and tracking delivery.

Platform access level: Org Admins, Managers, and Distributors (anyone who delivers courses).


A schedule controls when lessons arrive, which delivery methods they arrive on, and what happens when a learner doesn't reply, so setting it up well decides how the course feels to take. This guide walks through every schedule setting for anyone who delivers courses in Arist, from creating the schedule to enrolling learners and confirming delivery. Partway through you choose one of two schedule types, Basic or Custom, and set up only that one.


1. Create a new schedule

A schedule holds the delivery settings for one course. One course can have many schedules, so the same content can run for different audiences on different rhythms. Select Delivery in the left navigation, then select Create new in the top right to open a blank schedule's settings.

the top of the Delivery page in Table view: Delivery selected in the left navigation, Create new circled in the top right, and the Status, Name, Channel, Cohorts, Cadence, Enrolled and Created columns above the schedules that already exist

The Delivery page also lists the schedules you already have, so check what is already running before you build another one. Each row reports one schedule's status, Channel, cohorts, cadence, and how many learners are enrolled. Use the three-dot menu at the end of a row to Analyze, Edit, Duplicate, Delete, or Deactivate that schedule, or Activate one that is already off. Switch to Calendar view to see the same schedules laid out by date instead.

Note: If your organization uses teams, the Delivery page shows only the team you have selected, and that applies to every role including Org Admins. A schedule stays with the team you created it in, and no team shows an organization-wide list, so switch teams with the selector at the top of the sidebar to see the schedules that belong to another one. (Teams is in Beta.)

If your course offers multiple languages and one is not ready yet, going to schedule it opens a Ready to schedule check. It tells you how many languages learners can take the course in right now, for example 2 of 3, and that analytics are shown for the course total with a breakdown for each language. It also lists which languages are included and which are Not included yet, and notes that you can turn on a language later from Manage translations so learners can enroll in it once it is offered. Select Continue to scheduling to keep going.


2. Fill in the settings every schedule shares

The settings page opens with the fields that apply to both schedule types, so work through these first. The name follows the course into analytics, so a consistent pattern keeps the Delivery page readable as schedules multiply.

Field

What to enter

Select content

The course this schedule delivers. One schedule delivers one course.

Schedule name

A unique name of up to 200 characters, built from the audience and the cadence days, like "New reps M-W-F".

External distribution ID

Optional. An identifier from one of your own systems, used when something outside Arist triggers enrollments into this schedule.

Delivery methods

One or more delivery methods this content can go out over. Only the methods your organization has on and your team has kept appear here, and of those, SMS and WhatsApp can be selected only for a course that is SMS-compatible, while Email, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Arist Messenger can be selected for any course. Pick as many as your learners need. See Using Delivery Methods for what each method does and what makes one available for a given course.

Channel

Optional, and it appears only once you have channels and have selected a delivery method that supports them. A Channel is a named sender that makes content arrive under that name.

Timezone

The timezone this schedule delivers in, plus two checkboxes that can override it per learner.

Note: Delivery methods and Channels are two different settings. A delivery method is how a lesson travels, such as SMS or Slack. A Channel is a named sender you attach to the schedule so content arrives under that name. Creating channels is covered in Managing Channels.

Delivery follows the most specific timezone Arist knows about. Check Deliver in learner's preferred timezone, if known and each learner receives lessons in their own timezone. Check Deliver in cohort's preferred timezone for cohort enrollment, if known and learners enrolled through a cohort follow that cohort's timezone. If both are checked, the learner's own timezone wins, and anyone Arist has no timezone for falls back to the schedule's.

On a course offered in more than one language, the schedule settings include an Available languages field showing the languages that schedule delivers in.

the Available languages field on the schedule form, with one badge per language, the default marked (default) first, and the Manage languages link

The field shows one badge for each language turned on for the course, with the default language first and marked (default). Its sub-label says, "Learners are enrolled in their preferred language when it is available; everyone else gets the default language."

These languages come from the course, so every schedule for that course offers the same set. There is no per-schedule language choice. To add a language or change which ones are offered, select Manage languages or Add language if the course has only one language, then use the course's language settings in Managing Course Languages.


3. Choose a schedule type

The Schedule type field offers Basic and Custom, and they are alternatives rather than stages. You set up one of them, not both. Basic is where every new schedule starts and it suits most courses. Use the table to route yourself to the right one, then read only that section.

If you want

Choose

Lessons on a repeating rhythm, either self-paced or on days of the week you pick

Option A, a Basic schedule

Each lesson on an exact date and time, or a set number of days after the one before it

Option B, a Custom schedule

Learners who join after launch brought up to speed automatically

Option B, a Custom schedule set to Select dates, which includes catch-up mode

Two things shape that choice:

  • Your delivery methods: Custom is available when WhatsApp is not one of the delivery methods on the send. A send that includes WhatsApp uses a Basic schedule.

  • Your timing: You can switch the schedule type freely until the first learner is enrolled. From then on, the type, the cadence, and the timezone stay as they are for that schedule, so it is worth settling them before you enroll anyone.


Option A. Set up a Basic schedule

A Basic schedule sets one rhythm and every learner follows it. Four settings shape that rhythm.

Schedule type set to Basic, with Cadence, Launch date, Lesson days showing Monday to Friday selected, and Delivery time set to Deliver anytime
  • Cadence: Choose Instant for self-paced delivery, where each learner response triggers the next lesson, or Scheduled to control which days lessons go out on.

  • Launch date: Pick the day the course starts. If you leave it empty, content starts as soon as learners are enrolled.

  • Lesson days: On a Scheduled cadence, select the days lessons are allowed to send. Selected days are highlighted, so for weekday-only delivery select Monday through Friday and leave the weekend unselected.

  • Delivery time: Set when messages send. A Scheduled cadence offers the three options below. An Instant cadence offers a single Deliver at time, and that time becomes required once you set a launch date.

Delivery time option

What it does

Deliver at

Sends every lesson at one fixed time. Learners cannot change it.

Deliver between

Sends within a window you set, and learners can choose a preferred slot inside it.

Deliver anytime

Opens the full day, giving learners the most freedom to pick a preferred time.

Three toggles belong to a Basic schedule, on either cadence. They set required responses, Continue sending on weekends, and response reminders. A Custom schedule does not offer them.

the required responses toggle set to No, with Continue sending on weekends below it and the response reminder toggle on above its five reminder intervals

The first, Do you want to turn on required responses?, decides whether a learner has to reply to a question before the next lesson is sent. Turn it on and the course waits for each learner. Leave it off and the course advances on its own, which is what Arist recommends, because it keeps everyone on roughly the same schedule.

The second toggle, Continue sending on weekends?, appears in one specific case, on an Instant cadence with required responses off. It decides whether those automatic advances happen on Saturdays and Sundays. Turn it on and lessons keep sending through the weekend. Leave it off and they wait for a weekday, though a learner reply still moves the course forward.

The third, response reminders, nudges a learner who has not answered yet, and the intervals beneath it set how long Arist waits before each nudge. Those intervals are set once for your whole organization rather than per schedule, so Configuring Response Reminders covers them end to end.

Note: Required responses changes how a group spreads out. Even if everyone enrolls on the same day, learners end up at different points in the course depending on how quickly they reply.


Option B. Set up a Custom schedule

A Custom schedule times each lesson individually. Use it when a rollout has to land on particular dates, or when learners will join after it starts. Answer When to deliver to choose how that timing is set.

Schedule type set to Custom, with When to deliver on Select dates and a date and time field for each lesson
  • Select dates: Give each lesson its own date and time.

  • Select days: Deliver each lesson a set number of days after the one before it. Include weekends decides whether those days can fall on a Saturday or Sunday.

Required responses is not offered on a Custom schedule, so lessons follow the timing you set whether or not learners reply. Reminders still apply, and they are covered in the next step.

Catch-up mode is the other reason to reach for Custom. When you give each lesson its own date, Arist brings late enrollees up to speed on its own, with no second schedule to maintain:

  • Join anytime: Learners can be added to the schedule at any point after it starts, up until the last lesson's scheduled date and time has passed.

  • Instant until current: A learner who is behind receives lessons back to back, without waiting for the next scheduled date, until they are level with the schedule.

  • A clear handoff: The learner is told up front that the course started earlier and asked to catch up, and once they are level, Arist confirms it and names when their next regularly scheduled lesson arrives.


4. Decide whether to remind learners to respond

This step applies to both schedule types. Do you want to remind learners to respond to their lessons? turns response reminders on or off for this schedule. Reminders encourage learners who have a question waiting. Arist's default sequence is built from engagement data across courses, so leave it on unless you have a reason not to.

Arist holds reminders back rather than sending them at awkward moments. Reminders are delayed on weekends and U.S. holidays unless you selected those delivery days, and go out at the appropriate time on the next valid day instead.

On an Instant cadence, reminders wait for business hours, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The sequence also resets as soon as a learner responds, so nobody is chased about a lesson they have already answered.

Note: The toggle here is per schedule, but reminder timing is organization-wide. An Org Admin can adjust it under Settings, in Response reminders, which holds exactly five reminders measured in hours since the previous one. Reminders cannot be added or removed, only retimed, reworded, or switched off. See Configuring Response Reminders.


5. Check when the first lesson goes out

The schedule type decides when a newly enrolled learner receives lesson one. Each type answers it from settings you have already filled in.

Schedule

When lesson one goes out

Basic, Instant cadence

On the launch date, at the Deliver at time. With no launch date and no Deliver at time, lessons send when you enroll learners into the schedule.

Basic, Scheduled cadence

On the first selected Lesson day that falls on or after the launch date, at the delivery time you set. Deliver anytime opens the whole of that day.

Custom, Select dates

On the date and time you gave lesson one. Catch-up mode brings a learner enrolled after that date and time up to speed instead.

Custom, Select days

On the day or date you chose for lesson one in its own Day or date field. Choose 0 days there and lesson one goes out on the day you enroll.

When you leave the launch date empty, the day you enroll counts as a delivery day. A Scheduled cadence then sends lesson one that same day, as long as it is a selected Lesson day and its delivery time has not passed. A learner enrolled after that point starts at lesson one on the next day the schedule allows.

Note: The 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM window and the weekend and holiday delays apply to response reminders, not to lessons. Lessons follow the days and times set on the schedule. On an Instant cadence, Continue sending on weekends? is what decides whether they send on a Saturday or Sunday.


6. Enroll learners and launch

Enrollment starts delivery, and it happens from the schedule itself. Selecting Enroll learners at the top right gives you two paths:

  • Select cohorts: Enroll an imported cohort in bulk, the most common way to launch. Building the cohort itself is covered in Managing Cohorts.

  • Select individuals: Search your learners and add them one by one, which suits testing a course or adding a few learners after the fact.

Note: If your organization uses teams, you can only enroll learners who belong to the team you have selected, and that applies to every role including Org Admins. Because a schedule stays with the team that created it, selecting the Default team does not turn one schedule into an organization-wide launch, so enroll each team through its own schedule instead. The schedule's enrollment counts, learner lists, and recipient export all cover that one team. (Teams is in Beta.)

Next to it, Share schedule lets learners enroll themselves when you'd rather not manage the list, using an enrollment link and QR code, a listing in your organization's course catalog, or code-based enrollment. Setting each one up is covered in Sharing Courses for Self-Enrollment.

Tip: Add yourself to the schedule before you launch, so you experience the course exactly as your learners will.

Either path ends on a review step that shows the state each recipient will enroll in, so you can see what will happen before anything sends.

the enroll flow's Review step, counting recipients by the state they will enroll in (All recipients, Will be enrolled, Will be queued, Already enrolled, Cannot be enrolled) and listing each learner with their state
  • Will be enrolled: Delivery starts for this learner as soon as you select Enroll.

  • Will be queued: The learner has a course to finish first, so this one waits its turn and shows as Up next. This happens where their delivery method runs one course at a time, where your organization caps active courses, or where the schedule sends under a named sender that is already busy.

  • Already enrolled: The learner is in this schedule already.

  • Cannot be enrolled: This schedule cannot take the learner, so they are left out of the launch.

Every status a learner can hold from here on is defined in Understanding Enrollment Statuses.

On a course offered in more than one language, the review step also shows a Language column with the language each learner will receive, and if the course does not offer a learner's own language, a tooltip explains that the learner will get the course's default language.

Review the list, then select Enroll. Delivery now follows the schedule you built.


7. Track delivery after launch

Once enrollment starts, open the schedule to review each learner’s enrollment status. You can manage selected enrollments, add the learners to an existing cohort, or enroll them in another schedule.

the schedule's delivery page with every enrollment status listed beside a learner count, Active selected, and the learner table alongside it

Add selected learners to a cohort or another schedule

  1. Open Delivery and select the schedule.

  2. Choose a status tab and use search or filters to find the learners you need.

  3. Select their rows. To include every matching enrollment across pages, choose Select all … enrollments across all pages.

  4. Choose an action from the selection bar.

  • Add to cohort: Choose an existing cohort and confirm.

  • Enroll in schedule: Choose a different schedule, review its delivery method, and confirm.

When you select across all pages, the action applies to your filtered selection. Changing the search clears the selection.

Important: Enrollment uses the destination schedule’s delivery method. Learners without an address for that method are skipped. If your organization uses teams, the destination schedule must belong to the team you are currently working in.

Enrolling learners in another schedule leaves their original enrollments in place. You do not need to create a cohort first.

What each status means, and how to act on it, lives in Understanding Enrollment Statuses. For the fuller picture of engagement and impact once delivery is confirmed, see Reviewing Analytics.


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Note: Need help at any point? Reach out to your Arist Customer Success contact, or email [email protected].

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