This article explains how to grant users with extra days of access to a course, what happens when you do so, and shows some specific scenarios and examples.

This feature and workflows are related to the Available for (days) field in each course’s advanced settings (for more info on the time limit options for courses see this article).

 

How to extend access to a course

You can extend the access to a course (e.g., 'Anyone can play guitar') for a specific user (e.g., T. York) in two ways:

          Option 1

• Visit the course (e.g., 'Anyone can play guitar').
• Go to the Users tab (1).
• Pick the user you want by checking the related box (2) in the Select column.
• Click the With selected… (3) green button that appears.

          Option 2

• Go to the Users section.
• In the profile area of the user, select the Courses tab (4). 
• Check the square next to the course ‘Anyone can play guitar’ (5).
• Click the With selected... (6) button that appears.

In both cases, an edit pop-up section appears, where the last field is Extend for (days) (7).

If the user had access to the course previously, but not anymore, you have also the two following ways to grant an access extension:

• the pencil icon in the Operations column, that allows you to edit all the enrollment information

• the clock icon in the Operations column, which appears only if the course status is Expired and the user has currently no access to that course

 

Effects on users

Adding a numeric value today, e.g. 3, in the Extend for (days) field, and clicking Submit, will grant to this user 3 extra days of access to the course.

This means that:

• if this specific user didn't have access to the course (Expired status), now the user has 3 extra days (72 hours) to access it and complete it, and the expiration will be 3 days starting from today.
  
  
• if the user has access to the course and the expiration is in a future date, e.g., in 4 days, adding the value 3 will result in extending the access and the course will expire in a week (7 days) from the time you submit the expiration value.
  

Adding a number to the Extend for (days) field will always result in granting access to the learner, whether it’s creating a new expiration or an extension of the already available days of access.

 

Other cases and scenarios

• Using the zero value in the Extend for (days) field

If you use the value 0 (zero) in the Extend for (days) field, the user will have unlimited access to the course, even if there was an expiration date for this access. This unlimited extension will cancel all existing expirations, and it will apply no matter what the value of the field Available for (days)  (found in the course advanced settings) is.

• Correcting a wrong expiration date and/or a wrong extension 

If the current expiration date for a user isn't correct and/or you have just added a wrong extension value and you want to change it, you can reset it and add a new expiration date: 

1. Assign a zero value for the user(s) in the Extend for (days) field (as shown in the previous example and paragraph). 
2. In the same section, add the value according to the new expiration date that you want to set. 

Example: If the course is expiring in a week, or you have just used by error the value 7, and you want instead the course to be available to a user just for 2 more days you can: first, add 0 (zero) in the Extend for (days) field and click Submit (to reset it); then, extend for 2 days.

• Extension of x days granted for a user in a course that doesn't have any value in the field Available for (days) in the advanced settings 

In this case, your extension will apply anyway, and it will create a new expiration for the user access according to the value (x days after the date of the extension).