Why can't my members see this?
The four reasons something you published is invisible, in the order to check them.
- visibility
- courses
- events
- audio
- community
You published something. Your members say it is not there. This is the most common question we get, and it is almost always one of four things.
Check them in this order.
Is the tab switched on?
This is the answer most of the time. Courses, Audio, Guides and Events each have a switch in Customize, in the section called Tabs. If the switch is off, the tab is missing and every page underneath it returns a not found message, even though your console still says Published.
Communities created a while ago start with Audio, Guides and Events switched off. If you have never been into that Customize section, that is very likely your answer.
The console shows a banner on those pages while the tab is off, but it is easy to scroll past.
Is the item itself still a draft?
Courses, lessons, guides, audio tracks, events and funnel pages are all draft until you publish them. A draft is invisible to members, not greyed out. It simply is not there.
Look for the status pill on the row. Draft means nobody but you can see it.
Is its parent still a draft?
A published lesson inside a draft course is invisible, because the course it lives in is invisible. The lesson row shows this as Hidden rather than Published.
The same is true of a lesson nested under another lesson: if the one above it is a draft, the one below it cannot be reached.
Publishing a course that still has draft lessons asks you whether you want to publish the lessons too. Say yes unless you meant otherwise.
Is it locked behind a schedule or a prerequisite?
If you set a lesson to open a number of days after someone joins, or after they finish another lesson, then members who have not met that condition see a locked row instead of the lesson.
Worth knowing: the clock starts when the member joined your community, not when you created the course. Someone who has been a member for two years sees a brand new twelve week course unlocked all the way through.
A note on video
If a lesson is published and the tab is on but there is no video, the video may still be processing. Members see a message saying it is almost ready, and the page updates itself when it is. Long recordings take longer than short ones.
If it still says processing an hour later, it will flip itself to Failed and you can retry the processing without uploading again.
Common questions
It was visible yesterday and now it is not.
Check whether you unpublished it, or whether the tab it lives under got switched off. Those are the only two things that hide something that was previously visible.
One member cannot see it but everyone else can.
Then it is about that person, not the content. Either their membership ended, their payment failed, or they are looking at a lesson that has not opened for them yet.
Can I preview exactly what a member sees?
Not from inside your account, because you bypass the gates. Open your community signed out in a private window to see the public view, and ask a member for the rest.