# Build the curriculum

> Add sections and topics, and put them in order.

Source: https://paatya.net/docs/courses/curriculum

The curriculum is the outline of your course: its sections, and the topics inside each one. This page shows you how to add, reorder, publish and remove them.

## Before you start

- [Create the course](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/create-a-course) first.
- Plan your outline on paper: a few sections, each with a few short topics.

## Open the curriculum

1. Click **Courses**, then click the course's card.
2. Click the **Curriculum** tab at the top of the course.

If you have just clicked **Save & Continue** on a new course, you are already there.

## Add a section

1. Click **Add Section**. A new section appears with its title ready to type. The other sections fold away so the new one is in view.
2. Type the section's name, such as "Week 1: Introductions", and press Enter.
3. To add more sections, click **Add Section** again, or **Add another section** at the bottom of the page.

To rename a section later, click its title, or click the pencil icon next to it. You can also choose **Rename** from the section's **⋮** menu.

## Add topics

You can name all of a section's topics first, and fill them in later.

1. On the section's row, click **+ Topic**. A box opens at the bottom of the section.
2. Type the topic's name and press Enter, or click **Add**. Paatya adds it as a **Draft** topic.
3. The box stays open, so you can type the next topic's name straight away.
4. When you have added them all, click **Done**, or press Escape.

![The Curriculum page with sections and topics](https://paatya.net/docs/img/courses-curriculum-1.png)

## Fill in a topic

1. Click the topic's name. The topic's page opens. You can also choose **Edit content** from the topic's **⋮** menu.
2. Add the topic's content using the tabs: **Video**, **Quiz**, **Documents** and **Settings**. Everything saves automatically. You'll see "Saved" at the top of the page.
3. When the topic is ready, click **Publish topic**.

For each kind of content, see:

- [Add a video](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/add-a-video)
- [Add a quiz](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/add-a-quiz)
- [Documents and links](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/documents-and-links)

![Video: building a curriculum with sections and topics](https://paatya.net/docs/video/courses-curriculum.mp4)

## Rename a topic

On the Curriculum page, click the pencil icon next to the topic's name, or choose **Rename** from its **⋮** menu. Type the new name and press Enter.

> **Note:** Clicking a topic's name opens the topic. To rename it, use the pencil icon.

## Topic settings

In the topic editor, the **Settings** tab has four options:

- **Lesson description**: what the topic covers. Students see it on the topic's overview.
- **Required for completion**: when on, a student must finish this topic before the course counts as complete. Turn it off for optional extras.
- **Estimated completion time**: minutes, for a topic without a video. For a topic with a video, the video's own length is used.
- **Free lesson**: any student can open this topic, with its quiz and documents, from **Free courses**, without being enrolled. See [Free courses and free lessons](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/free-courses).

## Publish or unpublish a section

Each section has its own status, as well as each topic.

- To hide a section from students, click **Unpublish** on the section's row. The section shows an **Unpublished** label. Students see none of its topics, even the published ones.
- To show it again, click **Publish** on the section's row. Its published topics come back. Its draft topics stay hidden.

Unpublishing a section doesn't change its topics' own status, and students keep their progress on them.

## Publish or unpublish a topic

- In the topic's page, click **Publish topic** or **Unpublish**.
- Or, on the Curriculum page, choose **Publish** or **Unpublish** from the topic's **⋮** menu.

## Show or hide topics

- Click the arrow next to a section's title to fold it away or open it again.
- Click **Expand all** or **Collapse all** above the sections.

Paatya remembers which sections you folded away, in this browser, the next time you open the course.

## Put things in order

- **Drag** a section or a topic by its grip (the dotted handle on the left). You can drag a topic into a different section.
- Or use **Move up** and **Move down** in the section's or the topic's **⋮** menu.
- To move a topic to another section, open its **⋮** menu and choose **Move to section**.

## Copy a section

Open the section's **⋮** menu and choose **Duplicate**. Paatya adds a copy straight after it, named "(copy)". The copy includes every topic, with its video, quiz, documents and links.

## Delete a section or topic

- **A section:** open its **⋮** menu, choose **Delete**, then **Delete section**. Its topics go with it, along with their videos, quizzes and documents.
- **A topic:** open its **⋮** menu, choose **Delete**, then **Delete topic**.

> **Warning:** Deleting can't be undone. If students have already started a topic, deleting it removes their progress on it. Choose **Unpublish instead** to hide the topic and keep their work.

## What you'll see

- Each section row shows its number of topics and total length, and an **Unpublished** label if it's hidden from students.
- Each topic row shows its number (such as 1.2), its length, its content (**Video**, **Quiz**, **documents**) and its status badge. A topic with nothing in it yet shows **No content yet**.
- The **Curriculum metrics** panel adds up the total length, videos, quizzes, documents and sections.
- To check what students will see, click **Preview** at the top of the course. See [Preview a course as a student](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/publish-archive-delete#preview-a-course-as-a-student).

## If something goes wrong

- **"Order not saved".** Your change to the order didn't reach Paatya. Check your connection and drag again.
- **Students can't see a new topic.** Make sure the topic is **Published**, not **Draft**, and that its section isn't marked **Unpublished**.

## Next step

[Add a video](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/add-a-video) to your first topic.