# Drip content

> How to open modules and lessons for the student over time: the schedule, the rules and the delivery that links them. With examples and common errors.

Drip content decides **when** each module and each lesson opens for the student. For example: module 2 opens 7 days after the purchase. It does not decide **who** has access to the course; that is the enrollment.

## The idea in one minute

Think of the course as a building. The product is the door of the building. Each module is the door of a floor. Each lesson is the door of a room.

- A **rule** tells when a door opens. For example: "7 days after purchase" or "on March 10".
- A **schedule** is a set of rules with a name, such as "March cohort".
- A **delivery** is what the student buys. It tells which schedule applies to them.

To open a room, the door of the building, the door of the floor and the door of the room must all be open.

**The most important rule:** a schedule alone does nothing. It applies to the student only when their delivery uses that schedule. If the delivery has no schedule, the student sees all the lessons on the same day.

## The rule types

You choose a rule for the product, for each module and for each lesson. The window is **When does this open for the student?**.

| Rule | When it opens | You fill in |
|---|---|---|
| **Open** | Now. This door has no lock | Nothing |
| **Days after purchase** | After N days, counted from the purchase of each student. It can close again, N days after the same purchase | **Opens after** and, if you want, **Closes after** |
| **On a date** | On the same date and time for all students. It can close on a date | **Opens on** and, if you want, **Closes on** |
| **Passing an exam** | When the student passes an exam. The exam can belong to another product | **Exam** |
| **Coming soon** | Never on its own. The student sees the lesson closed, with no date and always the same message. When the content is ready, you change the rule | Nothing |
| **Hidden** | Never. The student does not see the lesson in the list. On a module, it also hides the lessons of that module. Not available for the product | Nothing |

Before you save, the window shows a sentence with the result. For example: "7 days after purchase" or "passing: Final exam". The same sentence shows in the list of modules and lessons.

## How Cademí decides if a lesson opens

Cademí checks three doors, in this order: the product, the module and the lesson. If a door has no rule of its own, it follows the door above. The list shows this in italics. For example: "Follows the module: opens on 03/10/26". If a door has its own rule and the door above also has a lock, the list adds "plus the module rule".

```mermaid
flowchart TD
    accTitle: When a lesson opens
    accDescr: If the student's delivery uses no schedule, the lesson opens. If it uses one, the product rule, the module rule and the lesson rule must pass, in that order. If one of them does not pass, the lesson stays closed or hidden.
    entrega{"Does the delivery use a schedule?"}
    produto{"Does the product rule pass?"}
    modulo{"Does the module rule pass?"}
    aula{"Does the lesson rule pass?"}
    abre["Lesson open"]
    bloqueada["Lesson closed or hidden"]
    entrega -->|No| abre
    entrega -->|Yes| produto
    produto -->|No| bloqueada
    produto -->|Yes| modulo
    modulo -->|No| bloqueada
    modulo -->|Yes| aula
    aula -->|No| bloqueada
    aula -->|Yes| abre
    classDef destaque stroke:#ff005c,stroke-width:2px
    class abre destaque
```

What this means in practice:

- **Open** on a lesson does not open that lesson before its module. The door of the floor stays closed.
- A rule on the product applies to the whole course.
- A rule on a module applies to the lessons directly in it. The lessons of a submodule follow the product and their own submodule.
- **Hidden** is the exception: a hidden module hides everything in it.

## When it opens and when it closes

**Days after purchase**

- The count starts at the student's purchase, with the time. A purchase at 3:00 PM with "7 days" opens at 3:00 PM on the seventh day.
- The count uses the oldest purchase that still counts. A new purchase does not restart the count and does not close what is already open.
- **Closes after** also counts from the purchase, not from the opening. The content stays open until the end of that day. The closing day must be after the opening day.
- If the student's enrollment has its own end date, that date applies. **Closes after** does not count.

**On a date**

- It opens on the date and at the time you set.
- A closing with a time closes at that minute. A closing with only the date closes at the end of the day.
- A closing date on the product ends the access to the product. On a module or a lesson, it closes only that part.

**Passing an exam**

- It opens when the student passes the exam.
- A fail completes the exam lesson, but it does not open the lock.
- An exam with no minimum score opens the lock when the attempt ends. See [Exams](https://help.cademi.cloud/en/conteudo/provas.md).

## When the student has two purchases of the same course

Each purchase brings the schedule of its own delivery. Cademí uses the **most open** rule, in this order:

1. **Open** (or a delivery with no schedule)
2. **Days after purchase**
3. **On a date**
4. **Passing an exam**
5. **Coming soon**
6. **Hidden**

Cademí compares the rule type, not the date. "7 days after purchase" wins over "opens on March 10", even if March 10 comes first. **Hidden** applies only if all the purchases hide.

**Heads up: this is where most errors happen.** Ana buys the course with the weekly schedule. Then she gets a bonus. The bonus delivery includes the same course, but it uses no schedule. Result: on the day of the bonus, Ana sees all the modules. To prevent this, use the same schedule in every delivery that includes the course.

## Step by step

### Create a schedule

1. Open **Content > Drip content**.
2. Click **New schedule**.
3. In **Tag**, choose a tag or click **Create tag**. The tag name is the schedule name.
4. In **Product**, choose the product.
5. Click **Create schedule**.

The screen opens the product with the list of modules and lessons. At the start, everything is **Open**.

You can also start in the product, in the **Drip content** tab. Click **New schedule** and choose the tag. If this schedule already exists in this product, the screen opens the one that exists.

### Set the rules

1. In the **Schedules** panel, click the schedule.
2. In the list, click the row of the product, the module or the lesson.
3. In the **When does this open for the student?** window, choose the rule and fill in the fields.
4. Check the result sentence.
5. Click **Save**. Each row saves on its own.

To use the same schedule in another product, go back to **Content > Drip content**. Expand the schedule and click **Add product**.

### Link the schedule to a delivery

Without this step, nothing changes for the students. Choose one of the two ways:

- **From the delivery.** Open the delivery in **Sales > Deliveries**. On the row of the product, choose the schedule in the **Release** selector. See [Deliveries](https://help.cademi.cloud/en/vendas/entregas.md).
- **From the schedule.** In the menu of the schedule, click **Use in deliveries**. In the product, the name is **Use in a delivery**. Tick the deliveries and click **Apply to N deliveries**.

Before you apply, the screen shows what changes in each delivery: "already in this schedule", "replaces Cohort A with this schedule" or "not part of this delivery". Only active deliveries that include a product of the schedule show. The screen tells how many deliveries it left out.

The **Also add the ... tag to the students of these deliveries** option gives the tag to the buyers. Content release does not depend on this tag.

**The change applies at once to students who already bought.** If you change the schedule of a delivery, or change a rule, the calendar changes for all the students of that delivery.

### Change one student only

In the student's profile, **Products** tab:

- **Change release schedule** puts only this student on another schedule of the same product.
- **Release** set to **Immediate** removes the days, date and exam rules for this student. **Hidden** and **Coming soon** stay.

See [Enrollments and access](https://help.cademi.cloud/en/alunos/matriculas-e-acessos.md).

### Delete and restore

- **Delete**, in the menu of the schedule, sends the rules of all its products to the trash. The students keep their access.
- You cannot delete a schedule that an active delivery uses. Remove the schedule from the delivery first.
- **Remove from schedule**, in the menu of a product, removes only that product. In the product, the **Delete** button does the same.
- The **Trash** keeps what you deleted. Click **Restore** to bring it back.

## What the student sees

| Rule | In the student area |
|---|---|
| Days or date not reached yet | The lesson closed, with **Opens on** and the date |
| Coming soon | The lesson closed, with **Coming soon** |
| Passing an exam | The lesson closed, with **You need to pass the test:** and the exam name |
| Hidden | The lesson does not show |
| Closing already past | **Closed on** and the date |

## Three ready examples

**One module per week, for each student.**

1. Product: **Open**.
2. Module 1: **Open**.
3. Module 2: **Days after purchase**, 7 days.
4. Module 3: **Days after purchase**, 14 days.
5. Use the schedule in every delivery that includes the course.

Each student gets one module per week, from their own purchase.

**A cohort with dates.**

1. Create a tag with the cohort name and a schedule with this tag.
2. On each module, use **On a date**. For example: module 1 on March 10 at 8:00 AM, module 2 on March 17.
3. On the modules with no date yet, use **Coming soon**.
4. Use the schedule in a new delivery, only for this cohort.

For the next cohort, create another tag, another schedule and another delivery. If you change this schedule, the current cohort changes too.

**Hold a module during the refund period.**

1. Product: **Open**.
2. On the module you want to hold, use **Days after purchase** with the number of days of the refund period.

The rest of the course opens at once.

## Good to know

- **One schedule, many deliveries.** If you change a rule, the change applies to all the deliveries that use the schedule. For a new cohort, create another schedule and another delivery.
- **Free product.** A product with **Release this product for free** turned on counts as "no schedule". It opens the whole course to every student and wins over a paid schedule of the same course. To prevent this, choose the **Release rule** in the **Free product** panel, in the **General** tab. See [Products and formats](https://help.cademi.cloud/en/conteudo/produtos.md).
- **Schedule from another account.** A schedule that comes from another account opens read-only. You change it in the source account.
- **Removed content.** If a module or a lesson leaves the product, its rule no longer counts. The list shows only what is in the product.
- **Deleted exam.** If the exam of a rule was deleted, the rule shows as open, with a warning. The student gets through. Choose another exam or change the rule.

## Frequently asked questions

**I created the schedule and nothing changed for the students.** The schedule is not in a delivery yet. Use **Use in deliveries** or choose the schedule in the **Release** selector of the delivery.

**A student sees all the modules at once.** The student has another purchase of the same course with no schedule, or a free product of the same course. The most open rule wins. Use the same schedule in every delivery that includes the course.

**I want to open module 2 one week after each student comes in.** Use **Days after purchase** on module 2, with 7 days. Use the same schedule in every delivery of the course. A fixed date opens on the same day for everyone.

**Can I hide a bonus module from one cohort only?** Yes. Use **Hidden** on the module, in the schedule of that cohort. A student who bought both cohorts sees the bonus, because one purchase that shows it is enough.

**The student bought again and the count did not restart.** The count uses the oldest purchase that still counts. To restart, revoke the access and grant it again. This works only if no other purchase covers the product.

**I opened a lesson, but the student still does not see it.** The module or the product of that lesson is still closed. Open the door above too.