Esmerise Documentation Esmerise Documentation A complete, easy-to-browse guide to the Esmerise platform: modules, products, payments, community, integrations, invoicing, and more. Jump straight to a section 1. Concepts and Architecture 2. Content Types and Authoring 3. Course Structure, Progression, and Drip 4. Community Features 5. Gamification 6. Sales, Checkout, and Pricing Models 7. Billing, Invoicing, and Tax 8. Integrations 9. Site and Page Builder 10. Branding, Domains, and App 11. User Management and Access Control 12. Security and Anti-Piracy 13. AI Features 14. Analytics and Reporting 15. Plans, Pricing, and Limits 16. Common Workflows and Patterns 17. Troubleshooting and Known Pitfalls Prefer a guided video overview? We also have an official video guide of the platform, which you can access by clicking the button below. Watch the videoguide 1. Concepts and Architecture Academies An academy is the top‑level container for your brand: Hosts your courses, products, community, sales pages / website, PWA app, and branding. This all‑in‑one structure is one of Esmerise’s strongest differentiators: site, checkout, learning experience, community, and app can live in one branded ecosystem rather than in separate tools. Each academy has its own: URL (Esmerise subdomain or your custom domain). App icon and name (on Pro and above, on other plans Esmerise name and logo is used for the app). Users, products, forum, chat, integrations, and settings. Academies are independent: Users, content, and settings are not shared automatically between academies. A single creator account can create as many academies as needed. Stripe/PayPal payout configuration is tied to the creator account and therefore shared across all creator’s academies. Typical patterns: One academy per brand with multiple courses as modules (recommended in most cases). Separate academies only when: Brands or audiences are clearly distinct. You need different domains and completely separate communities. Modules and Submodules Modules are the main containers of an academy: they group lessons, quizzes, files, and optionally other modules; they are the main units students browse, unlock, preview, and buy through products. Submodules are simply modules with a parent module selected: use them to break a larger course into weeks, chapters, levels, bonus areas, or free vs premium branches; they share the same settings as top-level modules. Hierarchy is usually: Academy → Modules → Submodules → Contents (video/article/quiz/etc.). A module becomes a submodule when you fill the Parent module field. Infinite nesting levels are possible, for readability most academies work best with one main module level and, when needed, one submodule level. When editing a module, the interface presents the main options roughly in this order. Items 8 onward are inside the Advanced section. Thumbnail image This is the preview image shown on the academy home for that module. A square image works best, ideally at least 400x400. Use it to make modules immediately recognizable in cards and module lists. Name This is the main title students see on cards, lists, navigation, and locked module previews. Keep it short and explicit, because it becomes the primary orientation label for the course structure. Parent module Leave it empty for a top-level module. Select a parent if you want to turn it into a submodule. This is useful for grouping content into phases, weeks, chapters, bonus sections, or alternative learning paths. Publishing status / scheduled release A published module is available immediately, subject to product access and time-based locks. A scheduled module appears with a lock and an Available on date until the chosen release time. Use scheduling for launches, cohort releases, and weekly drops. Modules progression The toggle Unlock content/submodules one after another forces students to complete items in the order you defined. Use it for guided learning paths where sequence matters. Leave it off when students should be free to browse the material in any order. Layout mode This controls how the module is displayed to students: linear list or grid. A linear list is better for step-by-step programs. A grid is better for libraries, resource hubs, bonus collections, or any module where browsing matters more than sequence. When Unlock content/submodules one after another is enabled, the UI defaults to linear list. When it is disabled, it defaults to grid. You can still override this manually. Description This is the introductory text of the module. Use it to explain what is inside, how to approach it, prerequisites, or what students should do before moving on. Timed unlock Days to unlock delays access to the module or submodule by a number of days. In the UI this is presented as counting from the user’s first access to the academy. Use it for drip courses, onboarding sequences, and paced releases. Duplicate module Duplicates the module together with its submodules and contents. This is useful when you want to reuse a proven structure as a template inside the same academy. AI tools Generate subtitles creates missing subtitles for all videos in the module and its submodules. Generate dubbing creates AI dubbing for all videos in the module and its submodules in a selected language. These are bulk actions, useful when localizing or standardizing an entire course area at once. Upsell settings Show module when not purchased keeps the module visible to users who own another product but not this one, showing it as locked. On new modules, this is enabled by default. This is useful for upsell and cross-sell, because students can see what else is available. Purchase link adds a direct CTA on the locked module, usually pointing to a sales page or a direct product link. Button text lets you customize that CTA, for example “Buy now”, “Upgrade”, or “Unlock module”. Module visibility This is where you decide which products grant access to the module. It reflects the same access logic you also see from the product side in Products & coupons → Products, under included modules, but from the module’s point of view. It is especially useful when you add a new module and want to review which offers should unlock it without editing every product one by one. Locked modules appear to non-buyers with a lock icon and the label Not purchased. If a parent module is locked for a product, its submodules remain unavailable under that parent. Practical publishing note: Product access works at module/submodule level, not at individual content level. After creating a new module, always review either Module visibility or the relevant products under Products & coupons → Products to make sure the right offers unlock it. If you want locked modules to work as promotional previews, keep Show module when not purchased enabled and add a Purchase link. Contents Within modules or submodules you can create: Video lessons. Articles (rich text, images, files, embeds, and audio blocks). Quizzes / assignments. Other content types (e.g. “submodule” as a content type in the UI, but conceptually it’s a container). Each content item has: Title, optional cover image (for videos, quizzes, and articles; 16:9 is recommended, ideally at least 1280x720), and description. Optional comments. Optional attachments (PDF, additional video, ZIP, etc.). Advanced settings (e.g. minimum watch percentage for videos, integrations, scheduled release, and timed unlock). Video, article, and quiz contents can also have their own Days to unlock timer in the Advanced section. Products Products are the commercial layer: Define what a buyer gets access to (which modules/submodules). Define how they pay (free, one‑time, subscription, instalments, or gift products that let buyers gift access to someone else). Live in the Products & coupons section, under the Products & coupons → Products tab. Each product card, when it is not open in edit mode, already shows its purchase link with a Copy button. That purchase link is the product’s direct link: it opens the registration and purchase / checkout page for that specific product. In practice, it is a URL like .../register?p=PRODUCT_ID, where PRODUCT_ID identifies the selected product. The pencil icon opens the product in edit mode, but it is not needed to view or copy the purchase link. Stripe is not required to define products used only for access control: In Products & coupons, choose I don't need payments to continue without configuring Stripe. In this mode, you can create and edit only free products. Paid product types, coupons, and order bumps require payments to be enabled. Free products can be shared through their registration link or assigned manually from User Management. To allow only manual assignment, mark the product as not purchasable. After at least one product exists, the product list opens directly and a compact banner lets you enable payments later if needed. A user’s access is always determined by the products they own: No product → by default, users see everything; recommended to always use products to control access. Multiple products can include the same modules (e.g. bundle vs single course). Product types (see 6.2). Users and Roles Students: Have personal accounts (email + password + 2FA). See only academies where they have at least one product or free access. Staff (Pro and above): Created from User Management by marking a user as staff from the staff tab of their user detail page. Can have granular permissions. Staff is per‑academy; same person can be staff in some academies and student in others. Affiliates: Any user can be converted to affiliate from its user detail page by clicking on the 'affiliate' tab on top. Have their own affiliate dashboard and links. Commissions are tracked but not paid automatically; you pay externally and mark as paid in Esmerise. 2. Content Types and Authoring Video Lessons Creation: In a module or submodule: Click New content → Video. Upload a video file directly to Esmerise, or embed from Vimeo or YouTube (YouTube support exists but has caveats; see below). Supported uploads: Format: MP4 recommended. Resolution: up to Full HD (1080p); 4K is accepted but downscaled and wastes upload time. Recommended encoding (from support): Codec: H.264 (High Profile), progressive. Max 30 fps (60 fps will be downsampled). Bitrate guidelines (approximate): 360p: ~1 Mbps. 480p: ~2.5 Mbps. 720p: ~4 Mbps. 1080p: ~7 Mbps. Color: SDR Rec.709, 8‑bit 4:2:0. Player features: Students can: Play/pause, seek, change quality, go fullscreen. Use timestamps if you add them. Creator options: Change cover image (thumbnail). Enable/disable comments. Add description and timestamps. Attach files (PDF, additional video, ZIP, etc.). Set minimum watch percentage required to mark as completed (Pro). Use AI tools (subtitles, dubbing, timestamps) if credits are available. Embeds: Vimeo: Supported as a source; you paste the Vimeo URL. Vimeo privacy must allow embedding on your domain (e.g. allow esmerise.com or your custom domain). YouTube: Supported as a source, but: The YouTube player’s own controls (share, watch on YouTube) cannot be removed by Esmerise. For paid content, direct upload or Vimeo is strongly recommended to avoid easy sharing. Common issues and patterns: If a video appears blurry: The player may default to a lower resolution; students can change it via the gear icon. If upload fails with HTTP 400: Often due to problematic thumbnails or corrupted files. Workaround: upload the video first, then set a different cover image; or re‑export the video. Articles and Mixed Content “Article” contents are flexible blocks for text‑based lessons, resources, or landing‑like content inside the academy. Blocks available: Paragraphs. Headings. Images. Audio blocks (for MP3/wav/ogg/m4a). File blocks (for any downloadable file). HTML blocks (for custom HTML/JS/CSS embeds). Features: You can reorder bl…