Add a variety of content to your lessons to further enrich the learning experience of your students. This article shows you how to add and arrange content with the lesson editor (formerly the lecture editor).
For a list of supported file types available on Teachable, learn more about file types and recommended image sizes.
Overview
Using the lesson editor, you can add content like images, text, video, audio, and documents to your curriculum. You can also add education tools like quizzes, marketing tools like upsells, and advanced custom coding. All of these options are available using lesson blocks within the lesson editor.
To get to the lesson editor within your Teachable school:
- Log in to your Teachable admin area.
- In the admin sidebar, select the course you want to edit.
- Click the Curriculum tab and select an existing lesson to edit, or create a new lesson.
- Click the Add Content button within the lesson editor to display the block options.
For information on how to add or remove entire sections or lessons, refer to the Sections and Lessons article.
To upload a large number of files at once, learn more about bulk uploading content.
Add content
Content blocks include text, images, videos, audio, and resource document files. Click on the specific block type to learn more about the options. Once you have added a block to your lesson, click the Preview button to see how your content will appear to your students. To allow your students access to your lessons, click the Publish button.
In the text and image block, you can add and format text, as well as images with the text editor. Alternatively, you can add full screen images using the Banner Image block.
The text editor is a What You See Is What You GetWYSIWYG text editor; this means that what you type, and how you format the text, is how it will appear on your lesson page.
Here are the formatting tools available in the text editor:
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To add text and/or an image to a lesson:
- Click the Text & Image block. A popup will appear.
- Enter text into the text editor field. The formatting tools will appear at the top of the text block.
- To upload and embed an image in the text editor, click on the Image icon. Drag or select the images you'd like to upload to the text block.
- Resize the image in the editor by dragging the corners of the image. Alternatively, click the Edit button over the image to adjust the width.
- Click the Save button once you have finished. You’ll see the text appear in the content list for that lesson.
If you need to edit the text or image again, click the Edit icon button to re-open the text editor, make your changes, and click Save. Any changes made to a published lesson will be available to students immediately.
TIP: To add a "soft break" between paragraphs or lists, use shift+return (Mac) or shift+enter (PC) on your keyboard.
In the video block, you can upload or embed video content. You can also add subtitles to uploads in multiple languages. Uploaded video content can be made available for download to your students.
Embed a video:
- Select the Video block.
- Toggle to Embed.
- Paste the link to a YouTube or Vimeo video.
- Select Add Video.
Upload video files:
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Select the Video block. A popup will appear with options to upload the video file.
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Inside the popup area, drag the video file you wish to upload. Alternatively, hover over the sidebar to add files from your device or cloud storage service.
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After selecting the file(s) you’d like to add, click Upload.
You can add a new thumbnail or subtitles at any time by clicking the video settings (gear icon) inside the video block. If you want to make your video available for download, toggle on the Show download link display settings.
NOTE: Depending on the size of the video file, it may take several minutes for the video to upload and optimize within the lesson editor. If you have updated the thumbnail, refresh the page within your browser to see the changes.
Add video captions and subtitles
Use the auto-generate option or upload your .srt or .vtt file to add subtitles to your video. This type of file contains video subtitle information like the start and end timecodes of text and the sequential number of subtitles.
NOTE: Schools on the Free and Basic plan can only upload one .srt or .vtt file per video, while schools on the Pro plan and up can upload multiple .srt or .vtt files per video. The auto-generate tool is only available for schools on a paid plan.
To auto-generate subtitles:
- From your video, click the gear icon and scroll to Add subtitles section.
- In the Choose subtitles source drop down menu, select Auto-generate.
- Select the Audio language from the drop down menu. Click Generate.
NOTE: This may take several minutes to generate depending on the size of your video file. - Once the subtitles have been generated, your students will have immediate access to them on your videos.
- To also translate your subtitles, click the translate icon next to the generated subtitles and use the drop down menu to select additional languages.
To upload subtitles:
- Click the Manage subtitles button in the video settings.
- Choose a language display option from the drop-down menu and upload the .srt or. vtt file.
TIP: Not sure how best to set up your .srt file? Check out our SRT Formatting Guide.
Replacing or deleting video captions
To replace or delete your subtitles:
- Click on the Manage subtitles button.
- Click the Replace button to upload a new file or click on the trash can icon to remove subtitles from the video. Please note that deleting a subtitle file is permanent.
The PDF viewer block offers the ability to share readable pdfs directly inside your lesson without needing to download the documents. For students who would like to view the pdf offline, you can make the pdf file available for download.
To add a pdf file to your lesson:
- Click the PDF Viewer block. A popup will appear with options to upload the file.
- Inside the popup area, drag the pdf file you wish to upload. Alternatively, hover over the sidebar to add files from your device or cloud storage service.
- After selecting the file(s) you’d like to add, click Upload.
If you want to make your pdf files available for download, toggle on the Show download link display settings for each pdf uploaded via the PDF Viewer block.
The Audio block allows students to listen to recorded audio files directly from the lesson page. You can also offer the files available to download.
To add an audio file to your lesson:
- Click the Audio block. A popup will appear with options to upload the file.
- Inside the popup area, drag the audio file you wish to upload. Alternatively, hover over the sidebar to add files from your device or cloud storage service.
- After selecting the file(s) you’d like to add, click Upload.
If you want to make your audio files available for download, toggle on the Show download link display settings for each audio file uploaded via the Audio block.
The Banner Image block displays images as full screen files within the lesson. This block is best used for high resolution images. You can also offer downloadable versions of these images to your students. For images you want to edit or incorporate with text, use the Text & Image block.
To add a full screen image to your lesson:
- Click the Banner Image block. A popup will appear with options to upload an image file.
- Inside the popup area, drag the image you wish to upload. Alternatively, hover over the sidebar to add files from your device or cloud storage service.
- After selecting the file(s) you’d like to add, click Upload.
If you want to make your image(s) available for download, toggle on the Show download link display settings for each image uploaded via the Banner Image block.
For files that cannot be read within a lesson, you can add additional files and resources with the Resource block. The files shared with this block are only available to download.
NOTE: To avoid confusion, ensure that your students have the applications necessary to open the files after download. For example, in order for a student to open a Word document, they'll need to have Microsoft Word on their device.
To add additional files to your lesson for download:
- Click the Resource block. A popup will appear with options to upload a file.
- Inside the popup area, drag the file you wish to upload. Alternatively, hover over the sidebar to add files from your device or cloud storage service.
- After selecting the file(s) you’d like to add, click Upload.
The Code Example block allows you to display code to your students as view only, but will not be active code on the lesson page.
You can choose from a variety of coding languages from the drop down menu, including:
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To add a code example to your lesson:
- Click the Code Example block. A popup window will appear.
- Use the drop down menu to choose the code language. Enter the example code into the code block field.
- When you are finished, click Save.
- Repeat steps 1-3 to add multiple examples in different code languages.
To edit the code block, click on the Edit button. Once updated, click Save.
NOTE: Available for schools on the Basic plan and up. Course compliance is not available for embedded video content.
The embed media block allows you to use a url to embed content directly to your course. This block supports the following third-party sites:
- Google Docs
- Loom
- Typeform
- Vimeo
- Youtube
To add embedded content to your lesson:
- Click the Easy embed block. A popup window will appear.
- Copy the url of the content you want to embed and paste it in the link block.
- When you are finished, click Embed.
Add educational tools
Within your lessons, you can add multiple-choice style quizzes to track your students’ progress. There are two types of quizzes that you can add to your course:
- Non-Graded - Quiz scores are not graded or reported in the Reports section of your school admin. Additionally, any course compliance settings specific to quizzes will not affect non-graded quizzes.
- Graded (Pro plan and up) - Quiz scores are graded and reported in the Reports section of your course admin. Any course compliance settings added to your course will affect graded quizzes.
NOTE: You can only add one quiz block per lesson.
To add a quiz to a lesson:
- Click the Quiz block. A popup window will appear to add your first multiple-choice question and answer.
- To mark which answer is correct, click the box next to the answer. You can select multiple correct answers if applicable.
TIP: You do not have to use all of the answer fields. If an answer field appears that you do not need, leave it blank. The blank item will not appear to your students. - To add additional questions to the quiz block, click the New question option below the previous question. Repeat until all questions and answers are added.
- Click Save quiz when finished.
By default, quizzes added to a lesson are not graded. To make the quiz a graded quiz, click the Quiz settings (gear icon) and toggle on the grading option on.
To edit your questions and/or answers, click on the Edit button. To delete a quiz question or answer, click the trash can icon. Please note this action is permanent. Save when finished.
Generate AI quizzes
AI-generated quizzes are part of Teachable's AI Hub, a collection of AI-powered tools that help you create your courses.
To generate an AI Quiz, first create your lesson content. After your content is complete:
- Click Add content.
- Under Educational Tools, select the AI Quiz block. A popup modal will appear.
- At the bottom of the block, click Generate. Your quiz will pull from the information in your lesson.
- Once the AI Quiz is generated, make edits or add additional questions if needed.
- Click Save quiz at the bottom of the modal.
You can edit the quiz content at any time after saving.
Add marketing tools
Marketing tools offer the ability to promote other products within your curriculum that target your existing students. These options include upselling other products within your school, as well as generating new leads with a student referral program.
Add advanced tools
For creators who wish to add advanced customization or features not available through the lesson editor blocks, you can add your own custom code to your lesson. To embed content like Youtube or Google Forms, use the Embed Media block. For example, you can use the code block to embed live video streams or webinars directly into a lesson. You can also use the code block to embed forms and other materials to your lessons.
To add code example, or code that is not active on the page, please use the Code Example block.
To add custom code to your lesson:
- Click the Custom Code block. A popup will appear.
- Enter the code into the code block field.
- Click Save when complete.
To edit your code, click on the Edit button. Save when finished.
CAUTION: Teachable Support cannot assist with the maintenance or troubleshooting of custom code. Additionally, for any change made via custom code, we cannot ensure its functionality or full compatibility with current or future versions of Teachable. This includes how the code functions as well as how it impacts the appearance on mobile and web browsers.
Add Video Subtitles
To add subtitles to a video, you can upload a .srt file or you can use the auto-generate tool.
Click the Settings icon on the lesson video to set up subtitles:
Auto-Generated Video Subtitles
Not available on the Free plan.
For auto-generated subtitles, select a language and then click Generate.
The Generate option will not be available until the video has completed processing.
After processing is complete, you'll see a subtitle card added to the Video settings under My subtitles:
Click the ellipses menu to Remove or Download the subtitles.
Auto-Translate Video Subtitles
Not available on the Free Plan.
Auto-generated subtitles can be automatically translated.
To translate an auto-generated subtitle, click on the language icon that shows on the subtitle card under Video settings > My subtitles:
After a translation is complete, you'll see a new subtitle card under Video settings > Translations:
Generate AI Lesson Summary
AI-generated lesson summaries are part of Teachable's AI Hub, a collection of AI-powered tools that help you create your courses.
To generate an AI Lesson Summary, first create your lesson and add all content.
Then, select the Lesson Summary option:
You can then drag the Lesson Summary to the top of the lesson.
Click Edit to make any changes to your Lesson Summary.
Arrange lesson blocks
If you would like to change the order in which your lesson content appears, you can do so by dragging the blocks using the drag and drop feature (six dots).
Download or delete lesson blocks
To download content uploaded to a lesson block, click the More options (three dot) icon for the specific block. Then click Download.
NOTE: This option is only available for downloadable content blocks.
To delete a lesson block, click the More options (three dot) icon for the specific block. Click Delete in the pop-up window to confirm deletion. Deleting content within a lesson is a permanent action that cannot be undone.
You can also delete entire lessons and sections within your course Curriculum. Learn more about deleting lessons and sections.
Frequently asked questions
Within the file uploader, you can choose to add files directly from your device, or you can connect to the following third-party applications to add files to your lesson:
To connect:
- Click on the third-party application from the sidebar list.
- Login using your credentials for that specific site.
- After login, click Allow to grant permission for the file uploader to access the content in your cloud storage account.
- Options from that account will display within the file uploader once connected.
CAUTION: Avoid using special characters (e.g. %, *, $, ', &, etc.) in your file names, as this may cause issues with uploading the file. Instead, use letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores.