Esmerise Documentation

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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”.
12. 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 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 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).
  • Provide the purchase link you share on your site, social media, or sales pages.
• 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 blocks with drag and drop.
• Comments and attachments can be enabled similarly to videos.
• HTML blocks are rendered inside an iframe:
  • JavaScript and CSS run only inside that iframe; they cannot affect the rest of the page.
  • This can limit attempts to globally change behaviour (e.g. disabling text selection across the whole page).

Limitations:

• Articles do not support inline video blocks (only via HTML embed of external sources), you should instead create a video type content.
• There is no font-size override in text blocks;

Audio-Only Content

• There is no separate “audio lesson” content type; instead:

Use an Article with one or more Audio blocks:

• Upload MP3/wav/ogg/m4a files.
• Students can stream audio in the built‑in player.
• You can include multiple audio blocks in a single article.

Notes:

• MP4 files that contain only audio are not ideal; convert to MP3 before upload.
• For audio blocks you can decide to allow download or not optionally.

Files and PDFs

• Any content (video, article, quiz) can have attachments:
  • PDFs, Word documents, ZIPs, images, etc.
  • Attachments can be:
    • View‑only (only for pdfs and audios, because there are an integrated PDF viewer with zoom and an audio player).
    • Downloadable (if you enable download).
• PDFs viewer for attachments:
  • Displayed in an internal viewer with:
    • Page navigation.
    • Zoom controls.
  • Large PDFs:
    • Very large files (e.g. 80+ MB) can cause slow downloads or failures on some devices.
    • Recommended to compress PDFs before upload in case of issues.
  • Clickable indexes:
    • For large PDFs, clickable table of contents is supported.

Important behaviours:

• Completion tracking:
  • For non-video content (for example articles with attached PDFs), completion depends on the student clicking Mark as seen in the top-right corner, not on actual reading or download.

Quizzes and Assignments

Creation:

• In a module or submodule:
  • Click New content → Quiz/Assignment.
  • Set image, title, description, comments on/off.

Quiz configuration options include:

• Passing score (e.g. 70%).
• Time limit (minutes) or unlimited.
• Attempt limit.
• Randomize question order.
• Randomize answer order.
• Immediate feedback.
• Retry wrong answers only.
• Show certificate.
• Show correct answers.
• Limit how many questions are shown from the question bank.
• Per-answer scoring controls:
  • correct answer points
  • wrong answer points
  • optional skipping of answers

Question types:

• Question media:
  • Text, image, audio, or video.
• Answer formats:
  • Multiple choice (text).
  • Image selection.
  • Audio selection.
  • Fill‑in‑the‑blank.
  • Open answer (long text).
  • Assignment / task:
    • Text + student uploads a file (audio, video, PDF, project, etc.).
    • Teacher reviews and approves/rejects manually.

Behaviour and constraints:

• Open answers and assignments:

  • Trigger an email notification to the creator.
  • Require manual correction; you can approve/reject and leave comments.
  • There is no partial scoring (e.g. 1/2); it’s pass/fail per question.

• Import from CSV:

  • There is a built‑in CSV import button next to “add question”.
  • CSV format is documented in the UI; typical columns:
    • Question text.
    • Options A/B/C/… .
    • Correct option.
    • Optional explanation.
  • Encoding must be UTF‑8; quotes in headers or cells can cause errors.

• No survey‑only mode:

  • The quiz engine is oriented to assessment (right/wrong).
  • For pure surveys (no correct answers, branching logic), it is better to use external tools such as Google Forms, Typeform, or Jotform, embedded via HTML on Pro plans or linked externally on other plans.

Assignments as private 1:1 channels:

• Some creators use a task question as a pseudo private channel:
  • Each student uploads files (images, videos) as homework.
  • Teacher responds via comments and approval.
  • Teachers cannot upload files back in the assignment response; only text feedback.

HTML Blocks and Embeds

• HTML blocks are available:
  • In Articles.
  • In sales pages (page builder).
• Typical uses:
  • Embedding external forms (Mailchimp, Brevo, ConvertKit, Google Forms).
  • Embedding booking widgets (Calendly, Tidycal).
  • Embedding interactive tools (Wordwall, Typeform, Jotform, external chatbots).
  • Embedding external video players (YouTube, Vimeo) when not using native video content.

Constraints:

• HTML is rendered in an iframe:
  • JavaScript and CSS are sandboxed.
  • You cannot globally override platform behaviour (e.g. disable copy/paste across the whole page).
• For some external tools (e.g. Wordwall), embedding requires the Pro plan (HTML block support).

3. Course Structure, Progression, and Drip

Progression Inside Modules

• At module level there is a toggle (wording varies by language) such as:
  • “Unlock contents/submodules one after the other”.
• When enabled:
  • Students must complete each content (or submodule) in order.
  • Next content is locked until the previous is marked as completed.
• When disabled:
  • Students can navigate freely within the module.

Important details:

• Progression is per module:
  • You can have some modules linear and others free‑navigation.
• For quizzes:
  • If a quiz is required to pass before moving on, you must:
    • Set a passing score.
    • Keep module progression enabled.
• For PDFs or non‑video content:
  • Completion is based on the “Mark as seen” button.
  • If students don’t notice this, they can get stuck; many creators add a text block explaining “Click ‘Mark as seen’ in the top right to continue”.

Module and Content Time Unlock

• Modules, submodules, and individual contents can be configured to unlock after X days from the user’s first academy access.
• Fixed scheduled release dates are also available on both modules and contents.

Behaviour:

• The “unlock after X days” is calculated from:
  • Date of first access to the academy, not per product purchase.
  • This is a known limitation: if a user had free access earlier and later buys a timed product, they may see timed modules or contents already unlocked.
• If both a parent module and a content have timers or scheduled dates, both conditions must be satisfied before the content becomes accessible.
• Alternatives:
  • Use fixed calendar dates for unlock (same for everyone).
  • For per‑user drip tied to a specific product, there is no per‑product unlock timer; workarounds involve separate products and manual assignment.

Manual overrides:

• For a specific user, you can:
  • Go to User Management → Student path.
  • For a locked module or time-locked content, use “Unlock now” to bypass the timer.

Visibility and Hiding Modules

• By default, modules not included in a user’s products may still appear with a lock icon:
  • This is intentional for upsell/cross‑sell.
• To hide a module entirely from users who haven’t purchased it:
  • Open the module (pencil icon).
  • Go to Advanced.
  • Disable “Show module if not purchased” (exact label varies).
• This setting is global for that module:
  • Hidden for all users who don’t have a product including it.

Special cases:

• When you reorganize modules into a parent/child hierarchy:
  • After changing parent modules, you must revisit “included modules” in products and certificates to ensure they reference the correct modules.

Free vs Paid Content Within a Course

• Products operate at module/submodule level, not at individual content level.
• To mix free and paid content within what conceptually is one course:

Pattern:

1. Create separate submodules:
   • One submodule for free content.
   • One or more submodules for paid content.
2. Create:
   • A free product including only the free submodule(s).
   • A paid product including both free and paid submodules.
3. Optionally:
   • In the paid submodules, set a purchase link (see below) so users on the free product see a “Buy” button.

Purchase links inside modules:

• In module advanced settings there is a “purchase link” field:
  • Paste the checkout URL of the relevant product.
  • For users who don’t have access, the module shows a lock plus a button that leads to the checkout.
• This is widely used for upsell/cross‑sell from inside the academy.

4. Community Features

Comments

• Each content (video, article, quiz) can have a comment section:
  • Enabled/disabled per content.
  • Comments are visible to all students with access to that content.
• Behaviour:
  • Students can post, edit, and delete their own comments.
  • If a student deletes a comment, the notification may remain but the content is gone (expected behaviour).

Group Chat

• The group chat is a real‑time, academy‑wide chat:
  • This is one of the features that helps Esmerise feel like a living learning environment rather than a simple course library, because conversation happens inside the same ecosystem as the lessons.

Characteristics:

• Enabled from Academy Settings.
• Appears as a chat panel (usually bottom/right).
• All users with access to the academy can read and write.
• Creators can delete messages (three‑dot menu on each message).
• There is no per‑product segmentation:
  • You cannot have separate group chats per course or tier.
• Notifications:
  • When posting, admins can choose to send an email notification to all users (subject to monthly limits in some periods; this has evolved to a monthly email quota).

Limitations:

• No 1:1 private chat.
• No “read‑only” mode:
  • Group chat is always two‑way; you cannot restrict it to admin‑only announcements.

Forum

• The forum is a structured discussion area:

Features:

• Enabled from Academy Settings under Active sections.
• Supports:
  • Channels (thematic or per‑course).
  • Pinned posts.
  • File attachments (images, PDFs, etc.).
  • Rich text.
• Channel access:
  • Each channel can be restricted to specific products:
    • In channel settings, select which products grant access.
  • This allows per‑course or per‑tier communities.
  • This is especially valuable for creators who want community to stay tightly connected to the learning path instead of living in a separate tool.
• Notifications:
  • When creating a post, admins can tick an option to send an email notification to all users with access to that channel.
  • There is also an internal notification system (bell icon) for new posts/replies.
  • Historically there was a fixed monthly email limit per academy; this has been replaced by a more flexible quota.

Search and performance:

• Forum search:
  • Searches in post titles and, after improvements, also in replies.
• “Load more”:
  • A bug where filters were lost when loading more results was fixed; filters now persist.
• Performance:
  • Past issues with slow posting and replies appearing as new posts were addressed.

Limitations:

• No native 1:1 private threads.
• Only one video per post can be embedded directly; additional videos must be attached as files.

Private Communication

• There is no native 1:1 messaging between teacher and student.
• Workarounds:

1. Forum channels per student:
   • Create a private channel per student.
   • Create a (possibly free) product that includes only that channel.
   • Assign that product to the student.
   • Result: a private forum channel visible only to that student and staff.
2. Assignments:
   • Use quiz “task” questions for private file submissions and feedback.

5. Gamification

Esmerise includes a built‑in gamification system designed to increase engagement and completion rates.

Points System

• Points are an internal “currency” that students earn for specific actions inside the academy.

• They are designed to encourage different types of engagement:

• Progress

  • Completing lessons or content
  • Passing quizzes

• Consistency

  • Logging in daily

• Social participation

  • Commenting under lessons
  • Participating in the forum
  • Participating in the group chat

• Configuration:

  • In Academy Settings → Points system:
    • Set how many points each action grants.
    • Set to 0 to effectively disable points for that action.
    • Set everything to 0 to disable the points system.

• Collection:

  • Students receive notifications when points are available.
  • They must click the notification and “collect” points; until collected, some stats may not reflect them.

Notes:

• Points are per academy, not shared across academies.
• There is no built‑in monthly reset of points or leaderboard;
• You can manually add or remove points from a user in their detail page using the button near the avatar preview. This is useful for creator-run challenges or any case where points need to be awarded manually.

Rewards and Avatars

• Rewards are configured in the Rewards section (it must be enabled in Academy Settings):

Types:

1. Avatars:
   • Fun images students can purchase with points and use as profile pictures.
   • Each avatar has a point cost.
   • Once unlocked, avatars remain available; points are deducted at purchase.
2. Prizes:
   • Larger rewards such as:
     • Gadgets.
     • Private consultations.
     • Discounts.
   • Each prize has:
     • Image.
     • Name.
     • Point cost.
     • Optional limit on number of purchases per user.

Redemption flow:

• Students spend points to unlock avatars or claim prizes.
• When a prize is claimed:
  • The creator receives a notification.
  • Fulfilment is usually manual: you must deliver the prize (e.g. schedule a call, ship a gadget) outside the platform.
  • On Pro, each reward can also trigger a newsletter list/tag action when it is redeemed, if a CRM or email marketing integration is connected in Integrations.

Important:

• Rewards do not automatically unlock modules or products.
  • To use a reward as access to a special module, you must:
    • Create a product that includes that module if it does not already exist.
    • When a student redeems the reward, manually assign that product to them.

Leaderboards

• The leaderboard is an optional section showing rankings by points:

• Enable from Academy Settings → Leaderboard.

• Students can see their position relative to others.

• There is no automatic periodic reset (e.g. monthly);

Challenges and Use Cases

• Common strategies:
  • Structure courses into levels/stages with quizzes as “boss fights”.
  • Award points for:
    • Completing stages.
    • Daily logins.
    • Forum participation.
  • Run challenges:
    • E.g. weekly art contests where students submit work in a forum thread.
    • Manually award extra points to winners.
  • Use rewards such as:
    • 1:1 sessions.
    • Discounts.
    • Exclusive content.
• For platforms without Esmerise’s built‑in system, creators often emulate this externally; Esmerise provides it natively.

6. Sales, Checkout, and Pricing Models

Payment Providers and Methods

Core payment processing is via Stripe:

• Supported methods via Stripe (depending on Stripe configuration and country):
  • Credit and debit cards.
  • Apple Pay.
  • Google Pay.
  • SEPA Direct Debit / bank transfer.
  • Klarna (3‑installment “Pay in 3”).
• Additional provider:
  • PayPal:
    • Connected directly from Integrations.
    • Available for one‑time payments.
    • Not available for recurring subscriptions in Esmerise.

Notes and caveats:

• Stripe account:
  • Created or connected via Esmerise’s guided flow in Products & Coupons.
  • Esmerise uses Stripe Connect with Standard accounts; even if you already have a Stripe login, a dedicated connected account is created for the academy.
• Klarna:
  • Enabled from Academy Settings → Registration and payments (Pro plan required).
  • Stripe must support Klarna for your account and region.
  • Klarna offers 3 monthly instalments; configuration (number/frequency) is not adjustable.
  • Commission is higher (~5%) vs standard card payments (~2%), you receive the full amount upfront; Klarna bears the credit risk.

Wallets:

• Apple Pay / Google Pay:
  • Appear automatically when:
    • Enabled in Stripe (they are enabled by default).
    • The user’s device/browser has a configured wallet.
  • There is no manual control over their display order.

PayPal specifics:

• Only for one‑time products.
• PayPal’s own “Pay in 3” or instalment offers may appear; Esmerise cannot control or disable them.
• Commissions are PayPal’s standard (e.g. ~3.4% + fixed fee), billed by PayPal.

Product Types and Pricing Options

When creating a product you can choose:

1. One‑time payment:
   • Fixed price.
   • Optional access duration (e.g. 365 days) after which access expires.
   • If no duration is set, access is indefinite (unless manually revoked).
2. Free product:
   • Used for:
     • Free lead magnets.
     • Free trials of content.
   • Optional access duration (e.g. 7 days).
   • Still requires user registration (email + password).
3. Subscription:
   • Recurring billing:
     • Frequencies: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi‑annual, annual, etc.
   • Optional free trial:
     • Trial length in days.
     • Card is collected at signup; first charge occurs automatically at end of trial.
   • Price changes:
     • Changing the product price affects only new subscriptions.
     • Existing subscribers keep their original price unless you manually adjust their Stripe subscriptions.
4. Internal instalment plan (Esmerise instalments):
   • You define:
     • Instalment amount.
     • Number of instalments (up to 99).
     • Frequency (e.g. monthly).
   • Behaviour:
     • Stripe charges each instalment automatically.
     • You receive funds instalment by instalment.
     • If a payment fails, Esmerise marks the access as “payment failed” and blocks the course.
   • Access duration: - Typically set to indefinite (lifetime) after all instalments are paid. - You can also set a fixed access duration (e.g. 1 year).
5. Product to gift:

• Special product type that allows a buyer to purchase access for a third party:
• Buyer enters recipient’s email and optional message / date of delivery of the email message.
• Recipient receives an email to set their password and access the gifted product.

Notes:

• Product not purchasable:
  • You can mark a product as non‑purchasable:
    • Useful to stop new sales while keeping access for existing buyers.
• Klarna instalments:
  • When Klarna is enabled, it automatically appears as an additional payment option on all single-payment products. You can optionally disable it for specific products in the product’s advanced settings.

Access duration and expiry:

• For one‑time and free products:

  • “Access duration” in days can be set in product advanced settings.
  • After a product expires or a subscription is canceled, if the user does not have access to any other product, they are shown an “Access not active” page.
  • In Academy Settings, near the bottom of the page, you can configure the CTA shown on this screen by filling the field Page to show when access is not active.
  • This is especially useful for free trials and canceled subscriptions, because it lets users jump directly to the page where they can repurchase, upgrade, or reactivate access.

• For subscriptions:

  • Access is tied to subscription status:
    • Active → access.
    • Pending cancellation → access until end of paid period.
    • Cancelled or payment failed → access blocked.
  • Renewal is always automatic, if the payment fails the access is automatically revoked, and the user guided to solve the issue at the next login.
  • Users can cancel their subscriptions by opening the 'profile' section and then clicking on the bottom button 'manage payments'.

Coupons and Discounts

Coupons are created in Products & Coupons:

Types:

• Fixed amount (e.g. 10 € off).
• Percentage (e.g. 20% off).

Configuration:

• Applicable products:
  • You select which products the coupon applies to.
• Usage limits:
  • Total number of uses.
  • Maximum uses per user.
• For subscriptions:
  • You can choose whether the coupon applies:
    • Only to the first payment.
    • To a specific number of payments.
    • To all payments (recurring discount).
• For instalments:
  • Internal instalments:
    • Coupon applies like in subscriptions.
  • Klarna:
    • Discount is applied to the total and then split across the 3 Klarna payments.

Behaviour:

• Coupons are entered by the user at checkout.
• You can also pre‑apply a coupon by adding &c=CODE to the product link:
  • Example: https://youracademy.com/register?p=1234&c=MYCODE.
• For existing subscriptions:
  • Esmerise cannot retroactively apply coupons; you must:
    • Add the coupon to the subscription directly in Stripe from the Stripe dashboard manually.

Tracking:

• For influencer campaigns:
  • Use the affiliate dashboard with coupons linked to affiliates:
    • The buyer gets a discount.
    • The affiliate earns a commission on the discounted amount.

Order Bumps and Bundles

Order bumps:

• For each product, in its settings, you can configure order bumps:
  • Additional products offered as 1‑click add‑ons.
  • Each bump has its own price (can be discounted compared to the normal price of that product).
• Behaviour:
  • Bumps are added to the cart; they do not replace the main product.
  • There is no native “upgrade that replaces base product” behaviour.

Bundles:

• To offer “buy 2, pay X” or multi‑course bundles:
  • Create separate products that include multiple modules.
  • Set a bundle price lower than the sum of individual courses.
• There is no dynamic “cart‑wide discount based on number of items”; bundles must be explicit products.

Multi‑product checkout:

• You can create links that pre‑load multiple products into the cart:
  • .../register?p=1234,5678 (IDs separated by commas).
• Coupons can be combined with multi‑product links:
  • .../register?p=1234,5678&c=CODE.

Gifts and Free Access

Gifting:

• Use “product to gift” type if you want to let people gift products to other people:
  • Buyer pays.
  • Recipient receives access via email.
• Alternatively if you yourself as the admin want to gift accesses:
  • See below 'Free access for selected users'

Free access for selected users:

• Two main methods:

1. Manual user addition:
   • Go to User Management → Add users manually.
   • Enter email, name, surname.
   • System generates a password‑setup link to send to the user.
   • After creation, assign products via “Add product” in the user detail.
2. Free product:
   • Create a free product including the desired modules.
   • Share the product link; users register with email/password and get access.
3. 100% coupon:

• Create a 100% discount coupon and share the code.

Notes:

• For B2B bulk access (e.g. company buys 200 seats):
  • Create a paid product for the company (one invoice) with the total price.
  • Then:
    • Import a CSV of employee emails and assign the product that includes the course.
    • Or create a 100% coupon with limited uses (matching the number of licenses sold) and let employees self-register. This is riskier, because the link can technically be shared, whereas CSV import restricts access to the specific email addresses you imported.

7. Billing, Invoicing, and Tax

Manual Billing

If you do not enable Esmerise’s automatic invoicing module:

• Esmerise:
  • Can collect billing data at checkout if you enable the relevant fields in Academy Settings → Registration and payments.
  • Stores billing data in each user’s profile.
• You:
  • Issue invoices using your own accounting software.
  • Use Stripe/PayPal dashboards to see payments and fees.
• Esmerise does not send any fiscal documents to tax authorities in this mode.

Automatic Invoicing

Esmerise offers an optional automatic invoicing module that automates the invoicing workflow end to end, from billing data collection to tax calculation to PDF or e-invoice generation. It is one of the highest-leverage operational features for creators who want to run a serious business without stitching together external invoicing tools.

• When enabled from Automatic invoicing:

Behaviour:

• For each qualifying sale:
  • Collects all required billing data (tax ID / VAT ID, address, etc.).
  • Automatically calculates taxes based on the customer’s information, worldwide.
  • Automatically generates the invoice in your name.
  • Currently supports Italian, Spanish, Polish, UK, French, Swedish, Australian, and Dutch companies.
  • For Italian companies, invoices are automatically sent to SDI (Sistema di Interscambio), and stamp duty (marca da bollo) is also handled automatically when needed.
  • Makes a PDF copy available both to the customer in their profile and to you in the automatic invoicing dashboard.
• For refunds:
  • A credit note is automatically generated after a Stripe / PayPal refund is processed.
• For SEPA and instalments:
  • Invoices are issued only after successful payments.

Fees:

• The module charges 1.5% of the invoiced amount (in addition to Stripe/PayPal fees).
• This is billed monthly by Esmerise (application fee via Stripe) and accompanied by an Esmerise invoice on the first of the following month.

Configuration:

• Requires:
  • VAT regime in cases where multiple regimes have different VAT rules (for example Italy).
  • VAT ID.
  • Business address and other fiscal data to put on the invoices on the seller side.

Important notes and pitfalls:

• Mixed VAT rates:
  • The module does not support per‑product reduced VAT (e.g. 4% for ebooks vs 22% for courses).
  • If you need different VAT rates per product, you should not use automatic invoicing and instead issue invoices manually.

Stripe Invoices vs Fiscal Invoices

• Stripe always creates technical invoices (for its own billing and payment flows).
• These are not fiscal invoices in most jurisdictions.
• With Esmerise automatic invoicing:
  • Fiscal invoices are generated by Esmerise.
  • Stripe’s “invoice” objects are just part of the payment process.

Creators should:

• Use Esmerise’s invoices (and credit notes) as the official fiscal documents when the module is enabled.
• Treat Stripe’s invoices as internal receipts for card processing fees.

VAT and International Sales

• Esmerise’s automatic invoicing module is designed to handle:
  • Italian domestic sales.
  • EU B2B with VAT ID (reverse charge).
  • EU B2C with VAT.
  • Extra‑EU sales (no VAT).
  • Applies VAT of the buyer country if the OSS regime is enabled in the module settings.
• The module:
  • Validates VAT IDs.
  • Applies or omits VAT based on country and VAT ID presence.

Limitations:

• There is no geolocation enforcement:
  • Country is taken from the user’s input; they could misreport it.
  • VAT exemption is based on VAT ID validation, not IP.

8. Integrations

Email Marketing and CRM

Native integrations include:

• ActiveCampaign.
• Aweber.
• Brevo (Sendinblue).
• ConvertKit / Kit.
• Keap.
• Flodesk.
• GetResponse.
• HighLevel (GoHighLevel).
• Klaviyo.
• MailerLite.
• Mailchimp.
• Systeme.io.
• SmsHosting.
• SnakeMember.
• Spoki.

Capabilities:

• At product level:
  • Map:
    • “Users with incomplete checkout” → list/tag.
    • “Users with active product” → list/tag.
    • “Users with expired product” → list/tag. Additionally, for subscription products:
    • “Users with subscription in trial status → list/tag.
    • “Users with canceled subscription → list/tag.
• At content level (Advanced tab):
  • On completion of a specific content (e.g. last video, quiz), add user to a list/tag.
  • Used for:
    • Post‑course sequences.
    • Reminders.
    • Trial ending flows.
• In the rewards section (advanced option of each reward):
  • On purchase of a reward with points → list/tag, can be used to create a system to deliver automatically the reward.

Consent:

• In integration settings you can choose:
  • Add all buyers to the list.
  • Or only those who tick a marketing consent checkbox at checkout (GDPR‑compliant).

Notes:

• When multiple lists are defined for a product, Esmerise can move users between lists when status changes, automatically removing them from the old list (e.g. from “checkout incomplete” to “active”).

Analytics and Tracking

Supported tracking tools:

• Google Analytics 4.
• Google Tag Manager.
• Facebook / Meta Pixel.
• TikTok Pixel.
• Google Consent Mode v2 (via Iubenda integration).

Behaviour:

• When you add GA4 or GTM codes in Integrations, Esmerise:
  • Injects scripts into the appropriate pages (sales pages, checkout, thank‑you).
  • Sends events such as:
    • PageView.
    • AddToCheckout.
    • Purchase
• For Meta Pixel:
  • There is a native integration that:
    • Sends standard events (including Purchase) client‑side.

Server‑side tracking:

• There is no built‑in server‑side Conversion API integration.
• All events are client‑side.

Search Console:

• You can verify domains via:
  • DNS records (recommended if you connected a custom domain).

Trustpilot and Reviews

• Integration available in Integrations:

Behaviour:

• After a purchase:
  • Trustpilot can send an automatic email (about 7 days later) inviting the customer to leave a review on Trustpilot.
• Limitations:
  • Only triggered for new purchases.
  • Existing subscribers are not retroactively invited.
• For inviting existing customers:
  • Creators are advised to send a broadcast email with a direct link to their Trustpilot page.

Calendars and Booking Tools

Common tools:

• Calendly.
• Tidycal.
• Other booking systems.

Integration patterns:

• For Pro plan:
  • Embed booking widgets via HTML blocks in:
    • Articles inside the academy.
    • Sales pages.
• For Base plan:
  • Use clickable links to external booking pages.

Typical flows:

• 1:1 coaching:
  • Product for the coaching package that gives access to a module (after purchase) with:
    • An article embedding Calendly.
    • Or a link to Calendly.
• Group sessions:
  • A module listing upcoming sessions with links.

Other Integrations and Custom APIs

APIs:

• Esmerise exposes user management APIs for the Enterprise plan:

Capabilities:

• Create users.
• Assign products (access) to users.
• Change access status.
• Read all user details and access states.

Limitations:

• No public APIs for:
  • Content (videos, modules, quizzes).
  • Embedding the player in external apps.
  • SCORM/xAPI.

SSO:

• Enterprise plan supports OpenID Connect SSO:
  • Used by corporate clients to integrate with their identity providers.

9. Site and Page Builder

Public Pages vs Academy Area

• Academy area:
  • Login‑protected.
  • Fixed layout:
    • Module tiles on the home.
    • Content list inside modules.
  • Not intended for marketing copy or SEO.
• Sales Pages & Site:
  • Built with the page builder under Landing Pages & Website.
  • Publicly accessible.
  • Used for:
    • Homepages.
    • Course sales pages.
    • About, contact, terms, privacy, etc.

Page Builder Capabilities

Sections and elements:

• You can:
  • Start from scratch or use templates.
  • Add sections with configurable column layouts.
  • Add elements such as:
    • Text.
    • Headings.
    • Images.
    • Buttons.
    • Video.
    • Countdown timers.
    • Product blocks (auto‑pull product name/price/button).
    • Social icons.
    • Contact forms (simple email forms).
    • HTML blocks (for embeds).
    • “Read more” paragraphs.
    • Instant chat element (for WhatsApp/Spoki).
• Styling:
  • Background color/image per section.
  • Borders, border radius.
  • Spacing (padding/margins).
  • Typography (font, size, color).
  • Some global theme settings (light/dark, primary color).
• Device visibility:
  • You can hide sections on mobile or desktop.
  • There is a mobile preview mode.

Menus and Navigation

• Menus are configured in the “Menus” tab of the landing pages and website section:

Features:

• You can create multiple menus.
• Add items:
  • Link to internal pages.
  • Link to external URLs.
  • Link to submenus (dropdowns).
• For each page:
  • Choose which menu to display in its header (or none at all).

Notes:

• The homepage is the page whose URL field is left blank.
• The logo in the header always links to the homepage.
• Dropdown menus:
  • Implemented by creating a submenu and linking it as a menu item.

SEO, Indexing, and Search Console

SEO fields:

• Each page has:
  • Title (used as <title>).
  • SEO description.
  • Social preview fields (og:title, og:description, og:image).
• Behaviour:
  • SEO description is used by search engines and sometimes in link previews.
  • Social preview fields override SEO description in some contexts (e.g. Telegram, WhatsApp), but behaviour can vary.

Indexing:

• During trial, public pages may be non‑indexed by default to avoid spam.
• You can control:
  • “Allow search engine indexing” per page (advanced settings).
• For Search Console:
  • Verification via:
    • DNS TXT records (recommended if you connected a custom domain).
    • GA4 / GTM

Blog-Like Structures

• There is no native blog module.
• Workaround:

Pattern:

1. Create a page per article using the page builder (or an article content exposed via a public page).
2. Create an index page listing articles:
   • Use text or cards linking to each article page.
3. Add the index page to the main menu.

Notes:

• Pages are indexable by search engines.
• Each page has its own SEO fields.
• For a more blog‑like experience, manual maintenance is required (no automatic archives, categories, etc.).

10. Branding, Domains, and App

Branding and White‑Label

• Branding options:

Base plan:

• Academy hosted at esmerise.com/youracademy.
• Esmerise logo appears in some places (e.g. app icon).

Pro plan:

• Own domain or subdomain can be linked from the academy settings section (no esmerise.com in URLs).
• Custom favicon and app icon.
• App appears with your icon and name when installed.

Enterprise:

• Adds:
  • Higher bandwidth tiers (needed if expecting 1000+ students).
  • SSO.
  • APIs.

Custom Domains

• You can connect:

1. Subdomain (recommended when you already have a main site):
   • Example: academy.yourdomain.com or corsi.yourdomain.com.
   • DNS: CNAME record:
     • Host: academy (or chosen subdomain).
     • Value: esmerise.com.
2. Root domain:
   • Example: yourdomain.com.
   • Requires changing nameservers to Esmerise’s AWS nameservers.
   • Esmerise then manages DNS for that domain.

In both cases, open Academy Settings → Connect custom domain, and follow the guided procedure.

Notes:

• Only one custom domain per academy.
• Each academy can have its own domain; multiple academies require multiple domains/subdomains.
• SSL:
  • Esmerise provisions SSL certificates automatically.

Redirects:

• If you change domains:
  • Old Esmerise URL (esmerise.com/academy) remains active.
• For WordPress or other sites:
  • Suggested: you can keep your main site and use a subdomain for Esmerise.

Progressive Web App (PWA)

• Esmerise academies are available as installable web apps (PWA):
  • This is one of Esmerise’s clearest differentiators: creators and students can use the same branded mobile experience instead of bouncing between disconnected / non white-label / feature limited apps.

Installation:

• On mobile:
  • Open the academy in the browser.
  • Go to Profile section.
  • Tap the green “Install app” button at the bottom.

Behaviour:

• The app runs full‑screen, without browser UI.
• Students and admins can:
  • Access all content.
  • Use community features.
  • Manage courses (for admins).
  • No feature limitations compared to web version.
• Each academy has its own app:
  • If a user is in multiple academies, they may install multiple PWAs.
• Branding:
  • On Pro and above, the app icon and name use your academy’s branding.
  • On Base, the Esmerise icon is used.

Limitations:

• No native push notifications (OS‑level).
  • Notifications are internal (in‑app) and via email.

11. User Management and Access Control

User Creation and Import

Manual creation:

• User Management → Add users manually:
  • Single user:
    • Enter email, name, surname.
    • Optionally assign products immediately.
    • System shows a password‑setup link to send to the user.
  • CSV import:
    • Upload a CSV with headers (e.g. email, first_name, last_name).
    • Map columns.
    • Optionally assign a product to all imported users.

States:

• Users can have products in states such as:
  • Active.
  • Cancelled.
  • Pending cancel.
  • Expired.
  • Payment failed.
  • Checkout not completed.

Bulk operations:

• Some bulk operations (e.g. expiring all users after 12 months) can be done by support from admin tools.
• The UI supports:
  • Filtering users by product and status.
  • Exporting filtered selections to CSV.

Access States and Expiry

Per‑user, per‑product:

• In the user detail, each product has:
  • Status (checkout not completed, active, cancelled, pending cancellation, payment failed, expired).
  • Optional expiry date (for fixed‑duration access).
• You can:
  • Change status manually (e.g. from “payment failed” to “active” after an offline payment).
  • Set or adjust expiry dates.

Subscription behaviour:

• When a user cancels a subscription:
  • Status becomes “pending cancellation”.
  • Access remains until the end of the paid period.
  • Then status becomes “cancelled” and access is revoked.
• If a payment fails:
  • Status becomes “payment failed”.
  • Access is blocked.
  • Stripe may retry automatically; if a retry succeeds, access is restored.

Staff Accounts and Permissions

• Staff accounts are created by:

1. Adding a user via User Management.
2. Opening their profile and going to the Staff tab.
3. Enabling staff and selecting permissions.

Permissions:

• Areas include:
  • Content and website
  • Products and billing
  • Users, affiliates, and certificates
  • Settings and integrations
• Staff is per‑academy:
  • A staff member in one academy is not automatically staff in others.

Notes:

• Some critical actions (e.g. creating new academies, changing account‑level billing, buying AI credits) remain reserved to the main account owner.
• Staff do not manage the global Esmerise account (which can be linked to multiple academies).

Affiliates

• Any user can be converted to an affiliate:

Configuration:

• In user detail:
  • Enable affiliate status.
  • Set:
    • Commission percentage.
    • Commission on renewals (can be equal or different or 0).
    • Attribution window duration (default 30 days).
    • Optional coupon associated with the affiliate.

Affiliate links:

• Affiliates see their link in their Affiliate tab inside the academy.
• You can create specific link for specific affiliates (specific sales pages) both for all affiliates, or for single affiliates.

Commissions:

• Esmerise tracks:
  • Which sales came via which affiliate.
  • Commission amounts.
• Payment:
  • You must pay affiliates manually (bank transfer, PayPal, coupon, etc.).
  • After paying, mark commissions as “paid” in the affiliate dashboard.

Coupons + affiliates:

• If an affiliate has a coupon:
  • Buyers using the coupon get a discount.
  • The affiliate earns commission on the discounted amount.
• If an affiliate has no coupon:
  • Buyers pay full price.
  • Affiliate still earns commission.

12. Security and Anti-Piracy

Authentication and 2FA

• Login uses email + password + one‑time code (2FA):

Behaviour:

• On first login from a device/browser:
  • User enters email and password.
  • A 6‑digit code is sent by email.
  • User must enter the code to complete login.
• On subsequent logins:
  • As long as the session persists and the device is recognized, no new code is required.
  • If the user logs out, uses incognito, or uses a new device / browser, a new code is requested.

Rationale:

• 2FA is mandatory and cannot be disabled globally.
• It is a key anti‑sharing measure:
  • If students share passwords, they must also share access to the email inbox, which is less likely.

Special cases:

• For users with problematic email providers (e.g. Libero, Yahoo) where codes are delayed or lost:
  • Support can set a temporary code so the user can log in and change their email, or even a fixed code (e.g. 123456), effectively disabling 2FA for that user.
  • This is a compromise and should be used sparingly.

Device Limits and Session Management

• Esmerise enforces a limit of 3 active sessions per student account and 6 active sessions per creator account:

Behaviour:

• When a 4th/7th session is started:
  • The oldest session is automatically logged out.
• This:
  • Limits simultaneous sharing of accounts.
  • Still allows a user to use multiple devices (e.g. phone, tablet, laptop).

Logs:

• IP addresses of logins are recorded.
• They are not visible in the UI but can be exported by support on request.

Content Protection

• Video content:

  • Not downloadable via the player.
  • URLs are not exposed for direct download.
  • Screen recording cannot be technically prevented (this is a general web limitation).

• PDFs and files:

  • Can be configured as view‑only (no download button).

• YouTube/Vimeo:

  • YouTube embeds cannot hide the share button; not recommended for premium content.
  • Vimeo privacy must be configured to allow embedding only on your domains.

Logs and Compliance

• For compliance (e.g. workplace safety training, FAD ECM, Fundae, Qualiopi), Esmerise provides:

Per user:

• Date and time of start and completion for each content.
• For videos:
  • Seconds watched.
  • It is possible to set a minimum percentage threshold for completion that tracks the seconds watched and only then enables the mark as seen button (Pro).
• IP addresses (on request).

Aggregated:

• Completion statistics per module/product/content are available in the stats section (Pro).

Limitations:

• No full login/logout session logs (continuous time tracking).
• No SCORM/xAPI support.

13. AI Features

Subtitles and Dubbing

Available for videos uploaded to Esmerise (not for Vimeo/YouTube embeds):

• Automatic subtitles:

  • Generate subtitles in multiple languages.
  • Stored as VTT files.
  • Can be edited manually later.

• Automatic timestamps:

  • Generate timestamps for the video (you can specify how many).

• Dubbing:

  • Generate synthetic audio tracks in other languages with state of the art AI models.
  • After dubbing, the player shows a language selector.

Bulk operations:

• From module advanced options:
  • You can trigger subtitle/dubbing generation for all videos in a module (bulk).
  • The system estimates total minutes and required credits before confirmation.

AI-Generated Quizzes

• From existing content (articles, videos, modules), AI can:
  • Create quiz questions and answers. You can specify how many questions, how many possible answers, and even give style / tone of voice / extra suggestions to the model.

Notes:

• AI quiz generation is based on content inside Esmerise:
  • Attachments are not read. For text based attachments like PDFs, you can first paste their text content into an article.
• AI features are available on all plans but consume AI credits.

Credits and Costs

• AI features use a credit system. Exact pricing and credit packs may change; always refer to the in‑app AI credits page.

14. Analytics and Reporting

Per-User Progress

• User Management → User detail → Student path tab:

Shows for each user:

• List of contents.
• Status (not started, in progress, completed).
• Quiz score in state of quizzes.
• Date and time of:
  • First access.
  • Completion.

You can:

• Manually mark contents as completed for a user (e.g. to unblock a stuck student).
• See which modules are locked/unlocked for that user exactly as they see them.
• Unlock in advance for that student time-locked modules.
• Check answers of quizzes.

Aggregated Statistics

• Statistics section (Pro and above):

Capabilities:

• Filter by:
  • Module.
  • Product.
  • Specific content.
• See:
  • Number of users who started/completed.
  • Average completion percentage.
  • Drop‑off points.
• For compliance:
  • Export lists of users who completed a given module or course.

Exports

• From User Management → Export selection:

• Export CSV of:

  • Users filtered by product, status, or other filters.

  • Available fields include:

  • Email

  • First name

  • Last name

  • Last access

  • Subscribed from

  • Phone number

  • Date of birth

  • Optional: Include product access details, which adds:

  • Product name

  • Product status

  • Subscribed from

  • If product access details are included, the export generates one row per product access.

  • Users with multiple products will appear multiple times. Users with no products are excluded.

Certificates:

• There is a self-service download all certificates option in the UI. Open the desired certificate from the completion certificates section and click export: all certificates will be downloaded in a single PDF, with one page per user certificate.

15. Plans, Pricing, and Limits

Base vs Pro vs Enterprise

Base plan (names and prices may vary by locale):

• Key characteristics:
  • 5% Esmerise commission on each paid transaction.
  • No custom domain.
  • No staff accounts.
  • No internal instalment products (only subscriptions).
  • No automatic completion certificates.
  • No aggregated content completion statistics (but rich per‑user view).
• Suitable for:
  • Early‑stage creators.
  • Low volume or testing.

Pro plan:

• Key characteristics:
  • 0% Esmerise commission (only Stripe or PayPal or Klarna fees).
  • Custom domain and App white-label (app icon / app name) branding.
  • Staff accounts with granular permissions.
  • Instalment products.
  • Automatic certificates.
  • Advanced aggregated content completion statistics.

Enterprise plan:

• Adds:
  • Higher bandwidth tiers.
  • SSO (OpenID Connect).
  • User management APIs.
• Pricing:
  • Tiered by bandwidth and active users.

Upgrade/downgrade:

• You can:
  • Upgrade from Base to Pro or Pro to Enterprise at any time.
  • Pay only the pro‑rated difference for the remaining period.
• Downgrades (must be requested to support):
  • From Enterprise to Pro:
    • Content and users remain; Enterprise‑only features (SSO, APIs) are disabled.
  • From Pro to Base:
    • Staff features and custom domain are lost.
    • Content remains.

Storage and Bandwidth

Storage:

• Unlimited number of videos and total storage across all plans.
• Only limit: 5 GB per video file.

Bandwidth:

• Base/Pro:
  • Designed for up to ~1000 active student for an average length course (1 TB/month of streaming bandwidth).
• Enterprise:
  • Higher tiers.
• If you exceed bandwidth:
  • Esmerise will contact you to discuss upgrading; there is no automatic hard cut‑off described. Pricing is reasonable and dependant on server costs.

Trial Behaviour and Grace Periods

Trial:

• 10‑day free trial.
• No credit card required.
• Equivalent to Base plan (Pro features can be enabled during the trial by support on request).

After trial:

• If you do not choose a plan:
  • Access to the admin interface is blocked.
  • Content is not immediately deleted.
• Grace period:
  • Content is typically preserved for ~1 month after cancellation or trial expiry.
  • After that, Esmerise may remove content for hosting cost reasons.
• If you subscribe within the grace period:
  • Your academy and content are restored as they were.

16. Common Workflows and Patterns

Creating a New Course

Typical steps:

1. Create an academy (if not already):
   • Choose name and brand color.
2. Create a module:
   • New module → image, title, description.
3. Optionally create submodules:
   • Inside the module: New content → Submodule.
4. Add contents:
   • Videos: New content → Video.
   • Articles: New content → Article.
   • Quizzes: New content → Quiz/Assignment.
5. Create a product:
   • Choose type (one‑time, subscription, free, instalments).
   • Set price and access duration.
   • Under “included modules”, select the course module(s).
6. Set up community (optional):
   • Enable comments, forum, and group chat as desired.
   • Create forum channels per course.
7. Configure gamification (optional):
   • Set points for actions.
   • Create rewards and leaderboard.
8. Create a sales page:
   • In Sales Pages & Site, create a new page or use a template.
   • Add a product element and link it to the product.
9. Share the link:
   • Use the product link directly or the sales page URL in your marketing.

Offering Free Previews

Patterns:

• Free product:
  • Create a free product including only the first module/submodule.
  • Paid product includes full course.
• Inside the academy upsell:
  • In locked modules, set the purchase link to the paid product in the module’s Advanced upsell settings.
  • Students on the free product see locks with “Buy” buttons.

Membership / Subscription Models

Common membership structures:

• Single membership tier:
  • One subscription product including all modules.
  • New content added to included modules is automatically available to members.
• Multiple tiers (e.g. Free, Entry, Premium+Community):
  • Free product:
    • Includes limited modules and maybe a forum channel.
  • Entry product:
    • Includes more modules, no community.
  • Premium product:
    • Includes all modules and community channels.
• Drip content:
  • Use module time unlock, content time unlock, or fixed release dates.
  • For daily/weekly programs, create one module per period and optionally add content-level timers inside each module when you need a finer drip sequence.

Upgrades/downgrades:

• For subscriptions:
  • Subscription products include a Behaviour in case of multiple subscriptions option.
  • Cancel old subscription in favour of new:
    • When a user buys a new subscription product, the old one is cancelled automatically.
    • Stripe handles pro‑rated charges when applicable.
  • Keep both subscriptions:
    • The user can keep multiple subscriptions active inside the same academy.

Corporate / B2B Use Cases

• Internal training:
  • Use Esmerise as a private LMS for employees.
  • Users imported via CSV (or via API with Enterprise).
• Bulk purchases:
  • Company buys X seats:
    • Create a product for the company (one invoice).
    • Import employees via CSV from User Management and assign them the relevant product.
• Compliance training:
  • Use video completion thresholds and quizzes.
  • Export logs for audits (date/time, seconds watched, IP).
• Multi‑client setups:
  • One academy per client (brand, domain, app).
  • All academies under one Esmerise account share the same Stripe (same legal entity).
  • If different legal entities are needed, separate Esmerise accounts are required.

17. Troubleshooting and Known Pitfalls

Access and Login Issues

Common patterns:

• “Your access is not active”:
  • User has no active product or subscription.
  • Check:
    • User detail → products and status.
    • Stripe for failed payments.
• 2FA code not received:
  • Email providers like Libero, Yahoo can delay or drop codes.
  • Ask user to:
    • Check spam.
    • Use a more reliable email (e.g. Gmail) and update it in profile.
  • Support can temporarily set a fixed code (e.g. 123456).
• User created with wrong email:
  • The user can usually change their own email from the Profile section.
  • If that is not possible, only support can change the email. Creators must send the old and new email to support.
• Student has no access even though they paid:
• They may be logging in with a different email and have a duplicate account.
  • Check User Management and search for the full name and both email addresses if needed.

Payments and Checkout

Issues:

• Card declined / 3D Secure failures:
  • Often due to bank 3DS flows, especially on mobile.
  • Suggest:
    • Trying another card.
    • Using Apple Pay/Google Pay if available.
    • Contacting the bank.
• PayPal errors:
  • “UNPROCESSABLE_ENTITY” or “TRANSACTION_REFUSED”:
    • Usually due to unverified PayPal Business account.
    • Ensure PayPal Business is fully verified.
• Klarna not showing:
  • Klarna not enabled in Academy Settings.
• SEPA bank transfer still pending even after the customer sees a bank movement:
  • SEPA transfers can take 5–14 days.
  • Stripe shows “pending”; access is activated only when funds arrive.
  • If needed, you can manually activate access sooner from User Management by opening the user detail, scrolling to the product, clicking the three dots on the right, and changing the status to active. If the transfer later fails, Esmerise will block it again.

Refunds:

• Creator can do that from their Stripe or PayPal accounts.
• Esmerise’s automatic invoicing if active will generate credit notes for refunded invoices automatically.
• Refund policy is up to the creator.

Content Upload and Playback

Issues:

• Transcoding takes a long time:
  • Large video files can sometimes take hours to process.
• Error 400 on upload:
  • Often due to:
    • Corrupted file.
    • Problematic thumbnail.
  • Try:
    • Uploading with another thumbnail.
    • Re‑exporting the video.
• Video freezes:
  • Try lowering playback quality from the gear icon in the player.

Progression and Unlocking

Common pitfalls:

• Students stuck:
  • They don’t see or click “Mark as seen” in content.
  • Solution:
    • Disable progression for the course.
    • Or explain to the user that they need to click the green Mark as seen button in the top-right corner.
• New modules not accessible to existing buyers:
  • New modules/submodules are not automatically added to products.
  • You must:
    • Edit the product.
    • Add the new modules under “included modules”.