Certificates are awarded to learners when they complete or pass a course. CollaborNation allows administrators to create their own certificates to apply to any course in their site. This gives you flexibility to customize certificates for a handful of reasons, including but not limiting:

  • Branding for your organization. You can remove all CollaborNation branding.
  • Add customized text on a course-by-course basis. If completing a course matches certain state standards you can display this on the certificate.
  • Add external course IDs if it meets state requirements. If this is the case please contact us, we may be able to help you out!

The default certificate that CollaborNation awards can be seen below:



Custom certificates allows administrators the ability to create certificates by inserting images and text. All certificate designs must be completed outside of custom certificates and saved as images to import. Common software used to create these designs include Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Acrobat.


Creating a certificate

To create a certificate, go to Certificates under Admin Tools. On this page click on Create New.



The Certificate Builder page is where you will be customizing your certificate.



  1. Certificate Title: You're able to add a title that lets you differentiate this certificate from others on the Certificate Manager page.
  2. Certificate Description: Add a description if you would like further explanatory text.
  3. Manage: This button takes you back to the Certificate Manager page.
  4. Checklist: This area lets you toggle to include fields saved in the site.
  5. Tools: This section includes various tools that will help you build your certificate.
  6. Certificate Canvas: The area to edit and alter your certificate. What displays here will be your finalized certificate.


Add Text

Use the Add Text button to add any custom text to your certificate. We recommend adding text this way rather than in an image so screen readers can read it off for learners with visual impairment.


To edit the text either double click the text or click on the Edit button to the right of the text box. This will display the text editor settings with the following options:

  • Bold
  • Italic
  • Underline
  • Text Alignment: Align left, right, center, or justified
  • Font Color
  • Text Size
  • Delete Text



Add Image

To add an image use the Add Image button and select an image to add. The image can be resized. Adding images is useful for adding a background for the certificate, seals, organization logos, and more. If you edit the image, you also have the option to add some Alt text, which we recommend for learners with visual impairments.


Checklist

The Checklist menu lets you choose to include fields generated from the site.



Basic Fields

  • Learner's Name: The name of the person who completed the course.
  • Course Title: The name of the course that the person completed.
  • CEUs Earned: If the course is eligible for CEUs, it will display the CEUs that the person earned. If CEUs aren't awarded for the course then nothing will appear on the certificate.
  • Clock Hours: The number of hours listed to complete the course. This is not how long it took the person to complete the course, but the number of expected hours to complete the course.
  • Completion Date: The date that the person completed the course.
  • Certificate URL: This is the direct URL to access the certificate that the person earned. The certificate URL can be accessed at any time, you do not need to be logged in to see the certificate. This can be helpful for organizations who print out certificates or want a direct link to see the person's completion.


State Approval

CollaborNation has courses with state approvals so when an employee completes a course, they are eligible for state credit. Please see our State Approval Map to see details of the states we have approvals in. 

  • State Course ID: This is the course's ID in the state registry. If the course is not eligible for state credentials then nothing will appear.
  • State Organization ID: The unique organization ID for the state registry, if one exists. If there is no organization ID for the state then nothing will appear.


ARI (Additional Registration Information)

If your site is set up to accept Additional Registration Information fields then those fields will display here. Each field can be toggled on or off. To learn more about how to set up registration fields, you can either read our Support Hub article or go to the registration fields page in your site.


Keyboard Shortcuts

The certificate builder has keyboard shortcuts to let you create and edit certificates with your keyboard. To view the shortcuts while on the certificate building page, click on the Keyboard Shortcuts button.



Action
Hotkey
Cut
Ctrl + X
Copy
Ctrl + C
Paste
Ctrl + V
Save
Ctrl + S
Move
← → ↑ ↓
Move 10 pixels
Shift + ← → ↑ ↓
Resize
Alt + +
Resize 10 pixels
Alt + Shift + +
Stop Editing
Esc


Certificate Options

Clicking on a completed certificate will show you more options. 



  • Edit: Make changes to the certificate.
  • Clone: Create a duplicate of this certificate. This can be helpful if you want certificates with similar styles but with a few differences based on the course.
  • Assign: You can Assign certificates to be awarded to specific courses when learners complete them. This is helpful if you have multiple certificates and want to assign specific certificates for certain courses.
  • Set Default: If selected, any course completed in your site will receive this certificate by default. Other certificates can override the default certificate if they were manually Assigned. Setting a default certificate also applies to Events and Create-A-Course.
  • Trash: This deletes the certificate permanently. This cannot be undone.


To assign a course, click on "assign" and you will be taken to all the courses you can assign your custom certificate to.