Manage Certificates

LearningCart allows you to easily create your own certificates of completion using Microsoft Word. 

Certificates can be made available when a user completes either an entire course or a specific course content item. You will have an opportunity to assign a certificate at the course or course content settings level. 

To add a new certificate, navigate to Training > Certificates then click ‘Add Certificate’ in the top right-hand corner. You will see that a Microsoft Word Template is available to download. The template utilizes the Microsoft tool Quick Parts and has been populated with all available LearningCart certificate variables. 

You are welcome to use the provided template or upload your own design. You can then type any of the variable names listed below (including brackets) into your document where you would like to insert that variable. When the certificate design is complete, add that file as an upload by clicking ‘Choose File’. Then click ‘Add Certificate’. When LearningCart generates certificates for your users it will automatically replace the variable with the correct value before presenting the certificate to your users.

To edit a certificate, click ‘Edit’ next to the appropriate certificate. As you add certificates you will notice that a Preview link appears allowing you to quickly preview what your completed certificate will look like. 

General Variables

• [FullName] - First and last name of the customer.
• [Title] - Title of the course or module.
• [CEUs] - CEUs specified for the course or module.
• [CourseID] -The LearningCart ID of the Course that has been completed.
• [EventLevel] - Event level specified for the course or module.
• [EventLocation] - Event location specified for the course or module.
• [AdditionalCertificateText] - Additional certificate text specified for the course or module.
• [CustomerID] - Unique numeric number that identifies this specific customer in the LearningCart system
• [Address1] – Address line 1
• [Address2] – Address line 2
• [City] – City
• [State Abbreviation] – State Abbreviation
• [Zip] – Zip
• [Province] - Province
• [CountryName] – country Name
• [CountryCode] - Country Code
• [ShippingAddress1] - Shipping Address 1
• [ShippingAddress2] - Shipping Address 2
• [ShippingCity] – Shipping City
• [ShippingState] – Shipping State
• [ShippingAbbreviation] – State Abbreviation
• [ShippingZip] – Shipping Zip
• [ShippingProvince] –Shipping Province
• [ShippingCountryName] – Shipping Country Name
• [ShippingCountryCode] – Shipping Country Code
• [Instructor] - Name of the Instructor assigned to the session

You can also add custom profile form fields to the certificate.

The Variable name must match the profile field name exactly. Use the format [CustomProfileFieldName].

Completion date variables

• [CompleteDate] - Customers completion date including the time.
• [CompleteDateShort] - Customers completion date without the time.
• [CompleteDatedd] - Day of the month (1-31) of the customers completion date.
• [CompleteDateddd] - The abbreviated name of the day of the week of the customers completion date.
• [CompleteDatedddd] - The full name of the day of the week of the customers completion date.
• [CompleteDateh] - The hour, using a 12-hour clock (1-12) of the customer's completion date/time.
• [CompleteDatehh] - The hour, using a 12-hour clock (01-12) of the customer's completion date/time.
• [CompleteDateH] - The hour, using a 24-hour clock (1-24) of the customer's completion date/time.
• [CompleteDateHH] - The hour, using a 24-hour clock (01-24) of the customer's completion date/time.
• [CompleteDatem] - The minute (0-59) of the customer's completion date/time.
• [CompleteDatemm] - The minute (00-59) of the customer's completion date/time.
• [CompleteDateM] - The month (1-12) of the customer's completion date.
• [CompleteDateMM] - The month (01-12) of the customer's completion date.
• [CompleteDateMMM] - The abbreviated name of the month of the customer's completion date/time.
• [CompleteDateMMMM] - The full name of the month of the customer's completion date.
• [CompleteDatett] - The AM/PM designator of the customer's completion date.
• [CompleteDatey] - The year (0-99) of the customer's completion date.
• [CompleteDateyy] - The year (00-99) of the customer's completion date.
• [CompleteDateyyyy] - The year (as a 4-digit number) of the customer's completion date.

Expiration date variables

If a course has an expiration date specified (under Course Settings > Show Additional Settings) when a user completes a course, an expiration date will be generated. The variable is [ExpirationDate] and you can apply the same types of additional date formatting strings as specified above.

For example, to just show the 4-digit year of the expiration date you would utilize [ExpirationDateyyyy]

On Course Level Certificates, the Completion date is the date that the user has completed the final, required module for the course. This date is not updated if the user completes the course a second time and the date cannot be edited.

Positioning Elements

To ensure your page elements appear in the appropriate place in your design make sure when adding objects in Microsoft Word to select the option in word to "fix position on page."

Font Embedding

Please note: Embedding the fonts in your word document is important to ensure consistency between your word document and the PDF certificate that is created through LearningCart.

To embed fonts: In Microsoft Word, select File > Options > Save. Look for the checkbox labeled “Embed Fonts in the file” as well as the option “Do not embed common system fonts” (see screen shot).

1. Make sure that "Embed Fonts in the file" is checked.
2. Make sure that "Do not embed common systems fonts" is NOT checked.

You can then save your Word document and the neccesary font information will be included for our system to be able to generate a certificate using your desired fonts. 

Instructor Variables

Instructor variables such as signature and profile image can be added to a certificate through using image alt text in Microsoft Word to populate the appropriate instructor signature for each course. The images shown here show orange blocks, but you can use any image as a placeholder. The image will be swapped out with the Instructor’s Signature and/or Profile Image when the certificate is generated by the system calling the 'signature' and 'profile' alt text from the image. This value will only populate if a signature and/or profile image has been added to the instructor’s profile in the admin interface. Instructor signatures / profile images can be uploaded under their profile under Manage Users > Instructors > View/Edit. 

Note: Sizing is managed at the signature / profile image file level. The size you want your signature / profile image to appear in the certificate is the size that must be uploaded into the instructor's profile on the admin interface.