Reusable certificate templates

A certificate template is a complete certificate saved once in the institution - the background image, the text with dynamic fields, the text color, the security information, and the second page - and then selected on as many pieces of content, classes, or tracks as you want. When you change the template, every certificate that uses it changes together.

Two different “models”

The word appears in two places on the screen, with different meanings:

• the Certificate Model field (Default or Advanced) defines only the layout - what the platform writes over the artwork (see Choose the model);
• a certificate template (this article) is the entire certificate saved for reuse. Inside it, you also choose the layout, in the same Certificate Model field.

When to use

Use a certificate template when:

• several pieces of content should issue the same certificate, and you want to change the artwork or the text in a single place;
• the platform’s standard text (“We certify that… completed the content…”) doesn’t fit, and you need your own text, with the participant’s and the content’s data.

For a single certificate on one piece of content, with the standard text, the content’s manual configuration is enough - see Online customization and issuance of certificates.

Create a template

Templates live in the institution’s settings, on the Certificate Templates tab. The list shows the Name and the Model (Default or Advanced) of each one.

Institutions with the Certificate builder

With the Certificate builder enabled, New template opens the full editor, and templates made in it show Full editor in the Model column. Templates made in the form described below get the old badge and still open in that form.

1. Click New template.
2. In Name, give it a name that identifies the template in the list and in the content selector (for example, “Institutional 2026”). Each name is unique within the institution.
3. In Certificate Model, choose Advanced. With Default, the platform doesn’t print the template’s text on the certificate - the text needs to already be part of the image.
4. In Certificate text, write the text. To include a piece of the participant’s or the content’s data, place the cursor and choose the data in Insert field (see Dynamic fields).
5. Check the Text preview, right below: it shows the text with sample data as you type.
6. If the institution has more than one language, a text box appears per language. Fill in the one for each language the certificate should come out translated in.
7. Check Show Security Information to print the verification link in the footer.
8. Click Save Changes.

After the first save, the template gains the fields that depend on it already existing (until then, the screen says: “Save the template to upload the background images.”):

9. Certificate Text Color - type the color in hexadecimal or use the picker. Save again after changing it.
10. In Certificate Background, upload the background image (JPG, 2000 × 1428 px) and, if you want a back page, the second-page image in Second Page (Optional). The images are saved as soon as the upload finishes. Prepare the artwork as explained in Prepare the background image, following the areas of the Advanced layout.
11. Click Preview PDF to see the complete certificate, with the artwork and the text, using sample data. If there are unsaved changes, the platform saves the template before generating the preview. The preview opens in a new tab and you stay in the editor.

Caution

A template doesn’t accept a different background image per language - only the text can be translated. If the artwork has text written on it that needs to change per language, configure the certificate manually on the content, which accepts one image per language.

Dynamic fields

Choose the field in Insert field and it’s inserted into the text at the cursor position, in the format {{code}}. On the certificate, each field is replaced with the participant’s real data.

Field (in Insert field)	Code in the text
Participant name	{{participant.name}}
Participant CPF	{{participant.cpf}}
Participant custom field 1	{{participant.custom1}}
Participant custom field 2	{{participant.custom2}}
Course title	{{course.title}}
Course code	{{course.code}}
Course workload	{{course.workload}}
Class name	{{class.name}}
Enrollment start date	{{enrollment.startedAt}}
Completion date	{{enrollment.completedAt}}
Grade	{{enrollment.grade}}
Certificate valid until	{{enrollment.validUntil}}
Institution name	{{institution.name}}
Institution short name	{{institution.shortName}}
Technical lead name (NR)	{{rt.name}}

The two custom fields only appear in Insert field when they are configured to show on the participant’s profile. Certificate valid until only has a value when the content has a configured validity; on a track certificate it stays empty, because the track has no validity of its own.

The Technical lead name (NR) field only appears in Insert field for institutions with NR compliance available, and it only has a value on NR classes that have a technical lead assigned. Elsewhere it is empty: use a section that disappears when the field is empty (see below) so the sentence vanishes.

Snippets that disappear when the field is empty

For a whole sentence to disappear when the field has no value, wrap the sentence with {{#code}} at the start and {{/code}} at the end. Example, for content that sometimes has no workload:

We certify that {{participant.name}} completed the content {{course.title}}{{#course.workload}}, with a workload of {{course.workload}}{{/course.workload}}.

With a workload, the certificate reads “…completed the content Workplace Safety, with a workload of 8h.”; without one, “…completed the content Workplace Safety.” - with no blank space or dangling label. Every {{#code}} needs its matching {{/code}}, and a snippet can’t be nested inside another.

Formatting

The text only accepts bold (<b>...</b>), italics (<i>...</i>), underline (<u>...</u>), and line break (<br>). Links, images, and other kinds of formatting are rejected on save.

Apply the template to content, a class, or a track

1. Open the certificate configuration of the place you want:
   • content: in Contents, open the content, Details tab;
   • class: the class’s Details tab (exists when the institution allows class details);
   • track: the Home Screen tab of the institution’s settings, Certificate button on the track’s row.
2. In the Custom Certificate Template field, choose the template.

The image, layout, and color fields of that place disappear, because the template brings everything. To go back to your own configuration, choose Configure manually (no template) - the configuration that existed before applies again.

Each piece of content, class, or track chooses its own template, or none. To find out which certificate a participant receives when there is configuration on both the content and the class, see Which certificate applies to each participant.

Change or delete a template

Change: when you open a template that’s already in use, the screen shows how many certificate configurations use it. The change applies to all of them, including participants who already completed - the PDF is generated at download time, so the next download already comes out with the new template. PDFs already downloaded do not change.

Delete: a template can only be deleted when no content, class, or track uses it. If it’s in use, the platform refuses with the message “This certificate template is in use and cannot be deleted.” Change the template in those places (or switch back to Configure manually (no template)) and then delete it.

Common questions

I wrote the text, but it doesn’t appear on the certificate. The template’s Certificate Model is set to Default. Switch it to Advanced and save.

I clicked Preview PDF and the template was saved. That is expected: the preview is generated from the saved template, so pending changes are saved first. If the template is in use, the same confirmation as Save Changes appears first.

I can’t find the background image option on the new template. The image uploads and the color field appear after the first Save Changes - until then, the screen shows “Save the template to upload the background images.”

Can I use one template on a piece of content and a different one on a class of that content? Yes. Each place chooses its own, and the class takes priority over the content when the institution allows class details.

See also

• Online customization and issuance of certificates - the complete step-by-step, the artwork, and which certificate applies to each participant.
• Certificate validity and recertification - validity period per content and automatic enrollment in a recertification class.
• Full certificate editor - create templates full screen in institutions with the Certificate builder.