Skip to main content
— How-to

Move a section to another course

Alva Courses is a Shopify app that can move a whole section, with its lessons and content, from one course to another in a few clicks. Here is how to move one, and what changes for students and their progress in both courses.

How it works

Moving a section takes it out of one course and adds it as the last section of another. Alva Courses moves the section itself, not a copy, so its lessons, content and quizzes go with it, along with students' comments and reflection answers.

Enrolments stay where they are: students of the original course lose the section, and students of the target course gain it. To keep the lessons for both groups, enrol the original course's students in the target course too. The section keeps its visibility, so a Draft section stays hidden.

Move a section step by step

1. Open the course

In the Shopify admin, open Alva Courses, click Courses and open the course that holds the section. Each section header includes Visibility, Rename, Duplicate, Move and Delete buttons.

2. Click Move on the section

Click Move on the section's header. It is greyed out while your store has only one course.

3. Choose the target course

In the Move Section to Another Course dialog, pick a course under Select Target Course. The list shows every other course in your store, including Draft courses.

4. Confirm the move

The dialog warns: This will move the section and all its lessons to the selected course. The section will be removed from the current course. Click Move Section to go ahead. There is no separate save.

You see Moving section..., then Section moved successfully! If the move fails, an error message appears and the section comes back.

5. Put the section in place

Open the target course. The moved section is its last section: use the up and down arrows on its header to reposition it, then preview the course.

What happens to student progress

Alva Courses recalculates progress for students enrolled in either course, in the background, shortly after the move. Percentages change, but the move never marks anyone complete, sends no emails and changes no Shopify customer tags.

In the original course

Percentages are worked out again from the remaining lessons, and anyone already marked complete stays complete. Lessons students completed in the moved section stay on their record, so moving the section back restores their progress.

A student who has now finished every remaining lesson shows 100%, but is only marked complete the next time they complete a lesson, even one they had already finished.

In the target course

Percentages drop, because the course has more lessons. Students who had completed it go back to in progress until they finish the new lessons. Anyone already emailed a certificate for that course, or who downloaded one on a course that requires manual evaluation, is left exactly as they were.

Progress is kept per course, so lessons a student finished in the original course don't count here, even if they're enrolled in both. Moving a Draft section changes nobody's progress until you publish it.

If you tag customers by course progress, a student's tags update the next time they complete a lesson.

What learners see

Students of the original course no longer see the section in the course player. If they were last on one of its lessons, the course opens at its first available lesson.

Students of the target course see the section at the end of the course, released according to its visibility. Drip timing counts from their enrolment date in the target course, so long-standing students may get dripped lessons at once. See Schedule and draft lessons.

Links shared before the move no longer open the moved lessons. A lesson link names its course, and the course player only looks for the lesson inside that course, so a link using the original course's address opens that course instead, at the lesson the student was last on or its first available lesson.

Each moved lesson's Lesson URL must be unique in the target course. A custom one is kept if it's free there, and an automatic one is rebuilt from the lesson name; Alva Courses adds a number such as -2 when needed. To copy the new link, open the lesson and click the Lesson link line at the bottom of the editor.

Common questions

Can I undo a move?

There is no undo button. Move the section back the same way, then reorder it, because it lands at the end of the original course. Students' earlier progress in the original course comes back. Target-course students who lost their completed status show 100% again but are only marked complete the next time they complete a lesson.

Why did students who finished the target course lose their completed status?

Completing a course means finishing all of its lessons, and the target course now has more. Students already emailed a certificate for it, or who downloaded one on a course that requires manual evaluation, are left as they were; everyone else is marked complete again once they finish the new lessons.

Does moving a section send emails or certificates?

No. The move sends no emails, issues no certificates and changes no Shopify customer tags. Anyone who now qualifies is marked complete the next time they complete a lesson in that course.

Do old links to the moved lessons still work?

No. A link that uses the original course's address opens that course instead of the moved lesson. Copy each lesson's new link and update anywhere you shared the old one.

See also

Was this helpful?

Still stuck? Email us.

Last updated 2026-10-12