How it works
Alva Courses decides access one order line at a time. When an order is paid, each line grants every course linked to its variant plus every course linked to its whole product. Every setup below is a combination of these links.
| Goal | Link this | In these courses |
|---|---|---|
| A course sold alone and in a bundle | The bundle product, whole | Every course in the bundle |
| A variant that adds an extra course | That one variant | The extra course |
| Variants that each grant a different course | One variant per course | Each variant's own course |
Set-up steps
1. Create the product in Shopify
In the Shopify admin, create the bundle or tiered product with its title, price and variants, and make it active. If it holds no physical item and you use automatic fulfilment, turn off shipping for it in Shopify, or Alva Courses won't auto-fulfil its orders.
2. Open the course's Pricing & access settings
In Alva Courses, open the first course the product should grant, then the Settings tab and Pricing & access. Leave the course's own product, marked Primary, in the Linked Products card.
3. Add the whole product or some variants
Click Add Product and pick the product in the Shopify product picker. Select the product itself and every variant grants the course (All variants), or select some of its variants and only those do, each linked separately with a Variant badge.
The price must suit the course's pricing type: above zero for One Time Purchase, zero for Free or Free With Account. Alva Courses checks each linked variant, or a whole product's first variant, so a paid bundle can't be linked to a free course.
4. Fine-tune the variants
For a product with several variants, click Modify Variants. Pick some variants and each becomes its own link; pick them all and they merge into one whole-product link. Deselecting every variant unlinks the product, unless it is the course's only one. A variant you leave out doesn't grant this course.
5. Repeat in every course the product should grant
Link the same product or variant in each other course it should grant. A link only affects orders paid after you add it; earlier buyers aren't enrolled retroactively.
6. Check with an order
Place an order for the product yourself and confirm you appear in each course's Members tab. Send yourself a test enrolment walks through it.
Map variants to different courses
Alva Courses adds a line's variant links and whole-product links together, so decide for each course whether it comes with the whole product or only with certain variants.
Each variant grants its own course. Link only the Beginner variant in the beginner course and only the Advanced variant in the advanced course, and link the whole product to neither.
A tier adds a course. Link the whole product in the main course and only the Course + coaching variant in the coaching course. Buyers of that variant get both.
In that second setup the main course's card shows Except variants mapped to other courses. Despite the wording, buyers of that variant still get the main course as well.
Keep each course's own product as Primary
Alva Courses writes a course's title, description, image and price edits to its Primary product. Keep each course's own product linked and unchanged, so a bundle never becomes Primary and gets renamed or repriced by a course edit.
Removing the Primary link, or switching it between whole product and variants with Modify Variants, passes Primary to the oldest remaining link, which can be a bundle.
There is no button to choose the Primary. If a bundle has become Primary, remove its link and add it back: Primary passes to the oldest remaining link, and a re-added link is never Primary. Don't create a course from a bundle with Select existing product either, as that makes the bundle its Primary.
How orders, emails and refunds treat bundles
Alva Courses handles a bundle per course and per order line, with no bundle setting to switch on.
- One enrolment per course. Lines that grant the same course enrol the buyer once, and quantity is not a seat count: buying three bundles enrols one customer.
- One email for several courses. With Send enrollment emails ticked in Settings → Email Settings (it starts unticked), an order that starts several new courses sends one email listing them; a course with its own custom enrolment email sends that separately.
- Refunds follow the order line. Refunding the bundle's line in full withdraws every course it granted, except any the student holds through another unrefunded line. A partial refund removes nothing until the rest of the line is refunded, and a custom-amount refund removes nothing. See Refunds and course access.
- Automatic fulfilment. When you have switched it on, Alva Courses auto-fulfils only orders where every line is a course and nothing requires shipping. A bundle with a physical item still enrols the buyer; you fulfil it yourself. See Automatically fulfil course orders.
What learners see
A bundle buyer gets a separate enrolment in each course. Each appears on its own on your storefront courses page and, if you have added the customer-account page, under My Courses.
Common questions
Does buying two of a bundle enrol two people?
No. Alva Courses ignores the quantity on an order line and enrols the customer who placed the order once in each linked course. To give someone else a course, use Add Member on the Members page.
Why does the Linked Products card say "Except variants mapped to other courses"?
Another course links one variant of a product this course links as a whole. Buyers of that variant still get both courses, because a whole-product link covers every variant. To stop that variant granting this course, use Modify Variants to select every other variant.
Do bundle buyers get courses I link to the bundle later?
No. Alva Courses enrols buyers when their order is paid, in the courses linked at that moment. Linking the bundle product to another course only affects later orders, so enrol earlier buyers yourself if you promised them future courses.
Does Shopify's Bundles app work with Alva Courses?
Alva Courses has no special handling for it, or for other bundle apps. Enrolment reads each order line's own product and variant, so link courses to a product that appears as its own line on the order, and check a real order before you sell.
See also
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Last updated 2026-10-12