How-to
Add a Shopify product to a lesson
Alva Courses can show products from your Shopify store inside a lesson. The Shopify Product block displays a live product card with its image, price and a buy button, so students can pick up the kit, book or next course you recommend without leaving the lesson.
Add the block
- In the Shopify admin, open Alva Courses, choose a course, and open a lesson.
- Choose Add Content → Shopify Product. The block is available in both the course builder and the lesson editor.
- Click Select product and choose a product in the Shopify product picker.
- To show more products in the same block, click Add another product. One block holds up to 12 products. Use Change product or Remove product to edit the list.
- Choose a layout, what the card shows, and what the buy button does, then save the lesson.
Check the product warnings
When you pick a product, Alva Courses checks it in your store and warns you when students won't be able to buy it. Fix these in Shopify under Products before students reach the lesson.
- Draft or archived: students won't be able to see or buy the product.
- Not published to your Online Store: students won't see it. Make the product available on the Online Store sales channel.
- Subscription plan: Buy now is unavailable for the product. Use Add to cart instead.
- Grants access to a course: a note reminds you that students who already own that course can still buy it again.
Choose a layout
The Layout setting controls how the products sit in the lesson. Card is the default.
- Card: the image beside the details. It stacks on narrow screens.
- Banner: a full-width image with the details below.
- Compact: a small thumbnail, title, price and button in one row, without the description. It suits a list of lesson materials.
- Grid: cards side by side, 2 per row or 3 per row.
- Inline link: a rounded link showing the product title and price, with no image, description or button.
Set Alignment to Left, Center or Full width. With Show image on, pick an Image shape (Original, Square, Standard or Wide; Square is the default) and an Image fit: Crop to fill or Fit inside.
Choose what the card shows
Under Content, Show description uses the Shopify product description with its formatting removed. Set Description source to Custom text to explain why the product fits this lesson instead, in plain text of up to 2,000 characters.
Description length trims the description to 2, 3 or 5 lines, or shows all of it. Three lines is the default. Show price and Show original price when on sale start on. Show sale badge, Show vendor and Show SKU start off.
Set up the buy button
Under Buy button, the Button action decides what students can do:
- Add to cart (default) adds the product to your store's normal cart, the same cart your theme shows.
- Buy now shows Shopify's dynamic checkout button, which takes the student straight to checkout.
- Add to cart and Buy now shows both.
- View product links to the product page.
- No button shows the product without a way to buy it from the lesson.
Leave Button label blank to use your theme's own wording, or enter up to 80 characters. Button style can be Solid, Outline or Link. Solid and Outline pick up your theme's button styles.
The Variant selector appears Only when the product has options by default. You can also choose Always show or Never show. Turn on Show quantity selector to let students buy more than one.
When sold out sets what happens with no stock: Show a disabled button (default), Hide the product, or Link to the product page. Open the product page in a new tab starts on, so students keep their place in the lesson.
After adding to cart decides where the student goes next: Stay in the lesson (default), Go to the cart, or Go to checkout.
What students see
Each time a student opens the lesson, the card loads from your store, so the price, sale price, image and stock are always current. Prices use your store's money format, and the default button wording comes from your theme.
When a student chooses an option and adds the product, it goes into your store's normal cart alongside anything else they have added. With Stay in the lesson, they return to the lesson afterwards and can carry on learning.
If a product can no longer be found on your Online Store, its card says it is unavailable instead of leaving a gap. When you preview a lesson, the card appears with its buttons disabled.
Common questions
Can I sell another course with this block?
Yes. Select the Shopify product that is linked to the other course, and buying it gives the student access in the usual way. The editor reminds you that students who already own that course can still buy it again.
Why does the card say the product is unavailable?
The product can't be found on your Online Store. It may have been deleted, set to draft or archived, or removed from the Online Store sales channel. Fix the product in Shopify. If its URL handle changed, use Change product to select it again.
Do prices and stock update automatically?
Yes. The lesson stores only which products you chose. The card loads the current price, sale price, image and stock from your store each time a student opens the lesson.
Can I buy a product from the lesson preview?
No. In a preview, the card appears with its buttons disabled and a note that products can't be purchased in preview mode. Open the published lesson on your storefront to try the button.
See also
Connect a course to the product that sells it in Link a course to a Shopify product. Add other lesson materials with text, images and files, and see how students move through lessons in the storefront course player.
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Last updated 2026-10-08