Why a course goes missing
A paid course reaches a customer through a chain: it must be published, linked to a Shopify product, and the buyer must be enrolled by a paid order. Learners then open it from your storefront courses page while signed in, from the link in their enrolment email, or from "My Courses" in their customer account if you have added that page. A break anywhere in that chain hides the course.
Fix it step by step
1. Confirm the course is published
In the Shopify admin, open Alva Courses and the course; the badge next to its title shows Draft or Published. A course left in Draft is hidden from learners, so on the Settings tab, under General → Visibility, set it to Published and save.
2. Check the pricing type and linked product
Open the course's Settings tab, then Pricing & access. A One Time Purchase course needs the correct Shopify product under Linked Products: without it, paid orders never trigger enrolment, so the course never appears. It is also never listed on your storefront courses page before someone buys it — shoppers buy it from its product page. Free courses are listed for everyone, and Free With Account courses once the customer signs in. See Course pricing types and Link a course to a Shopify product.
3. Verify the learner is enrolled
On the course's Members tab (Course Members Overview), search for the customer. If they are not listed, the order may be unpaid or placed with a different email. To enrol them by hand, click Add Member on the Members page if they aren't a member yet; if they already are, open their member page and click Enroll. Neither restores a refunded course; a new purchase does. See Refunds and course access.
4. Check published lessons and drip
Make sure at least one section and lesson is published, not draft. Drip and scheduled lessons stay locked until their release date, so review those settings if the course looks empty.
5. Check where learners look for the course
Your storefront courses page (yourstore.com/apps/alva/courses) lists a learner's courses only once they are signed in; signed-out visitors see your free courses and a Log In button. The link in the enrolment email opens the course without signing in. My Courses in the customer account exists only if you have added the Alva Courses page in Shopify's checkout and accounts editor — not the theme editor. In Alva Courses, open Settings → Extensions to see which extensions are installed, and click Installation Instructions to set up any that are not. See Install the course page in customer accounts.
What learners see when it works
An enrolled learner finds the course on your storefront courses page once signed in, or under "My Courses" in their Shopify customer account, and opens it in the branded storefront player, with the lesson sidebar, progress bar and completion ticks. If you have added the thank-you and order status extensions, they can also start learning from the thank-you page right after checkout, or from the order in their customer account later.
See also
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Last updated 2026-10-08