Why access fails
Alva Courses has no separate login. The enrolment email carries a personal access link that opens the course with no Shopify account — this is how guest-checkout buyers get in. The course button on the Thank you page, when you have added that block, uses the same link. Every route is covered in How students sign in.
The other way in is signing in to your store's customer account with the email the student ordered with. Most access problems come from a missing enrolment, an email that went to the wrong address, or a sign-in with a different email.
What the message on screen means
Ask the student what the course page says. Each message points to a different cause. These are the default wordings; if you have changed them in storefront text, look for your own.
- "You don't have access to this course yet" or "Log in to access your course content" (on your courses page, "Log in to access your purchased courses"): the course player doesn't know who they are, or they aren't enrolled. Work through the steps below.
- "This course requires you to be logged in to access it.": a Free With Account course. They sign in, or open the access link in their enrolment email.
- "You no longer have access to this course.": access was withdrawn after a refund, or by a Shopify Flow workflow. See Refunds and course access. A row marked Revoked by Shopify Flow on their member page has a Restore access link.
- "Your purchase is awaiting approval.": the course holds new purchases until you approve them. Approve the purchase on their member page or from the course's Members tab. See Approve purchases before students get access.
- "Your access to this course has ended.": their access deadline has passed and your store enforces deadlines. See Student locked out after a deadline.
- "This lesson is locked": the student has access to the course. That lesson is scheduled, drip-fed, or waits for an earlier lesson to be completed — see Drip-feed lessons on a schedule and Require lessons in order.
Restore the student's access
1. Confirm the student is enrolled
In the Shopify admin, open Alva Courses, go to Members, search by the student's name or email, and open their record. The course should be in their course table, marked Active. If it is missing, go to step 4. If the row shows Revoked after a refund or Revoked by Shopify Flow, or reads Expired, match it to the messages above.
2. Check the email address
Compare the email on their member record with the inbox the student is checking and the email they sign in with. The enrolment email and its access link go to the email on their member record, which Alva Courses copies from their Shopify customer, so a typo at checkout sends them elsewhere. Signing in to the customer account only finds the course with the email on that Shopify customer. If the address is wrong, click Edit email under it on their member page and save the right one. That changes it on their Shopify customer too, so they sign in with the new address and keep their courses. Then resend the email (step 5).
3. Have them open their access link, or sign in
Ask the student to open the course from the button in their enrolment email. That access link works without a Shopify account, including after a guest checkout, and the browser remembers them afterwards; on a new phone or computer they open the link again. Alternatively, they sign in to your store's customer account with the email they ordered with and open the course from your courses page or My Courses.
4. Add or re-enrol the student if needed
If the student isn't a member yet, click Add Member on the Members page, enter their email and their first and last name, and select the course. If they're already a member, Add Member reports that the customer is already a member, so open their member page instead, click Enroll, and choose the course. Either way, they're enrolled immediately; the enrolment email with their access link goes out only if Send enrollment email to member is ticked, which it is by default. Neither restores a refunded course; a new purchase does. See Refunds and course access.
5. Resend the enrolment email and confirm access
On their member page, click Resend Email. It sends the enrolment email again, with their access link, for every course they're enrolled in, and the message that follows says whether every email went out or what stopped them. Once one has been sent, the button rests for five minutes. Email History on the same page shows each attempt. Have the student open the link and confirm the course plays in the storefront course player. If the email doesn't arrive, see Enrolment email not received.
What learners see
With the access link, the course opens straight in the storefront course player — no account, no password and no external platform. A student who signs in reaches the same courses from your courses page or from My Courses in their customer account. The player shows the lesson list, progress bar and completion ticks in the sidebar.
See also
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Last updated 2026-10-13