6.3.1. Introduction to Publisher#

Note

This information applies to courses on the edx.org site. If your course will run on Edge, you create the course and the About page in Studio. For more information, see Creating a New Course in Studio or Creating a Course About Page in Studio.

EdX Publisher is a tool that allows course teams, edX marketing, edX project coordinators (PCs), and an edX publisher to work together to create an About page. The Publisher tool tracks each action and sends email notifications when actions are complete or required. You can view the status of your About page in Publisher at any time.

This topic introduces new terms that Publisher uses, provides an overview of the Publisher process, and explains how to complete common tasks.

6.3.1.1. Signing In to Publisher#

Publisher is a separate tool from Studio.

To sign in to Publisher, go to https://publisher.edx.org/, and then enter your edX username and password.

6.3.1.2. Publisher Terms#

To use Publisher, you need to be familiar with the following terms.

  • course: A collection of lessons presented by an instructor or instructors. Information about a course remains true every time the course is run on edX and includes the course name, number, description, and image.

  • course run: A version of the course that runs at a particular time. Information about a course run includes start and end dates, as well as staff and the languages the course is available in.

  • publisher: The member of the edX team who converts the information from the Publisher tool into an About page on edx.org.

  • Studio URL: Sometimes also called a “Studio instance”, the Studio URL is the location that contains course content such as videos and exercises. Every course run has a unique Studio URL.

6.3.1.3. The Publisher Process#

To create and announce an edX course, the course team and the edX team complete the following process. You can click the image to enlarge it.

A diagram showing the Publisher process, from the course team creating a course to the edX publisher publishing the About page.

  1. Create the course.

    1. The course team creates a course.

    2. The edX marketing team reviews the course for search engine optimization (SEO).

    3. The course team finalizes the course.

  2. Create the course run.

    1. The course team creates a course run for the course.

    2. The course team edits the course run, adding any additional required information.

    3. The edX PC reviews the course run.

    4. The course team finalizes the course run.

  3. Publish the About page.

    1. The edX publisher creates a preview of the About page for the course run.

    2. The course team reviews the About page preview.

    3. The edX publisher publishes the About page.

Some of these steps can occur concurrently. For example, a course team can create and edit a course run before, while, or after edX marketing reviews a course. However, the course team must finalize the course before the course team can send the course run to the edX PC for review.