A course package is a ZIP file exported from an authoring tool. It is uploaded through your own course screen, extracted, and registered automatically — you do not have to describe the course to ActiveManage, because the package already describes itself.
What is read out of the package
- The standard and its version.
- Which file to launch.
- The pass mark the author set.
- The completion threshold and any maximum time allowed.
- For cmi5, the list of Assignable Units and the rule deciding when each is satisfied.
Publishing a revised version
Each course in your catalogue has one package. Uploading again for the same course replaces the existing registration rather than creating a second one, which is how you publish a corrected or updated course.
Preview before you publish
A package can be launched in preview, which plays it exactly as a learner sees it while recording nothing — no learner record is created, no result is saved, no completion is reported. Use it to confirm a new package actually launches, and to read through content yourself without appearing in your own completion reports.
If a package will not play
- Check the detected standard on the package record. One showing as plain content was uploaded without its manifest — usually because the ZIP was made from the containing folder rather than from its contents. This is by far the most common cause.
- Check the launch file is populated. Empty means no entry point was found.
- Re-export from the authoring tool, making sure the right standard is selected on export.
Worked Examples
- Supplier sends a course that shows as plain content: ask them to re-zip from inside the published folder so the manifest sits at the root.
- Annual policy refresh: upload the new version against the same course record; existing completions stay intact against the previous attempts.
- Reviewing before a launch: preview the course, check the questions read correctly, then publish.