Welcome new members with a personal video on your Overview page

You can now add a welcome message to the top of your academy's Overview page. Write a few words, add a video, and every member who opens your academy is greeted by you before anything else.

What changed

There's a new Welcome message section in Settings > Customize Academy. It uses the same editor you already know from your course descriptions, so you can:

• Write a short welcome text with headings, lists and links
• Upload your own video
• Add a video from YouTube or Vimeo

Your message shows as a card near the top of the Overview page, above Continue learning and the rest of your academy. It works in both academy themes, on desktop and mobile. If you leave it empty, nothing changes on your Overview page.

A personal first impression

Until now, the Overview page showed a fixed set of sections: your courses, events, certificates and progress. That works well once members are settled in, but it left no room for you to say hello.

With a welcome message, you can use the first thing people see to:

• Introduce yourself and what your academy is about
• Explain where to start and how to get the most out of your content
• Point new members to your community, an upcoming event or a first course
• Share an announcement with everyone who logs in

Visible to visitors too

The welcome message is also shown to visitors who aren't signed in yet. That makes it a good place for a short intro video that helps someone decide to join, not just a greeting for people who already have.

Vimeo videos in the editor

Along the way, we added a Vimeo button to the editor toolbar. Besides the welcome message, you can now add Vimeo videos to your course, video and downloadable descriptions too.

Tell us what you think

This feature came straight from a creator's request, and we'd love to hear how you use it. If there's something you'd like your welcome message to do, let us know through the chat in your dashboard.

Availability

The welcome message is available now on all Forento plans. Go to Settings > Customize Academy to add yours.