How to Set Up a Due Date Workflow

A Due Date Workflow gives users a deadline to complete a Course or Live Learning. Once the deadline passes, users show as overdue in reports and receive an Overdue email each month until they complete.

How does a Due Date Workflow work?

The countdown starts from the Trigger you choose: Enrollment, User Account Creation, Course Creation, or the later of User Account Creation and Course Creation.
If the user does not complete the Course by the due date, they become overdue.
A Due Date Reminder can be sent before the due date, and an Overdue email after it.
Unlike a Refresher Workflow, a Due Date Workflow does not expire or archive completions. It only tracks the deadline and sends notifications.

How do you create a Due Date Workflow?

Navigate to Admin > Workflows and click Create Workflow.
Enter a Name (e.g. "30 Day Completion Deadline").
Select 'Due Date' from the Workflow Type dropdown menu.
Set the Content Type to Course or Live Learning.
Set the Due Period and Unit (e.g. 30 days).
Select the Trigger. The Due Period is counted from this date.
Configure the optional toggle button Prevent Unenrolment if users should not be able to unenroll themselves.
Configure the optional toggle button Use Latest Enrolment if you are using this workflow with an Enrollment Workflow.

Turn on Include Emails to notify users before and after their due date.
Click Add Reminder Email to send a Due Date Reminder before the deadline (e.g. 7 days before).
Turn on Send Emails Retroactively to email users who are already past their due date when the workflow is added.
Turn on Also Send to Supervisor to send the user's supervisor a copy of the Overdue email, with text identifying which user is overdue.

Click Create Workflow.

How often are overdue emails sent?

Once a user's due date passes, Acorn sends the Overdue email once a month until the user completes the Course or their enrollment changes. If Also Send to Supervisor is on, the supervisor also receives a monthly email for each user who remains overdue.

Note: Due Date Workflows do not have a setting to stop the monthly repeat. Refresher Workflows have their own optional toggle, which is off by default.

How do you add the workflow to a Course?

Navigate to the Course in the catalogue.
Click the cog icon and select Update Course.
Scroll down and click Add Workflow.
Select your Due Date Workflow and click Update Course to save.

Can you add more than one Due Date Workflow to a Course?

Yes. You can add several Due Date Workflows to the same Course or Live Learning (e.g. 30 days for everyone and 14 days for a Compliance cohort).

Each user is governed by one workflow only: the one that gives the earliest due date.
If two workflows give the same date, the workflow created first applies.
Users only receive emails from their governing workflow, so they will not receive two sets.
To give a group a longer deadline, add cohort restrictions to both workflows so the cohorts do not overlap.
If a user moves cohort and a different workflow starts governing them, they may receive a reminder they already had.

What happens when you add or change a workflow on a Course that already has users?

Changes apply straight away. Every user without a current completion receives a recalculated due date. If the trigger date is already in the past, they can show as overdue immediately. Users are not notified of the change itself.

Note: Send Emails Retroactively only controls the email. Users can still receive the matching in-app notification.

Can you combine it with other workflows?

For compliance training, it is common to combine a Due Date Workflow with an Enrollment Workflow and a Refresher Workflow on the same Course. The Enrollment Workflow handles auto-enrollment, the Due Date Workflow enforces the completion deadline, and the Refresher Workflow handles annual re-completion. For an overview of all workflow types, see Workflow Definitions.

Things to keep in mind

The due date is calculated from the Trigger, not from when the user first opens the Course.
Completing the Course clears the overdue status. You do not need to remove the workflow.
Overdue users are not unenrolled or locked out. They can still complete the Course.
Tip: the default Overdue email reads "is due by [date]". Edit the email text so it clearly says the Course is overdue.