---
title: How to Manage Content Updates and Revisions
description: This guide will step you through the different options for updating your content and some considerations to help you choose the best method for your use case.
image: https://help.acorn.works/hubfs/acorn-meta-preview.png
---

[Skip to content](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/how-to-update-a-course-to-a-new-version#main-content)

English - Australia

Show submenu for translations

[Contact Us](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/kb-tickets/new?hsLang=en-au) [Customer Portal](https://support.acorn.works/tickets?hsLang=en-au)

[![AcornLogo\_Horizontal\_FullColourWhite\_1000px](https://help.acorn.works/hs-fs/hubfs/AcornLogo_Horizontal_FullColourWhite_1000px.png?width=200&height=45&name=AcornLogo_Horizontal_FullColourWhite_1000px.png)](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre?hsLang=en-au)

- [Help Articles](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles)
- [Patch Notes](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/patch-notes)
- [Status](https://status.acorn.works/)

Open main navigation

Close main navigation

- [Help Articles](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles)
- [Patch Notes](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/patch-notes)
- [Status](https://status.acorn.works/)
- English - Australia
  
  Show submenu for translations
- [Contact Us](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/kb-tickets/new)
- [Customer Portal](https://support.acorn.works/tickets)

 Welcome to the Help Centre

- There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

1. [Acorn Help Centre](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre?hsLang=en-au)
2. [Help Articles](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au)
3. [Course Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#course-management)

28 September 2026

# How to Manage Content Updates and Revisions

## This guide will step you through the different options for updating your content and some considerations to help you choose the best method for your use case.

#### [Update Existing Activities](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/how-to-update-a-course-to-a-new-version#Update_existing)

#### [Using a New Activity](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/how-to-update-a-course-to-a-new-version#New_activity)

#### [Create a New Version](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/how-to-update-a-course-to-a-new-version#New_course)

### Update Existing Activities

You can update existing activities as you wish without impacting users (for all activity types other than SCORM activities).

### Notes for SCORM activities

If you replace an existing SCORM file with a significantly updated version, users who were partway through the original may be unable to load the new file. To resolve this, select **Delete Old Attempts** when updating the activity.

![Screenshot 2024-10-29 at 11.12.41 pm](https://help.acorn.works/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202024-10-29%20at%2011.12.41%20pm.png?width=670&height=269&name=Screenshot%202024-10-29%20at%2011.12.41%20pm.png)

To update an activity:

**1.** **Click** on the **Cog** menu button and select **'Start Editing'**.

**2.** **Click** on the edit **pencil** for the activity you wish to update.

![2024-10-29 23.21.03](https://help.acorn.works/hs-fs/hubfs/2024-10-29%2023.21.03.gif?width=670&height=334&name=2024-10-29%2023.21.03.gif)

**3.** Make the required edits.

**4.** Scroll down and click on **'UPDATE ACTIVITY'**.

### Using a New Activity

If you want to keep the old and new versions of the activity separate, you can create a new activity to house the new version of the activity in, rather than saving over the old version.

Please refer to [How to Add an Activity to a Course](https://help.acorn.works/hc/en-us/articles/4706321038479-How-to-Add-an-Activity-to-a-Course?hsLang=en-au) for guidance on adding a new activity to a course.

Once you have created the new activity, you will likely want to hide the old activity.

### To hide an activity

**1.** **Click** the course **cog** button and select **'Start Editing'.**

**2.** **Check** the box to make it **'Hidden to Users'**.

**3. Click** the **'Update Activity'** button.

![2024-10-30 18.44.01](https://help.acorn.works/hs-fs/hubfs/2024-10-30%2018.44.01.gif?width=670&height=335&name=2024-10-30%2018.44.01.gif)

### Create a New Version of the Course or Live Learning

If you have a separate new version of your course or live learning, you can either deactivate the old course and leave the completion records associated with that old version, or you can consolidate the completions from the original version with the new version so they can be kept and reported on together.

#### Using Course Versioning Functionality:

You can manage this automatically by using the 'Specify Old Version' function from within the new course WHILE YOU ARE CREATING THE NEW VERSION. See [How to Create a Course](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/how-to-create-a-course?hsLang=en-au).

**Admin \> Course Management \> Create Course \> Click 'Specify Old Version' \> Select Old Course \> 'Rename old version'.**

**Note: *This cannot be undone.***

![Screenshot 2025-10-28 at 12.11.28 pm-1](https://help.acorn.works/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202025-10-28%20at%2012.11.28%20pm-1.png?width=670&height=451&name=Screenshot%202025-10-28%20at%2012.11.28%20pm-1.png)  
This will automatically complete the following actions:

1. The old course is linked to the new course.
2. The old course is deactivated.
3. All completions against the old course are copied and recorded against the new course as archived completion records.

**Important:**

- This action cannot be undone.
- This process can take a while to complete. Do not repeat the action if you cannot see the old course listed against the new course straight away — initiating the process again before it completes will duplicate the completion records.

This is only available when you are first creating a course - you cannot access the Specify Old Version button after the course has been created originally. If you want to achieve a similar result for a course that has already been created, follow the next process.

#### Manually Retire Old Course and Consolidate Completions:

1\. Run a content completion [report](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/how-to-run-a-report?hsLang=en-au) against your old course to get a copy of all completions against it (make sure you include active and archived completions).

2\. [Hide or deactivate](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/hidden-vs-deactivated-courses?hsLang=en-au) your course.

3\. Complete a bulk content completion upload to upload the completions from the old course against the new course. See this guide for how to complete a [bulk completion upload](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/bulk-content-completion-upload?hsLang=en-au). 

**IMPORTANT:** Please note when actioning a bulk completion upload against your new course - if your new course already has enrolled users, their enrolment record will be overridden by the uploaded completion. So if you want your users to have a new enrolment record in the new course and have the uploaded completion from the old course archived, rather than active, you will need to re-enrol the users again after you have completed your completion upload.

- [Help Articles](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#main-content)

    - [User Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#user-management)
    - [Course Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#course-management)
    - [Live Learning Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#live-learning-management)
    - [Email Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#email-management)
    - [Tenancy Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#tenancy-management)
    - [Reporting](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#reporting)
    - [Workflows](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#workflows)
    - [Capabilities](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#capabilities)
    - [Momentum](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#momentum)
    - [Resources, Videos, Programs and Pages](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#resources-videos-programs-and-pages)
    - [Payments](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#payments)
    - [Multi-Language](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#multi-language)
    - [Content Sharing](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#content-sharing)
    - [Widget Dashboards](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#widget-dashboards)
    - [Forms](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#forms)
    - [Activities](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#activities)
    - [Self Registration](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#self-registration)
    - [End User Guides](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#end-user-guides)
    - [Single Sign-On](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#single-sign-on)
    - [Development Plans](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/help-articles?hsLang=en-au#development-plans)
- [FAQ's](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#main-content)

    - [Gamification & Social Learning](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#gamification-social-learning)
    - [Implementation & Onboarding](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#implementation-onboarding)
    - [Roles, Permissions & Access Control](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#roles-permissions-access-control)
    - [Hosting, Infrastructure & Business Continuity](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#hosting-infrastructure-business-continuity)
    - [Learning Paths & Development Plans](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#learning-paths-development-plans)
    - [Competency & Skills Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#competency-skills-management)
    - [Support & Customer Success](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#support-customer-success)
    - [Incident Management & Security Operations](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#incident-management-security-operations)
    - [Notifications & Communications](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#notifications-communications)
    - [Network & Application Security](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#network-application-security)
    - [Certifications & Compliance Tracking](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#certifications-compliance-tracking)
    - [Authentication & Single Sign-On](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#authentication-single-sign-on)
    - [Multi-Tenancy & Organizational Structure](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#multi-tenancy-organizational-structure)
    - [eCommerce & Monetization](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#ecommerce-monetization)
    - [Compliance Certifications & Audits](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#compliance-certifications-audits)
    - [Data Security & Encryption](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#data-security-encryption)
    - [User Management & Accounts](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#user-management-accounts)
    - [Personnel & Physical Security](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#personnel-physical-security)
    - [Localization & Language Support](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#localization-language-support)
    - [Mobile Access & Offline Learning](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#mobile-access-offline-learning)
    - [Branding, UI & User Experience](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#branding-ui-user-experience)
    - [Assessments, Quizzes & Surveys](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#assessments-quizzes-surveys)
    - [Integrations & APIs](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#integrations-apis)
    - [Course & Content Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#course-content-management)
    - [Workflow Automation](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#workflow-automation)
    - [Instructor-Led & Virtual Training (ILT/VILT)](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#instructor-led-virtual-training-ilt-vilt)
    - [Enrollment & Registration](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#enrollment-registration)
    - [Secure Development & Change Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#secure-development-change-management)
    - [Reporting & Analytics](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#reporting-analytics)
    - [Performance Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#performance-management)
    - [Privacy & Data Protection](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#privacy-data-protection)
    - [User Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/faqs?hsLang=en-au#user-management)
- [Patch Notes](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/patch-notes?hsLang=en-au#main-content)

    - [2026](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/patch-notes?hsLang=en-au#2026)
    - [2025](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/patch-notes?hsLang=en-au#2025)
    - [2024](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/patch-notes?hsLang=en-au#2024)
    - [2023](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/patch-notes?hsLang=en-au#2023)
    - [2022](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/patch-notes?hsLang=en-au#2022)
- [Developers](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/developers?hsLang=en-au#main-content)

    - [API](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/developers?hsLang=en-au#api)
- [Announcements](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/announcements?hsLang=en-au#main-content)

    - [New Features & Updates](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/announcements?hsLang=en-au#new-features-updates)
- [Course Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/course-management?hsLang=en-au#main-content)

    - [Course Settings](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/course-management?hsLang=en-au#course-settings)
    - [Enrolments](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/course-management?hsLang=en-au#enrolments)
    - [Forms](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/course-management?hsLang=en-au#forms)
    - [Course Types](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/course-management?hsLang=en-au#course-types)
- [Troubleshooting](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/troubleshooting?hsLang=en-au#main-content)

    - [Workflows](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/troubleshooting?hsLang=en-au#workflows)
    - [Course Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/troubleshooting?hsLang=en-au#course-management)
    - [User Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/troubleshooting?hsLang=en-au#user-management)
    - [Reporting](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/troubleshooting?hsLang=en-au#reporting)
    - [End User Guides](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/troubleshooting?hsLang=en-au#end-user-guides)
    - [Quizzes & Assessments](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/troubleshooting?hsLang=en-au#quizzes-assessments)
    - [Email](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/troubleshooting?hsLang=en-au#email)
    - [Access & Login](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/troubleshooting?hsLang=en-au#access-login)
    - [Live Learning Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/troubleshooting?hsLang=en-au#live-learning-management)
- [Getting Started](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/getting-started?hsLang=en-au#main-content)

    - [Technical Requirements](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/getting-started?hsLang=en-au#technical-requirements)
    - [Reference](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/getting-started?hsLang=en-au#reference)
- [Capabilities](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/capabilities?hsLang=en-au#main-content)

    - [Reporting](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/capabilities?hsLang=en-au#reporting)
    - [Overview](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/capabilities?hsLang=en-au#overview)
    - [Assessments](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/capabilities?hsLang=en-au#assessments)
    - [Setup & Configuration](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/capabilities?hsLang=en-au#setup-configuration)
    - [Administration](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/capabilities?hsLang=en-au#administration)
- [Momentum](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/momentum?hsLang=en-au#main-content)

    - [Workflow Builder](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/momentum?hsLang=en-au#workflow-builder)
- [Administration](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/administration?hsLang=en-au#main-content)

    - [Email](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/administration?hsLang=en-au#email)
    - [Training Records](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/administration?hsLang=en-au#training-records)
    - [Certificates](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/administration?hsLang=en-au#certificates)
    - [Multi-Tenancy](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/administration?hsLang=en-au#multi-tenancy)
    - [Security](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/administration?hsLang=en-au#security)
    - [User Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/administration?hsLang=en-au#user-management)
- [Reporting](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/reporting?hsLang=en-au#main-content)

    - [Reports](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/reporting?hsLang=en-au#reports)
- [User Management](https://help.acorn.works/help-centre/user-management?hsLang=en-au)

[![AcornLogo\_Horizontal\_FullColourWhite\_1000px](https://help.acorn.works/hs-fs/hubfs/AcornLogo_Horizontal_FullColourWhite_1000px.png?width=200&height=45&name=AcornLogo_Horizontal_FullColourWhite_1000px.png "AcornLogo_Horizontal_FullColourWhite_1000px")](https://acorn.works/)

###### GET IN TOUCH

[support@acorn.works](mailto:support@acorn.works)

---

[Asia Pacific: +61 2 6269 3330](tel:+61262693330)

8:30am to 5:30pm AEST, Mon - Fri

---

[North America: +1 (888) 419-2505](tel:+18884192505)

8:30am to 5:30pm PT, Mon - Fri

<https://www.facebook.com/acornplms#> [mailto:hello@acorn.works](mailto:hello@acorn.works) <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEJBx67PrxKHQ5yX3kEN6Zg> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/acorn-plms/posts/?feedView=all>

Copyright © 2025, Acorn PLMS