Advanced Renewal Paths
Choose one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many certificate renewal—including category streaks across levels.
What This Is For
Under Activate recertification, you choose who may renew a certificate and what Recertify opens. Skillhabit supports three shapes:
| Shape | Meaning | How you configure it |
|---|---|---|
| One-to-one | This content renews its own certificate | Content to use for recertification... → Renewed by itself |
| One-to-many | One named refresher renews many certificates | On each older certificate, set Content to use for recertification... to that same refresher |
| Many-to-many | Any of many courses in a category can renew any of many certificates that list that category | Category streaks (plus a category tag on each renewing course) |
Use one-to-one for simple loops, one-to-many when everyone shares one refresher, and category streaks when whole groups of courses should renew whole groups of certificates. Basics of validity and reminders: Certificate Expiration and Renewal.
Who This Is For
Administrators designing renewal programs in Create.
Two Roles (All Shapes)
| Role | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Renewer | The content the learner completes to renew a certificate |
| Recertification target | The content Certificates → Recertify opens next—set on the renewer as Content to use for recertification... (or Renewed by itself) |
In one-to-one and one-to-many, the renewer is the course you named. In many-to-many, the renewer is whichever allowed course the learner last completed; Recertify follows that course’s recertification target.
One-to-One — Renewed by Itself
Purpose: Completing the same course renews the certificate it issued.
Example: First Aid. Learners finish First Aid, get a certificate, and later Recertify opens First Aid again.
Setup
- Open the course → Activate recertification.
- Set Certificate is valid for...
- Set Content to use for recertification... to Renewed by itself.
- Do not attach a category streak unless you also need many-to-many rules.
- Publish.
Result: Renewer and recertification target are the same course.
One-to-Many — One Named Refresher
Purpose: Many older certificates share one explicit renewer (and usually the same Recertify destination).
Example: Annual Compliance Refresher renews certificates from Course A, Course B, and Course C. Completing the refresher renews all three for that learner. Recertify on any of them opens the refresher.
Setup
- Build (or pick) the refresher course.
- On each older course’s certificate settings, open Activate recertification.
- Set Content to use for recertification... to the same refresher (not Renewed by itself).
- Publish the older courses and the refresher.
Result: One renewer → many certificates. You must point every older certificate at that refresher by name—there is no “any course in this group” shortcut.
Many-to-Many — Category Streaks
Why Category Streaks Exist
One-to-many forces you to name one course as the renewer on every certificate. That breaks down when you have many valid renewers and many certificates that should accept them.
Category streaks add many-to-many logic:
- Tag renewing courses with a category (for example level 2).
- On each certificate that should be renewable this way, list the categories allowed to renew it (the streak).
- Completing any course in an allowed category can renew any certificate whose streak includes that category (subject to priority).
- Skillhabit still remembers the specific course that last renewed the certificate, so Recertify opens that course’s path—not an arbitrary course in the category.
Priority on the streak keeps the graph under control: higher categories may renew lower certificates; lower categories may not pull a certificate back down after a higher renewer has acted.
Example — Level 1–3 With Many Courses Each
A safety program with three levels, and many courses (and certificates) at each level:
| Level | Examples of courses (all tagged with that level’s category) |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Basic Safety A, Basic Safety B, Site Induction… |
| Level 2 | Intermediate Safety A, Intermediate Safety B… |
| Level 3 | Advanced Safety A, Advanced Safety B… |
Higher levels cover everything lower levels require. Completing any course at a level can renew certificates at that level and below.
What you want
| When the learner completes… | These certificates renew… | Later, Recertify should open… |
|---|---|---|
| Any Level 1 course | Certificates on Level 1 courses | That Level 1 course again (or its recertification target) |
| Any Level 2 course | Certificates on Level 1 and Level 2 courses | That Level 2 course (not back to a Level 1 course) |
| Any Level 3 course | Certificates on Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 courses | That Level 3 course (their highest renewer so far) |
The category decides which sets may renew which sets. The specific course last completed at the highest level becomes the renewer Recertify follows.
Walk-Through for One Learner
- Alex finishes Basic Safety A (Level 1) and gets that certificate.
- Later Alex finishes Intermediate Safety B (Level 2). That course is the renewer: it renews Basic Safety A’s certificate (and Intermediate Safety B’s own certificate). Other Level 1 certificates Alex holds can renew the same way when their streaks allow Level 2.
- When Basic Safety A nears expiry, Alex clicks Recertify. Skillhabit opens the recertification target of the last renewer—here Intermediate Safety B—not Basic Safety A again.
- Later Alex finishes Advanced Safety A (Level 3). That renews Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 certificates whose streaks allow Level 3.
- When any of those expire, Recertify opens Advanced Safety A (or its recertification target)—Alex’s highest renewer so far.
A different Level 2 course cannot take over after Level 3 has renewed something: lower levels cannot pull the path back down.
Roles in the Streak Story
| Role | In the example | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Renewer | The specific Level 2 or Level 3 course Alex completes (one of many at that level) | Completing it renews certificates whose streak lists that course’s level category |
| Recertification target | Usually the same course (Renewed by itself) | What Recertify opens next |
On every streaked course, set Content to use for recertification... to Renewed by itself unless that course should send Recertify to a different refresher.
How to Set Up the Level 1–3 Example
Before you start
- Create three categories (for example level 1, level 2, level 3).
- Tag every course with only its own level’s category (all Level 2 courses share level 2).
- Prefer three streaks (one configuration per certificate tier), reused across all courses at that tier—not one shared streak on everything.
Streak on each course’s certificate (same setup for every course at that level; top of the list = highest priority; max 5 categories):
| On every course at… | Create / reuse streak… | Category priority list (top → bottom) | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 3 | e.g. “Safety L3” | level 3 | Only a Level 3 course may renew a Level 3 certificate |
| Level 2 | e.g. “Safety L2” | level 3, then level 2 | Any Level 3 or Level 2 course may renew Level 2; Level 1 may not |
| Level 1 | e.g. “Safety L1” | level 3, then level 2, then level 1 | Any level’s course may renew Level 1; higher levels win afterwards |
Steps in Create
- Open a course → Activate recertification.
- Under About category streaks, choose Select or create a new streak... → Add new streak (or pick the streak already used by other courses at this level).
- Enter a Streak name, then Add category to streak in the order above. Drag so Higher in the list means higher priority.
- Set Content to use for recertification... to Renewed by itself (or your chosen refresher for that course).
- Confirm when prompted (streak changes update affected certificates), then publish.
- Repeat for every course at Level 1, 2, and 3—same streak per tier, matching category tag on each course.
What Happens at Renewal (and Why)
| Rule | Why it matters with many courses per level |
|---|---|
| Completing a course renews certificates whose streak lists that course’s category, if the category is equal or higher than the certificate’s own level (and than any previous streak renewer) | Any Level 3 course can renew any Level 1 certificate on the L1 streak; a Level 1 course cannot renew Level 3 |
| After a higher renewer acts, a lower category cannot renew that certificate again | Alex cannot fall back to a Level 1 or Level 2 course after a Level 3 course already renewed the certificate |
| Recertify opens the last renewer’s recertification target (that specific course) | Expiry sends Alex to the concrete highest-level course that last renewed them |
| Changing that renewer’s Content to use for recertification... updates the next Recertify | Retarget one Advanced course’s refresher without re-issuing user certificates |
| Removing the streak from content makes Recertify ignore the old last renewer | The certificate falls back to its own renewal settings |
| Streak renewals do not move issued or expiry dates backwards; Users & Groups edits use the same priority rules | Dates and priority stay consistent for admins and learners |
Pitfalls (Many-to-Many)
- Putting one streak with all three levels on every course lets lower-level courses renew higher-level certificates incorrectly. Use the per-tier streaks in the setup table.
- Tagging a Level 2 course with the wrong category (or with several level categories) breaks which renewals are allowed.
- Manual certificate edits in Users & Groups can still cascade to other streaked certificates for that user.
Result
| Shape | What learners get |
|---|---|
| One-to-one | Recertify returns them to the same course |
| One-to-many | Recertify opens the shared named refresher |
| Many-to-many | Any allowed course at a level can renew matching certificates; Recertify opens the specific highest-level course that last renewed them |
