Create, export, or delete the certificate

Certificates in ILIAS - Introduction

With the certificate function, ILIAS offers the possibility to certify successful participation in courses, the processing of learning materials, or passing tests. All you have to do is create and activate a certificate template. ILIAS then automatically generates the certificates for each participant in PDF format.

The certificate can be personalized and contain the user's name, institution, or address if desired. For this purpose, corresponding placeholders are entered in the certificate's text, which is then automatically filled in by ILIAS based on the information available in the user data. You can also insert the logo of your institution.

If you have created a template, you can export the certificate and import it into other objects to reuse it (with minor adjustments, if necessary).

Certificates can be created in the following ILIAS objects:

  • Course
  • Learning module SCORM
  • Test
  • Exercise

Note: The certificate function is only available if the Java server has been set up on your ILIAS installation. In case of doubt, please get in touch with your technical support.

Create certificate

You want to set up a certificate template.

  1. Click on the Certificate link in the Settings tab.
  2. Select the Active checkbox to deploy the certificate.
    Note: Once you save this status, ILIAS will automatically generate certificates for all participants who meet the conditions. Therefore, you should prepare and test the certificate and activate it only afterward.
  3. If necessary, import an existing certificate in the Import section.
    Optional: Adjust the following information:
    Page format
    Background image: To obtain a nice print image, design an image with 3508 x 2480 pixels for an A4 certificate in 300dpi quality, which provides the required white space, i.e., covers the entire sheet and contains the logo in the top right corner, for example. If you insert the logo, you will usually not achieve nice results.
    Margins of the text area in cm, mm, in, pt, pc, px, or em.
  4. Enter the text of the certificate. You can use the placeholders for personalization listed below the text input field, for example, to automatically include the name of the course and the participant.
  5. Always use the placeholders with the square brackets so that ILIAS can identify them. If some data is unavailable for a user, it will be omitted when generating the certificate.    
    You can insert paragraphs using the following syntax:  <p> </p>
  6. Click the Save button to create the certificate template.

Depending on the object type, you can make additional settings:

  • Tests and Exercises Only: Under Visibility, set when the certificate should be made available to participants.
  • For SCORM learning modules, the option changes the short title for file naming.

Reuse certificates elsewhere

You can reuse certificates already set up in other courses or objects. This saves you time when setting them up. To do this, you must first export a finished certificate and then import it into the desired object. You can still customize the imported certificate after import.

You want to export a certificate.

Prerequisites: Your certificate is already set up and saved. The Active checkbox is set.

  1. Open the Settings tab.
  2. Click on the Certificate link.
  3. Click the Export Certificate button above the Create/Edit Certificate Template form.
  4. ILIAS generates the export file and opens the download dialog of your browser.

You want to import a certificate.

  1. Open the Settings tab in the target object.
  2. Click on the Certificate link.
  3. In the Import section, select the ZIP file with the certificate export.
  4. Click the Save button.
  5. ILIAS imports the certificate.

You can now customize the imported certificate, i.e., change the text or the image.

Where can users find their certificates?

Users can add all types of certificates to their workspace. They can also download their certificates from different places depending on the object. Of course, the prerequisite for this is always that the certificate is activated and that users meet the conditions, if applicable (e.g., passing a test).

Course:

  • Outside of the course is displayed to members in the Repository below the course title: Passed: Download Certificate.
  • Inside the course, an icon is displayed to the left of the internal Actions menu, which can be used to download the certificate.
  • The internal Actions menu also includes a Download Certificate item.

Exercise:

  • The certificate can be downloaded from the Exercise Units tab by clicking on the Certificate button.

Learning module SCORM:

  • Outside Learning Module is displayed to members in the Repository below the title: Passed: Download Certificate

Test:

  • The certificate can be downloaded directly after the test by clicking on the Certificate button.
  • It can also be accessed afterward in the test results (button: Show test results).

Delete certificate

You want to delete a certificate that has already been created.

Prerequisite: The certificate is activated.

  1. Click on the Delete button.
  2. ILIAS asks you to confirm the deletion.
  3. Click on the Yes button.
  4. ILIAS deletes the certificate.