Public Course Content

en_us/install_operations/source/configuration/enable_public_course.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+.. _Enable Public Course Content:
+
+####################################
+Enabling Public Course Content
+####################################
+
+By default, learners must create an Open edX account, be signed in to the LMS, 
+and enroll in a course before they can see the course content. The *Public 
+Course Content* feature gives you the option to make either a course outline 
+or course content available to anyone, regardless of whether they have registered 
+for an Open edX account or enrolled in the course. You can decide which courses, 
+and which parts of those courses, that you want to make public. For example, 
+you can:
+
+  * **Make just the course outline public.** The LMS displays the course outline 
+    without any links to internal course pages, giving potential learners an 
+    overview of what they will see when they enroll.
+
+  * **Make the entire course public.** Anyone visiting your course outline can 
+    follow links to visit internal course pages, and freely navigate HTML and 
+    Video course content and handouts.
+
+  * **Show different content blocks to public learners vs. enrolled learners.** 
+    You can create content tailored to the public view, while still supporting 
+    the needs of your enrolled audit and paid learners. 
+
+****************************************
+Public Course Content and Search Engines
+****************************************
+
+In addition to making your course content visible to people who already use your
+site, the public course content feature also allows Google and other search 
+crawlers to index your public course contents. People who are searching for 
+information about the topics you teach can then find your course through their 
+normal search behaviors. This can increase the visibility of your organization's 
+courses and boost enrollments for genuinely interested learners.
+
+*****************************************
+Enable Public Course Content in the Admin
+*****************************************
+
+The public course content feature is enabled in the Django LMS Admin with the 
+**seo.enable_anonymous_courseware_access** waffle flag. You can use this flag 
+in two different ways:
+
+* Create a normal waffle flag to enable this flag for all courses. For more
+  information, see the `Waffle documentation`_.
+
+  .. image:: ../Images/enable_anonymous_courseware_access.png
+         :alt: Setting a waffle flag in the Django LMS Admin.
+
+* Create a **Waffle flag course override** with the ID of a course to enable 
+  this flag for just that course.  
+
+  .. image:: ../Images/course_enable_anonymous_courseware_access.png
+         :alt: Setting a waffle flag in the Django LMS Admin.
+
+*************************************
+Set Visibility for a Course in Studio
+*************************************
+
+After you set the waffle flag to enable public course content in the Django
+LMS Admin, you set the visibility for the course content and its About page
+in Studio Advanced Settings.
+
+=================================
+Set Course Content Visibility
+=================================
+
+#. View your course in Studio, and navigate to the **Advanced Settings** page. 
+
+#. Locate the **Course Visibility For Unenrolled Learners** setting.
+
+   By default, this is set to ``"private"``, which ensures that only enrolled 
+   learners can access your course content.
+
+   If you change this to ``"public_outline"``, then your course outline, but not
+   the other course content, will be visible to everyone.
+
+   If you change this to ``"public"``, then all of your course content, including
+   the course outline, will be visible to everyone.
+
+=================================
+Set Course About Page Visibility
+=================================
+
+If you want your course to be crawled by Google and other search engines, you 
+should also ensure that your course's About page is visible, and that it is 
+shown in the course catalog. Without these settings, only people with a link 
+to your course outline or specific content blocks will be able to find your 
+course.
+
+#. View your course in Studio, and navigate to the **Advanced Settings** page. 
+
+#. Locate the **Course Visibility in Catalog** setting and set it to ``"both"``.
+
+
+********************
+Feature Limitations
+********************
+
+The public course content feature is currently subject to some limitations, 
+including the following.
+
+* Anonymous or unenrolled learners are not members of any cohort, and so they
+  only see course blocks that are not assigned to a content group. If you want
+  to restrict public access to selected course blocks, you need create content
+  groups for your private content, and ensure that your enrolled learners are
+  members of a cohort that can see this content group.
+
+* Only HTML components, Video components, and course handouts have a "public" 
+  view. Unenrolled learners will see a message requesting that they enroll to 
+  see more complex content types, such as discussion forums, problem blocks, 
+  randomized content blocks, exams, Open Response Assessment, and other XBlocks.
+
+* Unenrolled learners will not see course completion or progress updates as 
+  they proceed through the course, and Open edX doesn't remember where they 
+  left off if they leave the course and come back.
+
+* The edX mobile apps do not support public course content.
+
+
+
+.. include:: ../../../links/links.rst

en_us/install_operations/source/configuration/index.rst

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ configuration options.
    enable_badging
    enable_certificates
    enable_pacing
+   enable_public_course
    enable_ccx
    enable_custom_course_settings
    enable_discussion_notifications

en_us/install_operations/source/configuration/transcripts.rst

@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ Configuring the Transcript Feature Flag
   Platform`.
 
 To set the ``FALLBACK_TO_ENGLISH_TRANSCRIPTS`` feature flag, you modify the
-``lms.env.json`` and ``cms.env.json``files, which are located one level above
+``lms.env.json`` and ``cms.env.json`` files, which are located one level above 
 the ``edx-platform`` directory.
 
 #. In the ``lms.env.json`` and ``cms.env.json`` files, in the ``FEATURES``

en_us/shared/developing_course/controlling_content_visibility.rst

@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@ features.
   :local:
   :depth: 1
 
+.. only:: Open_edX
+
+  You can also configure Open edX so that courses or course outlines are visible 
+  to anyone, not just registered and enrolled learners. For information, see 
+  :ref:`installation:Enable Public Course Content`. 
+
 
 .. _Release Dates: