You can change a Journey after it’s been published. Existing learners stay on the version they started; new learners see the updated Journey. This article covers what’s safe to change, what to watch for, and how Continu handles in-progress versus new learners during an edit.

The model

Every Journey has a version. When you edit a published Journey and save, that creates a new version. Each learner is pinned to the version they started on — but "pinned" applies to their progress, not to every piece of content they see. Here's what that means in practice:

• In-progress learners keep their progress. Completed sections, completed items, and section-order state all follow the pinned version. Learners don't get sent back to redo work when you edit the Journey.
• Content the learner hasn't reached yet reflects your edits. If you update a section a learner hasn't gotten to, they see the new version as they progress. This lets you improve a Journey mid-flight without stranding new content.
• Completed moments are preserved. If a learner has already finished a course, assessment, or equivalency, that completion counts even if you swap or edit that item. They're not required to re-complete.
• New learners start on the current version. Anyone beginning the Journey after your edit sees the current state.
• Completed learners aren't affected. If someone already finished the Journey, edits don't apply retroactively.

The pin is about protecting progress, not freezing content. If you want a learner to fully re-experience an updated Journey, use a recompletion assignment (see below).

What you can safely edit

Section content. Add, remove, or reorder content within a section. New learners see your changes; in-progress learners see what was there when they started.

Section structure. Add new sections, remove sections, change the order. Same versioning rule applies.

Completion requirements. Switch a section from All Content to Some Content, change the required count, or mark a section optional. Applies to new starts only.

Section order rule. Change between Locked and Open at the Journey level. Applies to new starts only.

Test-out assessments. Add, change, or remove the test-out assessment for a section. Applies to new starts only.

Delays. Adjust the days between sections. Applies to new starts only.

Title, description, banner, thumbnail. Visual and metadata changes. These generally apply to everyone (because they’re rendered fresh each page load), but the underlying structure stays versioned.

Smart Segmentation audience. Change who can see the Journey. This may add or remove access for learners depending on the rule change.

What to think carefully about

Removing content from a section. In-progress learners still see the content they’re on — but if you remove content that was required and they’re partway through, their completion math may shift. Their experience generally remains stable, but spot-check after major removals.

Switching completion mode from All to Some (or vice versa). Only affects new starts. In-progress learners continue with the original rule. If you want all learners to move to the new rule, the cleanest path is to assign a new version explicitly.

Adding or removing entire sections. New sections appear for new starts only. Removing a section that in-progress learners haven’t reached yet leaves their Journey shorter than they originally saw.

Changing the test-out assessment. Only affects new starts. In-progress learners keep the test-out they originally had.

Changing delays. Only affects new starts and only for sections they haven’t yet unlocked. A learner whose Section 3 already unlocked won’t be re-locked if you increase the delay.

How to edit a live Journey

1. Open the Journey in the admin
2. Click Edit (no need to unpublish or pause)
3. Make changes — content, sections, completion rules, order, test-outs, delays
4. Save

[SCREENSHOT: Edit view of a published Journey showing the changes being made to a section]

The save creates a new version. Anyone who starts the Journey after this point sees the new version.

What learners see during an edit

In-progress learners keep their pinned progress. Their completed sections stay completed, their current section is where they left it, and their progress bar doesn't reset.

Version banner. When a Journey has been edited since a learner started, they see a banner indicating a newer version is available. It lets learners know the updated version exists — they can request it or continue on their pinned version depending on how the Journey is assigned.

New content still surfaces. Content the learner hasn't reached yet reflects the current version when they encounter it. An admin who edits a section learners haven't seen may find learners engaging with the new content, not the old.

Admin preview vs learner view

When an admin opens a Journey from the admin side, they see the current version — what a new learner would see. This is not what any in-progress learner is looking at; each of them is on their pinned version.

To see exactly what a specific learner sees, open the learner's Journey through their profile or the Journey's analytics view. That surfaces their pinned version, not the current one.

The most common confusion here: an admin edits a Journey, previews it, sees the update, and reports that "the learners are seeing the new version" — but the admin was only looking at the current version. In-progress learners are on their pinned version until they hit content that's been changed or receive a recompletion assignment.

Assignments and versioning

How an assignment is configured affects whether learners see the updated Journey.

• Standard assignment. Existing assignees stay on their pinned version. New assignees pick up the current version.
• Automated assignment (Smart Segmentation). Assignments evaluate going forward. Learners already assigned to the old Journey keep it. Only learners who newly enter the segment after your edit are assigned the current version.
• Recompletion assignment. Forces re-completion. The learner is placed on the current version and their progress starts fresh. This is how you push a structural update to a population that's already been through.

If you're editing an active Journey that's assigned via automation, swapping the assignment to a new Journey doesn't retroactively re-assign anyone. Existing assignees stay on the old Journey until you re-assign explicitly or use recompletion.

Versioning isn't a manual operation

You don’t pick a version number, name a version, or roll back to a previous version. Continu manages versioning automatically. From the admin’s perspective: you edit, you save, the new version is live for new starts.

If you need to make a major change that should reset everyone (rare), the cleanest pattern is to:

1. Archive the existing Journey
2. Create a new Journey with the new structure
3. Assign the new Journey to the audience that should be on it

This is heavier than an in-place edit but gives a clean break.

Common pitfalls

See Also

• Journeys v2: What’s New
• Section Order: Locked vs. Open
• Section Completion: All, Some, or Optional
• Automations