How to create a Varied Session Workshop — a multi-session program where learners pick from available dates for each session, building their own schedule.
Varied Session Workshops give learners flexibility. Each session has multiple date options, and learners choose which date works for them per session. Use this format when learners need to fit the program around their own calendars — partner training, optional development tracks, programs spanning multiple regions or time zones.
If you need learners to move through the program together on a fixed schedule, use a Cohort Session Workshop instead. For the strategic frame, see Workshop Strategy: When and How to Use Live Learning.
Important constraint: Once a Multi-Session Workshop is published, you can't add more sessions to it. Plan the full session structure before publishing.
How to Create a Varied Session Workshop
1. Open the Workshops creator. Navigate to Admin > Workshops > Add a Workshop and select Multi Session Workshop.
2. Complete the basics, choose Varied Session. Add the Workshop Title, Description, and Tags. In the workshop type field, choose Varied Session. Click Next.
3. Add sessions and dates. Add and complete the session details for each session, then add multiple date options to each session. See Adding Sessions to Multi Session Workshops for the shared session-creation mechanic.
For Varied to work as intended, each session needs at least 2–3 date options. If you only offer one date per session, you've effectively built a Cohort Workshop without the cohort structure — learners get the illusion of choice but no actual choice.
Press Next when all sessions and dates are added.
4. Upload an image. Required for publication.
5. Set categories, notifications, visibility, retake behavior, certificate, related Workshops, and Smart Segmentation. These work the same as a Standard Workshop — see Add a Standard Workshop for the strategic framing on each.
6. Preview and publish. Click Next to preview, then Create to publish.
When Varied Session Is the Right Choice
Partner training programs. Partners attend across regions and time zones. Locking everyone to one schedule excludes participants who can't make those exact times.
Optional development tracks. Learners who choose to participate often have other obligations. Flexibility on dates increases completion.
Long-running programs. Programs that run for months benefit from learners being able to handle life events (PTO, project crunches) without falling behind.
Multi-time-zone audiences. When a single date can't fairly accommodate everyone, offering multiple dates per session lets each learner pick a workable time.
Common Pitfalls
Publishing Before All Sessions Are Added. The single biggest gotcha for Multi-Session Workshops. Once published, sessions are locked. Plan all sessions before publishing.
Only One Date Per Session. Varied Workshops with single-date sessions defeat the format's purpose. Either add more date options or use a Standard Workshop or Cohort Session Workshop.
Learners Skipping Sessions. Varied Workshops trust learners to register for all sessions in the series. Some won't — track completion across all sessions and follow up with learners who only registered for part of the program.
Sessions Out of Sequence. Learners with full flexibility may register for Session 3 before Session 1 if dates align that way. If the sessions are sequential, use a Cohort Workshop instead — or communicate the expected order clearly.
Date Conflicts Across Sessions. Two sessions scheduled on the same day at the same time create an impossible choice. Sanity-check date overlaps before publishing.
Where This Fits
You're here because you're building a learner-choice multi-session program. For the cohort-paced variant, see Creating A Cohort Session Workshop. For the underlying session mechanic, see Adding Sessions to Multi Session Workshops.
See Also
- Workshops in Continu — the section gateway.
- Workshop Strategy: When and How to Use Live Learning — the strategic anchor.
- Creating A Cohort Session Workshop — for cohort-paced programs.
- Adding Sessions to Multi Session Workshops — the shared session mechanic.
- Add a Standard Workshop — for single-session programs.