Creating Content for the Academy

This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough for creating and organizing new content in the Layer5 Academy. You’ll learn how to set up your content repository, structure your content, add assets, preview your work, and publish it for your organization.

Prerequisites 🔗

Before you dive into creating your first Academy content, it’s helpful to be familiar with the core technologies and concepts used by the Academy platform.

• Git and GitHub: All learning content is managed in a Git repository.
• Markdown: All content is written in standard Markdown.
• Hugo: The entire Academy platform is built on the Hugo static site generator.
• Academy Template & Theme: We provide an academy-example repository that serves as a pre-configured template. Layer5 Academy theme to ensure your content is styled correctly right out of the box.
• A Layer5 Cloud Account: Required to obtain your Organization ID and Personal Access Token for publishing.

1. Set Up Your Content Repository 🔗

Start by preparing a dedicated Git repository for your learning content. Using our official Layer5 template to help you get started quickly.

1. Fork the academy-example Repository 🔗

• Go to the academy-example repository on GitHub.
• Click Fork to create a copy under your own GitHub account.

2. Clone Your Fork Locally 🔗

• Use the git clone command to download your forked repository.
• Example:

  # Replace `<your-username>` with your actual GitHub username
  git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/academy-example.git
  cd academy-example
  git checkout -b <your-feature-branch>
  

3. Update the Go Module Path 🔗

1. Open the go.mod file located at the root of your academy-example project.
2. The first line will be:

module github.com/layer5io/academy-example

3. Change this line to match your fork’s path:

module github.com/<your-username>/<your-repo-name>

4. Save the file, then commit and push this change to your repository.

2. Understanding Content Types 🔗

The Academy supports three distinct content types, each designed for specific educational goals. Use this table to determine which format best suits your objectives.

3. Structure Your Content 🔗

The Academy uses a specific directory layout to keep each organization’s content separate and secure. The structure varies depending on the content type you’re creating.

Find Your Organization UUID and Content ID 🔗

Each piece of Academy content is tied to a specific organization and secured by a unique identifier (UUID). This is a system-generated ID that ensures your content is scoped only to your organization.

You’ll need two types of UUIDs:

• Content ID: A unique identifier for your specific content (learning path, certification, or challenge) that gets added to the front matter of your content’s index file
• Organization ID: Your organization’s UUID that’s used in directory paths

Create the Core Directories 🔗

Now, inside your academy repository, you should see the following top-level folders.

1. content/<content-type>/<your-organization-uuid>/ This content directory is where all your written material lives. Replace <content-type> with either learning-paths, certifications, or challenges. The folder hierarchy you create here directly defines the navigation and organization of your content.
2. layouts/shortcodes/<your-organization-uuid>/ This layouts directory is for advanced use. You can place custom Hugo Shortcodes here if you need special reusable components.

Build the Content Hierarchy 🔗

The content structure varies by type:

Learning Path Structure 🔗

A Learning Path contains Courses. A Course is primarily broken down into Modules, but can also conclude with a final Test that serves as a course exam. Finally, a Module consists of individual Pages and Labs.

A high-level view of the learning path structure looks like this:

learning-paths/<your-organization-uuid>
└── {learning-path-name}/ 
    ├── _index.md                            
    ├── course-1/
    │   └── _index.md                        
    └── course-2/  
        ├── _index.md   
        ├── course-exam.md  
        └── module-1/ 
            ├── _index.md                    
            ├── page-1/
            │   └── _index.md 
            ├── test.md 

Certification Structure 🔗

A Certification typically contains one or more Exams and optional study materials.

certifications/<your-organization-uuid>
└── {certification-name}/
    ├── _index.md  
    ├── exam/
    │   ├── _index.md  
    ├── test-1/
    ├── test-2/
    └── test-3/

Challenge Structure 🔗

A Challenge is typically a single scenario-based task with lab and exam components.

challenges/<your-organization-uuid>
└── {challenge-name}/
    ├── _index.md 
    ├── lab/
    │   ├── _index.md 
    ├── exam/
    │   ├── _index.md 
    └── content/
        ├── description/
        ├── getting-started/
        ├── faq/
        └── {other-sections}/

Each folder represents a level in the hierarchy. The _index.md file within a folder is crucial as it defines the metadata for that level, such as its title, description, and type (e.g., type: "course", type: "certification", or type: "challenge"). The final .md files represent your individual learning activities.

For a deeper understanding of how Hugo uses _index.md to create content sections, you can refer to the official Hugo Page Bundles documentation.

Front Matter 🔗

Front matter is the configuration block at the top of every content file that defines its metadata. The most critical field is type, which tells the Academy how to render the content.

The front matter configuration varies depending on the content type. The following examples illustrate typical setups for each content type.

Frontmatter 🔗

All _index.md files use the same frontmatter structure. Only the type field differs based on the content level:

---
type: "learning-path"  # or "certification", "challenge", "course"
title: "Cloud Fundamentals"
description: "A learning path focused on providing the technical knowledge required for advanced topics."
weight: 5
banner: "kubernetes-icon.svg"
id: "<your-content-uuid>"
tags: [kubernetes, infrastructure]
categories: "cloud"
level: "beginner"
badge:
  png: "https://images.credly.com/images/f28f1d88-428a-47f6-95b5-7da1dd6c1000/twitter_thumb_201604_KCNA_badge.png"
  svg: "https://images.credly.com/images/f28f1d88-428a-47f6-95b5-7da1dd6c1000/twitter_thumb_201604_KCNA_badge.png"
  title: "Layer5 Certified"
  description: "Earn the Certification badge to showcase your expertise in Layer5 cloud services."
---

Summary of Required Fields

In this table, fields marked with ✅ are required, while those marked with – are optional.

For a complete list of all predefined variables and advanced usage, please refer to the official Hugo Front Matter documentation.

4. Add Assets and Interactive Content 🔗

Enhance your course with images and other visual aids. The recommended and standard method for adding images is Page Bundling. This approach involves placing your image files directly alongside the Markdown content they belong to, which is simpler and keeps content organized.

Size Limits for Embedded Media 🔗

While there’s no hard-coded size limit, we enforce these practical constraints:

How to Add an Image 🔗

1. Place your image file (e.g., hugo-logo.png) in the same directory as your Markdown file (e.g., 01-pods.md).

2. In your 01-pods.md file, embed the image using a standard Markdown link. The path should just be the filename.

   ![The Hugo Logo](hugo-logo.png)
   

How to Add a Video 🔗

Page Bundling (Recommended)

<video controls width="100%">
  <source src="video-demo.mp4" type="video/mp4">
</video>

External Hosting (Large Files)

{{< card title="Video Tutorial" >}}
<video controls preload="metadata">
  <source src="https://cdn.yourcompany.com/video.mp4" type="video/mp4">
  Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video.
</video>
{{< /card >}}

External Hosting Recommendations 🔗

For optimal performance, we recommend hosting large videos on dedicated platforms:

• YouTube (Free, public/private options)
• AWS S3 (Requires bucket & CORS configuration)
• Cloudflare Stream (Paid, enterprise-grade)
• Vimeo (Paid, professional features)

Critical Considerations 🔗

• Best practice: Page Bundling

• Accessibility: Always include subtitle tracks (VTT format)

• Thumbnails: Set custom posters with poster="image.jpg"

• Bandwidth: Self-hosted videos may incur significant costs

• Authentication: For private videos, use signed URLs (S3) or unlisted (YouTube)

5. Build and Preview Locally 🔗

Before publishing, it is crucial to preview your content locally to check for formatting errors, broken links, and overall structure.

# Set Up the Environment (One-time Task)
make setup
# Run the Local Preview Server
make site

This will start a local development server, where you can view your content as you build it.

6. Publishing Your Content 🔗

Once you have tested your content locally, you can publish it to the Layer5 Academy through our automated workflow.

To help you visualize how your content goes from a local file to live Academy content, the diagram below illustrates the entire end-to-end publishing workflow. It shows which components you will interact with directly and how the CI/CD pipeline handles the rest automatically.

The process involves a one-time setup of secrets in your repository, followed by creating a GitHub Release to publish each new version of your content.

Stage 1: Configure the Publishing Workflow (One-Time Setup) 🔗

To allow your repository to securely communicate with the Academy’s build system, you must configure GitHub Secrets. This one-time setup ensures your publishing workflow can authenticate automatically.

1. Verify Required Secret Names 🔗

First, confirm the exact secret names required by the workflow.

In your repository, open the workflow file at .github/workflows/build-and-release.yml. This confirms the workflow expects secrets named exactly ACADEMY_ORG_ID and ACADEMY_TOKEN.

with:
  orgId: ${{ secrets.ACADEMY_ORG_ID }}
  token: ${{ secrets.ACADEMY_TOKEN }}
  # ... and other parameters

2. Set Up Repository Secrets 🔗

Now, create the two required secrets in your repository.

1. Navigate to your GitHub repository and go to Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions.
2. Ensure you are on the Secrets tab.
3. Click New repository secret to add the following two secrets:

   1. Name: ACADEMY_ORG_ID

      Value: Paste your unique Organization ID string.

   2. Name: ACADEMY_TOKEN

      Value: Paste the personal access token generated from Layer5 Cloud by following the instructions below.

Once configured correctly, your secrets page should look like this:

Stage 2: Publish by Creating a GitHub Release 🔗

With the setup complete, you can publish your content anytime by creating a new release.

1. Ensure all your latest changes are committed and pushed to your repository’s master branch.
2. On your GitHub repository page, navigate to the “Releases” section.
3. Click “Draft a new release”.
4. Create a new version tag for your release (e.g., v1.0.1).
5. Provide a title and description for your release.
6. Click “Publish release”.

This action will automatically trigger the workflow, and your content will be deployed to the Layer5 Academy.

• Your content will be available in the staging environment within approximately 10 minutes.
• Your content will go fully live to the production Academy platform during the next scheduled cloud release.

For Urgent Updates: If you have a time-sensitive publishing request or encounter any issues with the automated process, please contact the Layer5 team for expedited assistance.

7. Ongoing Maintenance and Updates 🔗

Once your content is live, you may need to perform routine tasks to keep your local environment and dependencies up-to-date.

Updating the Academy Theme 🔗

The academy-theme provides the core layout, style, and features for your Academy content. Regularly updating it ensures you benefit from the latest improvements and bug fixes.

To upgrade to the latest theme version, run:

make theme-update

You will see output similar to this as Hugo fetches the new modules:

hugo mod get -u
hugo: collected modules in 1707 ms
go: downloading github.com/layer5io/academy-theme v0.1.6
go: upgraded github.com/layer5io/academy-theme v0.1.5 => v0.1.6
go: upgraded github.com/twbs/bootstrap v5.3.6+incompatible => v5.3.7+incompatible

Clearing the Local Cache for Troubleshooting 🔗

If you encounter unexpected formatting issues or your content doesn’t update correctly during local development, your build cache might be stale. Use the make clean command to resolve this. This command first deletes the local build cache (public directory) and then restarts the development server, ensuring you are previewing a fresh build of your content.

make clean

Frequently Asked Questions 🔗

<video src="{{< s3_signed_url path="training/private.mp4" >}}">