External links as lessons

What are external link lessons?

An external link lesson points learners to content that lives somewhere else on the web, such as a YouTube video, a Loom or Synthesia recording, or an article on another site. Instead of uploading a file, you paste a link and 5Mins turns it into a lesson that learners open from inside your course. It's the quickest way to bring trusted external resources into your training.

help-video-9405153

🎬 Watch this as a short narrated video

Steps shown in this video

  1. Not everything has to be built in 5Mins - you can turn web content into a lesson
  2. Add external link embeds YouTube, TikTok and more into any lesson
  3. Pick it and the form is short
  4. Name the lesson
  5. Then paste a link, and 5Mins embeds it right there
  6. Publish Lesson, and it behaves like any other lesson in a course

Supported link types

When you add an external link you choose one of two types:

  • Video - For links to video content, such as YouTube, Loom, or Synthesia. Where the source allows it, the video plays in an embedded player without learners leaving the platform.

  • Article - For links to written content such as blog posts, news articles, or web pages. Learners open the page to read it.

Adding an external link as a lesson

  1. Start creating a new lesson and choose External link as the lesson type.

  2. Select whether the link is a Video or an Article.

  3. Paste the URL into the link field.

  4. Give the lesson a title, add it to a course, and save.

When you save, 5Mins reads the link and pulls in details automatically where they're available, such as the title, description, thumbnail image, and an estimated duration. For YouTube videos it also detects the video so it can be embedded. Some of this information may not be available for every link.

How external links behave for learners

  • Learners see a preview of the link, including the thumbnail and duration when those were detected.

  • Video links play in an embedded player where the source supports it; otherwise the link opens in a new tab.

  • Article links open the destination page so learners can read it.

  • Completion is tracked when the learner engages with the link and marks it complete, and this shows up in your course reports and learning records.

Tips

  • Make sure the link is publicly accessible. If it's private or behind a login, learners will hit an error.

  • Check your links periodically. If a page is moved or removed, learners will see an error, so update the link or swap in a replacement.

  • You can still add a quiz to an external link lesson from the Quiz tab to reinforce the content.