Professional Academy benefits from a bright, beautiful and consistent digital experience with a custom Totara theme

Professional Academy is a leading provider of CIM, ISMM, CMI and CAM Foundation qualifications, and is dedicated to delivering high-quality training in management and leadership, sales, marketing and digital marketing.

From professionals looking to gain new qualifications to companies seeking in-house training, Professional Academy provides custom-designed courses, exceptional trainers, one-to-one support and the most advanced online learning management system available.

The Challenge

Professional Academy had had its company website redesigned and an ecommerce store launched with an integrated theme throughout. To continue developing its online brand, Professional Academy wanted a uniform theme across its entire online presence, including its Totara Learn platform, to help deliver quality, consistency, brand recognition and professionalism to online consumers.

The key objective was for the LMS to be instantly recognisable as a Professional Academy service while keeping the learner experience and usability front of mind.

The Solution

Professional Academy worked with Totara Partner HowToMoodle* to create a custom theme for their Totara Learn LMS using HowToMoodle’s Brand it! theming service.

The navigation of their previous theme was not suitable for their needs, so HowToMoodle’s custom Totara Learn theme included the addition of quicklinks to improve navigation from the platform’s homepage. As well as this, the entire site underwent extensive aesthetic improvements with a brighter, more consistent theme which fit seamlessly with the rest of their digital offering. For instance, HowToMoodle incorporated the sliding banner images from Professional Academy’s website into the LMS theme for an immediate visual link between the platforms.

Additionally, Professional Academy needed the ability to create their own bespoke themes for some of their larger corporate clients who wanted to integrate their own branding into the platform. To do this, they added HowToMoodle’s Multi-T feature, which gives the effect of a bespoke site by allowing Professional Academy to make changes such as company logo, colour scheme, banner images and front page text, and the relevant delegates can then be assigned to the correct theme.

“It is simple to manage but the impact is great. The adaptability has been of significant use to us and allows us to further accommodate our clients’ needs.”

The Results

Professional Academy has received positive feedback on the new theme from learners and colleagues alike, with trainers calling it a ‘vast improvement’ on any previous Professional Academy platform. Learners have called it a ‘fresh, modern-looking system’ owing to the bright, consistent new theme.

Professional Academy is also delighted with the services of HowToMoodle. As well as the web developers being on hand to answer any questions regarding the LMS, the technical support team were also very responsive in terms of offering advice for fixes.

“Having consistent Professional Academy branding across all online platforms has allowed us to ensure all Professional Academy students, clients and partners will be receiving the high-quality product and service they expect.”

*HowToMoodle rebranded to Hubken in 2019.