Why it matters

• Courses decay on a schedule you can predict: software and tool lessons go stale fastest, statistics and prices next, and core concepts slowest — so the refresh plan should match the decay rate of each module, not treat the whole course the same.
• Learner questions are your freshness radar: when the same question arrives repeatedly, the course is missing or outdated on that point, and the FAQ list doubles as a quiet maintenance to-do list.
• A full re-record is rarely needed: most updates are targeted patches — a new screen recording, an updated price or rule, a note pinned to an older lesson — and patching is sustainable where remaking is not.
• Versioning builds trust: a visible 'last updated' date and a changelog tell learners the course is alive, and a course that says it was updated last month outsells a better one that looks abandoned.
• An annual review is the honest minimum for most topics, with a lighter quarterly pass for courses heavy in fast-changing material like tools, rules or money figures.

Your checklist

• Add a review date to every module when you finish it, based on how fast its content decays.
• Keep a simple changelog with dates, and show the last-updated date on the course page and in the intro.
• Set a recurring calendar block — quarterly for fast-moving modules, yearly for the rest — and treat it like any other commitment.
• Each review pass, answer three questions: what changed in this topic, what do recent learner questions reveal, and which lesson feels dated when you watch it.
• Patch rather than remake: re-record only the stale sections and add a dated note where an older lesson still stands.
• When a big change lands in your topic (a rule change, a new major version), ship the update within a month while the relevance window is open.
• Ask returning learners and your community what feels out of date — they consume the course with fresher eyes than you have.

❓ Keeping Your Course Current: The Refresh Habit — FAQ

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