A certificate has the wrong name, or I need to cancel one
A certificate is never rewritten after it is issued. That is the point of a certificate: it records what was true on the day. So when something is wrong, bernard does not edit it. It replaces it, or cancels it, and keeps both the old certificate and your reason.
The prompt
“The certificate for [learner’s name] on [course] has their name spelled wrong. It should be [correct full name]. Please replace it.”
Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).
A certificate that failed to print
Sometimes a certificate fails to print, for example when bernard is very busy. That is bernard’s problem, not a mistake on the certificate, so the fix is to print the same certificate again: ask “print the failed certificates again”. It keeps its certificate number and its check link, so nothing your learner may already have quoted changes. If a site has printed its daily allowance, the rest print the next day.
Only when the name on it is not a full name does a print keep failing; replace that one with the learner’s full name, as below.
Replace a certificate
Use this for a misspelt name, or to reprint an old certificate in your new design (Put my logo, my signature and my colours on the certificate). Tell bernard which certificate, what is wrong and, for a name, the correct full name.
bernard shows you the change first. When you approve it, the old certificate is marked as replaced and a new one is printed with a new certificate number and your current design. The learner’s name must be a full name: never an email address or a single first name.
Cancel a certificate
Use this when a certificate should not exist at all, for example one given in error. Give a short reason, such as “issued in error”. The certificate is marked as revoked and kept in your records with that reason. A cancelled certificate cannot be brought back, but you can give the person a new one.
What changes on the contact record
A certificate shows on the person’s contact record as a tag. Replacing a certificate keeps the tag. Cancelling one removes the tag, unless the person holds another certificate that needs it (Email everyone who has a certificate for one of my courses).
Nothing is deleted
Every certificate you have ever given stays in your records: issued, replaced or revoked. Ask bernard “show me the certificates for Level 3” at any time (Give learners a certificate when they finish my course).
Questions people ask
- Is the old certificate deleted?
- No. bernard never deletes a certificate. A replaced one stays in your records marked as replaced, and a cancelled one stays marked as revoked, each with the reason you gave.
- Does the replacement get a new number?
- Yes. A replacement is a new certificate with a new number. The old number stays attached to the old certificate, so nobody can mistake one for the other.
- Does bernard check with me first?
- Yes. bernard tells you which certificate it will replace or cancel and asks you to approve before it changes anything. A cancelled certificate cannot be brought back, but you can give a new one afterwards.
- A certificate says it failed to print. What do I do?
- Ask bernard to print it again. A failed print is bernard’s problem, not yours, and printing it again keeps the same certificate number and check link. The one exception is a certificate whose name is not a full name: that one needs replacing with the learner’s full name.