This guide walks you from zero to issuing your first verifiable credential. If you already have an account, you can skip to step 3. Total time: about 30 minutes for the first certificate, under 5 minutes for every one after.
Step 1 — Create your academy account
Sign up at truecerta.com/register. Pick the Free tier to start — you get 10 certificates per month, access to the verification pages, embeddable badges, and every core feature. No credit card required.
- Choose your academy name (this becomes part of your public profile URL)
- Verify your email via the link we send (takes under a minute)
- Complete your academy profile with logo, description, and website
Step 2 — Create your first course
Courses in TrueCerta are reusable definitions: once you create a course, you can issue unlimited certificates for it. Go to Dashboard → Courses → New Course and fill in:
- Course name (e.g., 'Advanced Yoga Teacher Training 200hr')
- Description (what the student learned — this shows on verification pages)
- Validity period in months (or leave empty if the credential never expires)
- Optional: EQF/NLQF qualification level for European framework mapping
- Optional: learning outcomes in the K/S/A format (Knowledge, Skills, Attitude)
Step 3 — Design your template (optional)
You can issue certificates using the default template, or design your own in the Template Builder. The visual editor supports drag-drop text, images, shapes, custom fonts, and dynamic data bindings (holder name, course name, certificate code, issue date, and more).
“Pro tip: start with one of the three starter templates (Modern Minimal, Classic Formal, Bold Contemporary) and customize from there. It's faster than starting blank.”
Step 4 — Issue your first certificate
Two paths depending on your situation:
- Single issuance: Dashboard → Issue → fill in holder name, email, and course — the certificate is generated and emailed with a secure claim link within seconds
- Bulk issuance: Dashboard → Issue → CSV upload — map your spreadsheet columns, validate the rows, and issue up to 500 certificates in a single batch
Each certificate gets a unique code in the format TRC-XXX-YY-NNNN (where XXX is your 3-letter academy code and YY is the year). This code is what recipients and verifiers use to look up the credential.
Step 5 — Share and verify
The holder receives an email with a claim link. Once they claim it, they get a public profile page where the credential lives alongside all their other TrueCerta credentials. They can then share it on LinkedIn, embed a badge on their website, or download a QR code for business cards.
Anyone with the certificate code can verify it at truecerta.com/verify — no account needed, instant response, tamper-proof. That's the whole loop.
What to do next
- Invite team members if you have multiple staff issuing credentials
- Set up branded email templates so certificates arrive looking like they came from you
- Enable automated expiration reminders if your credentials have validity periods
- Build your alumni directory to re-engage past students
Stuck anywhere? Our founding-academy program gives you a direct line to engineering. Reach out at hello@truecerta.com and we'll walk through it with you.