Courses and lessons
Courses
Section titled “Courses”The catalogue has dozens of courses grouped by subject: networking (from Networking Foundations to routing, switching, VPNs, IPv6, QoS, SD-WAN and data-centre design), security, Linux and systems, automation, monitoring and recovery, electronics and embedded systems, web and software development, and audio, lighting and broadcast. Each course page lists its level, the plan it needs, and its modules and lessons in order. Some courses end with a capstone project.
Each course is tagged free, pro or architect (the advanced tier, included in Pro + Mentorship). See Plans and billing.
Learning paths (/paths, /pathways) group courses into a recommended order for a goal. Your dashboard shows the current pathway and a Resume button.
What a lesson contains
Section titled “What a lesson contains”A lesson page may include, depending on the topic: an objective, prerequisites, a scenario, key terms, a plain-language explanation, the technical detail, a topology diagram, configuration, verification, expected results, troubleshooting, failure scenarios, security and production notes, a backup and rollback plan, a lab, a challenge, and a summary with official references.
Coloured boxes mark the kind of note: Warning, Info, Verification, Troubleshooting and Production (things that matter on a real network).
Three features help you learn rather than just read:
- Explain it simply gives the idea in plain words first.
- Self-check asks questions so you can test yourself.
- Explain it back asks you to put the idea in your own words.
Hands-on labs
Section titled “Hands-on labs”Many lessons have a lab that runs in your browser, with no hardware to buy. Depending on the lesson it is a device command-line practice area, a simulated MikroTik RouterOS router, a Python or SQL workspace, a web-development workspace, or a guided step-by-step lab. See Labs and challenges.
Marking a lesson complete
Section titled “Marking a lesson complete”At the end of a lesson press Mark as Complete. If you are not signed in, the button asks you to sign in to save progress. When you complete a lesson:
- your progress for the course increases and your next lesson is offered;
- you earn 10 XP, once per lesson (completing it again gives nothing more);
- finishing the last lesson shows a Course Completed message.
Some lessons need you to pass their quiz before you can mark them complete.
Your XP sets your rank:
| Rank | XP needed |
|---|---|
| Novice | 0 |
| Apprentice | 50 |
| Operator | 150 |
| Engineer | 300 |
| Senior Engineer | 600 |
| Architect | 1,000 |
| Master | 2,000 |
What you can do on a free plan
Section titled “What you can do on a free plan”You can read and run labs in every free course in full. On Pro and architect courses you can read the first lesson and run its labs as a preview; marking progress, earning XP, Ask GT, exams and certificates need a plan that covers the course.
Quick Starts
Section titled “Quick Starts”A Quick Start is a task-first guide (“configure a new router”, “configure a new switch”). Each one states the starting state it assumes: factory default, factory reset, blank configuration, existing configuration, partially configured or production device. A warning box appears automatically for states that could be risky. Never run a factory-default procedure on a production device.
Reference
Section titled “Reference”The reference section is for fast lookup of commands, protocols and troubleshooting, grouped by category. Troubleshooting pages such as “Router has no internet” or “VLAN connectivity failure” are ranked higher in search results.
Search
Section titled “Search”Search runs in your browser against an index built with the site. Results rank an exact title first, then partial title matches, keywords, tags and descriptions, with a small boost for Quick Starts and troubleshooting pages.