Course start date documentation changes

stud-1246

docs/en_us/course_authors/source/change_log.rst

@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ Change Log
 
    * - Date
      - Change
+   * - 02/05/14
+     - Added section :ref:`Set the Advertised Start Date`
    * - 02/04/14
      - Added the :ref:`Student Data` and :ref:`Grades` chapters.
    * - 

docs/en_us/course_authors/source/create_new_course.rst

@@ -142,6 +142,7 @@ You must set dates and times for enrollment and for the course.
 From the **Settings** menu, select **Schedule and Details**.  
 
 .. image:: Images/schedule.png
+  :alt: An image of the course schedule page.
 
 .. note:: 
 
@@ -153,6 +154,41 @@ Follow the on-screen text to enter the course and enrollment schedule.
 
     The Time fields on this page reflect the current time zone in your browser, depending on your geography. Course start times for students are shown as UTC.
 
+Students see the course start date on their dashboards:
+
+.. image:: Images/dashboard-course.png
+ :alt: An image of a course listing in the student dashboard, with the start date circled.
+
+.. _Set the Advertised Start Date:
+
+==============================
+Set the Advertised Start Date
+==============================
+
+You can set an advertised start date for your course that is different than the course start date you set in the **Schedule and Details** page. You may want to do this if there is uncertainty about the exact start date. For example, you could advertise the start date as **Spring, 2014**.
+
+To set an advertised start date:
+
+#. From the **Settings** menu, select **Advanced Settings**.
+#. Find the policy key **advertised_start**. The default value is **null**.
+#. Enter the date you want as an advertised start date.  You can use any string, enclosed in double quotation marks. If you format the string as a date (for example, as 02/01/2014), the value is parsed and presented to students as a date.
+
+  .. image:: Images/advertised_start.png
+   :alt: Image of the advertised start date policy key
+
+4. Click **Save Changes** at the bottom of the page.
+
+The start date shown on the student's dashboard is now the value of the advertised_start policy key:
+
+.. image:: Images/dashboard-course_adver_start.png
+ :alt: An image of a course listing in the student dashboard, with the advertised start date circled.
+
+If you do not change the default course start date (01/01/2030), and the advertised_start policy value is null, then the student dashboard does not list a start date for the course.  Students just see that the course has not yet started:
+
+.. image:: Images/dashboard-course_not_started.png
+ :alt: Image of a course listing in the student dashboard, with no start date.
+
+
 .. _`Describe Your Course`:
 
 ************************