Compass can turn a curriculum PDF into a sequence of HomeTrail planner entries. It creates references and scheduling details; it does not reproduce or replace the curriculum.
Planner import is included with HomeTrail Plus. Open Plus Hub → Compass and find Create planner entries from an authorized curriculum PDF.
Create the draft
- Select a PDF up to 250 MB — a full course book fits without compressing it.
- Enter a curriculum name when the title is not clear from the file.
- Choose the students who will use it.
- Set the first date, normal session duration, and days of the week.
- Confirm that you own the material, it is public or OER, or your license or school permits this planning use.
- Choose Create planner entries.
Compass can review readable-text PDFs up to 500 pages. For a long curriculum, it works through the document in sections and combines the lessons into one draft, including lessons found near the end. Image-only scanned PDFs are not supported yet.
If no planner entries are found
If the import fails with "No planner entries were found in this PDF," the file usually doesn't contain the lesson pages Compass looks for. To fix it:
- Include the actual lesson pages. Compass finds lessons where their content begins in the document — a table of contents or lesson list on its own is not enough. If you trimmed the PDF, make sure the lessons themselves made the cut.
- Upload the whole document. Compass reads the text of your PDF, not the pictures, and handles files up to 250 MB and 500 pages — there is usually no need to trim or compress a course book. If your file is larger than 250 MB, use your PDF tool's compress or reduce-file-size option rather than deleting pages.
- Avoid image-only scans. A scanned PDF without selectable text has nothing for Compass to read. If you can select and copy text in your PDF viewer, the file will work; if not, export a text version from the original source if one is available.
Review before adding
Compass shows the sequence it found, including titles, source page ranges, estimated minutes, and objectives. Estimated minutes are informational; created sessions use the default duration selected in the form. Check the order and references against the original curriculum.
Any team member can choose Confirm to create the Rhythm item and Planner Sessions, or Discard to remove the draft. Continue using the original curriculum for teaching content.
Remove a confirmed import
If you confirmed an import while trying it out or need to choose a different schedule, you can remove the plan Compass added:
- Return to Plus Hub → Compass.
- Under Recently added from Compass, choose Remove imported plan.
- Review the confirmation. HomeTrail shows whether the plan contains completed sessions, uploaded files, or portfolio entries.
- Choose Remove imported plan again to confirm.
This permanently deletes every Planner Session created by that PDF import and removes its Rhythm assignment. Completed Session records, uploaded files, and portfolio entries attached to those Sessions are also removed. The Rhythm item remains available, so you can schedule it again when you are ready.
Adjust after a missed lesson
If a lesson is missed later, tell TrailGuide which lesson was missed and when you want to resume. For example:
“We missed Fractions Tuesday; resume Thursday and reflow the rest.”
TrailGuide will show the proposed change and ask you to confirm it. After confirmation, TrailGuide moves the missed, incomplete lesson to the requested resume date and reflows every later incomplete lesson in that sequence. Later lessons continue on the curriculum weekdays you selected during import.
Completed lessons stay on their original dates, and existing planner notes are preserved. This sequence reflow is available only for planner entries created from a Compass curriculum PDF import.
