Override Text Content in a Library-Referenced Component

Override Text Content in a Library-Referenced Component#

When you add content from a content library to your course, that content is linked to its source library and kept in sync with it. In most cases, you cannot edit library-sourced content directly in a course — but text components are an exception. You can override the text content of a library-sourced text component to customize it for your course without unlinking the rest of the content from the library.

This how-to covers standalone text component overrides. For information about overriding text content within a library-sourced unit, subsection, or section, see Override Text Content in a Library-Sourced Structural Block.

Note

Text content overrides are available starting with the Verawood release of the Open edX platform.

Prerequisites#

Before you begin, ensure that you have:

A course open in Studio.
A published text component from a content library already added to the course as a standalone component (not nested inside a library-sourced unit, subsection, or section).

Override the Text Content#

In Studio, open the unit that contains the library-sourced text component you want to customize.
Locate the text component. It will display an Edit button even though it is library-sourced.
Select Edit to open the text editor.
Make your changes to the text content.
Select Save to save the override.

The text component now displays your customized content in the course. The original content in the source library is not affected.

Note

Once you save an override, there is no indicator in the current release that marks the component as locally overridden. This is planned for a future release.

Sync Library Updates After an Override#

Overriding the text content of a standalone text component changes how syncing works for that component. When a newer version of the component is published in the source library, you can choose what happens to your override during a sync.

When you sync and the library has a newer version of the overridden text component, Studio will prompt you to choose one of the following options.

Keep course content — your local override is preserved and the library update is ignored for this component.
Update to published library content — your override is discarded and the component is updated to the latest version from the library.

Important

This choice — whether to keep or drop an override — is only available for standalone text component overrides. Other types of overrides (such as title overrides) are handled automatically during sync and cannot be selectively kept or dropped.

What You Cannot Override#

Not all edits are allowed on library-sourced content. Overrides are limited to text content on text components. Edits that would change the structure of library content — such as reordering components within a library-sourced unit — are not permitted. To make structural changes, you must first unlink the content from its source library.

Review Date	Working Group Reviewer	Release	Test situation
2026-04-08	sarina	Verawood	Pass