What's new in Slate: April 2026

April was a busy month. The headlines are cover pages, end-to-end multi-language editing, lesson templates, code block improvements, and a new wide content layout. Several smaller things shipped alongside them. Here is the round-up.

Cover pages (Free)

Every course can now open with a customizable cover page: a hero layout, optional metadata, and a customizable call to action. New courses ship with a pre-populated Welcome cover so you can see every option before deciding what to keep.

Pick from four hero layouts (Centered, Split, Full bleed, Minimal), set a background image, solid colour, or none with an overlay darkness slider, and toggle author, duration, and lesson-count metadata independently. The sidebar label and button text are both configurable per course.

Cover pages are translatable end to end and available on all plans, Free included.

Multi-language editing (Free)

AI-assisted course translations have always been available on every tier, paid from your AI credit pool. What changed this month is the workflow around them: source and target languages now stay in sync, and translated copy is fully editable in place across every block type.

Previously, translating a course was effectively a one-shot operation. You translated to a target language and any structural change in the source after that point (adding a lesson, removing a block, reordering options) could drift out of alignment with the target. The new workflow makes the source the single source of truth for structure. Add a block in your source language and the same block appears as a placeholder in every target language, ready to be translated. Remove or reorder a block in the source and the change propagates to every target. Structural controls are now hidden when you're viewing a target language.

For inline edits, switch the language picker, click into any block, and edit directly. Source content shows alongside each translation field as a reference.

Lesson templates (Standard and Pro)

You already build the same lesson shape over and over: an intro with a hero and overview, a scenario with two accordions and a knowledge check, a wrap with a video and a feedback prompt. Now you can save a standard lesson as a template once and drop it into any course in two clicks. (Cover pages, assessments, and conclusions have their own dedicated settings and aren't part of the templates library.)

Saving: click the bookmark icon next to any lesson, name the template, save.

Inserting: open the Add Lesson menu, choose From Template, pick from a searchable list of every template you've saved.

Lesson templates are included on Standard and Pro.

Code block improvements

Two rounds of changes to the code block this month. Most visible: every code block editor now has dedicated Undo and Redo buttons alongside Format, Copy, and Download, with standard ⌘Z / ⇧⌘Z (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z) keyboard shortcuts. Buttons disable when there's nothing to undo or redo.

Behind the scenes, the AI code generation prompt was rebuilt. The model now leads with a literal "build exactly what the user asked for" instruction, gets an explicit list of native Slate blocks (knowledge checks, flip cards, accordions, tabs, column layouts) it should not reach for, plus new script-hook guidance and a self-check pass. The net effect: fewer generations that look right but silently fail at runtime.

Code blocks are on every plan. AI code generation runs from your shared AI credit pool.

Wide content layout

A new Themes option for creators who want their courses to feel more editorial. Wide content layout keeps body text in a comfortable reading column while letting images, videos, tables, and multi-column layouts use the full width of the player. The layout also ships with an edge-to-edge player chrome and a hamburger-menu sidebar so the whole course reads less like a slide deck and more like a modern web article.

Pick it from Theme settings; works alongside custom fonts, theme presets, and per-block backgrounds. Available on all plans.

Also shipped this month

• Simplified block toolbar: a quieter edit surface with move, duplicate, and delete inline; the rest tucked behind a single overflow menu.
• Per-block backgrounds: a solid colour or image background on any block, rendered edge-to-edge in the player while text stays in the reading column.
• Upload from the Media Library picker: upload images, audio, and documents straight from the picker without leaving the block you are editing.
• Masonry layouts: two- and three-column masonry options for image galleries, quote walls, and card decks.
• Default authoring language: set a preferred course language once in Settings; new courses, AI Chat, and AI-generated content all default to it.
• Convert courses back to Markdown: turn any course into a plain-text LESSON.md file via lesson.md/convert/, useful for backups, version control, and editing courses with AI tools outside the builder.
• Flip card carousel: a new block that combines carousel navigation with per-card flip, so each card has its own front and back.
• Voice input for AI Chat: dictate prompts in AI Chat and the lesson generator, with a live waveform and transcript while you speak.
• Publish to all shared links: refresh every out-of-date preview or Share & Track link with a single action.
• QR codes for shared links: generate QR codes for preview, review, and Share & Track links, ideal for presentations and in-person training.
• Course outro: a customizable completion page after assessments for a summary, next steps, or a closing message.
• Expanded voice library: more narration voices, with inline audio previews and language filtering.
• Exit Course button: optional sidebar button that saves progress, terminates the SCORM session, and returns the learner to their LMS.

One more thing: Slate for Canva

Our Canva app, Slate for Canva, is built and submitted, and we're still waiting on the Canva team's design approval before it goes live in the Canva marketplace. We'll publish a launch post the moment it ships.

Where to go next

A snapshot of what we're working on next lives on the roadmap, and feature requests are always welcome on the feedback page.