LearnDash is one of the most popular learning management systems available for WordPress sites. It comes with a variety of features that make it the perfect solution for brands that are looking to create and sell online courses using WordPress.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at some of the most important features of LearnDash to see why it’s considered one of the very best LMS plugins for WordPress-powered sites.
LearnDash: Overview
LearnDash offers an all-in-one solution for creating and selling online courses on your WordPress site.
It lets you create advanced online courses, lessons, and quizzes using an intuitive interface designed for users of all levels of tech-savvy. The robust LMS features a drag-and-drop course builder that lets you quickly create professional-looking online courses within a few clicks.
It’s the perfect solution for businesses or professionals who want to offer students a solid learning experience using their existing WordPress site. The plugin works seamlessly with any WordPress-verified theme. Alternatively, you can get started with templates built specifically for LearnDash.
A COMPLETE STEP-BY-STEP CHEATSHEET
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LearnDash: Key features
Let’s take a look at some of Learndash’s most popular LMS features:
User-friendly course builder
One of the highlight features of LearnDash is that it’s straightforward to use and offers a quick way to start creating online courses. You can set up online courses using a drag-and-drop interface so it’s easier to visualize what the final product will look like.
You can also add as many topics, lessons, and quizzes to your online courses as you’d like and arrange all of your content simply by dragging and dropping them into the right place. This not only helps save time but makes it easier to create professional-looking online courses directly from your own website.
You can set lessons separately and add them to your course or add content in multiple sections when creating an online course. It’s a great way to speed up the course-building process, and it also makes it easier to make edits or add more content later.
LearnDash lets you create multiple types of online courses, including open, free, paid, subscription-based, and user-role-restricted courses. This is helpful for professionals who want a single tool to create online courses for the multiple audiences they cater to.
The LearnDash course builder comes with a lot of settings for setting up how your lessons are displayed to students. While you can add text-based content to your lessons, LearnDash also lets you embed videos into your lessons. In addition to this, you can add a video preview for each lesson so users can quickly understand what’s in the lesson.
What’s more, is that you can even make dedicated video lessons and make them a part of your online course’s progression. This way, you can make your online courses more interactive and enhance the learning experience for your students.
Learner engagement features
While the user experience on the back end is optimized to help professionals easily create online courses, LearnDash also comes with a wide range of learner engagement features that enhance the learning experience on the front end of your WordPress site.
The online course viewer interface is designed with simplicity in mind and displays useful elements like progress bars, a list of topics, easy navigation bars, and introduction videos. This helps create a distraction-free experience for your students while making it easier for new users to navigate. Progress bars also encourage users to quickly complete their online courses to earn a course completion certificate.
LearnDash also lets you drip-feed content to your learners to keep them engaged throughout the duration of your online course. For instance, a student can only access “Lesson #2” when they successfully complete “Lesson #1”. You can essentially “lock” the content so learners are motivated to digest more content so they can view what’s in the next lesson. It’s a great way to boost user engagement and encourage users to complete the course in the way you intended.
In addition to these features, LearnDash also comes with course prerequisites functionality, which helps add to the overall learning experience on your online course site. For example, you can make it compulsory for students to first complete the “Basic Level Course” before they can join or purchase the “Advanced Level Course”. This not only helps sell more online courses but is a great way to provide your students with enough knowledge before they purchase specific, expert-level online courses.
Professional quiz builder
LearnDash’s drag-and-drop builder can also be used to create professional quizzes for testing your learner’s knowledge. Similar to what we mentioned earlier, you can add as much content to your online courses and arrange it by dragging and dropping it into the correct order. You have the option of creating multiple types of quizzes, including multiple choice questions, sorting quizzes, fill-in-the-blank questions, assignment-based questions, as well as open-ended or essay quizzes.
In addition to being able to set up different types of quizzes, you can add quizzes to any online course or let your students join the quiz exam separately. Additionally, you can set minimum passing grades so students have to reach a target score before they can successfully complete the quiz exam. This is a great way to encourage learners to understand the topics and ultimately absorb more of your brand’s content to successfully pass the quiz or complete an online course.
Automation features
LearnDash lets professionals and businesses create automation rules that trigger based on specific actions students make. For example, you can set up an automatic notification trigger when a new user joins the “Advanced Level Course” so you can email the eligibility checklist or the welcome email on time. This is also great for enhancing your email marketing campaigns and helps you stay on top of what’s going on in your online course WordPress site.
You can set triggers based on various actions, such as when a user completes or joins a course, when users submit, fail, or pass quizzes, and even when learners haven’t logged into their account for a specific number of days. LearnDash ensures business owners know exactly when their learners are taking crucial actions on their WordPress sites. This not only helps enhance marketing campaigns but is great for integrating automation into your online course business.
Tons of third-party integrations
In addition to all of the great features LearnDash offers, it’s also very versatile and integrates with tons of official and third-party services. This allows you to add more functionality to your online courses and WordPress site.
For example, you can add Zoom meetings to your online courses to add another level of exclusivity for your online learners or for offering one-on-one teaching lessons. Similarly, you can also use the official Notes extension that lets you enable the “Sticky Notes” functionality on your online course. This way, students can add important information on notes without having to navigate to a separate page which improves the learning experience and user engagement.
The Gradebook add-on lets you customize, track, and share scores. It lets course instructors explore student progression and scores via a simple grade book table. Instructors can also share each student’s scores and progress with them and their parents.
With over 30 seamless integrations, LearnDash makes it very simple to add new features to your online courses without having to use code or put in much effort. While most premium extensions or third-party services will cost you extra, it’s a great feature to have on your online course WordPress site, especially when your brand starts growing.
LearnDash: Pricing
LearnDash WordPress plugin’s pricing starts at $199 per year for a single site license.
The 10-site license will cost you $399 per year, and if you want to use LearnDash on an unlimited number of sites, it will set you back $799 per year.
If you need advanced functionality, you can purchase the premium add-ons. The Notes add-on, for instance, costs $49 per year for a single site license.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is [[TITLE]]?
A: [[TITLE]] is a comprehensive review of LearnDash, which is considered the best Learning Management System (LMS) plugin for WordPress websites.
Q: Why is LearnDash considered the best WordPress LMS?
A: LearnDash is known as the best WordPress LMS plugin due to its robust features, user-friendly interface, and extensive customization options. It offers a seamless experience for creating and managing online courses on WordPress websites.
Q: How can I use LearnDash on my WordPress website?
A: To use LearnDash on your WordPress website, you need to install the LearnDash plugin and activate it. Once activated, you can start creating and managing your online courses using the LearnDash features and settings.
Q: Are there any alternatives to LearnDash?
A: Yes, there are alternative LMS plugins available for WordPress websites, such as Tutor LMS, LifterLMS, and BuddyBoss. These plugins offer similar functionality and can be considered as alternatives to LearnDash.
Q: What are the key features of LearnDash?
A: Some of the key features of LearnDash include course creation and management, drip-feeding content, quizzes and assessments, certificates, user engagement features, integrated payment gateways, and advanced reporting and analytics.
Q: Can I use LearnDash on multiple WordPress sites?
A: Yes, LearnDash allows you to use the plugin on multiple WordPress sites. You can purchase a multi-site license or choose a higher-priced plan that supports multiple site usage.
Q: Can I create a course with LearnDash without any coding knowledge?
A: Absolutely! LearnDash provides a user-friendly interface that allows you to create and manage online courses without any coding knowledge. It offers a drag-and-drop course builder and intuitive settings to make course creation accessible to everyone.
Q: Does LearnDash work well with any WordPress theme?
A: LearnDash is designed to work seamlessly with most WordPress themes. It is built following WordPress coding standards, ensuring compatibility with various themes available in the market. However, it is recommended to choose a theme that is compatible with LearnDash for the best results.
Q: Are there any additional plugins I need to use with LearnDash?
A: LearnDash is a comprehensive LMS plugin that offers a wide range of features out-of-the-box. However, depending on your specific requirements, you may need to use additional plugins for functionalities such as membership management, gamification, or integrations with third-party tools.
Q: How does LearnDash integrate with WordPress?
A: LearnDash is built specifically for WordPress websites and integrates seamlessly with the WordPress dashboard and user interface. It leverages WordPress functionalities and provides a dedicated LearnDash menu in the admin panel for managing courses, users, and settings.
Conclusion
LearnDash is a feature-rich LMS plugin that comes with a wide range of tools to help professionals and teachers monetize their knowledge through online courses. Using an intuitive course builder, you can set up attractive online courses within a few seconds, and your audience members can enroll directly from your WordPress site.
On top of learning engagement features like content dripping, LearnDash also lets you create video-based lessons. You can embed videos directly into your lessons and make them a part of your online course’s progression. This means students will have to watch the video lesson before they can complete your online course or unlock the next lesson.
Additionally, LearnDash seamlessly integrates with the most popular services and plugins, so you don’t have to worry about messing up your site’s theme or functionality. You can also use LearnDash’s official extensions to add more features to your online course site and make your courses more interactive.
What sort of online course or membership site are you thinking of building with an LMS plugin? Let us know in the comments box below.
