LearnDash Products Archives

Introducing: Group Registration for LearnDash

January 15, 2016 by Rishabh 6 Comments

New Awesome Extension Alert!

First up, a big and hearty thank you to all you wonderful customers for all the love and support (and patience) that made it possible for us to reach where we are today.

In a short span of 3 eventful years, we already are proud developers of 19 solid products and numerous services in the realms of eLearning, eCommerce, event management as well as other miscellaneous domains.

2016 will present itself to be big year for us in terms of upgrading our product line-up, we have as many 10 new products and updates all set to release this year.

The first of which is already here and how!

LearnDash, possibly one of the best ways to set up a full fledged LMS on WordPress, just had a brand new extension added to its already impressive arsenal of elearning tools.

An extension that takes it leaps and bounds ahead in terms of functionalities and plausible use-cases!

The Group Registration Plugin for LearnDash is now LIVE and can be found RIGHT HERE.

Here’s The Big Deal

Just as the name suggests, Group Registration for LearnDash gives Group Leaders the power to purchase multiple licenses for a Course on behalf of a number of users, with all of them automatically enrolled for the Courses linked with the Group.

Compare this with the default settings for LearnDash, wherein just an Admin had the rights to add Users to a LearnDash Group and link it with various Courses.

So now, if you’re company looking for a way to enroll all your employees for a Corporate Training Course, all you you have to do is designate a Group Leader who can purchase a Course and simply register all the relevant employees to it.

Or maybe you’re a part of a team that authors online courses for an eLearning portal, and need a way to register all of your student base at once to a Course authored by you.

The possibilities are endless!

How It Works

Group Registration for LearnDash is compatible with the latest versions of WordPress and LearnDash, i.e 4.4 and 2.1.5 respectively, and requires active installations of WooCommerce and WooCommerce – LearnDash Integration plugins.

It’s a straightforward process flow:

1. You download LD Group Registration Plugin, and activate it using the license key you obtain after a successful purchase.

2. While you’re setting up a Course as a WooCommerce Product to be available for purchase, you will see a checkbox which let’s you enable Group Registration, towards the end of the Product page.

3. Any Course which has Group Registration enabled in the back-end, will display a similar check box on the front end during the purchase. Checking this box will allow multiple users to be enrolled for the Course by the Group Leader.

4. After a successful purchase, all a Group Leader would need to do is head over to the Group Registration page on the front end and enter the names of all the users that he wishes to enroll for the Course.

A Group will automatically be created with all the listed members as group members, enrolled for the Course(s) associated with the group.

What You Need To Do

Check out the page for Group Registration for LearnDash to browse through the specifics, the complete list of features and the pricing plans.

You can also find screenshots of the plugin in action, so you can take a look at those and see for yourself how the plugin works!

This is only the first release, and we look forward to getting feedback from you guys so we can improve upon our work and come out with updates and exciting new features as soon as possible.

Stay Tuned!

Front End Course Creation for LearnDash: Tutoring Made Easy

October 29, 2015 by Rishabh 9 Comments

Administering an e-learning website running LearnDash is an uphill battle. There could be a million details that require your attention, be it something as trivial as approving an assignment or a task as vital as publishing a new course.

It’s a given that when you consider large scale e-learning platforms, you have several individuals administering course contents. But not all of them can have Admin privileges: publishing rights or access to customization settings. It wouldn’t make sense.

It’s crucial for a LMS to have a role that lets a user author Courses and Lessons and also view detailed reports of learners enrolled in his Courses, but limits access to other content and Admin settings at the same time.

LearnDash by default has no such user role; which is why WisdmLabs came up with the Instructor Role Extension for LearnDash. It adds a user role of ‘Instructor’ to your LearnDash LMS.

An Instructor can author content from the back-end of your website i.e. create Courses, Lessons, Quizzes etc and sell them online. Additionally, he can also view detailed reports of all the user activity pertaining to his Courses, and earn commission on every sale.

But what if you want to completely restrict back-end access for an ‘Instructor’ and yet have him author Courses and other content? Sounds a little too far-fetched?

It’s real, and it’s happening.

Front End Course Creation Plugin

Front End Course Creation is yet another addition to our list of LearnDash utility products, and it lets you do exactly what it’s named after- allows courses to be created from the frontend.

Front-end Course Creation adds a ‘Course Author’ user role with a special set of privileges. A Course Author creates and manages Courses, Lessons, Topics and Quizzes just like an Instructor, but only from the front-end. He/she does not have backend access.

The FCC plugin automatically creates and adds Content Creation pages, such as ‘Create Course’, ‘Create Lesson’ or ‘Create Topic’, using which the Course Author can create his own content.

fcc-learndash-create-course-page

These pages have the same settings you would find in the backend. A Course Author has to be logged in to create course content.

To provide a single point of management, FCC has to be operated alongside BuddyPress. The plugin provides a quick link option named as ‘Listing’ right on the Course Author’s BuddyPress profile page, for easy course content creation and management.

Here’s what a Course Author’s profile page would look like:

fcc-learndash-buddypress-settings

Optionally, an Admin could link Content Creation pages from the main menu, to provide direct access to these pages.

Publishing can done in one of two ways: an Admin can choose to auto publish content created by Course Authors, or save it as a draft for reviewing and publishing manually.

fcc-learndash-course-creation-settings

Saving it as a draft would let the admin review the content, make any changes if required and publish it at their leisure.

It’s simple, useful and does exactly what it’s meant to: gives you control over the ins and outs of your website. No longer will you have to worry about unwary users accidentally changing the settings and customizations to your website, or having to set it right again and again.

Interested? Take a look at the complete feature list, user guide and the pricing right here.

Happy Publishing!

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The Instructor Role Extension for LearnDash Just Got BIGGER and BETTER

September 22, 2015 by Tahseen Kazi 4 Comments

Yes, we have updated the Instructor Role Extension for LearnDash. With this update, I promise that the plugin has definitely taken a huge leap in terms of features!!

What’s new?

Well, the extension now comes equipped with the Instructor Commission feature.

But before I get into the details of the update here’s a little bit of backstory.

Why the Instructor Commission Feature?

The main intent of the Instructor Role Extension for LearnDash was to provide users with an additional user role for their LearnDash system. A role that would have more capabilities than the ‘Group Leader’ but fewer capabilities than the ‘Administrator’.

The basic version of the plugin fulfilled this intent.

Now comes the Instructor Commission Feature.

When we introduced the basic version of the plugin to Justin from LearnDash his immediate response to us was this.

However, by then we were well into the development phase, and we stuck with our initial plan, that of providing the instructor role. Soon after the release, though, (just as Justin had predicted) we were inundated by quite a few of these queries.

An example of these queries is this..

And this…

Without a doubt, we were prompted to put the Instructor Commission feature on our priority list and here we are today with the update.

Understanding the Instructor Commission Feature

So what does the Instructor Commission Feature exactly entail? Let’s take a look!

Once you have updated the Instructor Role extension a new sub-menu labeled ‘Instructor Commission’ will be made available under the ‘LearnDash LMS’ menu in the admin panel. Once you navigate to ‘LearnDash LMS’ -> ‘Instructor Commission’ three tabs will be displayed on the screen. Here’s what you will be able to do with using the three tabs.

Assigning a Commission for Instructors

In order to set instructor commission, you will have to navigate to ‘LearnDash LMS’ -> ‘Instructor Commission’ -> ‘Instructor’ tab.

Once here you a list of instructors on your website will be displayed in a table as below.

Here you can set the commission percentage against each instructor and save the newly added data using the update button.

Viewing Instructor Commission Reports

A detailed report of an instructor’s earnings can be viewed by navigating to the ‘LearnDash LMS’ -> ‘Instructor Commission’ -> ‘Commission Report’ tab.

Here you will be able to view instructor specific reports by selecting a particular instructor from the ‘Select Instructor’ drop down list. Once you select an instructor and click on the submit button you can view a list of the commission amount earned by the instructor for each course sold.

The ‘Paid Earnings’ is the commission amount, you have paid an instructor. And the ‘Unpaid Earnings’ provides the pending amount which has to be paid.

You can update the ‘Paid Earnings’ by clicking on the ‘Pay’ button and entering the paid amount in the text box against the ‘Enter amount’ field. An important thing to note here is that the ‘Pay’ button does not ensure the payment is made. It is just a means to update the data once you have made the payment.

Exporting Instructor Commission Data

Finally moving on to the last tab, as the name suggests it helps you ‘Export’ some sort of document. What document? The instructor commission report document.

Here again, the reports exported are instructor specific. Along with that, date based filtration criteria has also been provided.

What are you waiting for then? Update your copy of the Instructor Role Extension for LearnDash now and enjoy the all new instructor commission feature.

Not convinced? What if I told you it will help you increase sales? Will that motivate you to click on the update button? Go! Stop reading this!

Images by freepik

The LearnDash-BuddyPress Extension Battle: Which Plugin Should You Choose?

July 29, 2015 by Jignashu Solanki Leave a Comment

I’ll tell you the feeling you get, when you spend a considerable amount of time building a premium plugin, only to then receive news that another developer is in the process of building a similar plugin, and releasing it for free – NOT GOOD!

The Background…

The idea of integrating BuddyPress and LearnDash was certainly not a new one. But a solution occurred to us, when BuddyPress seemed to fit the requirements on a client project. We then decided to work on the solution, so as to make it generic, and present it as an extension plugin to LearnDash.

That was a while ago.

On 6th June 2015, we received news that BuddyBoss was in the process of building a free BuddyPress add-on for LearnDash. By then, we had completed development on our BuddyPress extension for LearnDash and had shipped it to the testing phase.

Of course, with no knowledge of the features incorporated in BuddyBoss’ add-on for LearnDash, we feared the worst.

After all – ‘why would anyone choose to pay for a plugin (which “apparently” functioned the same) rather than download a free one?’

At that point, taking into consideration the plugin development effort, support and marketing- offering our plugin for free, wasn’t a viable option for us. We instead chose to focus on keeping the plugin feature rich while offering customers more bang for their buck.

So, we decided to go all out, and get our plugin out to the market and keep on improving it based on user feedback.

We did receive a benefit of an early-launch and got our first sale within a week.

On 30th June 2015, Justin and BuddyBoss launched the BuddyPress add-on for LearnDash. To tell you the truth, our reaction was better than expected. On comparing the features, we came to the conclusion that both plugins- BuddyBoss’ LearnDash-BuddyPress integration, and the LearnDash-BuddyPress Integration by us here at WisdmLabs- were quite different.

And as far as LearnDash users like you are concerned, it is just a matter of comparing the plugin features, to decide which plugin best suits your requirements.

BuddyPress-LearnDash Plugins: A Feature by Feature Comparison

So, to give you an account of the differences between the two plugins, take a look at the table below:

Feature	BuddyPress Integration for LearnDash by WisdmLabs	BuddyPress add-on for LearnDash by BuddyBoss
BuddyPress Group per LearnDash Group	YES	NO
BuddyPress Group per LearnDash Course	YES (if a LearnDash group is created for the course)	YES
LearnDash Group leader as BuddyPress Group admin	YES	NO (site admin is BuddyPress group admin)
LearnDash Group Notification in the BuddyPress Group activity stream	YES	NO
Course Progress view in BuddyPress	YES	YES
Option to view Achievements and Badges view in BuddyPress	YES (for each user profile)	NO
Option to download Certificates from BuddyPress profile	YES	NO
BuddyPress Activity Stream on: Course completion Lesson completion Topic completion Quiz completion	YES	YES
BuddyPress Activity Stream on: Start course Lesson creation Topic creation Student comments on a Lesson	NO	YES
Facebook sharing option on course completion	YES	NO
Forum created automatically	NO	YES (if bbPress is installed and forum creation is enabled)

If that hasn’t given you a fair account of how each plugin works, let me shed light with more details.

WisdmLabs’ BuddyPress Integration for LearnDash

The BuddyPress plugin we’ve built for LearnDash is focused on LearnDash GROUPS. So, for each LearnDash group created a corresponding group is created in BuddyPress.

The students in the group are added as members in the BuddyPress group
The LearnDash group leader is set as group admin in the corresponding BuddyPress group
Course related activities are updated in the user’s activity stream
On each student’s BuddyPress profile, course progress activity is displayed and the student’s badges are certificates are displayed as well
There is an option to directly download the certificates a student has obtained from his/her BuddyPress profile

An additional feature the LearnDash BuddyPress integration plugin provides is an option for students to share their course completion status on Facebook

BuddyBoss’ BuddyPress add-on for LearnDash

The BuddyPress plugin for LearnDash by BuddyBoss is focused on LearnDash COURSES. So, for each LearnDash course created a corresponding group is created in BuddyPress.

With BuddyBoss’ plugin, students enrolled for a particular course get added to the corresponding BuddyPress group
And the website admin, is added as the BuddyPress group admin
Course related activities are updated in the user’s activity stream, and the course progress status is displayed for each student under the BuddyPress member profile
A bbPress forum is automatically created for the BuddyPress group, if the bbPress plugin is installed and forum creation option is enabled.

The Crux

Quite obviously there are two major points of contention. And these two points- as I see them- are quite crucial in helping you decide the plugin you need.

#1 Plugin Focus

The LearnDash BuddyPress add-on by WisdmLabs- is focused on LearnDash Groups, so you have the flexibility of creating groups for courses as well or a group of courses, by creating a LearnDash group for the course or courses. The rules which apply to LearnDash groups, apply to the BuddyPress group as well.

For example, if a student is removed from the LearnDash group, he is removed from the BuddyPress group as well.

The LearnDash BuddyPress add-on by BuddyBoss on the other hand – is focused on LearnDash Courses. While it saves you the effort of creating a LearnDash group for each course, I believe a feature that’s missing is the possibility to set a relevant admin for the BuddyPress group.

For example, using WisdmLabs’ plugin, the LearnDash group leader is set as the BuddyPress group admin.

So, if you create a group in LearnDash for the course and then set a group leader accordingly, that leader can act as the group admin in the associated BuddyPress group. But with BuddyBoss’ add-on the admin is set as the BuddyPress group admin.

#2 Plugin Price

The LearnDash BuddyPress integration by BuddyBoss is free.

The LearnDash BuddyPress add-on by WisdmLabs is priced at $28- which includes prompt support.

Which Plugin Should You Choose?

I’m not going to tell you that you MUST to choose the LearnDash BuddyPress add-on by WisdmLabs. That it’s simply better, blah blah blah!

No.

Choose the plugin that bests suits your requirements.

If you want to create a social network for LearnDash courses – use the BuddyPress add-on by BuddyBoss.

If you want to create a social network for LearnDash groups, and quick support is a priority- go for the BuddyPress add-on by WisdmLabs.

Make an informed decision. Choose a plugin because it suits your purpose, not merely because it’s free.

Sounds fair?

What are your thoughts? Are you looking for a BuddyPress add-on for your LearnDash LMS? Or are you using either of these plugins? I want to hear what you think. Which plugin will you choose?

Be sure to leave your thoughts and comments in the comment section below!

The LearnDash BuddyPress Integration Plugin is HERE!

June 22, 2015 by Namrata 2 Comments

The WisdmLabs team has some great news for LearnDash users. The long awaited BuddyPress integration for LearnDash is finally here!!

It took us 3 months of work- right from conceptualizing the idea, contemplating feature requests, to building the plugin- and we are thrilled with the results, and are sure you’ll be too.

The LearnDash BuddyPress Integration plugin adds a social network to your LMS, and is the plugin you need if you’re planning on using BuddyPress on your LearnDash LMS. Using this plugin, you have the option to create student groups in BuddyPress, facilitate student interaction in private forums, and induce competition via student updates.

What is the LearnDash BuddyPress Integration Plugin

The LearnDash BuddyPress Integration plugin essentially synchronizes LearnDash groups with BuddyPress. For example, say you have a group in LearnDash for Spanish Level I students. With the BuddyPress integration, this group is automatically synced as a BuddyPress group. The group leader in LearnDash is added as the group admin in BuddyPress.

Using BuddyPress you have the flexibility to create private and public forums for student groups.

Course progress for students is updated to BuddyPress as activities. Activities are similar to notifications. Group members can keep track of updates using group activities. (Course update notifications are sure to encourage friendly competition among students 😀 )

The plugin also provides students an easy option to download certificates and view their badges.

How does the Plugin Work

The beauty of the LearnDash BuddyPress Integration plugin lies in the fact that the integration is made possible with a single click. You do not need to bother with a truck-load of settings. If you have BuddyPress and the integration plugin installed and activated, you need to go to LearnDash Groups, and check the ‘Synchronize with BuddyPress‘ option for the groups you want to synchronize and you’re set!

Just one-click and the plugin will work its magic 😀

What’s even better, is that you can provide students an option to share course completion updates to Facebook. Every time a student completes a course, a Facebook share option is shown to the student, using which he can post an update.

Haven’t thought of integrating BuddyPress into your LMS? You need to start now! Here are 3 reasons why your LMS needs to take the social networking route.

3 Advantages of Integrating BuddyPress and LearnDash

#1 Communication

A social network is a platform for students to communicate. With BuddyPress integrated into your LearnDash LMS, students have several means of communication. BuddyPress inherently provides instant messaging and private messaging options. And with activity streams students can get updates on their profile page.

#2 Collaboration

Group specific forums, undertake the task of being a collaboration platform. Students can discuss problems, share information and resources with ease. And with synchronized groups, group management becomes simpler. You can just use a single point of management for your groups.

#3 Progress Tracking

With student progress visible on a student’s BuddyPress profile, fellow group members are motivated to compete. Group leaders can also keep track of student progress, without having to access your WordPress website’s admin panel.

Want to Get Started? Here’s How

So, if you’re as excited as I am (and you have BuddyPress installed), all you need to do is install and activate the LearnDash BuddyPress Integration plugin, by WisdmLabs, and you’re good to go!

What are you waiting for?

Get the plugin today!