LearnDash Archives

How to Create an Online Course Marketplace with LearnDash

July 20, 2016 by Pranoti Panchwagh Leave a Comment

LearnDash is a powerful online course creation and management tool today, on WordPress.

Offering several options for user enrolment and engagement, LearnDash makes online learning fun for end users and helps convert an instructor’s passive hobbies to active interests.

But not all instructors are interested in creating an independent e-learning site. Why bother with the hassle of building, marketing and maintaining an-learning website, when all you want to do is sell a handful of courses?!

The solution?

Banking on a course marketplace.

Course marketplaces like Udemy, Open Sesame, Coursera and Lynda.com cut short a not-so-tech-savvy instructor’s task.

Now, looking at the success of these course marketplaces, your business mind might want to create a marketplace of your own.

Considering LearnDash is user-friendly, setting up and maintaining a marketplace with this LMS plugin is a pretty sweet idea! 🙂

And here, we’ll be focusing on how exactly this can be done!

What Exactly is a Course Marketplace?

First, let us understand how exactly a course marketplace works, which will give us a fair idea how to build one.

Simply put, course marketplaces are like online libraries that display courses by multiple authors.

Courses categories have filters like subject, language, author, organisation, most popular, trending, free, premium and more, which let end-users find the exact course they’re looking for and enrol for it.

Admin recommendations can also be set up for first-timers, who are new to the platform and have no idea where to begin. A student can then choose to enrol to a course, complete it and receive his “Certificate of Completion”.

Meanwhile, the marketplace host takes a fixed cut of an instructor’s income per enrolment.

Thus we see that, broadly speaking, there are three important factors in creating a successful course marketplace, namely:

Allowing instructors to create a course,
Proving students and instructors communication forums,
Managing revenue

LearnDash has a robust course creation system, with several add-ons and integrations besides its inherent features. All of these interact skillfully with one another to help you create and run your course marketplace efficiently.How? Let’s see.

Creating a Course Marketplace with LearnDash

LearnDash takes care of course creation.

LearnDash is BUILT for creating courses, so this part though not a cakewalk, is relatively easy. LearnDash supports everything from regular, lesson-based courses, to multi-tier, course bundles that can be drip-fed to your students.

It has plenty of assignments addition and quizzing options that can be used to create examinations of progressively increasing difficulty levels.

Depending on what your subject is, you can design a course with flexible prerequisites and add links to external resources like articles, videos and PDF documents. You can even upload them in your course which can be then downloaded by your students for perusal.

Creating courses in LearnDash is very simple and there is plenty of documentation available on their website which can guide you through any issues that might arise.

However, only the administrator can create courses in LearnDash.

Allowing Instructors to Create Courses

In the course marketplace, you need to allow external instructors to sign up and create and conduct their own courses.

For this, LearnDash has the Instructor Role plugin that lets you add multiple instructors to your site and define their user roles.

As an instructor, these members can add their courses to your website. They can create, administer, conduct and sell their courses on your course marketplace. They have the liberty to manage all student communications, set and examine quizzes, working, for all intents and purposes as a junior course creator on your website.

Building Student Communication Forums

This part is somewhat trickier.

For any course to be successful, you, as an instructor, need to be in regular contact with your students, addressing their queries, creating discussion forums and groups where their doubts can be cleared. This generates the feeling of a community within your class, which spurs the students to take a greater interest in the course activities.

That is why course marketplaces have subject specific forums where students and teachers can discuss the course, communicate their thoughts about the various assignments and be a part of a collective learning entity.

LearnDash uses its BuddyPress and bbPress integration to this end, which allows for creation of user profiles and adding them to forums.

BuddyPress is a WordPress plugin that lets users create online profiles like those on Facebook or any other social networking site.

The LearnDash-BuddyPress integration lets the course admins add these profiles and create course-specific groups when students enrol for a specific course.

bbPress is a forum creation software for WordPress that lets you add forums and discussion threads to your site.

As in the real world, not everyone might be able to clear the quizzes, or understand the content you have set up in your virtual course. In such a case, it is a great help if you get in touch with the student personally, immediately after the quiz and help them work through the problems they might have.

The LearnDash-bbPress integration adds a discussion forum functionality, helping you create an active student community.

Students get more involved in a course when there are goals to be reached and accolades to be won. LearnDash incorporates gamification options using WPAchievements or BadgeOS. These integrations allow the admin to add awards and badges for each quiz, lesson or level completed in the duration of the course and commemorate these events.

Managing Revenue

As mentioned, in a course marketplace instructors can add and sell their own courses.

What you need to manage is the remuneration per enrolment that is shared between the two of you according to a previously fixed percentage.

These commissions are awarded to the instructor every time a student enrols for their course.

The Instructor Role add-on (that adds the ‘Instructor Role’) takes care of this functionality. The percentage commission for each instructor can be varied as per your discretion.

Conclusion

These three steps can help you easily set up a course marketplace using LearnDash. To display multiple courses simultaneously, you can look up the Grid Layout add-on for LearnDash which lets you set up courses with their names and a short description in a flexible layout format. Filters can be added for users to search courses from set categories.

Ordinarily, marketplaces like Udemy do not let you control the visitor traffic and the revenue instructors earn from each students enrolment, this excluding the refunds you might have to pay if a student withdraws from the course.

LearnDash on the other hand, gives you complete control over all these factors, making it possible for you to manage marketing strategies and host courses as per your choice. This does not only make managing marketplaces more profitable, but also helps you create your own brand of courses.

You can either create a niche course marketplace or an all-encompassing one, either way, the choice remains yours here. To sum up in a sentence, when you think long term, creating a course marketplace with LearnDash is your best bet.

LearnDash Protips: Front End Group Creation

July 2, 2016 by Suraj M Leave a Comment

The ability to sort users into Groups is undoubtedly one of the most useful features of LearnDash. It’s neatly done, complete with Group email notifications and special access to the reporting for the Group Leader.

A LearnDash Group essentially functions as a ‘class’, where an assigned ‘Group Leader’ can have a group of users learning one or more than one Courses. Of course you can combine this feature with a plugin that lets you bulk register users to groups, which is especially handy when you’re dealing with a scenarios involving a large number of users, say a corporate training website. Or if you like to manage things behind the scenes and let other Instructors do the teach, Front End Course Creator is just the right LearnDash extension to do the job.

Front End Course Creator assigns a user the role of a Course Author, with special privileges to set up entire courses without ever having to touch backend! Perfect for when you don’t want others to be meddling with your site’s back end. But that’s never enough.

In this DIY guide, we cover the steps to yet another LearnDash hack, creating and managing LearnDash Groups right from the front end. More power to Course Authors!

Step 1. To Create/Edit Group

Allowing Course Authors to create Groups on front end involves displaying a form on the page that can take in relevant inputs for the following fields:

Title – Title of the Group.
Description – Description of the Group.
Enrolled Courses – Courses associated with the Group.
Enroll Course – A drop-down of all available Courses to associate with the Group.
Unenroll Course – A drop-down of all associated Courses to disassociate with the Group.
Group Leader – A drop-down of all users to assign a Group Leader of the Group.
Group Users – To enroll members into the Group.
Submit – Button to submit the entered data.

Here is one such sample form:

Once the data has been entered, we need to specify to the system how to process the data and thereby effectively create/edit Groups. Use the following code:

A] To Create a Group

$wdm_post_name=sanitize_title($wdm_group_title);

$group = array(

‘post_title’ => $wdm_group_title,

‘post_status’ => ‘publish’,

‘post_type’ => ‘groups’,

‘post_content’ => $wdm_group_content,

‘post_author’ => get_current_user_id(),

‘post_name’ => $wdm_post_name

);

$group_id = wp_insert_post($group);

B] To Update a Group

$group_post = array(

‘ID’ => $wdm_group_id,

‘post_title’ => $wdm_group_title,

‘post_content’ => $wdm_group_content,

‘post_status’ => ‘publish’,

‘post_author’ => get_current_user_id(),

);

wp_update_post( $group_post );

C] To Associate Courses With Group

$wdm_course_id=$_POST[‘learndash_group_enroll_course’];

update_post_meta( $wdm_course_id, ‘learndash_group_enrolled_’ . $group_id, time() );

D] To Assign a Group Leader

$wdm_assign_group_leader=$_POST[‘wdm_group_leaders’];

learndash_set_groups_administrators($group_id, $wdm_assign_group_leader);

E] To Add Members to Group

$wdm_assign_group_user=$_POST[‘wdm_group_user’];

learndash_set_groups_users($group_id, $wdm_assign_group_user);

Step 2: Display List Of Groups

Once you’ve created Groups, you would also need to display an exhaustive list on the front end.

To achieve this, we use the database library to retrieve the list of Groups created by the Course Author on the front-end. Use the following database query.

$sql = “SELECT ID,post_modified FROM $wpdb->prefix.‘post’ WHERE post_author = “.get_current_user_id().” AND post_type like ‘groups’ AND post_status IN (‘draft’,’publish’)”;

Make sure you check the following condition before running the query:

get_current_user_id() must be ‘course_author’

Once you’re done, you should be able to easily display the list on any desired page with the help of shortcodes.

Need assistance with LearnDash? Contact us now or take a look at our LearnDash Services. Happy to help!

How to Setup a Learning Management System with LearnDash

May 26, 2016 by Namrata 2 Comments

In the WordPress e-learning space there are a few plugins which dominate. And whether you agree with me or not, LearnDash is among the top three (WP Courseware and Sensei being the other two).

LearnDash has ample functionality packed into the core, and several extensions to add more features (we’ve built quite a few too!)

For anyone who’s serious about building an LMS with WordPress, wouldn’t go wrong with LearnDash.

But a plugin does not an LMS make.

Unlike Moodle, Blackboard, Canvas, LearnDash is not a standalone LMS. It’s an extension to WordPress. Sure, it has all learning management system capabilities, but the plugin itself can’t provide students and teachers an e-learning interface.

You would need WordPress to setup your e-learning website.

Now, I understand that as an Instructor, Course Creator, Tutor, this might seem like an uphill task. But you need not fret.

I’ve designed this guide to handhold you through the entire LMS setup process.

Pssst… Here’s a get out of jail card, if things get too tough anytime. 🙂

Let’s continue.

Step #0 Setting Up WordPress

If you don’t have your WordPress site set up, you’ll need to install WordPress. WordPress installation is pretty simple.

You’ll need to login into your web host’s cPanel.

Under ‘Databases‘ you should notice the ‘MySQL Database Wizard‘. Use this wizard to create a MySQL database and a database user. These steps are pretty straightforward. Remember to note down the database name, username and password. You’ll need these details when you install WordPress.

If you have purchased a WordPress hosting service, you’ll notice a WordPress installation wizard present in the cPanel. This wizard will guide you through WordPress installation.

If not, you’ll need to install WordPress manually.

You need to start by downloading the latest version of WordPress, and extracting the contents of the zip file.
Now, all these files have to be uploaded on your web host. To upload these files, you have to create an FTP account. Once again, in your cPanel, under ‘Files‘ you should notice ‘FTP Accounts‘. Use this option to create an FTP account.

Using an FTP client of your choice (I use Filezilla), upload your WordPress files.
Connect to your web host using the FTP account you have created; and under ‘public_html‘ copy all the files under the ‘wordpress‘ folder. (Do not upload the folder entirely, select and upload all the contents)

Once you’ve done all of the above, visit your website and you should be greeted with the WordPress installation wizard. 😀

Follow the wizard, set the language WordPress needs to be installed in, the database name, username and password, set the table prefix to a short value of your choice, enter site details, and create a user.

Image courtesy: make.wordpress.org

SECURITY TIP: The table prefix ‘wp_’ and the WordPress username ‘admin’ are the most commonly used values, and present open invitations to hackers. Try setting a unique prefix and username.

Step #1 Installing a Theme

Once you’ve got your website up and running, you can proceed with installing a theme. A theme is the ‘skin’ of your website. It dictates the look and feel of your website- not just the colors, but also the layout of your pages.

Now, LearnDash should “behave” well with any theme you choose.

(Some plugins do NOT, trust me! WooCommerce is a classic example)

You could choose any theme because you shouldn’t face any problems with LearnDash. Your course, lesson layouts should be laid out as expected.

But the blue ‘Take This Course’ button LearnDash adds, might stick out on your otherwise red or yellow website.

Instead, a safer option would be to choose a LearnDash theme. There are quite a few LearnDash centric themes available, with Pathshala being the latest addition to the list.

Once you decide on a theme you like installation is quite easy, just follow the below steps:

Log in to your WordPress admin panel.
Go to Appearance -> Themes, and click on Add New.
Use the Upload option to upload a zipped copy of the theme.
Activate it!

Do refer to the theme’s installation guide for additional setup details.

Now, installing the theme won’t suffice. You’ll need to create the menu, the homepage, contact page and so on.

But that’s step 4. 😀

We first need to setup LearnDash.

Step #2 Setting up LearnDash

LearnDash can be installed like any other plugin that you would install on WordPress.

Once again, if you’re not logged in, log in to your WordPress admin panel.
Go to Plugins -> Add New
Upload the zipped copy of the LearnDash plugin, and activate it.

You’ll notice a LearnDash LMS menu created.

Using the options under this menu, you’ll be able to create your courses, lessons, topics and quizzes.

LearnDash Settings

Under LearnDash LMS -> Settings -> LMS License, be sure to enter your LearnDash support license.
Under PayPal Settings set your PayPal id in case you want to handle payments through LearnDash.

Now, creating a course/lesson/topic is the same as creating a post or a page.

Creating a Course

To create a course, head over to LearnDash LMS -> Courses -> Add New.

Add the course name, and description.
If you want to categorize the course, create a new course category.
Under your LearnDash course settings, the important options you need to focus on are:

Course Price Type– Set the course to
- Open: if you want all your students to automatically be enrolled for the course.
- Closed: if the course is closed (and cannot be accessed). Selecting this option will reveal a Custom Button URL option, which has to be used to enter a purchase link for course access.
- Free: if the course is free, but only those students who opt for it, will be enrolled to it.
- Buy Now: to set a price for the course, which can be purchased. This purchase can be made by the default payment option in LearnDash (PayPal).
- Recurring: for courses which can be purchased on a subscription basis.
Course prerequisites– Surely this does not apply for the first course you create. But for subsequent courses, you can set another course as a prerequisite for the course you’re creating. Setting this option prevents a student from taking up a course without completing the prerequisite course.
Disable Lesson Progression– In case you do not need your students to take up lessons in an order, you can set this option.
Expire Access– As the title suggests, this option expires a student’s access for a course after a set duration.

Once you add the needed details, remember to publish the course.

You can then proceed to add Lessons and Topics, or other Courses.

Creating a Lesson

Creating a Lesson is quite similar to creating a course. But unlike a Course, the settings for a lesson are a bit different.

Associated Course– Set the course of which the lesson is a part.
Forced Lesson Timer– Is the minimum amount of time a student has to spend on a lesson before it can be marked as complete.
Upload Assignment– Check this option if a student has to upload an assignment after the completion of a lesson. Uploaded assignments are made available under LearnDash LMS -> Assignments
Sample Lesson– If this option is checked, then this lesson will be available to students even if the course is paid.
The ‘Make lesson visible X days after sign-up’ and ‘Make lesson visible on specific date’ can be used to drip feed course content.

Lessons can be ordered using the ‘Order’ attribute.

Creating a Topic

As you know in LearnDash, lessons contain topics. The options for a topic are same as that for a lesson. Similar to a lesson, you can make assignment upload mandatory, force a topic timer, or order topics using the ‘Order’ attribute.

LEARNDASH PRO TIP: For quick course creation, you can use the Content Cloner plugin, that duplicates entire the course hierarchy.

Creating a Quiz

Ahh! Quizzing in LearnDash.

Sigh! 😉

I’ve always been of the opinion that LearnDash needs to improve its quiz module. Apart from adding more functionality, the interface could use a fix up as well.

Now, I hope you found creating courses, lessons and topics fairly simple… because creating quizzes is not as straight-forward! The primary problem is the overwhelming amount of options.

But if things were that easy, you wouldn’t need this guide to begin with! :-p

Since the quiz section is quite extensive, I thought it would be a better idea to separate it out into a different section. So, I’ve created a helpful 29 page whitepaper, that you can download using the form below 😀

Once again, here’s a bypass in case you need professional help!

Creating a Certificate

If you want to award students certificates on successful completion of courses, you can do so by creating a certificate in LearnDash and associating it with course or quiz.

Certificate creation in LearnDash requires a bit of HTML knowledge, and quite a bit of trial and error. :-p LearnDash does provide sample certificates to help you out though.

To create and add a new certificate here’s what you need to do:

Create a certificate image 21.5 x 28cm in size
Go to your WordPress admin panel, LearnDash LMS -> Certificates -> Add New
Add a title, and set the featured image as the certificate image you have created
For the description, switch to the plain text editor and appropriate spacing and then display the student’s name using the [usermeta field=”display_name”] shortcode
To display quiz details such as course title, percentage or score, use the [quizinfo] shortcode, for example:
- [quizinfo show=”course_title”] to show the course title
- [quizinfo show=”quiz_title”] to show the quiz title
- [quizinfo show=”percentage”]% to show percentage achieved
- [quizinfo show=”score”] to show the student’s score
Preview the changes and publish the certificate.

Associating a Certificate with a Quiz

In LearnDash, certificates can be associated only with a quiz. To associate a certificate with a quiz,

head over to LearnDash LMS -> Quizzes, and edit an available quiz
In the settings set the Associate Certificate option to the certificate you have created
Update the quiz

Step #3 Setting up Paid Course Access

If you’re looking to monetize your e-learning website right away, you’ll need to either take the e-commerce plugin route or the membership plugin route. There are certain differences between selling courses and selling memberships. The option you choose will mostly depend on the number of courses you have.

Using an E-commerce Plugin

Now, LearnDash does provide an option to sell courses using PayPal, but for additional e-commerce capabilities such as sale pricing, the option to bundle courses, discount coupons, you’ll be better off with an e-commerce plugin.

LearnDash provides integrations with popular e-commerce plugins on WordPress – WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads. Now the advantage both plugins bring to the table are different. Easy Digital Downloads can be used to sell purely digital products, while WooCommerce can be used to sell physical goods along with virtual products.

However, the path to integrating either of the plugins with LearnDash is pretty similar.

You need to start by installing either of the plugins and setting them up (WooCommerce provides a setup wizard, so this could be an advantage for the not-so-tech-savvy audience)
Based on the plugin you choose, you need to install the integration plugin with LearnDash- this would be either the WooCommerce Integration plugin or the EDD Integration plugin
You may want to setup an additional payment gateway specific to your location or currency. Now’s the time to do so. You’ll need to hunt for the payment gateway plugin (or contact a payment gateway developer if the payment gateway is a can’t-do-without and a ready plugin is not available)

Linking a Course to a Product

The process of creating a paid course, begins with creating a paid product. You have to then link a LearnDash course to the product.
For example in WooCommerce, you need to create a ‘Course‘ product and then link one or more LearnDash courses to this product.

As for the course, you need to set the ‘Price Type‘ as ‘Closed‘, and enter the product URL as the ‘Custom Button URL’

Looking for professional assistance? Take a look at our LearnDash LMS Setup Service!

Using a Membership Plugin

As opposed to selling courses, if you were looking to sell memberships and control student access, you’ll need a membership plugin. And out of the many membership plugins available, the one I’d recommend is Paid Membership Pro.

The steps to integrate LearnDash with a membership plugin are the same as integrating it with an e-commerce plugin.

You have to install the membership plugin- Paid Membership Pro,
and then the integration plugin with LearnDash.

Linking Courses to Membership Levels

Within Paid Membership Pro, you can associate one or more courses with a membership level. For courses associated with a membership level, set the ‘Price Type’ as ‘Closed’, and enter the membership registration page URL as the ‘Custom Button URL’. Now, to access a course, the student would have to register as a member.

One more step to go….

Step #4 Creating Pages

So far, we hadn’t really focused on the front-end of your e-learning website. There’s a lot that can be done to make your site presentable. However, a few things are bare minimum, such as important pages and the menu.

Now, the theme you pick might provide demo content. And installing the demo content might create the needed pages. For example, since Pathshala is a LearnDash theme, it creates generic pages, such as the homepage, contact page and pages specific to an e-learning website such as the course archive page and shop page.

But if you’re like me, and are looking to take the manual setup route, here’s how you can go about it.

Creating the Homepage

The homepage is where most of your site visitors will land.

It should display a clear, concise message of what your site is about, and ideally display the courses available or a student registration and login form.

Technically, creating a homepage is as simple as creating any other page in WordPress.

You head over to Pages -> Add New
Set the title… (usually it’s set to ‘Home’), add the needed elements, and ‘Publish‘ the page.
Now, under Settings -> Reading -> Front Page Displays, select ‘A static page‘ and set the ‘Front Page‘ to the page you’ve just created.

Remember to ‘Save Changes‘ made.

Similarly, you can create another page- Blog– and set it as the ‘Posts Page‘.

Setting Up Registration & Login

By default, WordPress redirects users to the admin area once they login.

Not good.

You wouldn’t want users to be messing around in your admin area, especially when everything that’s relevant to them is on the frontend.

For this very purpose, it’s best not to redirect them to the backend, and the plugin that handles this task is Theme My Login.

Frontend Login with Theme My Login

The plugin adds a customizable widget for login anywhere on your site
You can redirect users on log in and log out based on their user role
The best part is, the widgets and pages blend seamlessly with the rest of your website!

Adding a Contact Page

A contact page is the most crucial page on any website. You can very easily create a contact page by adding a new page on your site, and adding a contact form.

A contact form can be created using the ever-so-popular Contact Form 7 plugin or for advanced functionality- the Gravity Forms plugin.

Both these plugins provide shortcodes to add the contact forms on a page.

Creating a Menu

Now, users will land on your website, and register as students. But then, what’s next?

The courses of course! :-p

To make it easy for students to sift through courses available, you’ll need to provide a link to the course archive page (the page which essentially lists all the courses).

So, you need to create a navigation menu.

In your admin panel, go to Appearance -> Menus
Create a new menu, let’s call it ‘main menu’
Add pages you’ve created, for example, home, contact, blog, from the pages list
And for the course archive page, add a ‘Custom Link‘ to ‘/courses/‘
Set this menu as the ‘Primary Navigation Menu‘ and save it

And with this step, your shell LMS setup should be ready! 😀

Winding Up

With LearnDash, a theme and needed plugins setup, your LMS should be ready for business!

But this is a fairly basic LMS setup. There’s a lot more you can add, for example

the ProPanel for additional reporting,
BuddyPress for a social network with bbPress for discussion forums,
a gamification module with BadgeOS
a teacher/instructor role with Instructor Role extension,
LRS integration… and so on.

But whether you need these or not, would depend on your specific requirements.

TIP: Here’s a tip before I sign off. Using a page builder plugin such as Visual Composer or Page Builder by SiteOrigin can help you setup page layouts with ease! 🙂

In case you have your doubts or need further assistance, you can always rely on our LMS setup assistance. We handle LearnDash setup for you and guide you through LearnDash settings, making it simple for you to add course content and make changes if needed. With our WordPress and LearnDash experience, we’ll resolve any glitches you face along the away!

That’s all from my end for now….

Happy teaching! 😀

LearnDash ProTips: Adding A Custom Course Level

May 23, 2016 by Suraj M 4 Comments

LearnDash competes as one of the most powerful LMS plugins for WordPress out there, with a fairly large and an active user base. This is, in part, because of flexibility that it offers to all the three entities associated with any LMS software: the plugin developers, the course content creators and the end users i.e. the learners. The code for the plugin is structured such that it’s but a piece of cake for developers like myself to add in tons of cool features and functionality, as per usage and requirements.

As for course designers, LearnDash let’s you conveniently break down the content flow into three distinct levels: Courses, Lessons and Topics, with the hierarchy falling in that same order. So if Mathematics is your Course, Algebra could be one possible Lesson, with Polynomials as one of the Topics within the lesson.

Adding A Custom Course Level In LearnDash

Consider this: say I have an elearning platform that caters to large demographic; from students still in school to graduates looking to add to their skill set via an advanced online course, how does ‘Mathematics’ fit in there? Or what if you’re looking to further divide Topics in sub topics of some sort? Wouldn’t it be nice to add in your own levels of content for LearnDash?

If you’ve put the two and two together by now, LearnDash does let you play around with the hierarchy of levels for course content and tweak it to your liking. With a bit of custom coding, one can easily write a plugin that adds in this particular functionality to LearnDash. Here’s how:

Step 1. Add A Custom Post Type: Let’s Call It A ‘Section’

LearnDash maintains hierarchy levels as custom post types. This post type will be use to create a new level of hierarchy, called Sections. Sections would be used to group similar Courses together. For eg. a Section called “Higher Secondary” will contain Courses that are Mathematics, Science, English, and Commerce.

Create a plugin with any desired name and the following code to the main php file. (plugin_name.php)

//Add custom post type section.

add_action('admin_menu', 'wdm_add_section_post_type');

function wdm_add_section_post_type()

{

   $labels = array(

       'name'               => _x('Sections', 'post type general name', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),
       'singular_name'      => _x('Section', 'post type singular name', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),

       'menu_name'          => _x('Sections', 'admin menu', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),

       'name_admin_bar'     => _x('Section', 'add new on admin bar', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),

       'add_new'            => _x('Add New', section, 'your-plugin-textdomain'),

       'add_new_item'       => __('Add New Section', 'your-plugin-textdomain’),

       'new_item'           => __('New Section', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),

       'edit_item'          => __('Edit Section', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),

       'view_item'          => __('View Section', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),

       'all_items'          => __('All Sections', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),

       'search_items'       => __('Search Sections', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),

       'parent_item_colon'  => __('Parent Sections:', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),

       'not_found'          => __('No sections found.', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),

       'not_found_in_trash' => __('No sections found in Trash.', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),

   );

   $args = array(

       'labels'             => $labels,
       'public'             => true,
       'publicly_queryable' => true,
       'show_ui'            => true,
       'show_in_menu'       => true,
       'query_var'          => true,
       'rewrite'            => array( 'slug' => 'section' ),
       'capability_type'    => 'post',
       'has_archive'        => true,
       'hierarchical'       => false,
       'menu_position'      => null,

       'supports'           => array( 'title', 'editor', 'author', 'thumbnail', 'excerpt', 'comments' ),

   );

   register_post_type('section', $args);

  }

Step 2. Add ‘Section’ As A Submenu In Learndash Admin Panel

Once you’re done defining a custom post type for ‘Sections’, you now have to display it under the LearnDash menu, just like Courses, Lessons and Topics.

To do this, just add the code highlighted in black to the register_post_type function used at the end of Step 1.

);

register_post_type(‘section’, $args);

add_submenu_page(‘learndash-lms’, __(‘Section’, ‘your-plugin-textdomain’), ‘Section’, ‘edit_courses’, ‘edit.php?post_type=section’);

}

Step 3. Placing ‘Section’ Menu Item Under LearnDash

Successfully implementing Step 2 has the downside of adding a menu item called ‘Sections’ in the main Admin menu as shown below:

But hey, the fix is simple. To remove this item from the from admin menu and place it under LearnDash menu item, just use the following code snippet:

add_filter('learndash_submenu', 'wdm_add_submenu_lms', 10, 1);

function wdm_add_submenu_lms($addsubmenu)
{

 remove_menu_page('edit.php?post_type=section');
 return $addsubmenu;

}

Here’s how it should look now:

Clicking on Sections takes you to a window that looks like:

The page is just like the ones you have for creating courses, except that this one allows you to create Sections and views the ones you created and saved.

Step 4. Adding Section Meta Field To Course, Lesson, Topic and Quiz

Here’s where you actually make the associations between Courses, Lessons, Topics and the newly created Sections, establishing the following hierarchy in the process

Section->Course->Lesson->Topic->Quiz

This meta field is used to linking section to course, lesson, topic and quiz. Use the following code:

add_filter('learndash_post_args', 'wdm_add_associate_section_field', 10, 1);

function wdm_add_associate_section_field($post_args)

{

//Adding hierarchy in learndash

   $data =array();

              $args = array(

              'posts_per_page'   => -1,
              'post_type'        => 'section',
              'post_status'      => 'publish'

              );

              $posts_array = get_posts($args);

              $data += ['0' => __('-- Select a Section --', 'your-plugin-textdomain')];

               foreach ($posts_array as $posts_array) {

                   $data += [$posts_array->ID => $posts_array->post_title];

               }

               $vcoursefield = array(

                  'name'=>__('Associated Section', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),

                  'type'=>'select',
                 'initial_options' =>$data,
                  'help_text'=>__('Select section to associate', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),
                  'default' => '0');

               array_unshift($post_args[0]['fields'], $vcoursefield);
               array_unshift($post_args[1]['fields'], $vcoursefield);
               array_unshift($post_args[3]['fields'], $vcoursefield);
               array_unshift($post_args[2]['fields'], $vcoursefield);

               return $post_args;
}

There, you now have successfully created a new course content level in LearnDash, called Sections!

This can also be displayed on the LearnDash profile page. By default, this page displays progress in terms of Courses. But now it would look something like this:

As is evident, the system now recognizes the placement of Sections above Courses in terms of hierarchy and displays progress likewise. In practice, the same can be applied to Quiz reports and User progress.

Happy Learning! 🙂

5 Awesome LearnDash Themes to Watch Out for in 2016!

May 9, 2016 by Rechal Cutinha Leave a Comment

One of the most popular Learning Management System (LMS) plugins for WordPress, LearnDash has revolutionized e-learning.

The feature-rich plugin boasts of several functionalities like drip feeding content, varied question types, flexible course requisites and many more.

Additionally, LearnDash has integrations with other WordPress plugins like WooCommerce, BuddyPress, bbPress, BadgeOS, Gravity Forms and more.

Like any other LMS plugin, LearnDash relies on WordPress themes for deciding the look and feel of the course. What you create on LearnDash is seen through the lens of your theme. In e-learning specially, a well-designed course is as visually appealing as it is literarily excellent.

However, from the tens of thousands of themes out there, selecting a theme that aligns perfectly with all the functions in LearnDash is rather difficult.

To give you a heads-up for such a situation, we present five themes that work flawlessly with LearnDash to give you a beautifully designed course.

#1 University

Developed by Cactus themes especially for colleges, universities and educational organizations, University is the quintessential LMS theme. Cleanly designed, it allows you to leverage all great things in LearnDash while increasing user retention on account of its easy accessibility.

The main features of the University theme are:

9 different Homepage variations
Unlimited Page Addition as per the requirements of the lesson and course
Includes Revolution Slider and Page Builder
Integration with WooCommerce, BuddyPress, Facebook and Disqus
Addition of Contact Forms possible
Newsletter creation functionality
Events can be created along with courses
Built-in events calendar

The theme is priced at $59 for a yearly license. A complete theme for all your e-learning requirements, University is a smart and sophisticated LearnDash theme.

#2 Pathshala

While other themes may be compatible with LearnDash, Pathshala has been designed exclusively for it, so of course it integrates seamlessly. Additionally, it has several features like the Drag and Drop page builder which helps you create courses in the blink of an eye.

A comprehensive look at some of its other features:

Drag and Drop Visual Page Builder by Unyson
Breadcrumb navigation
Integrated with WooCommerce, BuddyPress and bbPress
Fully Responsive on smartphones, tablets and PC’s
Customizable color palette
Automatic creation of course category archive pages
Search engine optimized
Additional Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section can be created on your site
Grid layout helps easy navigation

One of the best features of this theme is that it uses breadcrumb navigation which lets the user know where exactly he/she is in the course or the site. This gives easy accessibility to all parts of the site.

Pathshala is developed by WisdmLabs and costs $59 for a one-year license.

#3 Fernando

The responsive theme by Web Savvy Marketing, Fernando, is a handy tool for authors and speakers. Including features for promoting eBooks, speaking engagements, online training programs and selling or buying digital goods, the theme explores a different niche in the e-learning industry.

Additionally, it has several unique functionalities like:

Social media integration
Pre-styling for TubePress to display YouTube videos
Integrations with Soliloquy, iThemes Exchange, TablePress, FooGallery and Gravity Forms
Variable column classes
Call to Action feature
Email list builder
Built on the genesis Framework

Fernando is a Child Theme for Genesis and hence has a robust architecture. Priced at $79.95 per year, it is an excellent option for eBook authors, consultants, writers and speakers.

#4 Invent

Invent is a highly flexible theme, designed to work for multiple platforms like commercial websites, creative agencies and design portfolios in addition to the regular educational applications.

The theme has over 8 customs post types that give your website a unique feel every time. Optimized for LearnDash, Invent has a multitude of features that make designing your course extremely easy. Some of these are:

Over 30 page builder widgets
Customizable color schemes
Extensive font and styling options
Premium Revolution Slider, Flex 2 Slider and Nivo slider integrated
Translation files for French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese
Page Section configuration that allows you to work on the page, one element at a time
Social Media widgets for Flickr and Instagram

Connecting to the local populace can be a great asset for e-learning courses. Invent is a premium theme priced at $59, is SEO friendly and localization ready, which makes it a great option for e-course design.

#5 Social Learner

The Social Learner theme built by BuddyBoss is one of a kind in terms of integrating LearnDash with BuddyPress. True to its name, it has great social interaction options which give a boost to marketing your courses online.

Also, it bespeaks gamfication options that promote user engagement. Some of its more advanced features include:

Placing learners into groups
Memberships and membership levels customization with restricted access
Integration with WooCommerce and Paid Memberships Pro
Consolidation with over 25 social websites including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google and more
Admin Panel for customizing and managing site layout and visualization
Fully integrated with all BuddyPress plugins
Right-To-Left language layout functionality

The most marketing friendly theme, Social Learner uses high definition displays to make your site look sleek and stunning. The only drawback is that it is rather steeply priced at $179 per site with support and updates for a year.

Apart from the theme cost, add-ons cost another $49. However, if aggressive market promotion is a priority for your LearnDash course, the Social Learner theme is worth the cost.

Winding Up

A lot of the themes out there have a generalized approach which is why they might not always be compatible with LearnDash.

Each of the themes mentioned above have been tested and optimized particularly for LearnDash. They also have cool features like customizable logos, parallax scrolling and multilingual translations.

Along with LearnDash’s inherent functionalities, each of these adds newer features that make course design a thing of beauty and a joy forever!

E-learning is all about how well the course and course material reaches your students, which is why it is a good idea to decide the theme based on your target audience. So decide the kind of courses you want to build using LearnDash and pick the appropriate theme accordingly!

How to Upgrade your LearnDash LMS to a Corporate Training System

January 27, 2016 by Namrata Leave a Comment

The Corporate Training market is huge!

In 2014, Companies spent $130 billion worldwide on training, and according to the Global Corporate Training Market 2015-2019 report, the corporate training market will see a 8.77% compound annual growth rate over 2014-2019.

If you want a piece of this market pie, your LearnDash LMS has to be Corporate ready.

So, let’s see how this can be done!

Differences Between a Traditional LMS and a Corporate Training System

It’s but obvious to wonder why a traditional LMS can’t be simply marketed as a Corporate LMS.

Well, the difference lies in the way the traditional LMS is structured and the users involved.

The traditional LMS has (one or more) instructors and students. Any e-commerce functionality is purely optional.

Corporate Training builds over your Traditional LMS. Apart from the instructor and student roles, there is a ‘manager’ role. Courses are paid. Unlike a traditional LMS where students enroll for courses themselves, managers can purchase courses on behalf of employees (students), sign them up for a course, and track their progress.

So, a Corporate Training System has an option:

to Create Paid Courses
for users to sign up as Managers
for Managers to sign up employees for a course
for Managers to track employee progress

Building a Corporate Training System with LearnDash

Creating Paid Courses

Although LearnDash provides an option to create paid courses, it still lacks basic e-commerce capability, such as discount prices, an option to bundle and sell courses, additional payment methods, and more.

Instead of going ahead with LearnDash’s default e-commerce functionality, I’d recommend using an e-commerce plugin, specifically WooCommerce and the WooCommerce Integration for LearnDash. WooCommerce allows you to create paid courses, and sell course bundles. It has the option to set sale prices, create discount coupons, and over 114 payment gateway extensions available.

How to Set Up a Paid Course in WooCommerce?

Install and activate WooCommerce – it’s free.
Follow the steps to setup your e-commerce store.
Get the WooCommerce Integration for LearnDash – it’s a free add-on 😀
Create a ‘Course’ Product, set the price, and select the ‘Related Course’ (or courses to create a bundle).
To link the product to your course, go to the course and set the ‘Course Price Type’ as ‘Paid’.
Set the ‘Custom Button URL’ as the product URL.

Corporate Training System with LearnDash features:

~~Paid Courses~~
Users as Managers
Managers can enroll employees to a course
Managers can track employee progress

Adding Users as Managers

Now, WordPress allows you to create user roles. But the advantage you have with LearnDash is that it provides you Group Leaders.

Why am I talking about Group Leaders?

Well, because Group Leaders can act as managers. See the advantage Group Leaders have, is that with the ProPanel extension, Group Leaders can track student progress.

How to Track Student Progress?

Just use the ProPanel extension.

There isn’t a need to create a separate user role.

Corporate Training System with LearnDash features:

~~Paid Courses~~
~~Users as Managers~~
Managers can sign up employees for a course
~~Managers can track employee progress~~

But the capabilities Group Leaders have are limited. Group Leaders can’t add or remove students from Groups; rather Group Leaders can’t enroll students to a course.

So how can managers bulk purchase courses for employees?

Bulk Purchasing Courses

As you know, with LearnDash, students can purchase courses on their own and are automatically enrolled for the courses they purchase.

But in Corporate Training Systems, managers have to purchase courses on behalf of employees/ trainees or students.

LearnDash has an add-on for this very functionality – Group Registration.

With the Group Registration add-on, users can purchase courses on behalf of other users, and can then enroll other users to the courses they’ve purchased.

For example, say John is a manager, and wants to sign up 4 of his employees for a course. With the Group Registration add-on on your site, John can bulk purchase the course on behalf of his employees.

John then automatically becomes a Group Leader, and a group is created for the course purchased. John can then enroll 4 employees to the course, and with have ProPanel, John can track student progress as well.

How to Add Bulk Purchase with Group Registration?

Install and activate the Group Registration extension for LearnDash.

So, with the Group Registration add on, Group Leaders/ Managers can now enroll students to a course, and your Corporate Training system should be set!

And here’s an additional tip for those looking to add multiple instructors. LearnDash by default allows only a single instructor to manage courses. But for multiple instructors you’ll need the Instructor Role extension, this extension allows you to add instructor commissions as well.

And there you have it!

With the above extensions setup, your Corporate Training system on LearnDash is ready!

Questions? Shoot ’em away in the comment section below!

5 Feature Shifts to Put LearnDash Quizzing in Top Gear

January 7, 2016 by Namrata 4 Comments

I could go on and on about the importance of quizzes, tests or other means of assessment (such as assignments), in any form of education.

Not only do quizzes help teachers assess students, the gamification motivates students to perform better and increases engagement.

Now, LearnDash provides a good Quiz Module, it’s a few steps away from being GREAT.

The list of quizzing features provided by LearnDash includes multiple quiz question types, a quiz timer feature, an option to block student progress based on quiz results and more. But I’d say, there are a few key features which instructors are missing.

Here’s a list of 5 feature ideas to improve quizzing in your LearnDash e-Learning system:

#1 Additional Quiz Question Types

Similar to course content creation tools, quiz question types are key to great instructional design.

LearnDash is on par with Schoology when it comes to quiz question types by providing a total of 7 types of questions:

Single Choice
Multiple Choice
Free Text Choice
Sorting Choice
Matrix Choice
Fill-in-the-Blank
Survey

However it’s half-way close to LMS biggies like Blackboard (which provides 17 quiz question types), and Moodle (which provides around 12).

A feature several LearnDash users are looking forward to is an option to add a question with a multiple line answer. Sure, the “Free Choice” question type can be used in this scenario, but at the cost of good user experience.

Entering a detailed answer as a “Free Choice” leads to poor user experience.

Quick Tip: LearnDash LMS owners like Sue, have employed Gravity Forms to add a multiline reply type question, which can be reviewed by the instructor. However, this is a workaround. Ideally, this option should be in-built.

A multiline answer type is quite in demand!

#2 Advanced Quiz Retake

LearnDash provides a basic quiz retake option. You have the option to allow a student to retake a quiz, and set the limit on the number of retakes as well.

But hey! You and me both know this isn’t enough.

We’ve had several clients request us to modify this very functionality. For example, on a project we added a ‘Retake Only Wrong Answers’ functionality. There, when a student re-attempted the quiz, all the questions were not displayed. Instead only the questions which the student answered incorrectly were displayed. For intensive quizzes, this can be a real time saver for students and provide for a better user experience.

A “Retake Only Incorrect Answers” functionality we had implemented on a Client project

Similarly a functionality such as a time delay before the ‘Quiz Retake’ option is displayed, or awarding students only the highest score from several quiz attempts, can provide instructors more control on student activity and progress.

#3 Detailed Quiz Reporting

Most e-learning website owners understand the importance of detailed quiz reports. Not only do they help analyse student progress, but quiz reports can improve courses as well.

By default LearnDash provides an option to download quiz reports across all quizzes and all users. If you’ve got many (that’s more than one) quizzes on your e-learning website (and I’m guessing you do), this report is not adequate.

What could help are per quiz reports, or reports per user. The Quiz Reporting extension for LearnDash could be used here. It provides options to download individual student reports per quiz and a report of all student results for a particular quiz.

Download Options provided by Quiz Reporting Extension

Detailed quiz reporting could be extended to provide reports per student for all quizzes and per question analysis.

#4 Save & Resume Option

(Now agreed that this option might not be for those who like adding time sensitive quizzes. You might like reading: Adding a Question Timer for Quizzes in LearnDash)

For those of you who have elaborate quizzes which do not have to be attempted in one go, a great functionality you can consider adding, is the option to save student progress, which can be resumed at a later point in time.

The ‘Save and Resume’ option in LearnDash quizzes or an option to ‘Attempt Later’ can be used when the questions are application based, and the student does not have the option to cheat!

#5 Adaptive Quizzing

Adaptive quizzing involves updating quiz questions while the student is answering the quiz. So, based on the responses a student provides or their accuracy, the next question is chosen. For example, say the student answers the first three questions correctly, then using adaptive quizzing, you could increase the difficulty level of the next question which is displayed.

Now this might seem like a far fetched thought, but a WordPress plugin Chained Quiz, and Moodle provide such a functionality.

What Feature Would You Like to See?

The quizzing feature ideas for LearnDash that I’ve suggested as based on several client requests, and LearnDash quiz customization projects we’ve handled.

But your requirements might differ.

So, I’d like to hear your thoughts. What features would you like see in the LearnDash Quiz Module? Do you think LearnDash needs to include any of the above features in its core?

Want LearnDash Setup?

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Integrating RightSignature with LearnDash

December 29, 2015 by Tariq Kotwal 1 Comment

RightSignature is a fast and reliable e-signature service that lets users sign PDF and other documents online. Signatures can be obtained digitally, with a pointing device like a mouse or on an iPhone or an iPad, both of which also support apps.

RightSignature is exceptionally handy in the sense that it let’s you digitally sign documents on the go, whether you’re travelling or need to sign the documents in person. It is compatible with most popular browsers and requires no downloads or plugins in order to function.

With RightSignature, it is also possible to achieve a certain degree of automation; it lets you automatically send documents at predefined points points in your workflow, so that you never have to manually request signatures from a long list of clients. It’s open sourced and the API easily integrates with your website or company systems.

RightSignature and LearnDash:

LearnDash, while intended to be used as an e-learning tool on WordPress, can also be modelled as a project tracking software all thanks to it’s powerful reporting capabilities. Under these circumstances, each project is set up as a lesson, and users can be enrolled as per requirements. To integrate RightSignature with LearnDash, you can link the document that need to be signed with LearnDash Lessons and configure them to be sent to users on events such as successful enrollment etc. Integrating RightSignature with LearnDash allows you to obtain signatures in one of the two ways:

Send an email to user with the link to the RightSignature site to sign the document.
Allow users to sign documents on the client site by embedding a frame that allows digital signing.

RightSignature employs a callback functionality which allows us to take different actions based on the callback data. For example: while creating a RightSignature Document, we send xml data to RightSignature site and callback location. So once the document is created, you can easily capture the event of creation and can execute your code after that.

The Events for which a callback can be employed are:

Document creation
Document signed by a party
Document signed by all the parties
Document trashed

Different actions can be performed in different cases; a document signed by all the parties, can lead to the lesson, to which the document is linked, being marked as complete. Another example is to upload signed documents to DropBox.

Integration Process Flow:

When a user is enrolled for a Course, then our code fetches the list of all the lessons associated with the course.
For every lesson associated with RightSignature, the path to the relevant PDF document is fetched from the lesson’s meta information, stored using meta box, and will forward the document to RightSignature.
Once the document is generated, we obtain a unique GUID, used for accessing the generated document.
A special table is created to store the details about GUID, User, Document status (send, signed, trash), Lesson ID.
When a user visits a particular Lesson, the log details are fetched from the table that we created and will request RightSignature to generate a token. This token, which is valid for one hour, will request for an iframe to sign the document on the page.
While generating the document, we also need to specify the callback URL on which RightSignature hits for different events, like when a document is trashed or signed. To capture the callback hit, a WordPress endpoint needs to be created.
So when a user lands on a lesson page, he will see an iframe to sign the document. Once the signature is done, a callback hit will be done by RightSignature with a status parameter “signed” (in the case when all parties have signed the document) and “recipient_signed” when a single party has signed.

Once you obtain signatures from of the parties, the lesson can be marked as complete and the column values of our custom table is changed.
When a user is unenrolled from a Course, we can trash the documents which we have already generated for the lessons pertaining to the course.

To make the user sign exclusively using a client site, RightSignature should be configured to not include the signing URL in the email, but instead use the email as noemail@rightsignature.com in XML data sent to generate the document.

Doubts and queries? The comment section below is all yours. Stay tuned!

How to Add a Quiz Question Timer in LearnDash

October 12, 2015 by Tariq Kotwal 3 Comments

Every good Learning Management System, provides an option to add a timer to a quiz/test. And LearnDash is no different.

If you tread to LearnDash Quiz settings in your admin panel, you should notice an option to add a ‘Time Limit’ at the quiz level.

learndash-quiz-timer

Timers are a great way for the examiner/instructor/teacher to control the actual quiz.

It challenges each student, by playing on their psyche,
students just don’t have the time to cheat,
and it adds a level of competition among them too

But a quiz timer works well, when all the questions are weighted equally or are of the same type. Like a math quiz for example. But what if a few math questions are just a part of the quiz, and only those particular questions need to be timed.

Well, in this case you’d need a per question timer, instead of quiz timer.

Now, LearnDash does not provide a per question timer.

You know that.

And that’s why you’re here right?! 😀 .

So, for those scenarios where you need to add timed questions, I’m going to explain to you how exactly you can add a time limit for each quiz question in LearnDash.

Here’s what we’ll try to achieve:

We’ll add an optional field for each question, where you can specify a time limit for each quiz question.
The time limit will then be shown on the front-end for the quiz question, and the ‘Next’ question button will be hidden.
If the student runs out of time, the next question will be automatically shown.

Now, I must warn you; you need a fair amount of PHP and JavaScript development knowledge to implement this solution. If not, you need to contact a LearnDash developer, who can help you out here.

Okay. Let’s get to work.

Step #1: Add a Question Time Limit Setting

You need to start by adding a simple setting, for every quiz. Of course it’s not as simple as it seems.

If you’re a developer who’s worked on LearnDash quizzes before, you’ll know there aren’t any hooks you can work with. There isn’t a hook you can use to add a field to the quiz question settings.

But don’t worry. We won’t be customizing the core here. What we will be doing, is using some JavaScript magic.

Using JavaScript we’ll be placing a field above the ‘Save’ button on the question settings page. The reason for using the ‘Save’ button as a reference for the field, is because the ‘Save’ button is present on every quiz question settings page.

We’ll be using the the ‘Save’ button’s id as a reference, to add the question timer field.

learndash-quiz-question-save

The below piece of the JavaScript code displays a ‘Question Time Limit’ field above the ‘Save’ button.

$save_button       = jQuery("#saveQuestion");
$save_button_div   = $save_button.closest("div");

$content = '<div class="postbox">
                      <h3 class="hndle">' + 'Question Time Limit (in seconds)' +'</h3>
                      <div class="inside">
                                 <input type="number" min="0" class="small-text" value="'+ input_content +'" name="qtn_time_limit">
                      </div>
                </div>';
$save_button_div.before($content);

Here, input_content is the value of the ‘Question Time Limit’ field. By default, the value has to be set to 0. Every time you (or a user) sets this value, it has to be updated and saved in the database (handled via PHP). And similarly it has to be read from the database and displayed to the user when the user views this field.

This JavaScript code when enqueued will display the field as below:

learndash-quiz-question-timer-setting

Step #2: Add a Time Limit for the LearnDash Quiz Question

Once the field value has been saved for a question, the timer has to be displayed when the quiz question is attempted. This can be done using the below steps:

Get the Timer Value
Start the timer
Periodically check if the time limit has been reached
Trigger the next quiz question button

The code for the same is as below:

 jQuery('[name="startQuiz"],[name="next"]').click(function(){
   jQuery('.wpProQuiz_listItem').each(function(){
   if(jQuery(this).is(':visible')){
       $current_question_id = jQuery(this).find(".wpProQuiz_questionList");
       $current_question_id = $current_question_id.attr("data-question_id");
       if(wdmAjaxData.post_meta[$current_question_id] !== undefined){
           counter_value = wdmAjaxData.post_meta[$current_question_id];
       }
       else{
           counter_value = 0;
       }
       var wdm_globalElements = {
           next: jQuery(this).find("[name='next']"),
           wdm_timelimit: jQuery(this).find('.wpProQuiz_question_time_limit'),
           current_counter: counter_value
        };       
           wdm_globalElements.next.hide();
           var wdm_timelimit = (function() {
           var _counter = wdm_globalElements.current_counter;
           var _intervalId = 0;
           var instance = {};
           instance.stop = function() {
           if(_counter) {
               window.clearInterval(_intervalId);
               wdm_globalElements.wdm_timelimit.css("display", "none");
           }
         };
         instance.start = function() {
         if(!_counter){
             wdm_globalElements.next.show();
             return;
         }
         var x = _counter * 1000;         
         var $timeText = wdm_globalElements.wdm_timelimit.find('span').text(parseTime(_counter));
         var $timeDiv = wdm_globalElements.wdm_timelimit.find('.wpProQuiz_question_progress');
         wdm_globalElements.wdm_timelimit.css("display", "");
         var beforeTime = +new  Date();
         _intervalId = window.setInterval(function() {
                 var diff = (+new Date() - beforeTime);
                 var elapsedTime = x - diff;
                 if(diff >= 500) {
                    $timeText.text(parseTime(Math.ceil(elapsedTime / 1000)));
                 }
                 $timeDiv.css('width', (elapsedTime / x * 100) + '%');
                 if(elapsedTime <= 0) {                      
                    instance.stop();
                    wdm_globalElements.next.trigger("click");
                 }
          }, 16);
        };
        return instance;
        })();
         wdm_timelimit.start();
       }
       });
}

The above code hides the ‘Next’ question button while the timer is running, and then clicks it once the time limit is reached.

And the result for the same should be as below:

learndash-quiz-question-time-limit

A per quiz question timer works when you want to assign weight to a particular question as compared to other questions in the quiz. This code can come in handy, when you want to add such a functionality to LearnDash.

If you’re trying this out, and you’ve got any questions for me, fire away!

Want experts to Setup LearnDash?

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LearnDash: Display Messages for Correct as well as Incorrect Quiz Answers

September 15, 2015 by Tariq Kotwal Leave a Comment

When students attempt a quiz in LearnDash, they have an option to review their answers. It’s a great option, since students get to review their answers against the actual answers for the questions.

Along with each answer, students receive a brief explanation supporting their right or wrong answer.

I’ll explain this with an example. So, say you have a ‘Math Quiz’, with two simple questions. At the this quiz, you’ll notice a button ‘View Questions’.

Upon clicking the button, you should see how you’ve fared for each question, and text explaining the reason for marking the question right or wrong.

By default, supporting text is shown based on the answer provided. So, if the answer you’ve provided is right, only the text for the ‘correct’ answer is shown. If the answer is wrong, the ‘incorrect’ answer text is shown.

Now, there could be a scenario, where in you’d want to display both the correct as well as incorrect answer, irrespective of what the student has chosen.

We’ll take a look at how this can be done. 🙂

LearnDash Settings for Quiz Question-Answers

For every question you add to a LearnDash quiz, there are two fields provided- ‘Message with correct answer’, and ‘Message with incorrect answer’.

You can enter the ‘Correct’ and ‘Incorrect’ answer text here.

Either on of these is shown, based on the student’s answer.

#1 Displaying Correct and Incorrect Answer Text for newly added Questions

To display both messages for a quiz you are in the midst of setting up, you can take a simple route.

If you notice there is another option: ‘Same text for correct- and incorrect-message?’. You can use this option, and add both, the ‘correct’ as well as ‘incorrect’ message, so that both the messages are displayed.

This approach is simple and straightforward and you don’t need to add code. But as I mentioned, it’ll work only for questions and quizzes you’re going to create.

What if you have previously added questions and want the ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ message to be displayed for those answers.

We’ll take a look at how that can be done, next! 🙂

#2 Displaying Correct and Incorrect Answer Text for previously added Questions

You’ll need to add a bit of code here. It’s pretty simple so don’t stress. Now, first things first. This is some JS code. This code can be added to your theme’s JS (in case your theme provides such an option), or can be enqueued using a custom plugin or through functions.php of your theme.

If you do not understand any of this, just follow the below steps.

#1 Create a JS file

Create a JS file, wdm_ld_quiz_answers.js and add the below code in it:

jQuery(document).ready(
  function(){
    jQuery("input[name='reShowQuestion']").on("click", function(event){
      jQuery(".wpProQuiz_response").each( function( index ){
        $question_div = jQuery( this ).prev(".wpProQuiz_question");
        question_type = $question_div.children(".wpProQuiz_questionList").attr("data-type");
        if ( question_type "single" || question_type "multiple"){
           jQuery( this ).children(".wpProQuiz_incorrect").show();
           jQuery( this ).children(".wpProQuiz_correct").show();
        }
      }
    );
   });
  }
);

Developer note: LearnDash, does not selectively choose the text which has to be displayed. It adds both the text in the output, but just hides the text which does not have to be shown. The above code merely displays the hidden text. Sneaky, right :-p

This JS will display both the correct as well as incorrect answers for LearnDash quiz questions.

But hold on!

We’re not done. Just one more step. A bit more code.

#2 Enqueue the JS file

To make sure this JS is picked by your theme, you need to enqueue it. So, add the above wdm_ld_quiz_answers.js file, in the JS folder of your current theme. And add the below code in functions.php of your theme.

function wdm_learndash_scripts() {
    wp_enqueue_script( 'wdm-ld-answers', get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/js/wdm_ld_quiz_answers.js', array(), '1.0.0', true );
}
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'wdm_learndash_scripts' );

And you’re set!

Now, when student’s view their LearnDash quiz answers, they should be able to see both, correct and incorrect answer messages. 🙂

So, this was a quick fix LearnDash tip from me Tariq here at WisdmLabs, until next time.

Happy teaching!

True Facts about Integrating LearnDash and WordPress Multisite

June 16, 2015 by Akshay Pai 1 Comment

With the recent boom in WordPress based Learning Management Systems (LMS), LearnDash has risen to fame as one of the three most popular LMS solutions (WPMLS & Woo Sensei being the other two). LearnDash is flexible owing to which it has opened the door to countless customization. This makes LearnDash well suited for several user scenarios.

But for those considering LearnDash for a network, there is the ever popular question that floats in their minds- Can LearnDash work well in a WordPress Multisite structure?

To answer that, let’s first take a look at the ‘why’.

Why are LMS owners looking to take the multisite route?

Why a LMS Multisite Structure?

There are several benefits of employing a multisite structure for a learning management system. A multisite structure provides one point of access for several sites, and saves development cost. Below, I’ve listed four scenarios where a multisite can be used:

For a University Website

Multisite is ideal for those looking to create an LMS for a university. Each sub-site can be used as a dedicated LMS for each specialization. Multisite allows the owner to control the plugins on all the subsites from a single point of login.

For one click LMS website creation

If you’re looking to offer members the option to create their own LMS, you can use a multisite setup. With a multisite installation, and the plugins and theme pre-installed on the main site, a new LMS (as a subsite) can be created in one click.

LMS and CRM Integration

A subsite is also a great option to host your CRM, for ease of access and data transfer. A CRM can tie in quite nicely with your ecommerce store as well. Course purchases and student details can be passed on to your CRM, and manual enrollments can be handled as well, providing a single point of management.

LMS and Job Portal Integration

WordPress multisite is great if you want to host a Job Portal on a subsite. This way you can allow a third-party organization to handle the job portal. The job portal won’t have access to your main site. But as the super admin you can always keep check on what’s happening.

Can LearnDash Work in a Multisite Network?

So, if your reason to use WordPress multisite is one of the above, or you have your own, the question that still has to be answered is will LearnDash be the ideal LMS on a multisite network.

Will LearnDash work well on a multisite network?

Well obviously, it should work. It’s just a plugin… isn’t it?! It says so on their website!

But the answer is not as simple. It depends on what you are trying to achieve.

The Ideal Scenario: LearnDash for a University website

Let’s take the ‘University website’ example. Say you’re running an online university and have a WordPress multisite setup where you have different departments on each subsite. The main site introduces the student to the university and its different departments.

The student just uses the main site to navigate to the subsites and continues the enrollment process on a subsite. This is quite a standard workflow, since different departments do not have any correlation.

LearnDash can be used in this scenario.

The Not-so-Ideal Scenario: LearnDash Multisite for an Online Learning Center

But, let’s say you run an ‘Online Learning Center’ and want to dedicate a subsite for each course. Your idea is to use the main site to garner traction and give users a “One Glance See All” view and allow them to purchase course from a single point. But since you have a lot of material for each course, you want individual courses on subsites.

You can use LearnDash on all your subsites to create the courses. But to showcase all your courses on the main site, you will have to fetch the courses from the subsites and allow a purchase option on the main site.

When a user purchases the course on the main site, he/she has to be enrolled for the course on the subsite.

Darn! This is getting more complicated by the minute.

Well let’s try to work through this. We can’t simply ignore a scenario because it’s too complicated!

Okay. I’ll break it down for you. Here’s what we’re looking to achieve:

Course will be setup on the subsite and will simply be displayed on the main site. This means, any actual learning will happen on the subsite.
Students will be able to purchase the courses from the main site and will have to register via the main site as well- irrespective of whether they purchase individual courses or memberships for all the courses.
Students will have to access the courses on the dedicated subsite where he/she should not have to register again and should be able to login with the same username and password that has been used on the main site.

Now, all we have to do is connect the dots. Can LearnDash be used in this scenario? How will each step be handled?

Let’s take a look.

Setting up Courses on Subsites

As mentioned, this will be handled by LearnDash. LearnDash will be the main LMS and will be activated on all sites on the network. The courses and lessons will be setup on each subsite.

Displaying and Selling Courses on the Main Site

On the main site we can use WooCommerce to create a product for the course. If we have to simplify the WooCommerce product creation process, we will have to provide a meta field which will link the product to the LearnDash course. When a course is selected in the meta field the course description will be fetched and added as the product description. All we’ll need to do is set the price.

The WooCommerce shop page can be used to display all the courses.

Handling Course Purchases on the Main Site

The purchase of the course will follow the default WooCommerce flow. But there won’t be a ‘Guest Checkout’ option. The student will have to register on the website to purchase the course.

Enrolling Students for the Course on a Subsite

Now comes the tricky part.

Once a student registers on the main site, we’ll have to enroll the student on the subsite for the purchased course. This means, we’ll have to grant the student access to the particular subsite. This can be handled using a ‘Single Sign On’ functionality. With this functionality, the student can login on all sites by signing in on the main site.

When a course is purchased, we will have to push the student’s details to the subsite which will include the course(s) purchased, and then enroll the student for the course.

Notifying the Student

We’ll have to customize the WooCommerce order email as well. In the order email, we’ll have to send a link to the subsite along with purchased course details.

Phew!

TL;DR

You can use LearnDash on a WordPress multisite network when each subsite is independent of the other. However, some scenarios might call for some customization. For example, in cases where courses on all subsites have to be accessible from the main site. 🙂

If you’re not sure of the category your requirement falls under, or if you’re not sure of going the LearnDash multisite route altogether, the comment section is where you need to direct your questions, and I’d be happy to assist you 🙂

What Exactly is a Course Marketplace?

Creating a Course Marketplace with LearnDash

Allowing Instructors to Create Courses

Building Student Communication Forums

Managing Revenue

Conclusion

Step 1. To Create/Edit Group

A] To Create a Group

B] To Update a Group

C] To Associate Courses With Group

D] To Assign a Group Leader

E] To Add Members to Group

Step 2: Display List Of Groups

Need assistance with LearnDash? Contact us now or take a look at our LearnDash Services. Happy to help!

But a plugin does not an LMS make.

Step #0 Setting Up WordPress

Step #1 Installing a Theme

Step #2 Setting up LearnDash

Creating a Course

Creating a Lesson

Creating a Topic

Creating a Quiz

Creating a Certificate

Associating a Certificate with a Quiz

Step #3 Setting up Paid Course Access

Using an E-commerce Plugin

Linking a Course to a Product

Using a Membership Plugin

Linking Courses to Membership Levels

Step #4 Creating Pages

Creating the Homepage

Setting Up Registration & Login

Adding a Contact Page

Creating a Menu

Winding Up

Adding A Custom Course Level In LearnDash

Step 1. Add A Custom Post Type: Let’s Call It A ‘Section’

Step 2. Add ‘Section’ As A Submenu In Learndash Admin Panel

Step 3. Placing ‘Section’ Menu Item Under LearnDash

Step 4. Adding Section Meta Field To Course, Lesson, Topic and Quiz

Section->Course->Lesson->Topic->Quiz

#1 University

#2 Pathshala

#3 Fernando

#4 Invent

#5 Social Learner

Winding Up

Differences Between a Traditional LMS and a Corporate Training System

Building a Corporate Training System with LearnDash

Creating Paid Courses

Adding Users as Managers

Bulk Purchasing Courses

#1 Additional Quiz Question Types

#2 Advanced Quiz Retake

#3 Detailed Quiz Reporting

#4 Save & Resume Option

#5 Adaptive Quizzing

What Feature Would You Like to See?

Want LearnDash Setup?

RightSignature and LearnDash:

Integration Process Flow:

Step #1: Add a Question Time Limit Setting

Step #2: Add a Time Limit for the LearnDash Quiz Question

LearnDash Settings for Quiz Question-Answers

#1 Displaying Correct and Incorrect Answer Text for newly added Questions

#2 Displaying Correct and Incorrect Answer Text for previously added Questions

#1 Create a JS file

#2 Enqueue the JS file

Why a LMS Multisite Structure?

For a University Website

For one click LMS website creation

LMS and CRM Integration

LMS and Job Portal Integration

Can LearnDash Work in a Multisite Network?

The Ideal Scenario: LearnDash for a University website

The Not-so-Ideal Scenario: LearnDash Multisite for an Online Learning Center

TL;DR

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