Deep Dive into LearnDash

Wondering why LearnDash is one of the most popular and trusted LMS (learning management system) around? Let’s deep dive into it and see if it is indeed most worthy of our trust. 

What exactly is LearnDash?

An LMS plugin for running online courses on WordPress, LearnDash is a favorite of quite a number of Fortune 500 companies. Best-selling authors, major universities, and even entrepreneurs use this to publish learning content online. It lets you create courses, tutorials, lessons, and quizzes to help you teach and assess students.

How does LearnDash work?

When you subscribe to LearnDash, you can start building and managing your teaching courses. It has features that let you can include lists for the following:

• Lessons
• Topics
• Videos
• Assignments
• Forums
• Quizzes
• Prerequisites

You can also create student profiles, email notifications, and detailed reporting on the class progress. It also gives you the option to add more tools to help you manage your classes and groups better. 

If you want to monetize your training courses, you can do so with LearnDash. You can integrate subscription and payment portals. It also allows you to charge subscription fees as well as build course bundles that you can sell online.

Who is LearnDash for?

LearnDash is suitable for companies that provide professional training to their staff. Those who teach in different levels of educational institutions can also benefit from this LMS. Entrepreneurs who give tutorials to their customers also find LearnDash helpful. 

Currently, LearnDash lists these companies as some of their users:

• University of Florida
• Tony Robbins
• University of Michigan
• Yoast
• Social Media Examiner

LearnDash Pricing

Below is an image of LearnDash’s plans and pricing:

Insert learndash pricing image

LearnDash Features

What makes LearnDash easy to use is its long list of helpful features. Here are a few of the best:

• Drag-and-drop builder feature – you just drag and drop courses and training materials according to how you visualize it. It lets you lay out the elements to give you a preview before publishing it.
• Video progression tool – this feature allows you to embed videos onto your courses. Once a student completes a tutorial video, Learndash marks it complete and plays the next lesson automatically. It gives you the option to hide the play tab, so there’s no chance of skipping the lesson. You can also set the videos to play before or after a particular task or assignment is done.
• Drip-feed feature – this feature makes it easy for returning students to come back to their lessons. You can create intervals for the course to prevent information overloading. 
• Prerequisites option – this feature ensures that each student has learned their courses before venturing into more advanced ones. You can create classes they need to take before moving on to the next level.
• Engagement triggers – this allows you to trigger specific actions when a student finishes a task. Whether it’s a failed quiz or a completed lesson, you can set it to start another set of functions. 
• Software integration – you can easily integrate email software or payment portals.

LearnDash Pros and Cons

To quickly know if Learndash is the LMS for you, we’ve compiled a list of its pros and cons:

Pros

• Easy course organization with its drag-and-drop feature
• Simple course monetization through solid functionalities
• Drip-feed options to space out lessons
• Useful automation features through Zapier and other third-party apps
• It is localized for use in different languages
• Cost-effective and affordable plan prices

Cons

• Works in WordPress only
• A long learning curve as there are no extensive tutorials to use the program
• Monetizing your courses mean you have to understand apps such as WooCommerce
• No options for live training or webinars, but can be done only through Zapier