WordPress LMS Name Change

By: Justin Ferriman August 28, 2012
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Things have been quiet on the WordPress LMS front, but only because we have been hard at work in a variety of different areas. Today, I want to take a moment to share with you some big news regarding the WP LMS project – something that we have been wrestling with for a while now.

After multiple conversations with those invested in the success of our end goal, we have decided going forward to promote WordPress LMS under the new brand LearnDash (short for “Learning Dashboard”)

There are multiple reasons for doing so, but some of the major ones include:

Reason #1

We found “WordPress LMS” was more of a description than an actual promotable brand.

Reason #2

When speaking to people over the phone, or in conversations, we found confusion over the name (i.e. WPLMS vs. WordPress LMS). Having to clarify the domain name was getting troublesome.

Reason #3

While the initials “WP” make sense to those familiar with WordPress, it is a bit foreign to those who are not as knowledgeable with the program. While our intent is to serve the WordPress lovers such as ourselves, we don’t want to unintentionally limit our potential customers by a rather narrow definition.

Reason #4

In regards to word of mouth, “.org” domain names are more difficult for people to remember, and often unknowingly will go to “.com”. Unfortunately, we don’t own the “.com”, so it can be confusing.

Reason #5

Using a “.org” can be misleading, as people usually associate a non-profit venture or public organization to that extension. We want to be clear with our intentions as a commercial venture, therefore “.com”.

With these things in mind, we ultimately decided that choosing an easy to spell and remember name for our WPLMS project was the correct direction. Granted, we could have waited until after launch to see if a brand change was even necessary, but in the end that would require more effort on our end to get the right message across. Instead we wanted to hit the ground running from day one with a consistent brand and message.

In the near future, look for a redesign of the site as we build around the LearnDash brand. In the long term, continue to follow-us as we aim at making LearnDash the #1 WordPress Learning Management System (heck, even the best LMS) available on the market!

Until next time!

Justin Ferriman

Justin started LearnDash, the WordPress LMS trusted by Fortune 500 companies, major universities, training organizations, and entrepreneurs worldwide. He is currently founder & CEO of GapScout. Justin’s Homepage | GapScout | Twitter