Check Out The Features In Version 2.3!

By: Justin Ferriman • September 27, 2016
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LearnDash Updates latestToday we have released a major LearnDash core update designed specifically with two things in mind.

Our first priority was to improve the reporting performance and data storage. This is the last major step needed prior to the anticipated ProPanel v2.0 release.

Secondly, we wanted to give all of you maximum flexibility for how you present course material (which we think you will really like).

We rounded out the update with two highly requested features.

There are also plenty of “behind the scenes” modifications made to improve the overall functionality of LearnDash, making it more efficient and developer friendly.

So let’s get to the update, starting with the two highly requested features…

User Profile Updates

One of the first items you will notice with this new version is that the front-end profile has been updated to include some additional quiz information.

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Review Quiz Answers

Currently all quiz attempts are recorded against the profile along with the achieved scores. Now learners have the option to view their individual quiz answers at any point in time.

When this setting is active, an icon will appear in the Staistics column of the user’s profile. When selected, a new window will open which will display the user’s answers they provided on the quiz, whether the answer was correct or incorrect, and any feedback you have configured for the correct and incorrect responses.

This feature is optional and can be turned on or off for each individual quiz when you are editing the settings of a quiz (by default the option is selected).

Admin Ability to Print User Certificates

Sometimes there are situations where it makes sense for the admin to print the certificate on behalf of the user. The admin and group leader roles now have the ability to do this from the user’s back-end profile.

Simply navigate to the profile and click the ‘certificate’ link. This applies to certificates earned on quizzes and course certificates.

Display Content to Specific Students or Groups

As you know, currently course content is only available to users who are enrolled into the course. These view permissions are restricted to the LearnDash course, lesson, topic, and quiz pages.

Well, they used to be restricted to these pages! 🙂

You now have the ability to make content on any page or post visible to users who belong to a certain course or group.

For example, let’s say you have a regular WordPress page where you list course specific resources but you don’t want everyone to have access to them. You can protect this content with the newly modified “Student” shortcode. It would look like this:

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That’s it!

Only students enrolled into the course with ID “1234” will see the content between the shortcode. Use this on any page or post across your entire site!

But we took this new feature one-step further and created the same functionality for groups! This means you can make specific content on pages and posts (not just LearnDash courses) visible only to members of a certain LearnDash group.

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This addition really opens up the possibilities you have for your LearnDash courses as it means your course content is no longer confined to only the lessons of a course.

Reporting Update in Preparation for ProPanel 2.0

Of all the updates, this one is probably the most significant. We have completely reworked how LearnDash stores course and quiz data. This is important for a few reasons:

  1. It makes working with the data a whole lot easier for developers (database information can be found here)
  2. It improves performance of report generation
  3. It is needed for the upcoming ProPanel v2.0 release

This particular change also improves upon the native LearnDash report exports under the REPORTS menu.

To upgrade your database go to LEARNDASH LMS > SETTINGS > DATA UPGRADE.

From here you will see two buttons. One is for upgrading your course data and the other for upgrading your quiz data.

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Click one and let it run to completion. Afterwards, select the other button.

This is an important step that must be completed in preparation of the upcoming ProPanel changes. Don’t worry, we’ll remind you again once ProPanel v2.0 is released.

All of these new features are available today. If you don’t see this from your admin dashboard, please reference this support article for some guidance on updating.

We Are Getting Close

As stated in this post, this new version of LearnDash is the critical precursor to ProPanel 2.0.

Now that it is in your hands, we are focusing on getting the finishing touches in place so that soon you will have an entire new dashboard reporting experience. The light at the end of the tunnel is within sight!

We want to sincerely thank all of you who are using LearnDash for both your enthusiasm and patience over the past few months as we worked to get everything in place. It’s with great pleasure that I can tell you we are now very close to ProPanel v2.0 release.

Until next time!

(Don’t have LearnDash? Join the fun!)

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