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Course Enrollment Mode Settings

Course Enrollment Mode settings control how learners gain access to a course, whether access requires registration, payment, prerequisites, or manual enrollment. These settings also determine how long access lasts and whether enrollment is managed directly in LearnDash or through an external system.

This page explains each enrollment mode and related access settings, along with common use cases and configuration steps.

Locating Course Enrollment Mode Settings #

  1. Navigate to LearnDash LMS > Courses
  2. Select the course to edit
  3. Click the Settings tab
  4. Locate the Course Enrollment section

Enrollment Mode #

Enrollment Mode determines how learners access a course. By default, all courses are set to Free until another option is selected. LearnDash includes the following enrollment modes:

  • Open
  • Free
  • Buy Now
  • Recurring
  • Closed

Each option is described below.

Open #

Open courses allow anyone to view course content without enrolling.

How Open enrollment works #

  • Course content is publicly available
  • No registration, login, or payment is required
  • Course progress is tracked only for logged-in users

Important notes #

  • The Mark Complete button works only for logged-in users
  • Linear Progression applies only to logged-in users
  • Registered users automatically have access to all Open courses

Free #

Free enrollment requires users to register or log in, but does not require payment.

Rules for Free courses #

  • Users must be registered and logged in
  • No payment is required
  • The Take this Course button appears for users who are not yet enrolled
  • Clicking the button begins the registration or enrollment process

If LearnDash’s custom login and registration system is enabled, the button displays as Login to Enroll.

Common use case #

Free enrollment is useful when access should be controlled through registration without charging learners.

Buy Now #

Buy Now enrollment requires a one-time payment to access the course.

Rules for Buy Now courses #

  • Users must be registered and logged in
  • Payment is required for access
  • Supported payment gateways include PayPal, Stripe, and Razorpay
  • A price must be entered in the Course Price field

Important: Do not use Buy Now when selling courses through a shopping cart or membership plugin. Use Closed enrollment instead.

Setup steps #

  1. Select Buy Now as the enrollment mode.
  2. Enter a price in the Course Price field.

Note: LearnDash coupons apply only to courses or groups using Buy Now access.

Buy Now enrollment also supports purchasing courses with achievement points using the Achievements add-on.

Note: Users are automatically enrolled in the course after successful payment.

Recurring #

Recurring enrollment functions similarly to Buy Now, but charges users on a recurring billing cycle.

Rules for Recurring courses #

  • Users must be registered and logged in
  • Payment recurs on a defined schedule
  • Supported gateways include PayPal, Stripe, and Razorpay

Important: Do not use Recurring with external shopping carts or membership plugins. Use Closed enrollment instead.

Setup steps #

  1. Select Recurring.
  2. Enter the recurring price.
  3. Define the billing cycle (days, weeks, months, or years).

Note: When using days, the value must be between 1 and 90.

Optional recurring settings #

  • Recurring Times: Limits the number of billing cycles (leave empty for unlimited)
  • Course Trial Price: Sets a discounted or free trial price
  • Trial Duration: Defines how long the trial lasts before regular billing begins

Course Enrollment URL #

The Course Enrollment URL allows redirecting users after enrollment or registration.

Common use cases include:

  • Upselling additional courses
  • Providing onboarding instructions
  • Offering downloadable materials

This option is available only for Buy Now and Recurring enrollment modes.

Closed #

Closed enrollment restricts access without applying automatic enrollment rules.

Rules for Closed courses #

  • Users must be registered and logged in
  • Enrollment is managed externally or manually
  • Access can be granted via:
    • Ecommerce or membership plugins
    • Manual enrollment
    • Group enrollment

A Button URL field becomes available when Closed mode is selected. This allows redirecting users to a custom sales or checkout page.

Setup steps #

  1. Select Closed.
  2. Enter the URL for the external sales or checkout page.

Course Prerequisites #

Course Prerequisites require learners to complete other courses before accessing the current course.

Prerequisite options #

  • Any Selected (default): Completion of any one selected course grants access
  • All Selected: All selected courses must be completed

Adding prerequisites #

  1. Toggle Course Prerequisites on.
  2. Choose Any Selected or All Selected.
  3. Search for and select one or more courses.

To remove a prerequisite, click the X next to the course name.

Course Points #

Course points can be used to motivate learners and control access to advanced courses.

Enabling course points #

  • Toggle Course Points on

Settings #

  • Required for Access: Number of points required to access the course
  • Awarded on Completion: Points awarded after completing the course

Note: Point values are fully customizable and can be adapted to fit any learning structure.

Course Access Expiration #

Course Access Expiration limits access based on the learner’s enrollment date.

Configuration #

  • Toggle Course Access Expiration on
  • Enter the number of days access should remain active
  • Choose whether to delete course and quiz data after expiration

Warning: Deleted data cannot be recovered. Backups are recommended before enabling data deletion.

Start Date and End Date #

Start Date #

Allows users to enroll or purchase a course but prevents access until a specified date.

Note: Users are considered enrolled even if content access has not yet started.

End Date #

Ends access for all enrolled users on a specific date, regardless of enrollment time.

Course Pre-Sell #

Course Pre-Sell combines paid enrollment with a future start date, allowing courses to be sold before learners can access the content.

Student Limit #

Student Limit restricts the total number of users who can enroll in a course.

  • The limit is displayed on the course page
  • Enrollment or purchase is blocked once the limit is reached
  • Administrators can still manually enroll users beyond the limit

Cohorts #

Using Start Date and End Date together allows courses to run in cohorts.

Common examples include seasonal or session-based courses (spring, summer, fall). Courses can be duplicated and assigned new dates for each cohort.

Course Students #

The Course Students section displays all users currently enrolled in the course and allows manual enrollment management.

Enrolling users #

  1. Select users from the left column.
  2. Click the right arrow to enroll them.
  3. Click Update.

Removing users #

  1. Select enrolled users from the right column.
  2. Click the left arrow.
  3. Click Update.

Course Access Settings #

Use Course Access Settings to fine-tune how learners enroll, access, and progress through a course based on the configuration options described above.

Updated on February 2, 2026