From new user flows to cleaner backend organization, LearnDash 3.6 reduces hassle while keeping the tools you need right where you can find them.

It’s easy for educators online to become overwhelmed by the number of technical decisions they have to make in order to launch their course, as well as all the settings, options, and customizations each new tool comes with.

Given how many online tools there are (LMSs, CMSs, CRMs, social media networks, hosting sites, marketing automation tools, email tools, SEO tools, themes, security tools, etc.), any educator may quickly find themself working with over a dozen tools in order to create, launch, and maintain their course.

Almost all of this is inevitable. The only way around it is to try your luck with an “all-in-one” option that will claim to deliver on half those options, and then only provide the most minimal support for each. However, what you can do is find tools that have good user experiences, so the time you take learning to use each of these tools is minimal.

That’s what we chose to focus on when we worked on the LearnDash 3.6 release. We wanted to offer a number of tools that would enhance the functionality of your course while also making it easier for our users to find what they need and accomplish their goals.

To that end, here are a few of the top new features from LearnDash 3.6 that improve the user experience for our users.

1. The Advanced Tab.

One of the classic problems of interface design is knowing which options need to be front and center, and which should be tucked away. Few interface problems are more frustrating than not being able to find a setting to turn on or off. At the same time, when there are too many settings to configure all in one place, it can overwhelm the users, making it even harder for them to find what they’re looking for.

In LearnDash 3.6, we’ve remedied this problem by taking options that most of our users don’t need to touch (or only need to touch one time), and moving them to a new Advanced tab. If you need to find information about custom labels, REST API, or data upgrades, it’s now in this tab. Other options that you need to access more often stay right where they are, where you can easily find them.

2. Course Grid 2.0

On the topic of new and improved user experience, the latest version of Course Grid is now Guttenberg compatible. That means you can insert it as a block in your page editor, then drag and drop it to where you’d like it to appear relative to other content blocks on the page. Displaying your courses where you want and how you want will be that much easier going forward.

The Course Grid 2.0 also includes new options to edit its appearance on your website. This includes new skins, new templates, and new elements you can choose to include or exclude. As a result, you’ll have more control over how your courses display on your site, and can fine-tune it to your heart’s content.

Last but not least, the course grid now includes filter options on the front end, so that your learners can search your courses according to pricing and taxonomy. This is huge for any organization with a large catalog of learning content, as it will improve the user experience for learners while also making it easier for them to showcase their content.

3. New User Registration Flow.

This is another request we’ve heard many times, and we’re excited to finally be able to deliver. When new users sign up for your course, you can now create a seamless registration flow with dedicated registration pages that automatically logs users in once they sign up.

This will cut down on confusion from new users and make it easier for them to start their course right away. And it’s worth pointing out: Less confusion for your users means fewer annoyed learners messaging you about why they can’t access their course right away.

4. LearnDash Integrity.

Finally, after you go through all the work of creating a new course, you want to be sure your content is safe, right? For most of our users, this isn’t a huge concern. It takes a lot of work to steal content, and many users are more interested in purchasing the real deal from a creator they trust rather than try to hunt down plagiarized material from someone else. However, pirated content is pirated content, and while it’s impossible (or at least unfeasible) to completely prevent someone from stealing your materials, you can make it harder.

To that end, we’ve now made it easier for you to protect your intellectual property. LearnDash Integrity comes with hotlink protection, which prevents third-party websites from directly linking to your content and eating up all your bandwidth. It also makes it harder for users to copy your content, and prevents concurrent logins.

Your hard work should go toward your course.

It’s hard work to launch an online course, but the payoff for most educators is incredibly rewarding. You get to share your expertise with people who recognize its value and are willing to pay you what it’s worth.

We want to make sure that your hard work goes where it will do the most good—not struggling with a user interface, or placating irritated customers, or trying to research ways to fight content pirates. The more we can do to make everything that isn’t creating your course fade into the background, the more energy you will have for delivering the knowledge you’re known for.

We think that experience must feel pretty great.