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Automate Your Course Management Tasks with LearnDash and Zapier

By: Rachel Kolman February 2, 2023
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 As an online educator, there are so many small tasks that constantly need to be done: updating, posting, notifications, email – the list goes on! 

You can easily fill an afternoon with busy work and still feel behind. When do you find the time to engage with learners and keep innovating your content? Not to mention marketing and selling courses as well. 

Enter automation. Automation is a popular strategy in elearning, as it helps cut down on tedious tasks like enrollment, notifications, and giving/removing access. 

One of the best ways to introduce automation is by using Zapier. Hailed as “easy automation for busy people,” Zapier moves info between your web apps automatically, so you can focus on your most important work. Zapier uses a workflow called “Zaps” that connects your apps to automate repetitive tasks. A trigger is an event that starts a Zap, and an action is an event a Zap performs. The easy way to think of it is: “When this happens, do that.” 

Ready to learn more? Let’s explore how to set up automations and best practices to keep your automations running smoothly.

How to Set Up Automations with LearnDash and Zapier

To connect LearnDash-related activities to Zapier, all you need is our free Zapier add-on. Once installed, you have literally hundreds of apps available to connect to for your online courses. This is perfect if you are already using some of these tools for your business and want to integrate your LearnDash courses into them.

There are several triggers and actions around your LearnDash site that can trigger a zap. Here are a few of the supported triggers: 

  • A learner enrolls in or completes a course
  • A learner is added to a new group or leaves a group
  • An essay or assignment is submitted
  • A Lesson, Quiz, or Topic is completed
  • A user completes all courses in one group

See more of how you can integrate LearnDash with Zapier in our webinar walkthrough: 

Tips for successful eLearning automation

To get the most out of your automation, you should plan your Zaps out first. Think about what you’re trying to accomplish and break down the problem you’re trying to solve. Ask: 

  • What apps do I want to use? (LearnDash and Mailchimp, for example) 
  • What event will trigger my Zap? (a new learner enrolls) 
  • What event will my Zap perform?  (a welcome email is automatically sent) 
  • What information do I want to move between those apps? (The contact’s name, email address, and the course name).

Zapier keeps track of all the tasks your Zaps attempt. You can see which tasks were successful and unsuccessful. To maintain your automation, here are a few best practices to follow: 

  1. After making any changes, test the automation with sample data to ensure it is still working as expected.
  2. Document any changes or updates made to the automation for future reference.
  3. Keep the automation simple and only include the necessary steps to achieve the desired outcome.
  4. Keep an eye on the usage and performance of the automation to identify and address any potential bottlenecks.
  5. Use version control if needed for your Zaps to have a clear change log and roll back if necessary.
  6. Use Multi-Step Zaps to split a complex Zap into smaller, more manageable parts.
  7. Keep an eye on the usage limits of your apps to avoid hitting the limit and breaking the zaps.

Get More Done with LearnDash and Zapier

Using LearnDash in conjunction with Zapier can bring several benefits to eLearning automation. You can streamline administrative tasks, improve communication, enhance engagement, personalize the learning experience, and more! 

By automating certain aspects of the learning process, learners can focus on the most important parts of the course, while administrators can focus on providing support and feedback.

Try implementing automation in the eLearning process to see how it can work for you. Remember, you aren’t limited to using Zapier strictly for learning automation. It also is a great option for automating components of your marketing. If you’re looking for ideas, here are 11 marketing-related Zaps you could configure.

Ready to give it a try? You can hook up a free Zapier account to a copy of the LearnDash demo site to see how this may work for you first. Request a backend site and play around with how easily and quickly course tasks can be accomplished.

Rachel Kolman

Rachel Kolman has over 10 years of experience writing and editing for a variety of clients and brands. She is passionate about education, social change, pop culture, and video games. She lives in Seattle, WA with her husband and two cats.