How I Built my LMS with
WordPress & LearnDash
For Cheap!
casabona.org/ldc18 @jcasabona
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@jcasabona
The Empire State Building
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@jcasabona
Planning the Empire State Building
• Plans went through 15 versions before final
approval
• Went from 25 to 80 Stories
• Fierce competition with Chrysler Building for
title of “World’s Tallest”
• All before the demolition of the Waldorf-
Astoria
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@jcasabona
The Web Doesn’t Have
to be Like That.
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@jcasabona
My First Online Course Site
• 3 Years ago I decided to start selling online
training
• As a web developer I knew I needed some tools
• I planned nothing, not even the name
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@jcasabona
It was a little rough
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@jcasabona
• This worked OK but it was janky
• I just threw in features as I needed them
• I ended up with a Frankenstein website
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@jcasabona
Imagine if the Architects for the
Empire State Building did that?
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@jcasabona
I Decided to Start Over
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@jcasabona
The Plan
• Build new, completely separate site, with brand
new name
• Keep old site running indefinitely
• Migrate courses over to new site
• Do not migrate pages
• Migrate users upon request
• Announce new site / add info to old site
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@jcasabona
Important Notes
1.Define mission of site
2.Come up with list of features
3.Come up with budget (spend money but don’t
go crazy)
4.Limit personal development (but don’t rule it
out completely)
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@jcasabona
Defining the Mission
• Why did I want to make courses online?
• The why wasn’t enough. I needed a clear
mission for what the site would be.
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@jcasabona
Show people how to
make stuff online, by
actually making it online.
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@jcasabona
Mission
• Show people how to use tools to build websites
• Learn by Doing. At the end of each course,
they’d have something tangible that they made
• Skill level: Beginner site builder to beginner
programmer
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@jcasabona
I had to do Research
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@jcasabona
-Neil Armstrong
“Research is creating new
knowledge.”
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@jcasabona
My Research
• Take a bunch of online courses!
• Did Masterclass, Hollens Creator Academy,
Lynda/LinkedIn Learning, Udemy
• Took notes on experience, setup, additional
features, and pricing model.
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@jcasabona
It was a lot of fun
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@jcasabona
Feature Set
• Allow Students to buy a course and automatically register them
• Break courses down by lessons and topics
• Lock down courses to force lesson progression
• Use videos, or don’t…
• Automatically email students throughout the courses
• Create a community through forums
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@jcasabona
Future Features
• Bundle Courses together
• Group registration and management
• Memberships - pay annual fee for access to all
courses
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@jcasabona
Now the Tools
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@jcasabona
Tools
• WordPress for the CMS / Underlying
architecture
• LearnDash for the LMS
• WooCommerce for eCommerce
• bbPress for the Forums
• Theme: Academy Pro by StudioPress
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@jcasabona
Why These?
• I’ve used WordPress for 15 Years
• I know all of these play nice together.
• LearnDash has extensions for WooCommerce,
bbPress, and other tools I’m using (like
ConvertKit)
• I trust StudioPress to make good, beautiful
themes, and this one focuses on online courses.
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@jcasabona
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Putting it all together
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@jcasabona
Steps
• Buy a New Domain
• Select Hosting
• Install WordPress
• Configure LearnDash, WooCommerce, and bbPress
• Configure & Customize Theme
• Connect Everything
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@jcasabona
Choosing a Name
• I needed a new domain. The current name was
bad.
• I settled on “Creator Courses.” It was available,
and clearly communicated what the site was.
• Step 1: done. creatorcourses.com
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@jcasabona
Choosing Hosting
• Had to be fast for both logged out and logged
in users.
• Had to be easy to manage
• Take backups
• Hosting Company: Liquid Web’s Managed
WordPress Hosting
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@jcasabona
Bonus: They Installed
WordPress for Me
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@jcasabona
Using LearnDash
• A Tour of the Site would be better for this! But
first…
• I was able to connect my courses to products in
WooCommerce
• I was also able to create private forums in
bbPress for only those registered in the course
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@jcasabona
Minor Changes to the Theme
• Academy Pro is great but I did want to make
some changes
• Styles to support bbPress and LearnDash better
• Added Advanced Custom Fields to add a video
URL.
• Made video full width at top of page