Dave Warfel

Escape Creative

<p>Widget Areas for LearnDash simply gives you more places to add custom content in LearnDash. By utilizing built-in LearnDash action hooks, we assign widget areas (also known as “sidebars”) to various locations throughout your LearnDash pages.</p>
<p><span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="750" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WoR177xks_k?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe></span></p>
<h3>Available LearnDash Widget Areas</h3>
<ul>
<li>Focus Mode: Sidebar: Above Navigation</li>
<li>Focus Mode: Sidebar: Below Navigation</li>
<li>Focus Mode: Content: Start</li>
<li>Focus Mode: Below Content</li>
<li>Course Page: Content: Start</li>
<li>Course Page: Content: End</li>
<li>Group Page: Content: Start</li>
<li>Group Page: Content: End</li>
</ul>
<p>Requires the “LearnDash 3.0” Active Template. Tested with LearnDash 4.23.</p>
<h3>How to Use</h3>
<p>Upon activating the plugin, new widget areas will appear on the <strong>Appearance > Widgets</strong> screen in your WordPress admin area. You can also access them via the Customizer (<strong>Appearance > Customize > Widgets</strong>).</p>
<p>Simply add the blocks/widgets you’d like to insert into the corresponding widget areas. Be sure to click the “Save” button at the bottom.</p>
<p>Navigate to a page that contains that widget area, refresh, and your new widgets will be there.</p>
<h3>Types of Content to Add</h3>
<p>WordPress comes with a set of default widgets, several of which might be useful. If you’re using the new block editor, all blocks will also be available to you.</p>
<ul>
<li>Add a simple <strong>Paragraph</strong> block with some basic text</li>
<li>Add an <strong>Image</strong> or <strong>Video/Embed</strong> block for more visual content</li>
<li>Add a <strong>Navigation Menu</strong> widget to insert a custom menu you’ve created</li>
<li>Add your own <strong>Custom HTML</strong> widget to embed an <code><iframe></code> or write your own code</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>TIP:</strong> You can use the <strong>LearnDash Student</strong> and <strong>LearnDash Visitor</strong> blocks to display a block’s contents only to enrolled students or unenrolled visitors.</p>
<h4>LearnDash Widgets</h4>
<p>LearnDash comes prepackaged with a few widgets, but there’s probably only one that makes sense in these widget areas.</p>
<ul>
<li>Add a <strong>Course Progress Bar</strong> to the top or bottom of your Focus Mode sidebar</li>
</ul>
<p>Feel free to experiment with the other <a href="https://learndash.com/support/kb/core/design/widgets/" rel="nofollow ugc">LearnDash widgets</a>.</p>
<h4>Elementor Templates</h4>
<p><span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="750" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5x3Uzcs2Oz4?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe></span></p>
<p>If you’re using Elementor Pro, you can create a custom section and embed it anywhere on your site, including in your new LearnDash widget areas. There are two ways to do this:</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>When you go to insert a block/widget, select the <strong>Elementor Library</strong> widget. Choose a template from the dropdown menu. Click “Save.”</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Navigate to <strong>Templates > Saved Templates</strong>. Copy the shortcode next to the template you want to insert. Now you’ll insert a <strong>Shortcode</strong> block into the widget area, and paste the shortcode.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>For more information, see the article in <a href="https://elementor.com/help/how-to-use-shortcodes/" rel="nofollow ugc">Elementor’s knowledge base</a>.</p>
<h3>Widget Area CSS Class Names</h3>
<p>If you need to target the widget areas to apply custom styles using CSS, you can use the following class names.</p>
<p>All widget areas have the <code>.ldx-widget-area</code> class.</p>
<ul>
<li>Focus Mode: Sidebar: Above Navigation – <code>.ldx-widget-area.fm-nav-before</code></li>
<li>Focus Mode: Sidebar: After Navigation – <code>.ldx-widget-area.fm-nav-after</code></li>
<li>Focus Mode: Content: Start – <code>.ldx-widget-area.fm-content-start</code></li>
<li>Focus Mode: Below Content – <code>.ldx-widget-area.fm-content-bottom</code></li>
<li>Course Page: Content: Start – <code>.ldx-widget-area.course-content-start</code></li>
<li>Course Page: Content: End – <code>.ldx-widget-area.course-content-end</code></li>
<li>Group Page: Content: Start – <code>.ldx-widget-area.group-content-start</code></li>
<li>Group Page: Content: End – <code>.ldx-widget-area.group-content-end</code></li>
</ul>
<p>Example Usage:</p>
<pre><code>.ldx-widget-area.fm-nav-before {
    margin: 1em;
}
</code></pre>
<p>This would add 1em of spacing around the widget area that appears above the navigation in the Focus Mode sidebar.</p>
<p>In addition, all widgets placed inside of a widget area have a class of <code>.ldx-widget</code>.</p>
<h3>Show/Hide Widgets on Certain Devices</h3>
<p><span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="750" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X-5I_JqB3NU?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe></span></p>
<p>While not a direct feature of this plugin, you can show/hide widgets on different devices using another free plugin.</p>
<ol>
<li>Install & activate the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/widget-options/" rel="ugc">Widget Options</a> plugin</li>
<li>Navigate to the widget that you’d like to adjust the visibility on</li>
<li>Scroll to the bottom and click on the tab with the mobile phone</li>
<li>Choose to either show or hide on the checked devices</li>
<li>Check the appropriate devices</li>
<li>Click “Save”</li>
</ol>
<h3>Show/Hide Widgets on Specific Course/Lesson/Topic Pages</h3>
<p>Another feature of the free Widget Options plugin (mentioned above) is to only show widgets on specific course, lesson, topic or quiz pages.</p>
<ol>
<li>Install & activate the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/widget-options/" rel="ugc">Widget Options</a> plugin</li>
<li>Navigate to the widget that you’d like to adjust the visibility on</li>
<li>Scroll to the bottom and click on the settings cog icon</li>
<li>Click on the <strong>Logic</strong> tab</li>
<li>In the text box, you can use the <code>is_single()</code> conditional tag to only display that widget on a specific page</li>
<li>Use the ID of the course, lesson, topic or quiz</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://ldx.design/find-learndash-course-id/" rel="nofollow ugc">👉 How to find the ID of LearnDash content</a></p>
<p>Example:</p>
<p>This would only display the widget on the page with an ID of <code>7</code>:</p>
<pre><code>is_single( '7' )
</code></pre>
<p>If you wanted to display a widget on multiple pages (with IDs of 1, 2 and 3), your code would look like this:</p>
<pre><code>is_single( array( 1, 2, 3 ) )
</code></pre>
<p>There are many more <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Conditional_Tags" rel="nofollow ugc">WordPress conditional tags</a> you can use.</p>
<h3>From within WordPress</h3>
<ol>
<li>Visit “Plugins > Add New”</li>
<li>Search for “Widget Areas for LearnDash”</li>
<li>Click the “Install” button</li>
<li>Click the “Activate” button</li>
<li>Navigate to “Appearance > Widgets” or open the Customizer to start adding blocks/widgets to your new widget areas</li>
</ol>


Widget Areas for LearnDash

Add unlimited blocks/widgets to several areas of LearnDash Focus Mode, plus course & group pages.

Themeisle

Sanjip Shah

masteriyo

<h3>Free WordPress LMS Plugin: Built-in Payments, Quizzes, and Certificates</h3>
<p>Masteriyo is a self-hosted LMS plugin and WordPress course plugin built for course creation and monetization: create, manage, and sell online courses without WooCommerce, SaaS fees, or platform commissions. As a self-hosted WordPress LMS, it gives companies, educators, and creators full control over their data and revenue.</p>
<p>Unlike a hosted LMS or an LMS-as-a-service platform, Masteriyo runs on your own WordPress site, giving you full ownership of your data, students, and revenue. The built-in order system, payment gateways, quizzes, and certificates are all free. No third-party plugins required.</p>
<p>Accept payments via Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay, Mollie, and more. Sell in multiple currencies, share revenue with instructors, and keep 100% of your earnings.</p>
<h3>⚡ Quick Links</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://app.instawp.io/launch?t=masteriyo-demo&d=v2" rel="nofollow ugc">Try Masteriyo</a></li>
<li><a href="https://masteriyo-site.vertisite.cloud/?utm_source=wporg&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=quicklinks" rel="nofollow ugc">Live Demo</a></li>
<li><a href="https://masteriyo.com/pricing/?utm_source=wporg&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=quicklinks" rel="nofollow ugc">Masteriyo Pro</a></li>
<li><a href="https://masteriyo.com/free-vs-pro/?utm_source=wporg&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=quicklinks" rel="nofollow ugc">Free vs Pro</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/masteriyo/" rel="nofollow ugc">Join Community</a></li>
<li><a href="https://docs.masteriyo.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">Documentation</a></li>
</ul>
<span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="750" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pr1vYXNnaTI?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe></span>
<h3>Who Masteriyo Is For</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>Educators, Schools, and Universities</strong>: An LMS for schools, universities, coaching centers, and institutions with a complete online course platform for student tracking, gradebook, and course management.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Tutors and Coaches</strong>: Sell your knowledge as online courses, tutorials, or training modules with no platform commissions and no coding required.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Academy and Marketplace Builders</strong>: Build an online academy or course marketplace platform like Udemy or Coursera, where instructors can create courses and earn through revenue sharing.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Corporate and Business Training</strong>: Run an employee training LMS, online education portal, or onboarding platform for teams and companies with support for enterprise learning and business training.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Content Creators</strong>: Monetize content with a flexible LMS for online courses, grow your online academy, and reach learners worldwide.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3><strong>Masteriyo Features</strong></h3>
<h3>Course Creation and Management</h3>
<p>LMS course builder with drag-and-drop editing, a dedicated course builder for eLearning and online learning courses, lessons, and quizzes.</p>
<ul>
<li>Unlimited courses, lessons, chapters, quizzes, certificates, and assignments</li>
<li>Self-paced and instructor-led course modules</li>
<li>SCORM-compliant LMS with easy import of existing eLearning content</li>
<li>H5P support for interactive online learning content and assessments</li>
<li>Certificate builder with customizable templates and QR validation</li>
<li>Content drip to release lessons on a schedule</li>
<li>Interactive lessons with text, video, and live streaming via YouTube Live</li>
<li>Picture-in-picture, subtitles, closed captions, and timestamps for video lessons</li>
<li>In-lesson note-taking, course attachments, and downloadable materials</li>
<li>Course visibility options: open, enrolled users only, or private</li>
<li>Course prerequisites, enrollment expiration, retakes, and resume from last chapter</li>
<li>Course announcements, FAQ, coming soon mode, featured courses, and badges</li>
<li>Distraction-free learning page with lesson preview before enrollment</li>
</ul>
<h3>Quiz, Assignment, and Assessment</h3>
<ul>
<li>Unlimited quizzes and assignments</li>
<li>Question builder with single choice, multiple choice, true/false, and matching types</li>
<li>Quiz time limits, randomized questions, auto-calculated points, and custom grading</li>
<li>Quiz review system showing students where they went wrong</li>
<li>Quiz import and export for reuse across courses</li>
<li>Gradebook for student evaluation and performance tracking</li>
<li>LMS reporting and analytics with student reports to track results and course progress</li>
</ul>
<h3>Student and Instructor Management</h3>
<ul>
<li>Unlimited instructors and students</li>
<li>Social login (Facebook, Google), public profiles, and manual enrollment</li>
<li>Multiple instructors per course</li>
<li>User import and export with bulk CSV support for students and instructors</li>
<li>Student activity log and login session management</li>
<li>Student progress tracking with course reports and a dynamic progress bar</li>
<li>Course reviews after completion and vertical course navigation</li>
</ul>
<h3>Monetization & Payments</h3>
<p>Built-in eCommerce with cart, checkout, wishlist, coupons, and payment integrations. No WooCommerce required.</p>
<ul>
<li>Payment gateways: Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, Lemon Squeezy, Razorpay, and more</li>
<li>Integrations with WooCommerce, SureCart, and Easy Digital Downloads (EDD)</li>
<li>Revenue sharing between instructors and administrators</li>
<li>One-time course fees or subscription-based pricing models</li>
<li>Marked price and sale price with support for course bundles and group courses</li>
<li>Multiple currency support for region-based pricing</li>
</ul>
<h3>Security & Access</h3>
<ul>
<li>Google reCAPTCHA for spam and bot protection</li>
<li>Two-factor authentication (2FA) for secure logins</li>
<li>Email verification for user account validation</li>
<li>Password strength checker to enforce secure credentials</li>
<li>Course content and video protection</li>
<li>Login session management for enhanced security</li>
</ul>
<h3>Admin & Tools</h3>
<ul>
<li>Setup wizard with free starter templates for Elementor and Gutenberg</li>
<li>Dashboard analytics for quick performance insights</li>
<li>LMS reports for tracking courses and student activity</li>
<li>Webhooks for automation and third-party integrations</li>
<li>White label support (Elite plan)</li>
<li>Bulk add-on management</li>
<li>Quiz import and export</li>
<li>Course archive filter for better navigation</li>
<li>Instructors list page</li>
</ul>
<h3>Create Courses with AI</h3>
<p>Masteriyo integrates with OpenAI ChatGPT to automate course creation and reduce manual work.<br />
– <strong>AI-powered course generation</strong>: Generate full course outlines, sections, and lessons from a topic<br />
– <strong>Flexible structure</strong>: Define sections, lessons, and key highlights, and let AI fill in the details<br />
– <strong>AI quiz generation</strong>: Create quiz questions including multiple choice, match-the-following, sortable, and fill-in-the-blank</p>
<h3>Already Using a Different LMS?</h3>
<p>Masteriyo includes a built-in LMS migration tool to transfer courses, quizzes, orders, and student data from <strong>TutorLMS</strong>, <strong>LifterLMS</strong>, <strong>LearnPress</strong>, <strong>LearnDash</strong>, and <strong>MasterStudy</strong>. No manual exports or developers needed.</p>
<p>Switching from <strong>Sensei LMS</strong>, <strong>Kajabi</strong>, <strong>Teachable</strong>, <strong>Thinkific</strong>, or <strong>Podia</strong>? Masteriyo is a self-hosted alternative with no fees or commissions.</p>
<h3>Upgrade to Pro When You are Ready to Scale</h3>
<ul>
<li>Prerequisites, assignments, and advanced quiz types</li>
<li>Gradebook and student reports</li>
<li>Course bundles and subscriptions</li>
<li>Coupons and marked/sale pricing</li>
<li>Razorpay payment gateway</li>
<li>Multiple instructors per course</li>
<li>Zoom and Google Meet integration</li>
<li>Mailchimp, MailerLite, HubSpot, and Zapier integrations</li>
<li>Paid Memberships Pro and Restrict Content Pro support</li>
<li>Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) integration</li>
<li>Advanced LMS reporting and analytics</li>
<li>White label support</li>
<li>Priority support</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://masteriyo.com/pricing/?utm_source=wporg&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=prolink" rel="nofollow ugc">See all Pro features</a></p>
<h3>Works Great With</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>Payments and eCommerce</strong>: Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay, Mollie, Lemon Squeezy, WooCommerce, SureCart, and Easy Digital Downloads (EDD)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Gamification and community</strong>: GamiPress for gamification features and BuddyPress for social learning</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Page builders and themes</strong>: Elementor, Divi, Oxygen, Bricks, Beaver Builder, Gutenberg, Neve, Astra, and more</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Integrations</strong>: Google Meet, Google Classroom, Zoom, Mailchimp, MailerLite, Brevo, Fluent CRM, HubSpot, Bunny.net, OpenAI ChatGPT (Create with AI), Zapier, Paid Memberships Pro, Restrict Content Pro, and more</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>What Our Users Say</h3>
<p>⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐</p>
<p>“Masteriyo is a true dark horse, lesser known but just as powerful. Responsive support and impressive update frequency.” — Paul</p>
<p>⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐</p>
<p>“So many great features on the core version, features you have to pay for elsewhere.” — Simrencoe</p>
<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/learning-management-system/reviews/" rel="ugc">Read all 160+ reviews</a></p>
<h3>Use of 3rd Party Services</h3>
<p>Third-party services activate only after opt-in. Personal data is not tracked unless stated.</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>Diagnostic data</strong>: Consent only. <a href="https://masteriyo.com/terms-conditions/" rel="nofollow ugc">Terms of Service</a> | <a href="https://masteriyo.com/terms-conditions/" rel="nofollow ugc">Privacy Policy</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Certificate fonts</strong>: AWS CloudFront, no personal data. <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/" rel="nofollow ugc">AWS Privacy</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Google APIs</strong>: Classroom and authentication. <a href="https://policies.google.com/terms" rel="nofollow ugc">Terms of Service</a> | <a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" rel="nofollow ugc">Privacy Policy</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Payments</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Stripe</strong>: <a href="https://stripe.com/legal/ssa" rel="nofollow ugc">Terms of Service</a> | <a href="https://stripe.com/privacy" rel="nofollow ugc">Privacy Policy</a></li>
<li><strong>PayPal</strong>: <a href="https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/paypal/useragreement-full" rel="nofollow ugc">Terms of Service</a> | <a href="https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/paypal/privacy-full" rel="nofollow ugc">Privacy Policy</a></li>
<li><strong>Mollie</strong>: <a href="https://www.mollie.com/gb/user-agreement" rel="nofollow ugc">Terms of Service</a> | <a href="https://www.mollie.com/gb/privacy" rel="nofollow ugc">Privacy Policy</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>OpenAI</strong>: AI features (user API key required). <a href="https://openai.com/policies/row-terms-of-use/" rel="nofollow ugc">Terms of Use</a> | <a href="https://openai.com/policies/" rel="nofollow ugc">Policies</a></p>
</li>
</ul>


Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates


This plugin is crazy simple to get started, and is much faster than any other LMS that I've tested in the past weeks. Faster in terms of course creation but also faster on the front-end for students.



I got a first course (with 1 prepared lesson) up and running within 10 minutes, with a fully working and great looking front end.



As a developer, I'm super happy to see the clean and well-written code - technically, it's absolute top-notch. Well done!



I also love the active development on innovative features like AI integration or revenue sharing, etc. If you want to run an LMS site, this is the only plugin you'll need.



Note: The simplicity has some limitations. If you need to customize the front-end (especially how the lesson page looks) then you'll need a different plugin. Masteriyo uses a React app to render the front-end, and there are almost no options to customize the lesson UI.


Top Recommendation for Simple LMS Sites


I start with free version of masteriyo and found that interface is very intuitive to use especially course builder and front end user experiences is very smooth.



I like the standalone payment feature which support offline payments which many country still use offline payment but other lms plugins lack this feature. I really do not want to use woocommerce + lms since it will be slow down website and masteriyo standlone payment system solve this problem.



Another feature i like is the ability to limit device to learn which has built-in to masteriyo plugin.



Even Free version still good to use in simple course online website. Looking forward to use PRO version !


Easy to use and cover all must have lms features

Complete WordPress LMS plugin. Build & sell online courses with quizzes, certificates, and built-in payments. The all-in-one LMS for course creators.

Widget Areas for LearnDash vs Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates