How to Create an LMS Website in WordPress (Tools & Tips)

Have an idea for an online course or LMS website? WordPress is perfect for building and selling online courses, from creating step-by-step interactive self-learning environments to simple restricted areas with downloadable materials, and even online courses focused on video and audio content.

This article will help you discover all the ways you can follow to build a site with WordPress and use your site as a learning management system (LMS website).

There are a few main ways to start a website for online learning on WordPress: 1) use a WordPress LMS  theme crafted for online courses. 2) choose a WordPress plugin for creating online courses. 3) provide online lessons by offering students to book your time. We’re now looking into the first two in greater detail.

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Use WordPress LMS & Online Course Plugins 

With LMS plugins, it’s always more reliable since you can change designs but still have all your content, courses, students, and payments stored in one place in the plugin. This is like a piece of software that you can move around various WordPress themes.

LearnDash

LearnDash offers a robust learning management system for building courses in whatever your field is: design, schools, commerce, etc. It’s perfect to manage multiple instructions, so if you run a school, LearnDash will help every teacher or coach manage their courses and students.

Best benefits:

• Integration with specific plugins that help you sell more and interact better with students: WooCommerce, the Events Calendar, BuddyBoss, etc.
• Course organization and delegation features (with add-ons).
• Rating, reviews, and feedback system (with add-ons).

LifterLMS

LifterLMS is one of the well-known plugins with an effective and scalable learning management system. Its strong point is a multimedia course builder that can manage all the quizzes, and help you with smart content dripping, assignments, and course tracks. It helps you create and launch your online course or training-based membership site without much learning curve.

LifterLMS is perfect for course creators who might be new to structuring online learning – it helps you guide students through a well-organized program, solving at the same time the “software Frankenstein” problem.

Best benefits:

• Available in a free version to test all the features.
• Essential features are not restricted to add-ons and are included with the plugin; many add-ons for more advanced tasks.
• Powerful course security options.

Tutor LMS

Tutor LMS is another popular plugin that deals with the course creation routines and provides you with modern and powerful software for selling and managing your online courses.

If you are looking to run a school, the plugin supports instructors, including commission payments and convenient withdrawal options. Even a free version of the plugin is very capable, so you can easily give it a try without spending money.

Best benefits:

• Pre-designed website templates that come with this plugin included.
• Very capable of creating video courses on WordPress.
• An awesome certificate builder with drag-and-drop tools.

Online Courses Plugin for WordPress

The Online Courses is an extension to our ARMember plugin, a powerful membership-creating platform, so they are interdependent and work only together. This solution is ideal for creating basic online content with multimedia resources. You can sell access to this content directly to students and provide them with immediate access upon purchase.

Best benefits:

• Along with the core membership plugin for WordPress, provides you with community and course-building options.
• Easily build course certificates within the plugin.
• Powerful settings for timely lessons revelation.

Sensei LMS

This is a free LMS builder for WordPress, so just grab it and use it with any WordPress theme you like for a quick test. Not offering sophisticated features, Sensei LMS still lets you build systemized courses and have perfect learning experience tracking.

Best benefits:

• Free to use and powerful interactivity and multimedia integration capabilities.
• Create online courses and host them directly on your website.
• Handy and useful blocks for content creation: breakpoints in videos, question block, image hotspot block, flashcard block, etc.

👉 Get Sensei LMS

WordPress LMS Themes

WPLMS

WPLMS stands out as a complete solution for both single-instructor websites and platforms offering multiple courses. This website template boasts a native LMS engine developed by the creators, rivaling popular LMS plugins in functionality.

You can use it as a robust course creation and delivery system. Packed with industry-standard features, you’ll find everything you need to manage your online courses on WordPress.

Eduma

This theme offers a complete solution for creating engaging online courses. It offers many customization options (WP Customizer, drag-and-drop editing, widgets) that help you design a unique learning experience.

What’s important for LMS and community building, it seamlessly integrates with popular plugins like bbPress, WooCommerce, and LearnPress LMS for a decent all-in-one platform; there are a few pre-designed skins you can use.

Skillate

This theme is based on the Tutor LMS plugin and offers a smooth feature-packed LMS WordPress design.

It’s fully based on the native WordPress block editor for the course content creation purposes and allows you to build a flexible course marketplace. In addition to Tutor LMS, you can use Qubeley and WooCommerce. 

Concluding on building an LMS site on WordPress

With an LMS of your choice, you can deliver, manage, and track your online courses on WordPress. With WordPress and a suitable LMS plugin, it’s easy to facilitate student access, review student progress, and assess your students, including providing them with certificates. While you have a choice of plugins and themes, we recommend focusing on plugin’s functionality in the first place to understand its features and capabilities that can be used with any WordPress theme.