The LearnDash Notifications add-on can send emails to your students after certain actions occur on your site, like completing a course, finishing a lesson, passing/failing a quiz, etc. You can customize when these notifications are sent, who receives them, and the entire email message itself. You can even insert dynamic content for each user, and insert different content based on the specific action that occurred.
Table of Contents [show]1 Installation2 Status Menu2.1 Status2.2 Tools3 Create a Notification3.1 Title3.2 Email Content3.3 Email Trigger3.3.1 Complete List of Triggers3.4 Using Shortcodes3.5 Recipient(s)3.6 Delay3.7 Publish Notification4 Manage Existing Notifications5 Unsubscribe From Notifications6 Email Deliverability6.1 Getting Emails to Send7 FAQ & Troubleshooting7.1 Was this article helpful to you?
Installation
Option 1: Add-ons Menu (requires an active LearnDash license)
In your WordPress admin area, navigate to LEARNDASH LMS > ADD-ONS
Locate the LearnDash Notifications add-on
Click Install Now
Click the Activate Plugin button
Option 2: Manual Upload
Download the plugin file (must be logged in to download)
In WordPress, navigate to PLUGINS > ADD NEW
Click Upload Plugin
Browse for the .zip file you downloaded in Step 1
Click Install Now
Click Activate Plugin
Status Menu
This menu is located under LEARNDASH LMS > NOTIFICATIONS > STATUS and is meant for helping you troubleshoot issues you are having with your notifications.
Status
This section provides an overview of the following information:
Server Cron Setup: Detects whether you have configured a cron job for sending notifications.
Queued Emails in DB: Number of emails that are scheduled to be sent in the database.
Last Run: The last time the cron job was successfully triggered.
NOTE
Cron jobs are used to improve the deliverability of notifications. See sections on Email Deliverability, FAQ: 「My emails are not being delivered」, and 「How can I make email notifications send on time?」 to learn more about about cron jobs and how and when to use them.
Tools
This section provides two troubleshooting options:
Empty DB Table: Clears the database of queued emails.
Fix Scheduled Notification Recipients: Queries and refreshes the queued emails in the database.
Create a Notification
To get started creating a notification…
Navigate to LEARNDASH LMS > NOTIFICATIONS
Click the Add New Notification button
NOTE
There is no limit to the number of notifications you create, but you should give some thought to how much email you are sending your users. Also keep in mind that most web servers (where you host your website) are not designed to send a lot of email. See our email deliverability section below if you』re having issues.
Title
Your notification title will serve as the email subject line.
Email Content
The next section is where you』ll put the content of your notification—the message you want to send your users. You can use the formatting buttons at the top, insert images, switch from Visual to Text mode (if you』d like to write your own HTML), etc.
You have a lot of freedom here, but keep in mind the reason why you』re sending it, and your user』s attention span. Sometimes short & to the point is the most effective.
Email Trigger
The email trigger is the action that will cause your email to be sent. Depending on the trigger you choose, you might see a few additional options.
For example, when choosing the 「User completes a course」 trigger, you can send an email each time any course is completed (「All Courses」), or select a specific course from the Course dropdown. The same options apply for specific lesson, topic & quiz notifications.
Some triggers, like those for assignments & essay questions, don』t have any additional options, and apply universally.
Complete List of Triggers
As of LearnDash Notifications version 1.3.0, here is the complete list of triggers to choose from:
User enrolls into a group
User enrolls into a course
User completes a course
User completes a lesson
A scheduled lesson is available to user
User completes a topic
User completes a quiz
User passes a quiz
User fails a quiz
User submits a quiz
An essay has been submitted
An essay question has been graded
An assignment is uploaded
An assignment is approved
User hasn』t logged in for 「X」 days
「X」 days before course expires
「X」 days after a course expires
Using Shortcodes
Depending on the email trigger you select, some shortcodes are available to display dynamic content. You can use these shortcodes in the email content section to personalize your message.
You could start off with a personal greeting by using the student』s first name:
[ld_notifications field="user" show="first_name"]
If your trigger involved a specific course, show the course title:
[ld_notifications field="course" show="title"]
You could also provide a link directly to the course page, encouraging the user to continue learning or download a certificate. Highlight the text you want to link, click the link icon, and insert this shortcode:
[ld_notifications field="course" show="url"]
Don』t forget to choose your trigger first, and then look at the bottom of the Add New Notification screen to see a list of all available shortcodes.
Recipient(s)
All email notifications let you choose the recipient(s). There are a few predetermined options, as well as a place for you to add custom email addresses.
User: Check this box to send the notification to the user.
Group Leader: If you are using LearnDash groups, check this box to send the notification to the user』s group leader(s).
Admin: Check this box to send the notification to all people who have the 「Administrator」 role assigned to them.
You can choose one, two or all three of the above options.
Additional Recipients
For each notification, you can also provide additional email addresses. In the Additional Recipient field, enter as many emails as you』d like, separated by commas.
Ex: [email protected], [email protected]
NOTE
You must select at least 1 of the 3 recipient options (user, group leader, admin) in order for the additional recipients to receive the notification.
Delay
Delay specifies how many days this email is delayed after the trigger occurs. The default is 0 days, which means the email will be sent as soon as the trigger fires. You can specify a different number if you』d like your email to go out on a delay.
Publish Notification
The final step is to click the Publish button to make your notification live.
Manage Existing Notifications
You can manage your notifications from the main Notifications page. Navigate to LEARNDASH LMS > NOTIFICATIONS to access all of your existing notifications.
Some of the things you can do include:
Search for a specific notification
Filter your list of notifications to provide a better overview. Filter by:
Course
Lesson
Topic
Quiz
Trigger
Edit an existing notification by clicking the 「Edit」 link, or just click the notification title
Delete a notification by clicking the 「Trash」 link
NOTE
Once a notification has been published, you will not be able to edit the trigger. You will still be able to edit the content (text, images, shortcodes, etc.) and recipients. If you need to use a different trigger, please create a new notification.
Unsubscribe From Notifications
Any email sent from LearnDash Notifications includes an Unsubscribe option for recipients. There is not a setting to turn this off as it is a legal requirement.
Email Deliverability
By default, all emails sent from your website are sent by your web host. Generally speaking, hosting servers are designed to host websites, not send email. This could be preventing your emails from being delivered.
Luckily, there are ways to change how your email is sent. We recommend looking into the following options as a way to improve your email deliverability, and better ensure your notifications make it to their recipient(s).
Each option comes with different sending limits & features. We encourage you to do some research and choose the best option for your site.
SparkPost + SparkPost plugin
SendGrid + SendGrid plugin
WP Mail SMTP plugin, which allows you to use SendGrid, Mailgun, Gmail or any other SMTP server
NOTE
If you believe you have set up one of the recommended options properly, and your emails are still not being delivered, please open a support ticket.
Getting Emails to Send
In this webinar, we discuss why your WordPress emails are not sending and the options you have avaiable for getting your emails to send on-time, every time!
FAQ & Troubleshooting
Where can I see the status of my notifications?
The Status Menu will give you an overview of the current status of your cron job and notifications. Notification delivery, insert, update, and delete notifications are logged in a log file:
/wp-content/uploads/learndash/learndash-notifications-actions.log
How do I change the default FROM address for WordPress?
By default, your emails will use the default WordPress FROM name & email address:
From Name: WordPress
From Email: [email protected]
To customize this, you can use the following code. Change the 「Company Name」 and 「[email protected]」 values in the example below.
// Change Sender Email Address
function wpb_sender_email( $original_email_address ) {
return '[email protected]';
}
// Change Sender Name
function wpb_sender_name( $original_email_from ) {
return 'Company Name';
}
// Add Filters
add_filter( 'wp_mail_from', 'wpb_sender_email' );
add_filter( 'wp_mail_from_name', 'wpb_sender_name' );
We recommend installing the Code Snippets plugin, and adding this code as a snippet.
In the WordPress admin area, navigate to PLUGINS > ADD NEW
Search for 「Code Snippets」
Click Install, then Activate
Navigate to SNIPPETS > ADD NEW
Give your snippet a title (for internal use only)
Paste the code in the Code area
Click Save Changes and Activate
My emails are not being delivered.
Scheduled notifications that miss their timestamp will then be sent when the next cron job runs. For additional guidance on improving the delivery of your emails, please see the section above on Email Deliverability.
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