How To Get Started With MemberPress Courses

MemberPress is a practical WordPress plugin that allows content creators to offer content, such as to sell online courses and training guides in online build LMS (Learning Management System). In addition, MemberPress also helps you monetize and market your content, which makes it an all-in-one solution that transforms your WordPress site into an online store.

Getting started with MemberPress is easy. You just need to install the online course plugin and you are ready to create your first class. In this guide, we take you through all the steps you need to know that how to get started with MemberPress courses.

Get Started With MemberPress Courses

Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can start creating courses with MemberPress.

Install The MemberPress Courses Add-On

Before you can start building your first MemberPress course, you need to download the MemberPress Courses addon to your MemberPress plugin. To do this, go to your WordPress website backend and select Courses on the MemberPress menu.

If you can’t see the Courses option, then make sure that your MemberPress plugin is up-to-date with the most recent version. Once you are on the add-on, simply click the Install button. If you can’t find the Courses add-on on your MemberPress dashboard, then check whether your license key is active.

You can check the license key status on the Settings page for MemberPress. Once you install the Courses add-on, it is already active and the site takes you back to the main Courses page. That’s where you can start creating your first MemberPress class and view your courses in the future.

Start Creating The First Course

After installing the Courses add-on on your MemberPress plugin, you are set up to build your first course. It’s a good idea to start noting down some rough ideas of what you want your course to look like before you start creating it in MemberPress.

Consider the course title, the names of the individual lessons, and what type of content you want to add under each section heading. To get started with building your very first MemberPress course, just go to the MemberPress dashboard on your WordPress site. Then visit the Courses page.

There are three options at the top, including Add New, Categories, and Tags. Just click on Add New to create a new course page. You will then see three options again: Course Page, Curriculum, and Settings. Start with the Course Page.

Create A Course Page

On the course page, you will need to add your course title and a course introduction. This content will show up as your course description or course overview on your own website. You don’t need to add any specific course content or curriculum tab here as this is the next step.

Set Up Your Course Curriculum

Once you have chosen your description and course title, you can click on Curriculum at the top of the page.

Add Lessons And Sections

This will allow you to add Lessons and Sections. First, you will need to add Sections that can be broken down into individual lessons. You need to expand each Section to add one or more lessons to your curriculum. It’s important to keep in mind that a lesson can only be used once in a curriculum.

If you want to reuse a lesson in your curriculum, then you need to create a copy of it. All the lessons or quizzes you create in your curriculum appear on the right side of the screen. This allows you to search for any lessons you may want to copy or change. You can also simply drag and drop any of your lessons into a Section.

Edit Lessons

The easiest way to edit your quiz or lesson is by clicking the edit icon with the tiny notepad and pencil. If you need to return to your course at any time during the editing process, then just click the “Back to link” near the top.

View Lessons

If you only want to view your lesson, then click the View option which opens a new tab in your browser. This allows you to view an individual lesson outside the editor.

Remove Lessons

Next to the editing icon, you can find the Remove icon that lets you remove a lesson from the section. This being said, this doesn’t delete the lesson and you can still search for the item in your lesson list on the right of the screen.

If you want to delete a quiz or a lesson, then select the trash button next to the Editing button in your list view. After you added all your sections and lessons to complete the curriculum, go to the Settings page on MemberPress to set the course-specific and global settings.

Select Global Course Settings

To set your global course settings, go to the Courses tab in your MemberPress Settings. It’s a good idea to change these settings first as they will apply to all of your created courses.

Set The Courses Slug

One of the first settings you can alter is the Courses slug. This is part of your course’s URL. The default slug setting is “courses” but you can change this to whatever works for your business. This being said it’s best to give your courses a URL that’s easy to remember, such as “products” or “tutorials”.

Show Protected Courses In Listing

You can also change whether your protected courses are displayed on the course listing page or if you want to hide them.

Remove The Instructor Link

When a potential customer or student looks at your course page, he will automatically see a link to the author, instructor, or teacher. If you enable this setting, you can hide the link on the course page.

Choose Your Course-Specific Settings

Once you amend the course settings that apply to all your courses, you can choose to change any settings that apply only to specific courses. Go to the Settings tab and Course-specific settings. Here, you can change the “Include in Course Listing” option.

The course listing page is the page where all your courses are displayed in a grid. Select what courses you want to display on the listings page. Next, you can choose “Use Accordion in Course Page” and “Use Accordion in Lesson sidebar”.

Accordions are dropdown menus that make it easier for website users to view your lessons and courses. Another setting that you can amend in the Settings tab is the Sales Page URL which should also be your MemberPress membership site registration URL.

In order to ask students to complete a previous quiz or lesson, you will need to enable the “Require Previous Lesson/Quiz” option. You can also change the settings for displaying quiz question results with the “Show Question Results” setting.

In addition, you can also enable the “Show Question Answers” which allows participants to see the right answer after they finish the quiz.

Choose ReadyLaunch™ Style Settings

The ReadyLaunch™ settings allow you to change a wide variety of individual style features on your course pages and course listing page. You can find these settings on the Settings page in your MemberPress tab on WordPress.

Make sure that the feature is activated in your Pro Mode Templates. Simply select the Customize link to see all your different style settings.

Accent Color

This allows you to change the accent colors in your template.

Brand Color

This allows you to alter the background color specifically for the navigation bar.

Progress Bar

The progress bar shows how far a student is through your course. You can change the color of the progress bar in these settings.

Previous Link CSS

If you know how to code, then you can include custom CSS classes in each lesson to fully customize the lesson design.

Course Image

Each course should have a course image which makes it easier to view on the course listings page.

Logo

Select a logo of your teaching business or brand that will display on the course header.

Complete Link CSS

If you choose this option, then you can include custom CSS in your completed course links in each lesson.

Lesson Button Location

This option allows you to choose where you want to place the back and continue buttons on your lesson pages. You have three options: bottom, top, or both.

Menu Text Color

Here, you can amend the text color in your menu.

Breadcrumb Link CSS

This option allows you to create custom CSS classes for your breadcrumbs in each lesson.

WP Footer Hook

This setting allows you to disable or enable the default WordPress footer hook. This can be handy if you want to allow other plugins and scripts to run.

Add Categories And Tags To Your Courses

Adding tags or categories to your courses can help to organize and search for courses easier. This is especially useful if you have a lot of courses and listings. Plus, you can also use tags and categories to sell courses bundle and memberships.

On your Courses page in the MemberPress tab, you can see the option Categories and Tags at the top of the page. You can click on either Tags or Categories to add your individual category and tag options. You will see a new page where you can create new categories or tags and amend them.

Most MemberPress website users work with Categories as they are easy to organize and you can reuse them for your courses. Categories are also suitable to create specific membership plan-related courses that you want to show exclusively to your subscribers.

Set Your Course Privacy Settings

All of MemberPress’s security and privacy settings are handled by MemberPress Rules. You can set up a variety of different rules for your courses which allow you to protect your courses, making them either publicly available or hiding them from the course in the Memberpress listing.

Here are the different privacy course settings and rules that you can implement for various courses.

Privacy Settings For A Single Course

To protect an individual course, go to your MemberPress tab. Select Rules and then click on Add New. If you want to create a new course rule for just one course, then select the Single Course in the drop-down menu. Next, search for the course that you want to protect and click on it.

This puts the course behind a paywall that only members have access to. Lastly, choose which members can get access to the course after it has been purchased. If a customer is not a subscriber to this specific membership you selected, then they won’t have access to the single course.

Privacy Settings For All Courses

You may want to set specific rules and privacy settings for all courses. You can do this in a similar way to when you are protecting an individual course. Visit the Rules tab, select Add New and simply choose All Courses from the drop-down menu.

Don’t forget to include the memberships that you want to give access to all your course material. This all-courses option is ideal if you want your students and customers to buy a membership before they can access any of your online classes.

Privacy Settings For A Specific Course Category

Another useful privacy setting is implementing individual rules for a specific course category. This allows you to set specific rules for a category. Go to the Rules tab, select Add New and pick Courses with Course Categories from the menu. Make sure that you created your category or categories before you change this setting.

Then, find the category that you want to protect and click on it. Now, just add any memberships that you want to give access to these courses in this specific category. This setting is ideal if you want to allow only members with a specific member to access these courses.

Final Thoughts

As a WordPress plugin, MemberPress is an easy way to add all your course material to your WordPress site. It’s quick and easy to set up. You can start creating your first courses immediately after you install the MemberPress Courses add-on.