LearnDash 4.0: Challenge Exams, Stripe Connect & New Blocks

LearnDash 4.0 was released on March 15, 2022. It introduces several new features that we’ll discuss below. We’ll also keep track of any bugs that are reported, or other issues you should be aware of before updating.

As always, we recommend following our guide to updating LearnDash.

Update
LearnDash 4.0.1 was released on March 17, fixing several bugs.
LearnDash 4.0.2 was released on March 22, fixing more bugs.
LearnDash 4.0.3 was released on March 29, fixing more bugs.

New Features in 4.0

New Blocks

LearnDash 4.0 introduces several new blocks to use with the block editor. The new blocks are:

  • LearnDash Infobar
  • LearnDash Course Info (previously a widget)
  • LearnDash User Status (previously a widget)
  • LearnDash Course Navigation (previously a widget)

Learning Paths (aka: Challenge Exams)

Challenge exams are quizzes you can enable to test a user’s knowledge before allowing them to enroll in a specific course. They only allow for single & multiple choice question types (not all question types like traditional LearnDash quizzes).

We’ll hopefully have a video out soon that explains how to use them.

Stripe Connect

Previously, if you wanted to use LearnDash’s Stripe integration, you needed to use the LearnDash-Stripe integration add-on. With LearnDash 4.0, you no longer need the add-on. Stripe Connect is built right into LearnDash core, and it’s much easier to set up & configure than using the integration plugin.

The integration plugin continues to work, and you don’t need to make any changes to your current setup if you don’t want to.

🧙‍♂️ Onboarding Wizard

LearnDash 4.0 introduces an onboarding wizard to help new users get started setting up LearnDash. This wizard focuses on setting up basic LearnDash settings, not course creation, and is only available to users installing LearnDash 4.0 for the first time. If you’re updating from a previous version, you will not see the wizard.

We haven’t had a chance to try this out yet, but once we do, we’ll be sure to include a video tutorial.


That’s it for the big updates in LearnDash 4.0. There are a handful of other updates & bug fixes that you can see below in the changelog.

Bugs/Issues

If you notice any bugs or issues with LearnDash 4.0, please drop us a note to let us know.

Pagination Settings not working

If you are only seeing 10 lessons beneath a course, or 10 topics beneath a lesson, along with some pagination at the bottom of your focus mode sidebar navigation and/or course content list, this could be due to LearnDash 4.0. Here’s a quote from a LearnDash representative regarding the issue:

“Looks like some changes we made in 4.0 are no longer respecting the global per page setting in LearnDash LMS > Settings and instead is using the global per page setting in the WP Settings > Reading page. Investigating with the team further.”

shortcode

Several reports have been made that the shortcode is not working on course & lesson pages in LearnDash 4.0 or 4.0.1. However, it is still working when used on posts and pages. (source)

✅ Fixed in 4.0.2

WordPress 5.9 or higher recommended

If you’re using anything less than WordPress 5.9, you might experience issues updating to LearnDash 4.0. Please update WordPress to version 5.9.2 first, and then update LearnDash.

PHP 7.2 or higher recommended

If you are using PHP 7.1 or below, you might encounter a critical error when updating LearnDash, or see the white screen of death. Please be sure you’re using PHP 7.2 or higher before updating to LearnDash 4.0.

Achievements Add-On

You must update the LearnDash Achievements add-on to version 1.1.1 BEFORE updating to LearnDash 4.0, otherwise you will receive errors on your site. If you have already updated to LearnDash 4.0, you can contact support for a copy of LearnDash 3.6.0.3 to reinstall. See our article on downgrading LearnDash.

Also, some reports that the leaderboard used to show points but now only shows badges. We have no further information at this time.

LearnDash 4.0 Webinars

As part of the 4.0 release, LearnDash is hosting a series of 4 webinars to teach us how to use the new features. The first webinar takes place on March 24th. Register here →

All webinars are at 1:00pm US Eastern.

Getting Started with the Onboarding Wizard
🗓️ Thursday, March 24, 2022
Learn how to use the new onboarding wizard. This is only relevant for brand new sites that start with LearnDash 4.0 or greater. Existing sites that update to 4.0 will not see the wizard.
Watch the replay →

Streamline Onboarding and Payment with Stripe Connect
🗓️ Thursday, March 31, 2022
Learn how to use the new Stripe Connect integration built into LearnDash 4.0. You can replace the old Stripe add-on, or continue to use it if you’d like.

Explore the New LearnDash Gutenberg Blocks
🗓️ Thursday, April 7, 2022
A few new LearnDash blocks were released with version 4.0. Learn what they do and how to use them.

Create Dynamic Learning Paths with Challenge Exams
🗓️ Thursday, April 14, 2022
Learn how to use the new challenge exams feature in LearnDash 4.0.

LearnDash 4.0 Changelog

  • Added new onboarding wizard
  • Added learning paths (challenge exams)
  • Added Stripe Connect integration
  • Added course infobar Gutenberg block
  • Added post status selectors to columns for post listing
  • Added pagination for quizzes for ld_profile block and shortcode
  • Added ability to use payment button shortcode for groups
  • Added sample label in course builder for sample lessons
  • Updated compatibility for widget preview for blocks with full site editing in WP 5.9 (FSE)
  • Updated Select2 library logic
  • Updated REST API V2 Route v2/user/courses/ to include all course fields and certificates
  • Fixed emails not sending as plain text
  • Fixed error when switching to legacy theme
  • Fixed new user email HTML content being received as an attachment
  • Fixed purchasing access to a group sends the course purchase success email
  • Fixed conflict with all in one SEO (AISEO)
  • Fixed PHP notices
  • Fixed placeholder text on Select2 instances

LearnDash 4.0.1

LearnDash 4.0.1 was released on March 17, fixing several bugs that were introduced in version 4.0.

  • Fixed Uncaught Argument error on update (this was caused by an incompatibility with WordPress 5.8, 5.8.1, 5.8.2, 5.8.3 and 5.8.4)
  • Fixed Focus Mode not showing the lesson content, mark complete button or next lesson button. This mostly happened when Yoast was active but also conflicted with a couple of other plugins.
  • Fixed the lesson infobar showing the incorrect label and percentage
  • Fixed a javascript error in the LearnDash overview page in the WP Admin

This means you likely no longer need to be using WordPress 5.9 or higher to update to LearnDash 4.0. While I still highly recommend running the latest version of WordPress (5.9.2 at the time of writing), you likely won’t experience a fatal error if you’re running any version of WordPress 5.8.

I know several people said their content and/or mark complete buttons were gone in Focus Mode. It appears that has been fixed in 4.0.1.

LearnDash 4.0.2

LearnDash 4.0.2 was released on March 22, fixing several bugs.

  • Updated removed border around links for course content and materials
  • Fixed focus mode sidebar on mobile displaying incorrectly on load
  • Fixed issue with viewing quiz statistics
  • Fixed error on purchase when admin hasn’t defined a payment method
  • Fixed course infobar shortcode not working in the shortcode wizard
  • Fixed TypeError array_keys()
  • Fixed lesson timer not displaying when not using focus mode
  • Fixed shortcode not outputting correctly
  • Fixed shortcode not working
  • Fixed user profile block show header options not working
  • Fixed block not supporting a default field param
  • Fixed not supporting a default field
  • Fixed [[ldcourseresume]] not showing course_id as required
  • Fixed Mark Complete button not showing
  • Fixed student and visitor blocks showing incorrect warning message
  • Fixed should not show bubble for visitor users

LearnDash 4.0.3

  • Fixed certificate alert banner not displaying on certain themes using translations
  • Fixed exam single choice question not shown as “checked”
  • Fixed mark complete not showing on free form courses on steps other than the initial step
  • Fixed next step not showing when the topic type step is complete
  • Fixed not showing all steps when used in the sidebar
  • Fixed course content pagination no longer respecting the global LD per page
  • Fixed certificate being issued for quiz with essay questions and failed assessment (manual grading)
  • Fixed Exam JS loading on all pages
Author
Dave Warfel

Dave Warfel

I've been working with LearnDash for over 3.5 years, and have developed 3 free & 2 premium plugins for WordPress' most popular LMS. Nothing brings me more joy than empowering others to take control of their online platform. I live, work & play in the beautiful mountains of Colorado. 🤸‍♂️👨‍💻🏃‍♂️🏔️

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