Folders for LearnDash courses
A course library grows in copies: this year’s version, next year’s draft, a short version for one client, a pilot that never launched. Lessons, topics and quizzes grow with it.
Plathix PRO adds private folders to the LearnDash lists in wp-admin. Keep each version, cohort or client in its own folder and open just that part of the library. Courses, steps and student progress stay as they are.
One course, many copies
A new cohort or a new year often starts with Clone. LearnDash calls the copy “Copy of …”, and it sits in the same list as the course it came from.
LearnDash can filter lessons, topics and quizzes by course. That tells you what is inside a course. It does not tell you which copy is the new version, which course is only a pilot, or which ones you stopped selling.
Hundreds of lessons, thousands of questions
People who build courses in LearnDash rarely talk about one course. They talk about how much there is.
Once there are a lot of lessons and topics, the back end turns into a real maze.
Ten thousand questions and hundreds of quizzes on one site. Starting over is not an option.
The same course runs several times a year, each time for a new cohort.
Lessons, topics and quizzes that belong to no course stay behind in the lists. Cleaning up starts with finding them.
Folders split each LearnDash list by version, cohort or client, so you open only the part you are working on.
Folders that match how you run courses
By version
Keep the live course in one folder and next year’s copy in another. Drafts count in the folder, so you see the work in progress.
By cohort or client
Courses made for one company or one intake stay together, so the next request starts from the right copy.
Shared lessons
With Shared Course Steps, one lesson can be part of several courses, and the Assigned Course column goes away. A Shared steps folder gives those lessons one home in the Lessons list.
Quizzes by purpose
Final exams, practice quizzes and old quizzes you keep for the record: each has a folder in the Quizzes list.
Retired courses
A course you no longer sell can sit in a Retired folder. It keeps its students, its link and its settings.
Not in any course
Lessons, topics and quizzes that no course uses can wait in a folder of their own in each list. Decide later: reuse them or delete them.
Four LearnDash lists, four folder trees
Courses
A tree on the Courses list, for versions, cohorts and clients.
Lessons
Its own tree on the Lessons list, next to LearnDash’s filter by course.
Topics
A separate tree for topics, so a long list can be split by subject.
Quizzes
Quizzes get a tree too: exams, practice, older versions.
Students never see your folders
| What you do | What changes | What stays as it is |
|---|---|---|
| Put a course in a folder | Its Plathix folder | The course, its steps, its price and its link |
| Rename or move a folder | The folder tree in wp-admin | Course pages, enrollments and progress |
| Publish a draft version | Its status | Its folder: the status does not move it |
| Trash a lesson, then restore it | Its Trash state | Its folder: it comes back to the same place |
| Turn Plathix PRO off | The lists look like plain WordPress | Your folders wait in the database and come back |
Folders have no URLs and never show to students.
How we test LearnDash folders
We run each check on a live site with Plathix PRO and the current LearnDash version, on the real LearnDash lists.
Status Planned
Results go to Plathix Lab. Each row turns into a link once it has run.
| Check | What we verify | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Enable four lists | Turn on courses, lessons, topics and quizzes in Enabled Sections; a panel appears on each list. | Planned |
| Course filter | LearnDash’s filter by course together with a folder on the Lessons list. | Planned |
| Shared Course Steps | A shared lesson keeps its folder when it is added to another course. | Planned |
| Clone a course | Where the copy lands; the original stays in its folder. | Planned |
| Student view | A course from a folder looks the same to an enrolled student. | Planned |
| Trash and restore | A trashed lesson comes back to its folder. | Planned |
LearnDash folders FAQ
Do folders change my courses or what students see?
Are folders the same as LearnDash categories and tags?
Does each list get its own tree?
What about a lesson shared by several courses?
Do draft versions count?
Is this in Plathix Free?
Related pages
Keep LearnDash as it is. Give your course library a shape.
Courses, lessons, topics and quizzes in folders you choose. Students see nothing new.