LearnDash
To install the plugin ensure that your website running:
- WordPress 5.9 or newer
- PHP 7.1 or newer
Installation
How to install LearnDash
Download LearnDash from learndash.com and install it through the standard WordPress plugin installation process.
How to install Better Messages with LearnDash
- Install Better Messages through the WordPress plugins screen, or upload the plugin files to
/wp-content/plugins/bp-better-messages. - Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen.
- Go to Better Messages → Settings → Integrations → LMS to enable the integrations you want.
Supported features
Message Instructor button on course page
Adds a Message Instructor button to every LearnDash course page. Students can open a private conversation with the course instructor with a single click.
The button targets the user listed as the course author and is hidden for the instructor on their own course.
Enable in Better Messages → Settings → Integrations → LMS → LearnDash Integration → Message Instructor Button.
Course Group Chat
When a course is opened, Better Messages automatically creates a group conversation that the course author and every enrolled student can join. Students are added on enrollment and removed when their access is revoked.
The conversation header shows the course thumbnail, title, and instructor name, so students always know which course the discussion belongs to.
LearnDash exposes enrollment changes through learndash_update_course_access, which Better Messages listens to for both adds and removes — including the ones LearnDash performs automatically when a student is enrolled into a course via a group.
Enable in Better Messages → Settings → Integrations → LMS → LearnDash Integration → Course Group Chat.
The course / group info card pictured above is rendered automatically above the conversation, including on the LearnDash Group Chat below and on private DMs opened through the Message Instructor button. To hide it on every LMS course conversation, turn off Better Messages → Settings → Integrations → LMS → Shared Course Settings → Course Info Card.
LearnDash Group Chat
LearnDash Groups (/groups/<slug>/) are cohorts of students sharing access to one or more courses, managed by users with the Group Leader role. Better Messages mirrors that organisation by creating a dedicated chat for each LearnDash Group.
Group members are kept in sync via ld_added_group_access and ld_removed_group_access, and every Group Leader assigned to the cohort is auto-joined as an instructor of the chat.
Enable in Better Messages → Settings → Integrations → LMS → LearnDash Integration → LearnDash Group Chat.
Courses widget
Once Course Group Chat or LearnDash Group Chat is enabled, the user's courses and LearnDash Group cohorts surface in the dedicated Courses widget on the Mini Widgets bar, Side Panel, and Mobile bar — separate from the social Groups widget so academic chats and friend cohorts don't mix in one list.
Configure the icon, role restrictions and "Hide Tab When Empty" behaviour under Better Messages → Settings → Mini Widgets → Courses.