Using XenForo for online learning (LMS)

jromaine

jromaine

Active member
Hi guys,
I'm hoping there might be a solution for this, but is there an add on or extension that would allow XenForo to be used as an LMS as well as a discussion board?

At the moment I'm hosting all my training material onsite using Wordpress and Learndash with the community being run on Facebook. Whilst it does the job, I'm finding there's just too great a disconnect between the training and the community. I do understand I could simply "embed" training videos into a forum, but would prefer something a bit more structured.

Ideally I'd like to have the forum, and training material altogether in one place.

Thanks everyone.
 
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I’m hoping for some add-on on this possibility dear almost new XenForo administrator. In todays days I run from Wordpress like Forest Gump in NAM.

I’m sure some dev in his great community have something to offer, or, is developing some alike. What is great here is that the independent developers always reach for the demands of the XenForo base, sooner or later.

Actually there is many add-one from @DragonByte Tech who offers e-commerce options, but none offer a real marketplace if I’m not wrong, specially designed for selling courses and materials.

I think if is urgent you can implement and adapt the oficial Resources add-on to sell courses, but I don’t think is the right choice for this.

As a site owner, I always seek ways to implement more features and services, to go beyond the Forum experience.
 
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Unfortunately, after a bit of searching on our forum, while it has been mentioned in the past in a few places, there hasn't been an obvious solution.

We certainly don't have any typical LMS features built-in but the only in-forum things that spring to mind are:
  • XenForo Media Gallery - good for hosting video content hosted in categories with commenting facility within the media items
  • XenForo Resource Manager - you can upload videos to the resource content and mix it with text and images, resources can be in categories, commenting can happen via an attached resource discussion
  • XF forum types - by default we have a suggestions forum type and a Q&A forum type and an article forum type. Perhaps articles and suggestions would work, though you may need to modify some of the phrases to make them more focus oriented

If you have requirements to sell courses then this is more difficult but we do have a user upgrade system and this can be used to sell access to user groups which would grant access to the default features mentioned above.

If you describe what other LMS type features you need we can see if any align with existing features.
 
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Thanks Chris for responding quickly and providing such a detailed reply, appreciate it.

To be honest, I've been thinking about moving my community for about a year now, for a number of reasons, however the main one being Facebook has become toxic, and is simply not conducive towards learning.

Plus I like the idea of having a better sense of ownership and control using a platform like Xenforo, hosted on my own site.

I'm not sure how familiar you are with Learndash, but at its core its quite simple at what it does (on the front end at least) I've added a screenshot for you below to provide some context. Users can scroll through the lessons within each module, watch the video, mark it as complete, then navigate to the next one. In the back end it's really not that much different to editing regular WP pages and posts. For eg, embed Wistia video, add title, etc and publish.

I'm sure I could make this work using the native XenForo forum structure, but it would be nice to see a purpose built LMS add on or extension (if possible) to keep the "classroom" and discussions separate. I would happily pay to have this built, and from what I've seen it appears quite a few others might be interested in buying into this also.

In terms of selling courses and assigning members to specific groups, is that a feature of Xenforo? Right now I'm using Stripe + Woocommerce. The only reason I'm using Woo is because it's a requirement of Learndash, which I would drop if I went with Xenforo. Again, I'd just like to consolidate everything down to one platform (Xenforo) and run the training and community all in one place - without the need for several plugins.

I've looked into other options such as Buddyboss, Buddypress etc but they just seem "feature stuffed" with a lot of nonsense that I don't need. I also don't feel they're as robust as a platform like Xenforo.

So I guess, at this point, my questions are -

1. Could this be built? If so, who do I speak to?
2. Is there demand for such a thing?
3. If not, what might be the best solution?
4. Is this a feature or add-on that might be considered in the near future?

Thanks again Chris
 

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As one of the few WordPress diehards around here I have to chime in with my XF to WP integration if you haven't seen it. LearnDash is one of the next plugins I plan to integrate (WooCommerce is already done) which already allows for things like user account sync on registration, usergroup promotions and demotions, sending conversations and alerts, using thread replies as comments, and in general unleashing the power of the XFAPI completely into your WordPress environment.

XF is more than capable of handling LMS capabilities and I hope to see somebody turn it into a reality, but there is something to be said for combining the immense functionality of WordPress with the best forum solution on the market.

In the very least, I think moving your community from Facebook to a XenForo site is a no-brainer.
 
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Mangini said:
As one of the few WordPress diehards around here I have to chime in with my XF to WP integration if you haven't seen it. LearnDash is one of the next plugins I plan to integrate (WooCommerce is already done) which already allows for things like user account sync on registration, usergroup promotions and demotions, sending conversations and alerts, using thread replies as comments, and in general unleashing the power of the XFAPI completely into your WordPress environment.

XF is more than capable of handling LMS capabilities and I hope to see somebody turn it into a reality, but there is something to be said for combining the immense functionality of WordPress with the best forum solution on the market.

In the very least, I think moving your community from Facebook to a XenForo site is a no-brainer.
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I really admire and respect all the developers on XF scene, and the vast majority offering their work for free.

I cannot imagine in my simple mind the implications to create some add-on to integrate with Wordpress or any other systems.

For my case, no intent to offend your work, I decided to dump Wordpress and choose a full XenForo solution, with AMS from notorious @Bob and was a great decision in my case. No need to admin two systems, one system to rule then all.

I would suggest if Im not crossing any limits here to consider an standard LMS add-on without the need of 3th party system.

I have great interest in implement some LMS in my Forum, investing a decent price for it, but paying LearnDash this kind of amount per year is beyond the reality for most of the Forum owners, well, at least for my case, turning prohibitive this solution for me, unfortunately.
 
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deslocotoco said:
In todays days I run from Wordpress like Forest Gump in NAM.
Click to expand...
He actually ran 12 percent faster from the pick-up truck. Granted he was younger then and not carrying a load. (Bubba) This based on my frame by frame breakdown of all his running in the film, using an algorithm to compensate for camera angles and the like. His second fastest run was on the football practice field right after his hard right turn that ditched the truck.
 
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I think the nicest layout I've seen anywhere so far is on Skool.com

They integrate the learning experience perfectly with the community. Its clean, simple and it works. See the tabs up top? "classroom", "community" etc One click, its all there.

Be great to have something similar done with XF.
 

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Max Taxable said:
He actually ran 12 percent faster from the pick-up truck. Granted he was younger then and not carrying a load. (Bubba) This based on my frame by frame breakdown of all his running in the film, using an algorithm to compensate for camera angles and the like. His second fastest run was on the football practice field right after his hard right turn that ditched the truck.
Click to expand...

Well that's a very interesting random information that i never tough about it. Thanks for sharing, a high point of my night to randomly share with my espouse and she probably react in some weird way again.

Actually, I'm more interested on how you did this metrics, beyond the frame to frame breakdown. Nice job.

jromaine said:
@deslocotoco I'd certainly consider shifting entirely over to XenForo, but I've just invested heavily into a new WP design/build.
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I've been there friend. Working solo on a website that is struggling to keep alive, dealing with so many WordPress issues, investing heavy on plugins, themes, and specially after the chinese pandemic because our economic almost broke in my country, my site almost died.

But, well, still alive since 2014, pondering a lot about decisions, taking the next steps, analyzing all the variables and implications, another new steps, new decisions, dropping WordPress, dropping my old open source Forum (MyBB) and moving slowly to XF (thanks to crowdfunding), more steps, more financial balancing and this go on infinitely.

Is just like any business.

I wish all the best for your enterprise.
 
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Well, it wasn't quite that dramatic. I hired a professional web development agency who handled everything. The site, training and community is performing very well infact.

Anyway, here's how the "resource manager" could work for me, if modified to look like this.
 

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deslocotoco said:
For my case, no intent to offend your work, I decided to dump Wordpress and choose a full XenForo solution, with AMS from notorious @Bob and was a great decision in my case. No need to admin two systems, one system to rule then all.
Click to expand...
None to be taken, there's still a lot to prove with the concept but sites that have had success show an exciting future ahead!
 
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