Course progression determines how learners move through the content in a course. LearnDash offers two modes of progression—Linear and Free form—allowing course creators to control how structured or flexible the learning path should be.
This article explains how course progression works, where to adjust the settings, and how it affects learners after course completion.
What Is Course Progression? #
Course progression refers to the rules that guide how a learner navigates through course content. This includes lessons, topics, and quizzes.
There are two progression options:
- Linear (default): Learners must complete each step in order.
- Free form: Learners can move through lessons and topics in any order.
Where to Find Course Progression Settings #
To adjust course progression settings:
- Go to LearnDash LMS > Courses
- Click on the course you want to edit
- Select the Settings tab
- Scroll to the section titled Course Navigation Settings
Progression Modes Explained #
Linear Progression (Default) #
- Learners must complete each course step in the order you’ve set.
- They cannot skip ahead or jump between lessons or topics.
- Each step must be marked complete before the next one becomes available.
Example: A learner must finish Lesson 1 before they can access Lesson 2. Similarly, if a topic exists inside a lesson, the topic must be completed before the lesson can be marked complete.
Notes:
- Linear progression does not apply if Course Access Mode is set to Open.
- Course creators can enable a forced lesson timer to require learners to spend a specific amount of time on each lesson.
- Learners must click the Mark Complete button to move to the next step.
For more details on timers and lesson display, see Lesson Display and Content Settings.
Free Form Progression #
- Learners can move through course content in any order.
- All steps are accessible immediately, unless restricted by other settings.
- When using nested steps (e.g., lessons containing topics), sub-steps must still be completed before the parent step can be marked complete.
Example: In a lesson with topics, all topics must be completed before the lesson itself is considered complete—even in Free form mode.
What Happens If You Edit a Completed Course? #
If a course has already been completed by a learner, making changes to the lesson structure does not reset their course status.
- Adding lessons: The course remains marked as complete for that learner. They will not be required to complete the new lessons.
- Removing lessons: The course still shows as complete for users who already finished it.
This behavior ensures learners are not penalized for changes made after they complete a course.
Locating Course Progression Settings #
- Navigate to LearnDash LMS > Courses
- Click on the course you want to edit
- Click on the Settings tab at the top of the page
- Locate the section titled Course Navigation Settings
Linear vs. Free form #
As the course creator, it’s up to you how you want to let your users navigate through your course. You have two options:
- Linear (default)
Requires the user to progress through course steps in the order in which you’ve laid them out. They cannot jump around and skip lessons, topics or quizzes. For example, a user must finish the first lesson before they can take the second one. Linear Progression does not apply if the Course Access mode is set to Open.- If the Linear Progression option is selected, the user must click Mark Complete on each lesson to proceed to the next course. You can require a user spend time on a specific lesson by adding a time forced lesson timer on each course. Then each user cannot simply skip through the courses by hitting the Mark Complete button. Check out our documentation on Lesson Display & Content Settings for more information.
- Free form
Allows the user to freely move through the course steps and view the content. If there are any steps within a step ( such as Lesson -> Topic ) the topic under the lesson must be completed first before the lesson can be completed.
Adding and Deleting Lessons After Course Completion #
When adding or deleting lessons after a user has already completed the course, the course progression for that user will not be affected. They will still show the course as completed. For instance, if a user completes a course and new lessons are added, the course progression is not affected and it still remains completed. Similarly, this is also what happens when we delete lessons.
Conclusion #
Choosing the right course progression mode helps create a learning experience that matches the goals of the course. Whether enforcing a structured path with Linear progression or offering flexibility with Free form, LearnDash gives course creators full control over how learners interact with content. Once progression settings are in place, course builders can fine-tune the experience further with tools like lesson timers, quizzes, and access controls.
