The Shared Course Steps feature in LearnDash allows course creators to reuse the same Lessons, Topics, or Quizzes across multiple courses. This eliminates the need to recreate content for each course and offers several benefits:
- Speeds up course creation
- Reduces duplicate content
- Allows edits to a step in one place, applied across all associated courses
WARNING: Once Shared Course Steps is enabled, it should not be disabled without careful consideration. Disabling this setting will break associations between shared steps and any courses using them.
Key Considerations #
Before enabling Shared Course Steps, here are a few important details to keep in mind:
LearnDash Course Builder Is Required #
This feature only works when the Course Builder is enabled, since course steps are no longer linked one-to-one with a single course.
Permalink/URL Changes #
When Shared Course Steps is enabled, LearnDash updates your permalink structure to use nested URLs.
- Without Shared Course Steps:
https://yoursite.com/topic/topic-name/ - With Shared Course Steps:
https://yoursite.com/courses/course-name/lessons/lesson-name/topic/topic-name/
All Courses Listing Page #
In the WordPress admin, the Assigned Course column will no longer appear on the Lessons, Topics, or Quizzes listing pages.
Use the Course filter dropdown to view which steps belong to a specific course.
Important: Editing a shared step (Lesson, Topic, or Quiz) will affect all courses using that step. To make unique edits, use the Cloning feature to create a copy that can be edited independently.
Course Progression Behavior #
Progress is always tracked per course, even when steps are shared.
Example: If a student completes a shared quiz in one course, it will not be marked complete in another course where that quiz also appears.
How to Enable Shared Course Steps #
- Go to LearnDash LMS > Courses in the WordPress admin.
- Click the Settings tab.
- Scroll to Global Course Management and Display Settings.
- Ensure the Course Builder is enabled.
- Toggle on Shared Course Steps.
- Click Save to apply changes.
Understanding Key Terms #
Primary Association #
A Primary Association means a step was linked to a course before Shared Course Steps was enabled. Each step can have only one primary course.
Secondary Association #
A Secondary Association is created when a step is added to another course after Shared Course Steps is enabled. Steps can have multiple secondary associations.
Bare URL #
A Bare URL is a standalone URL for a Lesson, Topic, or Quiz without a course slug. These are useful for admins when a step is not yet assigned to a course.
- Example Bare URL:
https://yoursite.com/lessons/lesson-name/ - Example Nested URL:
https://yoursite.com/courses/course-name/lessons/lesson-name/
Only administrators can access bare URLs.
Associated Content and Course Switcher #
When editing any Course, Lesson, Topic, or Quiz, a new Associated Content box appears in the sidebar.
This section:
- Shows which courses the step is used in
- Provides quick access to edit associated steps
- Displays a Course Switcher if the step belongs to more than one course
Note: The Associated Content box is view-only. To change which courses a step belongs to, always use the Course Builder.
When editing a Course, the Associated Content box in the sidebar displays all connected Lessons, Topics, and Quizzes. Click any listed step to open its edit screen directly.
When editing a Lesson, Topic, or Quiz, the same Associated Content box appears, showing the courses that use this step.
If the step is used in more than one course, a Course Switcher dropdown will also appear. This lets admins view how the step is connected in other courses. Use the Course Switcher to quickly review a step’s context across multiple courses—helpful for confirming consistency or spotting variations.
Note: To make changes to course-step associations, always use the Course Builder.
