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8.1 Glossary

Beaver Builder​

A drag-and-drop page builder for WordPress that lets you create layouts visually without coding. Used with BeaverDash to customize LearnDash LMS pages.

Learn More: Beaver Builder Documentation

LearnDash​

A leading WordPress LMS plugin for creating and managing online courses. BeaverDash enhances LearnDash functionality with customizable modules.

Learn More: LearnDash Documentation

LearnDash Modules​

Predefined elements provided by BeaverDash to add LearnDash-specific features like course navigation, progress tracking, and enrollment buttons.

Dynamic Content​

Content that adapts to user roles, progress, or other variables, essential for personalized learning experiences in LMS setups.

Learn More: Dynamic Content Explanation (Elementor)

Focus Mode (LearnDash)​

A dedicated mode in LearnDash that eliminates distractions by simplifying the layout to focus solely on course content. BeaverDash integrates with this feature for extended customization.

Learn More: Focus Mode Overview (LearnDash)

The primary image representing a lesson, course, or topic in LearnDash, which BeaverDash can display through its Image Module.

Learn More: WordPress Featured Images

A navigational aid that shows users their current location within the course structure. The BeaverDash Breadcrumb Module supports this functionality.

Learn More: What Are Breadcrumbs? (Yoast)

LearnDash 3.0​

The major LearnDash release that introduced a redesigned focus mode, a new templating system (the ld30 theme), and overhauled UI elements. Most current LearnDash sites run 5.x or 6.x, so they're well past this threshold.

Some BeaverDash features require LearnDash 3.0+: 7 modules don't load on older LearnDash versions (Course Content, Course Navigation Sidebar, Course Price, Breadcrumb, the two Focus Mode modules, User Profile), and several settings inside other modules (button-style toggles, theme colors) are also gated.

Field Connections​

A way to inject live LearnDash data into Beaver Builder fields (text, image, URL) instead of typing static values. BeaverDash registers connection types under groups like "BeaverDash - Course", "BeaverDash - Lesson", and "BeaverDash - User". In the builder UI, click the chain-link icon on any field and pick a connection; at render time, the field pulls the live value from the current post's data.

The same data is also available as Shortcodes (below) — connections work inside the visual builder, shortcodes work in plain text contexts like post content, widget areas, and theme template files.

Shortcodes​

Square-bracketed tags like [bdash_course_title] that WordPress replaces with rendered LearnDash data at display time. Use them in plain-text contexts where Beaver Builder isn't active — post content, widget areas, theme template files. Inside the Beaver Builder editor, prefer Field Connections for the same data.

Themer Parts​

Page templates in Beaver Themer that target specific page types — like "single course page", "lesson archive", or a header / sidebar / content region. You design a part once, set its location rules ("show on all courses"), and Beaver Themer renders your design instead of your theme's default template for matching pages.

BeaverDash adds three Themer parts under a "Focus Mode" group: Header, Sidebar, and Content — see Focus Mode above.

Learn More: Beaver Themer Layouts (Beaver Builder)

Drip Schedule​

A LearnDash setting that releases course lessons or topics on a delay — either after a fixed number of days from enrollment, or on a specific date. Drip-released content isn't immediately accessible once a user enrolls.

BeaverDash exposes the release date (bdash_drip_date) and conditional flags (bdash_drip_future, bdash_drip_past, bdash_no_drip) as field connections and shortcodes, so designers can show countdowns, gates, or alternative content while items are drip-locked.

Learn More: LearnDash Drip-Feed Lessons (LearnDash)

Status States (Open / Started / Completed / Locked)​

The four states LearnDash assigns to a user's relationship with a course, lesson, topic, or quiz, used to drive status icons, conditional displays, and content gating.

  • Open — accessible but the user hasn't engaged yet (sometimes called "Not Started")
  • Started — the user has begun the item but not yet completed it
  • Completed — the user has finished the item; the next item unlocks
  • Locked — the item exists but the user can't access it (e.g. drip-released, prerequisites incomplete, or the user isn't enrolled)

The BeaverDash Course Navigation, Content Table, and Status modules expose each state's icon, label, and color as configurable settings.

Quiz Table​

The tabular layout that lists a course's, lesson's, or topic's quizzes — typically showing quiz title, status icon, and a link to take the quiz. Appears as a configurable tab in the Course Content Table, Lesson Content Table, and Topic Content Table modules.

Course Grid (LearnDash add-on)​

A separate LearnDash add-on plugin that lays out courses in a card grid with thumbnails, ribbons, and preview videos. Distinct from BeaverDash's own Course Grid Module — the two can coexist on the same site.

When the Course Grid add-on is installed, BeaverDash surfaces add-on-specific data via dedicated field connections (bdash_course_grid_short_description, bdash_course_grid_ribbon_text, bdash_course_grid_button_text, bdash_course_grid_video_preview_code).

Learn More: LearnDash Course Grid documentation (LearnDash)