Managing Topics

The Topics tab lets instructors and admins create and manage LearnDash topics from the frontend dashboard. Topics are sub-sections within lessons — ideal for breaking a lesson into smaller, focused steps.

Screenshots

Who Can Do What

Action	Admin	Instructor	Group Leader
View topics	All topics	Own topics only	Assigned topics (read-only)
Create topic	Yes	Yes	No
Edit topic	Yes	Own topics only	No
Delete topic	Yes	Own topics only	No

Each topic card shows an access badge: Your Content, Shared, or View Only.

Viewing Your Topics

Go to My Dashboard > Topics. Each topic card shows:

• Topic title
• Publication status: Published, Draft, or Pending
• Action buttons: View, Edit, Delete, and Edit with Elementor (if active)

Use the course filter to show topics from a specific course. Select a lesson from the dropdown that appears to narrow further. Use the search bar to find topics by title. The list shows 7 topics per page.

Creating a Topic

1. Go to My Dashboard > Topics.

2. Click Add New Topic.

3. Fill in the Post Data tab:

   Field	Required	Description
   Topic Title	Yes	The name of your topic
   Status	No	Published, Pending, or Draft
   Topic Content	No	The main topic content
   Featured Image	No	The topic thumbnail

4. Switch to the Settings tab and configure:

   Field	Description
   Topic Materials	Add downloadable resources for students
   Video Progression	Require students to watch a video before they can continue
   Video URL	The URL of the required video
   Display Timing	Show the video before or after sub-steps are complete
   Topic Auto-Completion	Mark the topic complete automatically when the video ends
   Autostart	Play the video automatically (muted) when the topic loads
   Video Controls	Allow students to pause or skip through the video
   Assignment Upload	Let students submit a file as an assignment
   Forced Timer	Require students to spend a minimum amount of time before completing
   Sample Topic	Make this topic visible to anyone, even non-enrolled visitors
   Drip Schedule	Set a delay (in days after enrollment) before this topic becomes available
   External Topic	Link to a virtual or in-person session

5. Click Save Topic.

Arranging Topic Order

Topic order within a lesson is set using the Course Builder on the Courses tab — not from the topic form itself. See Managing Courses for instructions.

When you filter topics by lesson, they appear in the order defined in the Course Builder.

Editing a Topic

1. Use the course and lesson filters to locate the topic.
2. Click the Edit icon on the topic card.
3. Make your changes in the Post Data or Settings tab.
4. Click Save Topic.

Deleting a Topic

1. Click the Delete icon on the topic card.
2. Confirm the deletion.

The topic moves to the trash. Student progress records are kept and are not deleted.

Related

• Managing Courses
• Managing Lessons