Lesson 6.1: Option 1 – Tutor LMS Setup & Walkthrough

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Goal of this Lesson:
Install and configure the free version of Tutor LMS to deliver your course with structured lessons, progress tracking, and a student dashboard — all using a plugin that integrates beautifully with WordPress.

🧠 Why Tutor LMS?

Tutor LMS is one of the most popular and polished free LMS plugins available. It gives you:

  • A built-in course structure (Modules → Lessons)
  • Progress tracking
  • Student dashboard
  • Lesson completion buttons
  • Optional quizzes, assignments, and certificates

All of this — in the free version.

🧩 Step 1: Install Tutor LMS (Free)

  1. Go to Plugins > Add New
  2. Search for Tutor LMS
  3. Install and Activate the plugin (Author: Themeum)

You may see a setup wizard — you can skip it or follow it to enable key features.

⚙️ Step 2: Configure Basic Settings

Go to Tutor LMS > Settings

Focus on these tabs:

🔹 General:

  • Enable Instructor (optional — good for multi-author sites)
  • Enable Student Registration
  • Enable Course Review (optional)

🔹 Course:

  • Enable Course Progress
  • Enable Lesson Completion
  • Set “Content Drip” to off (unless you want lessons released on a schedule)

🔹 Design:

  • Set course layout style (Grid or List)
  • Choose your preferred color scheme or stick with Astra defaults

Click Save Changes when done.

📚 Step 3: Create Your First Course

Go to Tutor LMS > Courses > Add New

  1. Add a course title, description, and featured image
  2. Set a price (if using Tutor LMS Pro or WooCommerce later — otherwise skip)
  3. Scroll down to Course Builder

📦 Step 4: Build Your Modules and Lessons

In the Course Builder:

  1. Click Add Topic → name it (e.g., “Module 1: The Foundation”)
  2. Under that topic, click Add Lesson
  3. Give the lesson a title, description, and paste in your text content
  4. Embed your video using a YouTube, Vimeo, or Presto Player link
  5. Repeat for each lesson and topic/module

💡 Tip: You can reorder lessons anytime by dragging and dropping.

🎓 Step 5: Preview the Student Experience

  1. Publish your course
  2. View it as a student (you may need to use a separate browser or incognito window)

You should see:

  • Course overview page
  • Progress tracking bar
  • “Mark Complete” buttons
  • Sidebar with modules + lessons

🔐 Step 6: Control Access (Free or Paid)

You can:

  • Keep the course public and open to anyone
  • Or integrate with WooCommerce (optional, covered in Lesson 5.3)

Once set up, only customers who’ve purchased your course will get access.