Empower your students with comprehensive, offline-ready study materials. The Course PDF Generator for LearnDash seamlessly converts complete courses—including lessons, topics, and quizzes—into professionally formatted PDF documents, facilitating accessible learning anytime, anywhere.

Installation #

• Install the LearnDash plugin & activate it.
• Install the Course PDF Generator For LearnDash add-on and activate it.
• There will be a new “Course PDF Generator” menu added under the LearnDash menu.

License #

License activation is required to unlock all plugin features, as they are protected and only accessible after verifying a valid license. Navigate to the License tab, enter your license key in the field, and click Activate License. Your license key can be found in the email received when you purchased the add-on.

General Settings #

The General Settings tab is divided into four logical sections: Access Settings, Export Configuration Settings, Label Settings, and Debug Settings.

1. Access Settings #

• Frontend PDF Download Button: Marking this box will enable the Download PDF Button to be displayed for courses and quizzes on the front end of your website.

Course Main Page:

Quiz Main Page:

• Restrict PDF Access by Role: Enable this if you want to limit who can download the PDFs.

• Authorized Roles: If access is restricted, select the specific user roles (such as Administrators, Editors, or Enrolled Students) that are allowed to see the download button.

2. Export Configuration Settings #

• Include Lessons in Export: Automatically bundle all associated lesson content when generating a comprehensive course PDF.

Backend:

Frontend:

• Include Quizzes in Export: Embed interactive quizzes and content within the generated lesson PDFs.

• Include Quiz Questions: Include the individual quiz questions within the exported PDF document so students can review them offline.

Backend:

Frontend:

• Include Topics in Export: Seamlessly integrate topic-level instructional materials into the overarching lesson PDF generation.

Backend:

Frontend:

• Include Quiz Hints: Provide helpful hints alongside quiz questions in the generated PDF materials.

Backend:

Frontend:

• Base64 Image Encoding: Resolve missing images on restricted hosts (like WP Engine) by securely converting images to Base64 strings, bypassing strict firewall loopback blockades.

3. Label Settings #

• Course PDF Label: Customize the text appearing at the top of the course PDF file.

Backend:

Frontend:

• Lesson PDF Label: Customize the text appearing at the top of the lesson PDF file.

Backend:

Frontend:

• Topic PDF Label: Customize the text appearing at the top of the topic PDF file.

Backend:

Frontend:

• Quiz PDF Label: Customize the text appearing at the top of the quiz PDF file.

Backend:

Frontend:

4. Debug Settings #

• Enable Debug Logs: Activate detailed background logging to track internal operations, errors, and system events. Essential for troubleshooting.

• Debug Logs Retention (Days): Specify the number of days to keep debug logs before they are automatically deleted to save storage space.

Note: The “Debug logs” tab will dynamically become visible in the main settings menu only after you have enabled Debug Logs and saved your settings.

Debug Logs #

The “Debug Logs” tab displays detailed logs that provide a comprehensive overview of the export process.

System Information #

The “System Information” tab showcases your server and system specifications for support purposes.

Shortcodes #

There are 2 shortcodes available with this add-on. You can use the shortcodes on any course or quiz on which you want to show the “Download PDF” button.

1. [wi_cpdfgfld_course_export_button] shortcode is to display the Download Course PDF button for courses, on the front end.

The Download PDF Button will look like this on the course page:

2. [wi_cpdfgfld_quiz_export_button] shortcode is to display the Download Quiz PDF button for quizzes, on the front end.

The Download PDF Button will look like this on the quiz page:

Backend Exports #

Export Courses #

To export courses from the backend, Navigate to LearnDash > Courses. Here you will find a “PDF Generator” column containing a “Download PDF” button in front of every course. Clicking on this button will generate and download the PDF file of that course.

Export Lessons #

Navigate to LearnDash > Lessons to export lessons from the backend. Here you will find a “PDF Generator” column containing a “Download PDF” button in front of every lesson. Clicking on this button will download the PDF file of that lesson.

Export Topics #

Navigate to LearnDash > Topics to export topics from the backend. Here you will find a “PDF Generator” column containing a “Download PDF” button in front of every topic. Clicking on this button will download the PDF file of that topic.

Export Quizzes #

To export quizzes from the backend, Navigate to LearnDash > Quizzes. Here you will find a “PDF Generator” column containing a “Download PDF” button in front of every quiz. Clicking on this button will download the PDF file of that quiz.

FAQs #

If a Course has a Quiz then will the Course PDF include the quiz?

Yes, a course PDF will also include the course quiz.

Can I enable the “Download PDF Button” on all Courses/ Quizzes without placing a shortcode?

No, you have to manually place the shortcode on all of the individual courses and quizzes, where you want to display the Download PDF button.

Are quiz questions and hints included in the export?

You have full control over this. You can choose to include or exclude quiz questions and helpful hints in the exported PDF documents via the plugin’s General Settings.

Can I restrict who is allowed to download the PDFs?

Yes! You can restrict PDF download capabilities to specific WordPress user roles. For example, you can allow only Enrolled Students or Editors to download the course materials, keeping your premium content secure.

Does this plugin work on WP Engine or other strict hosting environments?

Absolutely. We include a “Base64 Image Encoding” feature specifically designed to bypass strict firewall loopback blockades on hosts like WP Engine, ensuring your images always render perfectly in the generated PDFs.

Can I change the labels inside the PDFs (e.g., rename “Lessons” to “Modules”)?

Yes, the plugin includes built-in settings that allow you to fully customize the terminology used in your PDFs to match your specific branding (e.g., changing “Courses” to “Programs”, or “Quizzes” to “Assessments”).

How does the PDF export feature handle videos and H5P content within the course?

When using our addon to export a course to PDF, videos and H5P content are not directly included in the PDF document. However, if your course contains embedded videos, the PDF will include links to these videos for easy access.

Do you provide shortcodes for the Lesson and Topic pages?

Currently, we only support shortcodes for the course or quiz pages.

Can Google Translation be reflected in the exported content?

Our add-on exports content exactly as it is created in the course or quiz edit page. This is the default behavior of our add-on.

Can the PDF export match my site’s custom fonts?

Our add-on does not support custom fonts, so the downloaded PDF uses a default font instead of your site’s custom fonts.

Changelogs #

1.3.2

• Feature – Dynamically hide/show the “Debug Logs” tab based on the “Enable Debug Logs” setting.
• Fix – Removed unnecessary admin notices on the plugin’s settings page to reduce clutter.
• Fix – Patched potential security vulnerabilities and enhanced overall plugin stability.

1.3.1

• Feature – Added support for including LearnDash materials directly within exported course, lesson, topic, and quiz PDFs.
• Feature – Converted embedded video content (Vimeo, YouTube, iframe, Gutenberg) into interactive, clickable watch links within PDF exports.
• Fix – Standardized formatting for section labels and quiz summaries across all PDF types.
• Fix – Implemented a Dompdf compatibility patch to improve font processing during PDF generation.

1.3.0

• Feature – Introduced an advanced image rendering mechanism featuring Base64 encoding to support strict hosting environments like WP Engine.

1.2.12

• Fix – Enhanced the licensing module for improved stability and validation.

1.2.11

• Fix – Implemented vital security updates and performance optimizations.

1.2.10

• Fix – Resolved an issue that prevented quiz question data from appearing in PDF exports.

1.2.9

• Feature – Added seamless compatibility with Fusion Builder image and text modules.

1.2.8

• Fix – Deployed essential security and performance improvements.

1.2.7

• Feature – Increased maximum execution time allowances to facilitate the generation of exceptionally large PDF files.

1.2.6

• Fix – Prevented duplicate log entries from occurring during the PDF export process.

1.2.5

• Fix – Resolved compatibility conflicts with the Divi Builder ecosystem.

1.2.4

• Feature – Introduced comprehensive compatibility for the Divi Builder.

1.2.3

• Fix – Resolved a bug preventing the frontend download button from displaying correctly.
• Fix – Addressed an issue where lesson and topic images failed to render in the exported PDFs.
• Fix – Patched a fatal error triggered during specific course export scenarios.

1.2.2

• Fix – Added robust exception handling to gracefully manage invalid image formats.

1.2.1

• Fix – Addressed minor bugs and optimized internal workflows.

1.2.0

• Feature – Introduced a new setting to include helpful quiz hints inside exported PDFs.
• Fix – Fixed layout issues involving images exceeding the standard 300px thumbnail size limit.

1.1.0

• Feature – Added the ability to export lessons, topics, and quizzes in a structured, linear format.
• Fix – Improved font rendering for Lesson and Final Quiz titles within generated PDFs.

1.0.4

• Fix – Filtered out unsupported H5P shortcodes from PDF exports to ensure clean formatting.

1.0.3

• Fix – Resolved image resolution and alignment inconsistencies in the final PDF outputs.

1.0.2

• Feature – Added support for exporting quiz question content directly underneath question titles.
• Feature – Introduced a setting to automatically bundle linked topics when exporting individual lessons.

1.0.1

• Feature – Added customizable settings to easily rename and brand PDF headers.
• Fix – Improved and polished the overall PDF user interface design.
• Fix – Updated translation templates and added missing string localizations.

1.0.0

• Initial Release.