---
title: Create your first course
description: "Create a LearnDash course on your platform: builder, access modes, and a student's-eye test."
url: "https://schoolyland.com/docs/create-your-first-course/"
updated: "2026-09-28"
category: "Courses & content"
---

# Create your first course

Courses on your platform run on **LearnDash**, the same LMS used by universities and large course businesses. Here's the shortest path from nothing to a course your students can take.

## The building blocks

- **Course**: the container students enroll in.
- **Lessons**: the main units inside a course.
- **Topics**: optional smaller steps inside a lesson.
- **Quizzes**: graded checks, attachable to lessons or the whole course.

## Create the course

1. In WordPress admin, go to **LearnDash LMS → Courses → Add New**.
2. Name the course and write a short description. This becomes the course page.
3. Open the **Builder** tab. Add sections and lessons in the order you want. Drag to rearrange. Nothing is final.
4. In the **Settings** tab, choose the access mode:
   - **Free**: anyone with an account can enroll.
   - **Buy now / Closed**: students get access by purchasing. On your platform, the standard setup is a WooCommerce product linked to the course, so buying the product enrolls the buyer automatically. See [Sell your first product](https://schoolyland.com/docs/sell-your-first-product/).
5. Publish.

## Fill the lessons

Open each lesson and add your content: text, images, downloads, and video. For video, use the platform's protected video hosting rather than raw file uploads: [Upload and stream course video](https://schoolyland.com/docs/upload-and-stream-video/).

## Faster: let your AI build the skeleton

Tell your connected assistant something like: *"Create a course called 'Pricing for Consultants' with 3 sections and 9 lessons, using this outline…"* and it will build the structure for you in LearnDash. You then fill in the content. See [Connect your AI](https://schoolyland.com/docs/connect-your-ai/).

## Watch it as a student

Before announcing anything, open the course in a private browser window (or a non-admin test account) and click through it the way a student would: enrollment, lesson order, video playback. Two minutes of checking saves support emails later.

## Next steps

- Release lessons gradually, add quizzes and certificates: [Drip content, quizzes and certificates](https://schoolyland.com/docs/drip-quizzes-certificates/).
- Give your students a home: [Set up your private community](https://schoolyland.com/docs/set-up-your-community/).