The Academy dashboard is where students track their courses and instructors manage theirs. Academy LMS 4.0 gives you three ways to put it on your site: pick a page in settings, drop in a shortcode, or build the dashboard yourself out of blocks.
Note: Most sites only need the first option. Use the shortcode or the blocks when you want the dashboard somewhere specific, or want to change how it is laid out.
Before you start
Option 1: Point settings at a page
Go to Academy LMS → Settings → Pages → Dashboard Page and set Frontend Dashboard Page to the page you want. Academy renders the whole dashboard there, and its own links point to it.
This is the route to take unless you have a reason not to. Academy created a Dashboard page during setup, so it is usually already filled in.
Option 2: Use the shortcode
To put the dashboard on a page you control, use the shortcode. Copy it from Academy LMS → Tools → Shortcodes, where it is listed as Frontend Dashboard:
[academy_dashboard]It takes no attributes.
In the block editor, add a Shortcode block and paste it in.
In Elementor, choose Edit with Elementor, search the elements panel for Shortcode, drag it onto the page, paste the shortcode into the left panel and click Apply.
Either way, publish or update the page and view it.
A second shortcode, [academy_enrolled_courses], prints only the student’s enrolled courses with their progress. Use it when you want that list on its own, for example on a welcome page, without the whole dashboard.
Option 3: Build it from blocks
Academy 4.0 adds dashboard blocks, so you can assemble the dashboard rather than take it whole. Search the block inserter for these under the Academy category:
|
Block |
What it puts on the page |
|
Dashboard |
The whole thing: menu, top bar and pages. |
|
Academy Student Dashboard |
The frontend dashboard for students and instructors. |
|
Dashboard Menu |
The person, the view switch and the dashboard menu. |
|
Dashboard Top Bar |
The page title and the buttons beside it. |
|
Dashboard Welcome |
A greeting with the person’s name. |
|
Dashboard Numbers |
Number cards for the current view: enrolled, completed, students and so on. |
|
Dashboard Pages |
Each dashboard page, including the home page’s own blocks. |
|
Continue Learning |
Courses in progress, linking back to where the student stopped. |
|
Enrolled Courses |
Courses the signed in student is enrolled in, with progress. |
|
Teaching Courses |
An instructor’s courses with enrollments and ratings. |
Start with Dashboard for the standard layout. Reach for the individual blocks when you want to move a piece somewhere else, drop a part you do not need, or put the dashboard together inside your own template.
What people see
Once it is in place, a signed in person gets their menu down the side, a top bar with the page title, a greeting, number cards for their situation, and their courses below.
What appears depends on who they are. A student sees their enrolled courses and progress. An instructor also gets their teaching courses with enrollments and ratings, and can switch views from the menu.
Troubleshooting
The page shows the shortcode as text.
The Shortcode block is the one to use, not a Paragraph. In Elementor, use the Shortcode element rather than a Text Editor.
The dashboard is empty or asks people to log in.
The dashboard is for signed in users. Check it while logged in, or in a private window with a test account.
Academy’s links go to a different page.
Those follow Frontend Dashboard Page in settings. If you built your own dashboard page, point that setting at it so the links agree.
A block shows nothing.
Several blocks only have content for one kind of person. Teaching Courses is empty for a student, and Continue Learning is empty until someone starts a course.