Title: AccessNow LMS
Author: accessnow
Published: October 26, 2026
Last modified: October 26, 2026
---
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# AccessNow LMS
By [accessnow](https://profiles.wordpress.org/accessnow/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/accessnow-lms.1.1.2.zip)
* [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/accessnow-lms/#description)
* [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/accessnow-lms/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/accessnow-lms/#installation)
* [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/accessnow-lms/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/accessnow-lms/)
## Description
AccessNow LMS turns WordPress into a small, practical learning platform. You build
a course from units and lessons, add a quiz to any lesson, and students work through
it at their own pace while the plugin keeps track of where they are up to.
It is designed to stay simple to run: no page builder, no extra services, and everything
is stored in your own WordPress database. Course pages, lessons and quizzes use
tidy addresses such as `/courses/your-course/unit-1/first-lesson/`.
**Features**
* Courses made of units, lessons and quizzes, with drag-and-drop unit ordering.
* Text or YouTube video lessons, downloadable attachments, and private notes for
each student.
* Quizzes with multiple choice, true/false and fill-in-the-blank questions, a pass
mark, retry limits, an optional time limit, randomised order, and explanations
with the correct answers when you choose.
* Header images for courses, units and lessons, shown as a banner, a compact strip
or not at all. Lessons use their unit’s or course’s unless they have their own.
* Sequential or free progression, a progress bar, and optional re-completion when
a lesson or quiz changes.
* Self-enrolment, admin-assigned enrolment or both, with log-in and registration
right on the course page.
* Certificates with a shareable link, points and badges, and a student dashboard.
* Enrolment management with a student search, course and student reports with CSV
export, email notifications, course export/import (.zip) and one-click course
cloning.
**Blocks and shortcodes**
Add the **Course Catalogue**, **My Courses** and **Student Dashboard** blocks in
the block editor (search for “LMS”), or use the shortcodes:
* `[accessnow_slms_course_catalog]`: the course catalogue. Optional `per_page="
12"` and `lang="ja"`.
* `[accessnow_slms_my_courses]`: the logged-in student’s courses with progress.
* `[accessnow_slms_student_dashboard]`: courses, certificates, points, badges and
recent quiz results.
The older `[slms_course_catalog]`, `[slms_my_courses]` and `[slms_student_dashboard]`
shortcodes still work.
**Languages**
Each course can be marked English or Japanese. Course pages then show the plugin’s
own text in that language, using the plugin’s Japanese language pack from translate.
wordpress.org when the site has it installed, and the catalogue can be filtered
by language.
### Developers
AccessNow LMS has actions and filters for payments, drip content, prerequisites,
CRM sync and custom emails. Put your code in a small plugin or your theme’s `functions.
php`. All IDs are integers.
**Actions**
* `accessnow_slms_enrolled( $user_id, $course_id, $enrollment_id, $enrolled_by )`:
a new enrolment. `$enrolled_by` is 0 for self-enrolment, or the administrator’s
user ID.
* `accessnow_slms_unenrolled( $user_id, $course_id, $enrollment_id, $dropped_by,
$old_status )`: an enrolment was dropped.
* `accessnow_slms_lesson_completed( $user_id, $lesson_id, $course_id, $enrollment_id)`:
a lesson became complete, including a lesson redone after a content change.
* `accessnow_slms_quiz_submitted( $user_id, $quiz_id, $result, $attempt_number,
$enrollment_id, $course_id )`: a quiz attempt was stored. `$result` has `score`,`
total`, `percentage`, `passed`, `results` and `timed_out`.
* `accessnow_slms_course_completed( $user_id, $course_id, $enrollment_id, $first_completion,
$certificate )`: a course was completed. `$first_completion` is false when an
enrolment reopened by a course change is completed again.
* `accessnow_slms_certificate_issued( $certificate, $user_id, $course_id, $enrollment_id)`:
a certificate was issued.
* `accessnow_slms_enrollment_reopened( $user_id, $course_id, $enrollment_id )`:
a completed enrolment went back to active because a lesson was added or changed.
**Filters**
* `accessnow_slms_can_enroll( $allowed, $user_id, $course_id )`: return `false`
or a `WP_Error` (its message is shown to the student) to stop self-enrolment,
for example until the course is paid for. Administrator enrolments are not filtered.
* `accessnow_slms_can_access_lesson( $can_access, $user_id, $lesson_id, $course_id,
$enrollment_id )`: lock or unlock a lesson, for example for drip content.
* `accessnow_slms_grade_result( $result, $quiz_id, $answers )`: change a quiz result
before it is stored.
* `accessnow_slms_show_answers( $show, $quiz_id, $passed, $can_retry )`: whether
a quiz result shows the correct answers and explanations.
* `accessnow_slms_page_header( $header, $post_id )`: the header at the top of a
course, lesson or quiz page. `$header` has `image_id` (0 for none) and `style`(`
banner`, `compact` or `none`).
* `accessnow_slms_catalogue_languages( $codes )`: the languages the catalogue’s
filter offers; the filter shows when there are two or more. Defaults to the languages
of published courses.
* `accessnow_slms_points( $points, $action, $user_id, $reference_id, $enrollment_id)`:
change the points for `lesson_complete`, `quiz_pass` or `course_complete`. Return
0 to award none.
* `accessnow_slms_email_{type}( $email, $context )`: change or cancel an email.
Types: `enrollment`, `completion`, `quiz_result`, `admin_enrollment`. `$email`
has `to`, `subject`, `message` and `headers`. Return `false` to not send it.
**Styling**
The plugin’s colours are CSS custom properties, so a theme can match them without
overriding rules. Set any of these (each falls back to the plugin’s own colour):`--
slms-accent`, `--slms-accent-hover`, `--slms-on-accent` (buttons and active tabs),`--
slms-link`, `--slms-success`, `--slms-progress`, `--slms-track`, `--slms-surface`,`--
slms-surface-alt`, `--slms-border`, `--slms-text`, `--slms-text-muted`, `--slms-
option-hover`, `--slms-option-selected`. For example: `body { --slms-accent: var(--
wp--preset--color--accent); }`.
Example: only let customers enrol.
```
add_filter( 'accessnow_slms_can_enroll', function ( $allowed, $user_id, $course_id ) {
if ( true === $allowed && ! my_has_paid( $user_id, $course_id ) ) {
return new WP_Error( 'unpaid', 'Please buy this course to enrol.' );
}
return $allowed;
}, 10, 3 );External services
```
This plugin does not send data anywhere by itself. If you add a YouTube address
to a lesson or quiz question, WordPress uses its built-in oEmbed feature to show
the video: your site asks YouTube for the embed code, and the visitor’s browser
then loads the video player from YouTube. This only happens on lessons and questions
that have a YouTube address.
YouTube is provided by Google: [Terms of Service](https://www.youtube.com/t/terms),
[Privacy Policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy).
## Screenshots
[⌊A course page: units and lessons in order, which ones the student has finished,
and a Continue Learning button.⌉⌊A course page: units and lessons in order, which
ones the student has finished, and a Continue Learning button.⌉[
A course page: units and lessons in order, which ones the student has finished,
and a Continue Learning button.
[⌊A lesson, with its quiz, the pass mark, and the student's results.⌉⌊A lesson,
with its quiz, the pass mark, and the student's results.⌉[
A lesson, with its quiz, the pass mark, and the student’s results.
[⌊A quiz result: the score, and for each question the student's answer, the correct
answer and why.⌉⌊A quiz result: the score, and for each question the student's answer,
the correct answer and why.⌉[
A quiz result: the score, and for each question the student’s answer, the correct
answer and why.
[⌊The student dashboard: courses in progress and completed, points, badges and certificates.⌉⌊
The student dashboard: courses in progress and completed, points, badges and certificates
.⌉[
The student dashboard: courses in progress and completed, points, badges and certificates.
[⌊A certificate on its own page, which the student can print or share by its link.⌉⌊
A certificate on its own page, which the student can print or share by its link.⌉[
A certificate on its own page, which the student can print or share by its link.
[⌊Reports: every student's progress in a course, with CSV exports of enrolments
and quiz attempts.⌉⌊Reports: every student's progress in a course, with CSV exports
of enrolments and quiz attempts.⌉[
Reports: every student’s progress in a course, with CSV exports of enrolments and
quiz attempts.
## Blocks
This plugin provides 3 blocks.
* Course Catalogue Your published courses as cards, with a language filter.
* My Courses The courses the signed-in student is enrolled in, with their progress.
* Student Dashboard The signed-in student's courses, certificates, points, badges
and recent quiz results.
## Installation
1. Upload the `accessnow-lms` folder to `/wp-content/plugins/`, or install the ZIP
from Plugins Add New Upload Plugin.
2. Activate “AccessNow LMS”.
3. Go to AccessNow LMS Settings to choose registration, points and email options.
4. Create a course, then units (choose the parent course), then lessons (choose the
parent unit), then quizzes (choose the parent lesson).
5. Add the Course Catalogue block (or `[accessnow_slms_course_catalog]`) to a page,
or link to `/courses/`.
**Upgrading from “Simple LMS” (version 4.x, installed by hand)?** Follow the steps
under “I’m upgrading from Simple LMS” in the FAQ. Never delete the old plugin from
the Plugins screen.
To let visitors create their own student accounts, turn on both “Allow Student Registration”(
AccessNow LMS Settings) and “Anyone can register” (Settings General).
## FAQ
### Where do I get help?
The help articles are at https://support.accessnow.com.au/help/workspace-accessnow/
accessnow-lms, and each AccessNow LMS screen has a Help tab linking to the ones
about it. To ask a question, post in the support forum at https://wordpress.org/
support/plugin/accessnow-lms/.
### Can students register themselves?
Yes, when both “Allow Student Registration” in AccessNow LMS Settings and “Anyone
can register” in Settings General are turned on. The course page then shows a Register
tab. New accounts get the Student role. Registrations are protected by a hidden
honeypot field, a minimum fill-in time and a limit of three registrations per hour
from one IP address.
### Who can see lessons and quizzes?
Only logged-in students enrolled in the course, plus AccessNow LMS managers (administrators).
In sequential courses a lesson opens once the earlier lessons are complete. Lesson
content is also hidden from the REST API for anyone who is not enrolled.
### Can my theme change the look?
Yes. Copy a file from the plugin’s `templates/` folder into your theme (for example`
single-slms_course.php`, or `partials/course-card.php`) and edit the copy.
### What happens to my data if I delete the plugin?
Nothing, unless you tick “Delete data on uninstall” in AccessNow LMS Settings first.
With that ticked, deleting the plugin removes its courses, lessons, quizzes, enrolments,
progress, certificates, points, badges, settings and the Student role.
### I’m upgrading from Simple LMS (version 4.x). What do I do?
The plugin was renamed to AccessNow LMS and now lives in a new folder, so WordPress
sees it as a separate plugin. Your courses, enrolments and progress carry over,
because both versions use the same data.
1. Take a backup.
2. Deactivate “Simple LMS”. **Do not delete it from the Plugins screen.**
3. Install and activate AccessNow LMS. On the first page load it moves the old settings
to their new names.
4. Check that your courses and students are there.
5. Remove the old `simple-lms` folder from `/wp-content/plugins/` by hand (FTP or
your host’s file manager).
Why by hand: deleting a 4.x copy from the Plugins screen runs its uninstaller, which
always erases every course, enrolment and progress record, and AccessNow LMS shares
that data.
## Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
## Contributors & Developers
“AccessNow LMS” is open source software. The following people have contributed to
this plugin.
Contributors
* [ accessnow ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/accessnow/)
[Translate “AccessNow LMS” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/accessnow-lms)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/accessnow-lms/), check
out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/accessnow-lms/), or subscribe
to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/accessnow-lms/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/accessnow-lms/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 1.1.2
* Get support now goes to the wordpress.org support forum, and the Plugins screen
has a Rate it link.
* The FAQ’s “Where do I get help?” points to the support forum.
#### 1.1.1
* Changed: the Japanese translation now comes from translate.wordpress.org instead
of being bundled. A Japanese course’s pages are in Japanese when the site has
the plugin’s Japanese language pack installed.
* Changed: uploaded filenames are left to WordPress (which keeps Japanese and other
non-Latin characters); the plugin no longer changes filename sanitising for every
upload.
* Changed: the “Student registration is disabled” notice stays dismissed once dismissed,
instead of coming back after 30 days.
#### 1.1.0
* Courses, units, lessons and quizzes have their own permissions instead of borrowing
the ones for posts. Administrators and editors keep everything they had, and
the AccessNow LMS menu now shows editors their courses, units, lessons and quizzes.
Authors and contributors no longer work on courses (before, they could reach
a course’s editor through “+ New” although the menu never showed them anything).
A role can now be given courses without posts, for example an instructor.
* Anyone who can edit a lesson or quiz can open it on the site to check it without
being enrolled (before, only administrators could).
* A lesson’s unit, and a quiz’s lesson, can only be set to one the user can edit.
* The “Student registration is disabled” notice shows only to people who can change
the setting.
* Access to a course can end on a date: set “Access until” when enrolling students,
or set, change or remove it for several enrolments at once from the Enrollments
list. Students see the date on the course page and their dashboard; once it has
passed the lessons and quizzes are locked, and their progress, quiz results and
certificates are kept. A student whose access has ended can’t enrol themselves
again. The enrolments CSV has an “Access ends (UTC)” column.
* For developers: new hooks for add-ons: accessnow_slms_course_cta, accessnow_slms_course_card_meta,
accessnow_slms_dashboard_after, accessnow_slms_lesson_video_html, accessnow_slms_can_mark_complete,
accessnow_slms_locate_partial, accessnow_slms_certificate_template, accessnow_slms_export_meta_keys
and accessnow_slms_import_meta_sanitizers. A theme can now override the certificate
page with its own single-slms_certificate.php.
* Quizzes can be extended by add-ons: new question types (answered with one value,
a list or key/value pairs), questions drawn per student, partial credit, and
answers marked by hand, shown as “Awaiting review” with no retakes until marked.
A question whose plugin is switched off is kept unchanged and left out of the
quiz until it is back.
* For developers: accessnow_slms_question_types, accessnow_slms_quiz_questions,
accessnow_slms_grade_question, accessnow_slms_sanitize_question, accessnow_slms_render_question,
accessnow_slms_question_fields, accessnow_slms_correct_answer_text, accessnow_slms_answer_text
and accessnow_slms_content_hash_data; Quiz_Engine::update_attempt_result() with
the accessnow_slms_quiz_regraded action; accessnow_slms_quiz_attempt_expired;
accessnow_slms_quiz_submitted now passes the attempt ID.
* For developers: Enrollment::has_access() and the accessnow_slms_has_course_access
filter decide every content check (lesson and quiz pages, the REST API, marking
complete, quiz submissions, notes); Enrollment::set_expiry() and the accessnow_slms_enrollment_expiry_changed
action.
#### 1.0.1
* Fix: with Simple LMS 4.x still active, activating AccessNow LMS stopped the whole
site with a fatal error. AccessNow LMS now waits, and shows a notice with a link
to deactivate Simple LMS; it takes over with the same courses as soon as Simple
LMS is off.
* Fix: a lesson whose download had been deleted from the Media Library showed an
empty “Downloads” heading. Deleted files are now left out, and the heading only
appears when there is something to download.
* The registration form’s anti-spam check reads its two fields through one sanitised
accessor.
#### 1.0.0
* Changed: renamed from “Simple LMS” to “AccessNow LMS”, ready for wordpress.org.
The plugin folder, main file and text domain are now `accessnow-lms`, so WordPress
treats it as a new plugin: see the FAQ for the upgrade steps. Courses, enrolments
and progress carry over, settings move to new names automatically on the first
page load, and theme template overrides copied from 4.x keep working.
* New: “Delete data on uninstall” setting (off by default). Deleting the plugin
keeps your data unless it is ticked.
* New: actions and filters for developers (enrolment, lesson and course completion,
quiz submission, certificates, enrolment and lesson access, grading, points and
emails). See the Developers section. The plugin’s own emails and points run on
these actions.
* New: the student dashboard lists completed courses, and “My courses” lists them
with a Completed badge.
* New: quiz attempts that ran out of time show as “Timed out” in the student’s
quiz history, on the dashboard and in reports.
* New: themes can restyle the plugin with CSS custom properties (see Developers).
Nothing changes until a theme sets them.
* New: Help articles and Get support links on the Plugins screen, a Help tab on
every AccessNow LMS screen, and a Settings link beside Deactivate.
* New: header images and styles. Units and lessons can have their own header image(
lessons fall back to their unit’s, then their course’s), and courses, units and
lessons choose a header style: banner, compact strip or none. A new setting, “
Inherited header images”, turns the fallback off. Course export, import and cloning
keep them.
* New: course export includes the pictures and files used inside lesson and course
text, and the imported course points at its own copies. A file used more than
once is imported once.
* New: Course Catalogue, My Courses and Student Dashboard blocks, with a live preview
in the editor. The catalogue block can show a set number of courses and a single
language.
* New: quiz feedback. Each question can have an explanation, and each quiz chooses
when students see the correct answers and explanations: never, after they pass,
after their last attempt, or after every attempt. Answers are only sent to the
browser when the setting allows.
* New: CSV export of enrolments (with each student’s progress) and quiz attempts,
for one course or all of them, from the Enrollments and Reports screens. Files
open in Excel with Japanese and other names intact.
* New: enrol students by searching for their name, username or email, instead of
typing a user ID, and enrol several students in several courses at once. An optional
checkbox emails each student that they have been enrolled.
* New: `accessnow_slms_*` shortcodes (the `slms_*` ones still work).
* Security: removed the course seed scripts from the plugin. They loaded WordPress
with no access check, so visiting their address could create a course.
* Security: the log-in and registration forms no longer redirect to other websites(
open redirect), and student registration also requires the WordPress “Anyone
can register” setting.
* Security: stricter checks on every student action: enrol only in published courses,
complete lessons only in order and in your own enrolment, submit quizzes and
save notes only for courses you are enrolled in.
* Security: course import validates the file type and size, reads the ZIP without
extracting it, and accepts only allowed media types and known settings. Lesson
content is hidden from the REST API for visitors who are not enrolled.
* Security: every student action (enrol, complete a lesson, submit a quiz, save
a note) checks the account’s permissions as well as its security token, and quiz
answers are cleaned as soon as they arrive.
* Security: the registration form’s speed check can no longer be skipped. The form
now carries a signed timestamp that is required, so a bot can’t leave it out
or invent one; a page left open for more than a week asks the visitor to reload
it.
* Accessibility: progress bars report their value to screen readers; each quiz
question is a group whose label is the question; moving between questions and
submitting moves the keyboard focus to the new question or the result; the quiz
timer announces 5 minutes, 1 minute and 30 seconds left; error and success messages
appear in the page instead of pop-up alerts; colours meet WCAG AA contrast; the
registration spam trap can no longer be reached with the keyboard.
* Accessibility: every field on the Settings, Enrollments and quiz question screens
has a label (including options and answers added with the buttons), and the registration
notice’s “Dismiss for 30 days” link meets contrast.
* Fix: importing or cloning a course could corrupt text containing backslashes,
such as escaped characters in a block’s settings or in quiz questions.
* Fix: course export left out each quiz’s “Show answers” setting and the course’s
re-completion and language settings; import and cloning now keep them too.
* Fix: with a block theme such as Twenty Twenty-Five, course, lesson, quiz and
catalogue pages showed WordPress’s bare fallback header and footer instead of
the theme’s (and logged a deprecation notice). They now use the theme’s header
and footer.
* Fix: the quiz results table on the student dashboard and in a lesson ran past
the edge of narrow themes. A wide table now scrolls inside its own box, which
keyboard and screen reader users can reach.
* Fix: students who had completed a course could no longer use it: finished lessons
showed as not complete, quiz history was blank, and “Mark complete” and quiz
submission said “Not enrolled.”
* Fix: when a lesson is added to a course, or a lesson or quiz changes so it must
be redone, a completed enrolment reopens and completes again once everything
is done. The certificate is kept and the completion email is not sent twice.
* Fix: an unanswered multiple-choice or true/false question could be marked correct
when the right answer was the first option or “True”.
* Fix: quiz time limits are enforced by the server, not just the browser. The clock
starts when the quiz page is first opened and survives reloads and new tabs.
A quiz submitted more than a minute after time runs out, or left to run out without
being submitted, counts as an attempt scoring 0.
* Fix: a unit or lesson without a sort order (created through the REST API, an
import, cloning or another plugin) was left out of the lesson order, so “Continue”,
previous and next links and sequential locking skipped it and a course could
not reach 100%.
* Fix: the database tables were defined in a form WordPress’s table updater could
not compare with existing tables, so later versions could never have added a
column or index. Activating the plugin also adds two indexes some 4.x copies
were missing, including the one that stops points being awarded twice (duplicate
awards are removed first).
* Fix: on a fresh install the settings page showed the enrolment, completion and
admin enrolment emails as switched on, although none was sent until the settings
were saved. They now show as off, which is what happens.
* Fix: the course completion email’s “View your certificate” link now goes to the
certificate, not the course page.
* Fix: fill-in-the-blank answers match regardless of case, accents and full-width
or half-width letters, digits and spaces, so answers typed on a Japanese keyboard
match.
* Fix: reordering units and lessons now needs the same permission as the rest of
the plugin’s admin screens.
* Fix: the reports overview works out each course’s average progress with one query
instead of one per student.
* Fix: the registration rate limit and the automatic Student role apply only to
people registering themselves, never to users created by administrators, WP-CLI
or other plugins.
* Fix: clicking Enroll twice sent the enrolment email twice; unticking “Featured
course” now saves; quiz answer order no longer reseeds PHP’s random number generator;
old /lessons/ and /quizzes/ links redirect on sites in a subfolder too.
* Changed: requires WordPress 6.3 or later (was 6.0), for the blocks in the current
editor.
* Changed: the catalogue’s language filter only appears when the published courses
use two or more languages, and only offers those.
* Changed: the quiz result email (setting renamed “Quiz Passed”) is now sent only
when the student passes, not after every attempt, and the setting is on by default
as the settings page already showed.
* Changed: all output escaped and all input sanitised; Japanese translation updated.
#### 4.1.1
* Last release of Simple LMS.
## Meta
* Version **1.1.2**
* Last updated **17 hours ago**
* Active installations **Fewer than 10**
* WordPress version ** 6.3 or higher **
* Tested up to **7.1.3**
* PHP version ** 7.4 or higher **
* Tags
* [courses](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/courses/)[e-learning](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/e-learning/)
[education](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/education/)[lms](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/lms/)
[quiz](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/quiz/)
* [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/accessnow-lms/advanced/)
## Ratings
No reviews have been submitted yet.
[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/accessnow-lms/reviews/#new-post)
[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/accessnow-lms/reviews/)
## Contributors
* [ accessnow ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/accessnow/)
## Support
Got something to say? Need help?
[View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/accessnow-lms/)