Orange plug over desktop with landing page with graduation cap icon.

Our developers are well-experienced in creating WordPress websites; we do everything from full-scale development to web maintenance. We’ve partnered with several higher education institutions including Atlanta-based universities, like Emory and Georgia State, to create and maintain powerful WordPress websites. These websites serve to connect staff and students as well as provide valuable resources and feedback to students. Last week we recommended 5 WordPress plugins for non-profit websites. This week, we present 5 more plugins that we think work well for the purposes of higher education websites.

1. LearnPress

Learn Press plugin logo with purple graduation cap.

LearnPress is a learning management system (LMS) plugin used to create and sell online courses, curriculums, lessons, and quizzes. Although LearnPress offers a free package, a premium option provides you with more features for a one-time purchase of $249. Professors are able to create, manage, and share courses as well as view analytics and trends of a particular course. Students can navigate through various courses, assignments, and discussions to find the resources they need.

More importantly, LearnPress was developed with communication in mind. The plugin has already been translated into 8 different languages, and BuddyPress support allows teachers and students to exchange ideas, opinions, and questions among each other.

Here are a few more features that LearnPress has to offer:

  • A course wishlist for students
  • A review forum that allows students to rate and review courses
  • Prerequisite courses that students are required to pass in order to enroll in another course
  • A gradebook for professors to view assignment results (Premium add-on)
  • Professors can create quizzes that are random for each student (Premium add-on)

2. BuddyPress

Buddy Press logo on red background.

Communication and collaboration are the key to building a community among peers and teachers. The BuddyPress plugin allows your online community to go beyond a single blog; it includes profiles, groups, activity streams, notifications, and more. This plugin has been used by others as a campus-wide social network, internal communication tool, and a social network for interest groups.

The amount of features for this plugin is constantly increasing. Download this plugin for free and install easily on your WordPress dashboard.

3. Video Lessons Manager

Video Lessons Manager header.

Everyone has a different learning style; some need hands-on experience while others need visual representation. Video platforms, like YouTube and Vimeo, have become increasingly useful in classrooms. The Video Lessons Manager plugin allows you to manage video courses, lectures, and lessons as well as track progress, leave comments, and mark favorites, all on one dashboard. Staff can also build e-learning videos with the plugin and set up webinars or online conferences.

With a variety of add-ons, you can upgrade your plugin to customize quizzes and issue certificates of course completion. Upgrade to the Pro Edition for a starting price of $39. With the pro version, administrators can view progress reports for specific users, view overall reports for lessons or courses watches, support both Wistia and Vimeo, and more!

4. H5P

H5P plugin logo.

H5P is a plugin that enables your LMS or CMS to display more engaging content on any device. Administrators can create, share, and reuse interactive content for any subject, whether it’s a course presentation, a video, or an activity. You can download the plugin to your WordPress website, Drupal site, or you can create content directly on H5P.org and embed it on to your website.

H5P is free to use and open source!

5. WP RSS Aggregator

WP RSS Aggregator logo with white bumblebee on orange background.

This plugin allows you to import, merge, and display RSS feeds on your WordPress website. RSS feeds, or Rich Site Summary, allow users to subscribe to online content instead up checking back to a website every so often to find new articles.

You can implement as many RSS feeds from as many sources as you need on your website so that students can find the latest articles that are relevant to certain subjects or see any breaking news. The free version offers a lot of features that are sure to meet your expectations, but if you want more, there are premium add ons such as categorizing feed sources and keyword filtering. Premium add on bundles start at a one-time purchase of $70.

These WordPress plugins not only make communication between professors and students more efficient, it also encourages engagement with peers, teachers, assignments, and real world situations. Sevaa Group can help you get your WordPress website up and running. Contact us about working together on your next project.


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