How to read LMS feature lists
Course platform comparisons often list features without saying what they do to your site. This glossary uses LearnDash's documentation (now hosted on Nexcess docs) for core terms because it is detailed and public, and the official SCORM and xAPI material for standards. Other LMS plugins use similar ideas under different names; check your plugin's own docs for its exact options.
The hosting column is the part most feature lists skip. A feature that only changes what a student sees is cheap. A feature that saves something every time a student acts is a database write that cannot be served from page cache, and a feature that accepts files needs upload limits and storage.
Glossary with hosting impact
| Term | Meaning (LearnDash wording where quoted) | Hosting impact |
|---|---|---|
| Drip / release schedule | Lessons released Immediately, Enrollment-based ("available X days after the user enrolls"), or on a Specific date; topics inherit the lesson schedule | Mostly read-time checks; little extra load |
| Enrollment mode | Open, Free, Buy Now, Recurring or Closed | Recurring and Buy Now involve payments, renewals and scheduled jobs |
| Prerequisites | Any Selected (default): completion of any one selected course grants access; All Selected: all must be completed | Read-time check against stored progress |
| Course points | Points that motivate learners and control access to advanced courses | A stored value updated as students complete work |
| Linear progression | Learners must complete each step in order; does not apply in Open mode | Each step completion is a write |
| Free form progression | Steps in any order, but sub-steps still before the parent | Same writes as linear, fewer locks |
| Mark Complete | Button learners click to complete a step | One uncached write per step per learner |
| Video progression | Requires watching the whole video before completion; supports YouTube, Vimeo, Media Library uploads and other providers such as Wistia and Bunny.net | Local videos are served by your host; external players are not |
| Assignments | Upload field on a lesson or topic; manual or auto approval; optional points | File uploads, storage growth, PHP upload limits |
| Groups (cohorts) | Group users together; a group leader tracks progress; members auto-enroll in group courses | Reporting queries across many users |
| Access expiration / student limit | Access ends relative to enrollment date; caps total enrollments | Expiry depends on scheduled tasks running |
| SCORM | Standard for packaging content and how it talks to the LMS at run time | Package files stored and served; run-time calls while playing |
| xAPI | Specification for recording learning experiences as statements sent to a Learning Record Store | Statements sent to an LRS, which may be external |
Drip, prerequisites and progression: rules about access
Drip is the most common term in course marketing. In LearnDash a lesson is released Immediately by default, or a set number of days after enrollment, or on a specific calendar date, and these options also apply to the topics below the lesson. The enrollment-based option means two students who joined a week apart see a lesson a week apart; the date option means everyone sees it together, which is closer to a live cohort.
Prerequisites gate a whole course on other courses. LearnDash offers Any Selected and All Selected. Progression gates steps inside a course: Linear requires each step in order and each step marked complete before the next becomes available, while Free form lets students move freely but still requires sub-steps before their parent.
One detail matters for anyone restructuring a course during a migration: LearnDash says changing the lesson structure of a course a learner has already completed does not reset that learner's course status.
Completion rules and uploads: where the writes come from
Completion tracking means saving a record each time a student finishes a step. In LearnDash, learners click Mark Complete to move on; with video progression enabled, a lesson cannot be completed until the whole video has been watched, and an auto-complete option marks it done when the video ends. Every one of those actions is a logged-in request that writes to the database, so it uses a PHP worker and cannot be served from cache.
Assignment uploads add files. LearnDash lets you restrict file types (blank accepts WordPress's default allowed types) and enter a size limit in megabytes, but its docs note that your web host may set a lower maximum and the lower limit applies. In PHP itself, upload_max_filesize defaults to 2M and post_max_size to 8M, and post_max_size must be larger than upload_max_filesize. If a student's 20 MB project file fails, the host's PHP limits are the first thing to check.
Worked example: a 200-student cohort with a weekly assignment averaging 5 MB adds about 1 GB of uploads per week, or roughly 12 GB over a 12-week course. On a plan with 10 GB of storage, that cohort alone would exceed the allowance before the course ends.
SCORM and xAPI in plain terms
SCORM is a set of standards for e-learning content. The SCORM.com explainer describes packaging (how content is delivered physically) and run-time communication (how content talks to the LMS while it plays), with sequencing and navigation as the key addition in SCORM 2004. SCORM 1.2 is described as the most widely adopted version and SCORM 2004 as the most recent release. The imsmanifest file describes the course structure and holds the information an LMS needs to import and launch the content.
xAPI is described in its own specification as a technical specification for documenting and communicating learning experiences. Records are statements built from an Actor, a Verb and an Object (the "I did this" pattern), and a Learning Record Store is the server responsible for receiving, storing and providing access to them.
If you buy courses built in an authoring tool, ask whether they export SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 or xAPI, and whether your LMS plugin imports that format natively or needs an add-on. If xAPI is in play, ask where the LRS lives: if it is a plugin on your WordPress site, statements become more writes to your database.
Checklist: matching LMS features to a hosting plan
- List which completion features you use (Mark Complete, quizzes, video progression) and expect one uncached write per student action.
- If you accept assignments, confirm the host's upload_max_filesize and post_max_size and how to raise them.
- Estimate upload storage per cohort and compare it with the plan's disk allowance.
- If you self-host lesson video for video progression, budget bandwidth; external players move that load off your host.
- For Recurring enrollment and access expiration, confirm scheduled tasks run reliably on the host.
- For SCORM or xAPI content, confirm format support and where the LRS runs.
Questions before you decide
What is the difference between drip and prerequisites?
Drip releases content on a schedule, such as a set number of days after enrollment or on a fixed date. Prerequisites lock a course until other courses are completed; LearnDash offers Any Selected or All Selected.
Why do assignment uploads fail on large files?
LearnDash lets you set a size limit, but its docs say the host's lower maximum applies. PHP's upload_max_filesize defaults to 2M and post_max_size to 8M, so the host's PHP settings usually set the real ceiling.
Is xAPI the same as SCORM?
No. SCORM covers how content is packaged, how it communicates with the LMS while playing, and, in SCORM 2004, sequencing. xAPI records learning experiences as Actor, Verb, Object statements sent to a Learning Record Store.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- LearnDash docs (Nexcess): lesson access settings Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- LearnDash docs (Nexcess): course enrollment mode settings Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- LearnDash docs (Nexcess): course progression Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- LearnDash docs (Nexcess): video progression Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- LearnDash docs (Nexcess): assignments Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- LearnDash docs (Nexcess): enable assignments Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- LearnDash docs (Nexcess): groups Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- PHP manual: core php.ini directives Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- SCORM.com: SCORM explained Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- ADL xAPI specification: about Accessed 30 Oct 2026
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