The problem
LearnDash certificates don’t expire. Once a student finishes a course, the certificate is valid forever, which is a real problem for training that has to be renewed: first aid, food hygiene, safety inductions, CPD. Most training sites we looked at track it in a spreadsheet, with calendar reminders and emails sent one by one.
Adding expiry dates solves half of it. The reminder then prompts the obvious question, “how do I renew?”, and without an answer in the email it becomes a support ticket that someone on your team answers by hand. The two add-ons in this bundle cover both halves.
Why buy them together
Expiry creates the job that Renewal finishes. Once certificates expire, students need a way to renew without emailing you. With both installed, the reminder a student gets 60 days before expiry carries a signed link that takes them straight to their renewal: the course, a short recertification quiz, or checkout.
What you get
- LearnDash Certificate Expiry: per-student expiry dates, reminders at 180, 90 and 60 days, free, paid or approved certificates, a public verification page with QR code, Open Badges v2.0 export and a compliance list with CSV export.
- LearnDash Certificate Renewal: renewal by course retake, recertification quiz or paid renewal, signed renewal links valid for 30 days, and an optional separate renewal price.
Setting it up
- Install and activate Certificate Expiry first, then Certificate Renewal. Renewal needs Expiry to be active.
- Enter the same licence key on each plugin’s licence screen.
- Set the validity period on the certificate, then on each course choose the certificate, the reminder schedule and the renewal mode.
- Complete the course as a test student and check the result on the Certifications screen.
Limits worth knowing
Everything listed under “What it doesn’t do” on the two product pages applies here too. The main ones: expiry works at course level only, the QR code needs one shortcode in your certificate template, and paid renewals need the student to be logged in at checkout.
