Blocks, Shortcodes and Widgets

Learnomy builds its own pages (the catalog, the course page, the student account area) automatically. Blocks, shortcodes and widgets exist for everything else: putting course content on your home page, a landing page, a sales page, or a sidebar you already designed.

All three render the same content. Which one you reach for depends on the editor you build pages in:

• Blocks for the WordPress block editor, where you want a live preview and a settings panel.
• Shortcodes for page builders (Elementor, WPBakery, Beaver Builder), text widgets, and any field that accepts plain text.
• Widgets for classic theme sidebars and footers.

Everything below ships in the free plugin except where a row says otherwise.

Blocks

Learnomy registers 13 blocks. They all live in the Learnomy category in the block inserter, and they all render on the server, so what you see in the editor preview is what a visitor gets.

Block	What it shows	Key settings
Course Card	One course card: thumbnail, title, price, and the visitor’s enrollment state.	Course picker.
Course Grid	Several course cards in a grid.	Show: latest courses, courses in a category, or specific courses you pick. Then the category or course list, number to show (default 6), and columns (default 3).
Course Catalog	A browsable grid of all published courses.	Category (all, or one category), maximum courses (default 12), columns (default 3).
Enroll Button	An enroll button, or an “Already Enrolled” badge for students who are in.	Course picker, button text (default “Enroll Now”).
Course Progress Bar	A completion bar for one course, with the percentage shown once beside the course name. It prints nothing for a visitor who is not enrolled in that course.	Course picker, and an optional specific user ID. Left empty it shows the logged-in visitor’s own progress.
My Learning Progress	Three tiles (courses enrolled, completed, overall progress) and the courses the logged-in student has in progress. Overall progress is the average of the student’s course percentages, with a finished course counting as 100.	None.
Student Dashboard	The logged-in student’s enrolled courses with progress at a glance. Each row uses the course’s 16:9 cover, or the standard placeholder when a course has none.	None.
Lesson Content	The title and content of one lesson.	Lesson picker.
Quiz	A quiz intro: title, description, rules, and a start button.	Quiz picker.
Certificate Verification	A verification badge for one certificate: valid or not found.	Verification ID (UUID).
Instructor Card	An instructor’s avatar, name, bio, course count and rating.	Instructor picker.
Instructor Grid	The people who teach on the site, as a grid of instructor cards.	Specific instructors (leave empty for all), number to show (default 8), columns (default 4), order (by number of courses by default), and whether to show the bio.
Membership Pricing	Every active membership plan as a card, drawn by the same component as the /membership/ page: the monthly/yearly toggle when you offer both, and for a signed-in member, their current plan and what they can switch to. Each card’s button leads to checkout.	None.
My Courses	The logged-in member’s enrolled courses as course cards with their progress, the same cards the My Courses account page shows.	Number of courses to list (default 10).
Course Search	A search field that takes the visitor to the course catalog with their search applied.	Placeholder text.

Blocks that need a course, lesson, quiz or instructor show a placeholder in the editor until you pick one, and render nothing on the front end while the setting is empty.

The pickers search as you type, so any course, lesson, quiz or instructor can be found by name however many the site has; the list is not limited to the first hundred. A lesson or quiz option names its course in brackets, for example “Setting Up Your Environment (JavaScript Fundamentals)”, so two lessons with the same title can be told apart.

Learnomy’s stylesheets load only on pages that actually contain one of its blocks, shortcodes or widgets. A page with none of them carries no Learnomy CSS.

How to add a block

1. Edit the page or post.
2. Click the block inserter (+) and type the block name, or scroll to the Learnomy category.
3. Insert the block.
4. Open the settings sidebar and fill in the settings from the table above.

If you renamed your entity nouns at LMS Settings → Settings → Labels, the inserter shows your words. A site that calls courses “Programs” sees Program Grid, not Course Grid.

Shortcodes

Learnomy registers 15 shortcodes in the free plugin, one for every block, and Learnomy Pro adds 1 more. They work anywhere shortcodes are processed: the block editor’s Shortcode block, a page builder text element, a classic Text widget, or a template through do_shortcode().

A shortcode prints exactly what its block prints. Each one maps its attributes onto the block’s settings and renders the block, so the two cannot differ, and a shortcode loads the same CSS and JavaScript as the block.

If you used these shortcodes before 2.1.1, a few now show more than they did, because they print what the block prints: [learnomy_progress] names the course beside the bar, [learnomy_certificate_verify] lists the holder, course, date and verification ID, [learnomy_instructor] shows the full bio and rating, and [learnomy_enrollment_button] says Buy for a paid course instead of always saying Enroll.

[learnomy_course]

One course card.

[learnomy_course id="42"]

Attribute	What it does	Default	Values
id	The course to show.	0	A course ID.

Renders nothing when the ID is missing, the course does not exist, or the course is not published.

[learnomy_course_grid]

A grid of course cards, optionally limited to one category.

[learnomy_course_grid category="photography" limit="6" columns="3"]

Attribute	What it does	Default	Values
category	Show only courses in this category. Leave it out for the newest published courses.	empty	A category slug.
ids	Show exactly these courses, in this order. Overrides category.	empty	Course IDs separated by commas.
limit	How many cards to show.	6	A whole number.
columns	Grid columns.	3	A whole number, normally 2 to 4.

[learnomy_enrollment_button]

An enroll button for one course.

[learnomy_enrollment_button course_id="42" text="Join the workshop"]

Attribute	What it does	Default	Values
course_id	The course to enroll in.	0	A course ID.
text	Button label, used where the button is an invitation to enroll or buy.	the label that fits the course (Enroll, Buy, Sign up to buy)	Any text.

The button changes with the visitor: a signed-out visitor gets a log-in link that returns them to the course, a signed-in visitor gets the enroll action, and a student who is already enrolled gets an “Already Enrolled” button pointing at the course.

[learnomy_progress]

A progress bar for the logged-in student on one course.

[learnomy_progress course_id="42"]

Attribute	What it does	Default	Values
course_id	The course to report on.	0	A course ID.

Renders nothing for signed-out visitors and for students who are not enrolled in that course. Use it on a page students reach after enrolling.

[learnomy_my_courses]

The logged-in student’s enrolled courses, with progress on each card.

[learnomy_my_courses limit="12"]

Attribute	What it does	Default	Values
limit	How many courses to list.	10	A whole number.

Signed-out visitors see a short “please log in” line. A student with no enrollments sees a “not enrolled in anything yet” line.

[learnomy_quiz]

A quiz intro card with a start button.

[learnomy_quiz id="18"]

Attribute	What it does	Default	Values
id	The quiz to show.	0	A quiz ID.

The card shows the quiz title, its description, the time limit and the passing score when those are set. Signed-out visitors get a log-in link instead of the start button.

[learnomy_certificate_verify]

A verification badge for one certificate. Use it when you want a specific certificate confirmed on a page, for example an employer-facing verification page.

[learnomy_certificate_verify uuid="3f9c1b2e-7a44-4d18-9c05-1b6e2f8ad730"]

Attribute	What it does	Default	Values
uuid	The certificate’s verification ID.	empty	A certificate UUID.

Shows a “Certificate Verified” badge with the student name, course and issue date for an active certificate, and “Certificate Not Found” for anything else, including a revoked one.

[learnomy_membership_pricing]

Your membership plans as cards, the same ones the /membership/ page and the Membership Pricing block show, including the monthly/yearly toggle when you offer both. Each button leads to checkout, which is where a coupon is entered. It prints the plans only: no page heading, FAQ or gift section, so it sits inside your own page.

[learnomy_membership_pricing]

This shortcode takes no attributes. What appears is controlled by your membership plans and their settings.

[learnomy_instructor]

An instructor card with avatar, name, bio, course count, and a link to their profile.

[learnomy_instructor user_id="7"]

Attribute	What it does	Default	Values
user_id	The instructor to show.	0	A user ID.

A card renders only for a user who has a public instructor profile. Any other user ID renders nothing, so a typo cannot publish a student’s name and avatar to your page.

[learnomy_search]

A search form that submits to the course catalog.

[learnomy_search placeholder="Search our workshops"]

Attribute	What it does	Default	Values
placeholder	Placeholder text in the input.	Search Courses…, using your own label for courses	Any text.

[learnomy_course_catalog]

The browsable catalog of published courses, the same as the Course Catalog block.

[learnomy_course_catalog category="design" limit="12" columns="3"]

Attribute	What it does	Default	Values
category	Show only courses in this category.	empty	A category slug.
limit	Maximum courses to show.	12	A whole number.
columns	Grid columns.	3	A whole number, normally 2 to 4.

[learnomy_my_progress]

Three tiles (courses enrolled, completed, overall progress) and the member’s courses in progress, the same as the My Learning Progress block.

[learnomy_my_progress]

This shortcode takes no attributes.

[learnomy_student_dashboard]

The logged-in member’s enrolled courses with progress at a glance, the same as the Student Dashboard block.

[learnomy_student_dashboard]

This shortcode takes no attributes.

[learnomy_lesson]

The title and content of one lesson, the same as the Lesson Content block. A visitor who may not read the lesson sees the same access message the lesson page gives.

[learnomy_lesson id="128"]

Attribute	What it does	Default	Values
id	The lesson to show.	0	A lesson ID.

[learnomy_instructor_grid]

The people who teach on the site as a grid of instructor cards, the same as the Instructor Grid block.

[learnomy_instructor_grid limit="8" columns="4" show_bio="yes"]

Attribute	What it does	Default	Values
ids	Show only these instructors. Leave it out for everyone with a public profile.	empty	User IDs separated by commas.
limit	How many to show.	8	A whole number.
columns	Grid columns.	4	A whole number.
orderby	How to order them.	by number of courses	The same values as the block’s Order setting.
show_bio	Whether to show each bio.	the block’s default	yes or no.

[learnomy_gift_redeem]

Pro feature. Available in Learnomy Pro, with the Membership Pro extension enabled.

The gift-code redemption form, so a recipient can claim a gifted membership from any page you choose.

[learnomy_gift_redeem]

This shortcode takes no attributes. Learnomy Pro also publishes a dedicated gift page and an account tab, so add this shortcode only if you want the form somewhere else as well, such as a campaign landing page.

Widgets

Learnomy registers 6 widgets. Every widget takes a Title setting; the extra settings are listed below.

Widget	What it shows	Extra settings
Popular Courses	Top courses ranked by number of students.	Number of courses to show.
Recent Courses	The most recently published courses.	Number of courses to show.
Course Categories	A list of course categories, each linking to the filtered catalog.	Show course count.
My Course Progress	The logged-in student’s courses in progress. Signed-out visitors get a log-in link.	None.
Featured Instructor	One instructor’s avatar, bio and course count.	Instructor user ID.
Course Search	A search form that submits to the course catalog.	Placeholder text.

Widget names follow your Labels settings too, so a site that renamed courses to “Programs” sees Popular Programs in the widget list.

Where widgets go

Go to Appearance → Widgets and add a widget to a sidebar or footer area your theme provides. On a theme that uses the block-based widget screen, add the Legacy Widget block and pick the Learnomy widget from its list. Widget areas are also editable in Appearance → Customize → Widgets.

Block themes have no classic widget areas. On a block theme, use the blocks in the Site Editor instead, or place a shortcode in a template part.

Which should I use?

Situation	Use
Building a page in the WordPress block editor	A block. You get a live preview and a settings panel.
Building a page in Elementor, WPBakery, Beaver Builder, or another page builder	A shortcode, in the builder’s text or shortcode element.
Editing a classic theme sidebar or footer	A widget.
You need the same content in a theme template file	A shortcode, through do_shortcode().
You need content inside an email, a custom post type description, or another plain-text field	A shortcode, if that field runs shortcodes.

Blocks and shortcodes with the same name render the same markup, so switching from one to the other does not change how the content looks.