Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to common questions from administrators, trainers and students. Each answer reflects how Dantian Course Cadence 1.0.0 actually behaves. For step-by-step fixes, see Troubleshooting.
General
What does Dantian Course Cadence do?
It delivers weekly course guidance on a schedule. Administrators build a timeline for each course and add prompts (guidance) for each week. The plugin then emails the right week’s guidance to students and trainers on your chosen day and time, shows the same guidance on a student page and a trainer page, and lets trainers suggest improvements. See Welcome and overview.
Do I need an LMS?
No. The plugin works with Tutor LMS or LifterLMS, using their courses, enrolments and instructors. Without either, it runs in Native Classes mode: you create classes and add students and trainers yourself under Course Cadence → Classes. If both LMSs are active, Tutor LMS is used. See LMS integration and native classes.
Is everything included, or are some features paid?
Everything described in this documentation is included in the plugin. There is no licence key or paid tier to unlock.
What versions of WordPress and PHP do I need?
WordPress 6.7 or later and PHP 8.0 or later. See Requirements and installation.
Does the plugin send data to outside services?
Not from the WordPress.org version — it makes no calls to external services. A copy downloaded from the Dantian store includes an update checker that contacts the store; Privacy, data and uninstall lists exactly what it sends. Emails are sent through your site’s normal WordPress mail setup (usually an SMTP plugin you choose), so they go through whichever email provider you have configured.
For administrators
Who can manage the plugin?
Anyone with the WordPress manage_options capability — normally Administrators. All Course Cadence admin screens require it, and the plugin adds no custom roles or capabilities, so access can’t be granted screen by screen. See User roles and permissions.
Can a course have more than one timeline?
Yes. A course can have several timelines — for example, one per intake. The active timeline is the one whose start and end dates include today; that is the one used for emails and the guidance pages. Keep date ranges from overlapping, so it’s always clear which timeline is current. To reuse a structure for a new intake, clone the timeline (see Timeline cloning).
What’s the difference between Fixed period and Rolling timelines?
On a Fixed period timeline everyone is on the same week, counted from the timeline’s start date. On a Rolling timeline each student’s Week 1 starts on their own enrolment date, so students move through the guidance at their own pace. Rolling timelines have no catch-up emails, because nobody starts “behind”. See Timeline management.
What happens if I change a timeline’s dates after emails have gone out?
Week numbers are worked out again from the new dates, and future emails follow the new schedule. The plugin records which prompts each person has already received, so guidance that has already been sent isn’t sent again.
How do break periods affect week numbering?
Break days don’t count towards the week number. During a break, no weekly email goes out for that course, and the student page shows “Scheduled break — no guidance this week. Week [N] resumes after the break.” When the break ends, the course carries on with the next week — no week is skipped or repeated.
Can I pause emails for just one course?
Not from the admin screens in version 1.0.0. The plugin can hold a course’s weekly emails (it shows the course as Paused on Overview → This week), but that switch is only available through the plugin’s REST API, not as a button in Timelines & Prompts. To stop a course’s emails for a period from the admin screens, add a break period to its timeline for those dates. See Troubleshooting.
Can I undo deleting a timeline or prompt?
No. Deleting a timeline or prompt removes it permanently — there is no trash or undo. Clone a timeline before major changes if you might want the old version. To undo an edit to a prompt, use its version history to roll back (see Prompt version history).
Why aren’t trainer suggestions appearing in Pending Suggestions?
Either no trainer has submitted one, or Settings → Workflow → Trainer Edit Suggestions is set to Auto-Approve. With Auto-Approve, suggestions are applied immediately and logged in the audit log instead of queuing. See Trainer edit workflow.
How do I know a week’s emails will have content?
Turn on Send Admin Trainer Digest under Settings → Emails → Admin digest & alerts. The recipient then gets a preview a few days before each dispatch (3 days by default) listing any course with “No content authored for their week — nothing will be sent”, a digest after each dispatch, and a warning if a dispatch runs more than a day late.
Can I send the weekly email right now?
Yes. Email Delivery → Send & Status → Trigger weekly dispatch now runs the weekly send immediately after you confirm with Yes, send now. Anyone who has already received this week’s guidance is skipped, so it is safe to use after a missed or partial run.
Is there a limit on how many emails go out each week?
Each weekly run sends up to 100 emails. If you have more recipients, the rest go out on the next run. Use Trigger weekly dispatch now to send the remainder straight away — nobody gets a duplicate.
What happens if an email fails to send?
It is recorded as failed and retried automatically: an hourly task retries up to 25 failed emails per run, and each email is retried up to 3 times. Failures show on Email Delivery → Analytics. Persistent failures point to a problem with your site’s mail setup.
Where do I change the email wording?
Settings → Emails → Content & template: subject, intro lines, template and footer. Use placeholders such as {first_name} and {course_name} (single curly braces) — see Placeholder reference. The subject and template apply to single-course emails. Students with guidance from two or more courses in the same week get one combined email, “Your Weekly Guidance (2 courses)”, with the Multi-Course Intro Line. See Settings reference.
Are prompt attachments included in emails?
No. Attachment links on a prompt appear under that prompt on the student guidance page and the trainer page, not in the emails. Use the Student Guidance Page URL setting so each email has a “View this guidance online” link to the page where the attachments are.
Can I export the audit log or email history?
The audit log (Settings → System) can be filtered and browsed but has no export button. Records older than the Log Retention Period (365 days by default) are deleted automatically.
What happens when I deactivate or delete the plugin?
Deactivating stops all of the plugin’s scheduled tasks but keeps every timeline, prompt, log and setting. Reactivating schedules the tasks again. Deleting the plugin from the Plugins screen removes its scheduled tasks and temporary data. Your timelines, prompts, logs and settings are deleted only if Settings → System → Remove All Data on Uninstall was ticked beforehand. See Privacy, data and uninstall.
What personal data does the plugin store?
Timelines and prompts; a delivery log of which guidance was emailed to which user and when (used to avoid duplicates and to work out who is behind); trainer edit suggestions; an audit log of changes and who made them; and each student’s per-course email opt-outs, stored on their user profile. Student names and email addresses come from WordPress user accounts and aren’t copied elsewhere. The plugin connects to WordPress’s Tools → Export Personal Data and Erase Personal Data tools.
For trainers
How do I become a trainer for a course?
An administrator assigns you as an instructor of the course in Tutor LMS or LifterLMS, or adds you to the class as a Trainer on the Classes screen in Native Classes mode. You then see that course on the trainer page.
Can I create new prompts or timelines?
No. On the trainer page you can view guidance and suggest edits to existing prompts. Administrators create, delete and reorganise prompts and timelines.
Why can’t I suggest an edit on some weeks?
Past weeks are locked (“Past weeks can’t be edited.”), and so are weeks whose emails have already gone out (“This week has already been sent and can’t be edited.”). This keeps the record of what students received accurate. You can suggest edits on the current week until it is sent, and on any future week.
Can I see what students see?
Yes. For each week the trainer page shows Student Guidance (What students see) — “These prompts are sent to students via email and visible on their guidance page.” — and, where there is any, Trainer Guidance (Only visible to you) for trainer-only notes.
What does “Edit Pending” mean?
You’ve submitted a suggestion for that prompt and it’s waiting for an administrator to review it. You’ll get an email when it’s approved or not approved, if your site has edit notifications turned on.
Why don’t I get the student emails for my course?
Trainers never receive student emails for the courses they teach — even if they are also enrolled — so your inbox only gets the weekly trainer email for each course. If you need to see the student version, open the trainer page, or ask an administrator to send a test from Email Delivery → Test Emails.
I’m not receiving trainer emails.
Check your spam folder and your profile email address, and ask an administrator to confirm you’re assigned as an instructor of the course. Trainer emails are only sent in weeks where that course has guidance to send.
For students
Why am I not receiving weekly guidance emails?
Check your spam or junk folder first, then the email address on your profile. Open the email preferences page — you may have switched emails off for that course. If it still doesn’t work, contact your course administrator; they can check your enrolment.
Can I choose when emails arrive?
No. The day and time are set by your course administrator for the whole site. You can switch emails off (and back on) for each course on the email preferences page, using the “Manage your email preferences” link at the bottom of guidance emails, if your site provides it.
If I turn emails off, can I still see my guidance?
Yes. Switching emails off only stops the emails. Your guidance is still on your course’s guidance page whenever you log in.
I enrolled late — will I get the weeks I missed?
On most courses, yes. About five minutes after you enrol, you receive a catch-up email with the guidance from the weeks you missed, grouped by week. If you join several courses at once you may get one combined catch-up. Courses with a Rolling timeline don’t send catch-ups — they start you at Week 1 on your enrolment date. See Catch-up emails.
Can I look ahead to future weeks?
No. On the guidance page the Next Week button stops at the current week, and search only covers guidance up to the current week. You can go back to any past week at any time.
Can I reply to a guidance email?
That depends on how your site’s email is set up — replies go to whichever address your site sends from, which may or may not be monitored. If you have a question about the guidance, contact your trainer directly.
Will I keep getting emails after I unenrol?
No. Only current enrolments receive emails. If you enrol again later, you may receive a catch-up email for weeks you haven’t already been sent.
Worked example
A practice manager at a physiotherapy clinic runs a 10-week onboarding program for new clinicians as a Fixed period timeline in Native Classes mode.
- A new clinician is added to the class as a Student in Week 4. Five minutes later they receive a catch-up email with Weeks 1–4, then get the Week 5 email with everyone else.
- The senior physio is added as a Trainer. Each Monday they get the trainer email with that week’s student guidance plus private trainer notes, and they suggest a clearer wording for Week 6, which waits in Pending Suggestions until the practice manager approves it.
- The clinic shuts for a week over Christmas, so the practice manager adds a break period. No email goes out that week, and the program resumes with the next week in January.
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