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LearnDash quiz import: LearnDash quiz builder, question import and quiz question types
The only import that ships with LearnDash is XML, and its own documentation says that route is for moving quizzes between LearnDash sites. Generate the questions first, then enter or import them.
What you are looking at
Three quizzes VidQuiz generated from three real YouTube videos. They are saved output, not generated in your browser. Pick one to answer it, and open the source video to check the questions against what is actually said in it.
Your own video gets a fresh quiz once you sign up.
We have not read that link.
This page only serves quizzes that were already generated, and it does not send your link anywhere. Reading a video takes about half a minute of real work on our side, so it runs in your account, not in an anonymous demo.
What VidQuiz reads: paste a YouTube link and VidQuiz watches the video itself. For any other source (Vimeo, an MP4, a screen recording, an upload) paste that video’s transcript and VidQuiz writes the questions from it.
Questions from your video · answers and explanations · edit before you share
Free plan: 3 quizzes a month, no card needed
The short answer
Last updated September 2026
LearnDash ships one quiz import and it is XML. LearnDash documentation states the feature is designed specifically for importing and exporting LearnDash quizzes, and that a quiz coming from another platform needs the Migration add-on instead. There is no CSV, Excel, Word or QTI importer in the core plugin, so questions are either typed one at a time under LEARNDASH LMS > QUESTIONS or brought in by a third-party add-on that reads XLS, XLSX, DOCX or JSON. VidQuiz writes the questions themselves from a YouTube link, with four answer options, the correct one marked and a short explanation, which leaves you reviewing and entering rather than composing.
Search for a way to bulk load questions into LearnDash and you land on two very different things wearing almost the same name. One is the XML Quiz Import/Export built into the plugin, sitting under LearnDash LMS > Quizzes in the Actions menu. The other is a paid third-party add-on, also called Quiz Import/Export, which is the one that actually reads a spreadsheet. People buy the first expecting the second, and the disappointment is predictable.
The built-in feature moves quizzes between LearnDash installations. You can select several quizzes and export them together into a single XML file, then import that file on another site running LearnDash. It is a migration tool. LearnDash says so directly in its own guide, and points anyone arriving from a different LMS at the Migration add-on rather than at XML.
What that leaves is the Questions screen, one item at a time: the stem, the options, the correct answer, the feedback. Fine for a five question knowledge check at the end of a lesson. Genuinely slow for a fifty item final assessment across an eight lesson course.
This page covers what LearnDash actually supports, what each of the eight question types will and will not do, which plan unlocks the AI quiz builder, and where the questions can come from before any of that. Every figure and every limit below was read from LearnDash and Liquid Web documentation in September 2026.
At a glance
Every way questions get into a LearnDash quiz
Swipe left to see all columns →
| Route | What it reads | Ships with LearnDash | What it is actually for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Questions editor | Nothing, typed by hand | Yes | Authoring one question at a time under LEARNDASH LMS > QUESTIONS. The only route in the core plugin that creates new questions from scratch |
| XML Quiz Import/Export | A .xml file it wrote itself | Yes | Moving quizzes between LearnDash sites. Several quizzes can be exported together into one file. LearnDash points you at the Migration add-on instead if the quiz comes from another LMS |
| LearnDash Migration add-on | Exports from other platforms | Add-on | Bringing existing courses and quizzes across from another LMS. Not a route for authoring from a spreadsheet |
| Third-party Quiz Import/Export add-on | .xls, .xlsx, .docx and .json | No, sold separately | The spreadsheet route most people are actually looking for. Covers the core question types plus the Advanced Quizzes types |
| AI Course Outline and Quiz Builder | A described topic, not a file | Pro and Elite only | Generating an outline and questions from a prompt. Not included on the Essentials plan |
| VidQuiz | A YouTube link | No, used before LearnDash | Turning a recorded lecture, webinar or training session into the written question set you then enter or import |
Read first-party from LearnDash documentation and the Liquid Web LearnDash plan pages in September 2026. Third-party add-on formats read from the vendor documentation.
How do I import questions into LearnDash?
With the core plugin alone, you do not. You author them. The Questions screen under LEARNDASH LMS > QUESTIONS creates one question at a time, and that is the only route in LearnDash itself that produces a new question. The XML Import/Export in the Quizzes Actions menu looks like the answer and is not: it reads a file that LearnDash wrote, so it can only bring in a quiz that already existed inside LearnDash somewhere else.
If you need a spreadsheet route, it comes from outside the plugin. A third-party Quiz Import/Export add-on reads .xls, .xlsx, .docx and .json, ships templates for simple and complex quizzes, and covers the core question types plus the extra types that the Advanced Quizzes add-on adds. JSON is the smaller file and processes faster, which matters when you are moving a whole course rather than a single quiz.
Either way the slow part is upstream of the import. Filling a fifty row template means writing fifty stems, two hundred answer options and fifty correct answers. Paste the link to the recording above and that part is already done: the questions arrive written, with the correct option marked and a one line explanation, and you spend your time deciding which ones to keep.
Does LearnDash have a quiz import export?
Yes, and it is narrower than the name suggests. LearnDash LMS > Quizzes has an Actions menu with Import/Export in it. Export writes a .xml file, and you can select several quizzes at once so they are saved together in a single file. Import reads that file back. It is the standard way to move a quiz you built on a staging site onto production, or to reuse a quiz across two sites you run.
The line worth quoting is in the LearnDash guide itself: the feature is designed specifically for importing and exporting LearnDash quizzes, and if you need to bring quizzes in from another LMS platform you use the LearnDash Migration add-on instead. So the built-in import is a same-platform tool by design, not by accident, and no amount of reformatting a CSV will make it read one.
The confusion is understandable, because a widely sold third-party add-on carries almost the same name and does the spreadsheet job. When a tutorial shows a LearnDash quiz being built from an Excel file, check which of the two it is using before you plan a course migration around it.
- Built in: XML only, LearnDash to LearnDash, several quizzes per file
- Built in: found under LearnDash LMS > Quizzes > Actions > Import/Export
- From another LMS: the Migration add-on, not the XML route
- From a spreadsheet: a third-party add-on reading .xls, .xlsx, .docx or .json
- No CSV, QTI or plain text importer exists in the core plugin
What question types does LearnDash support?
Eight in the core plugin: Single Choice, Multiple Choice, Free Choice, Sorting Choice, Matrix Sorting Choice, Fill in the Blank, Assessment (Survey) and Essay/Open Answer. The table above lists what each one does and the constraint that tends to surface late. Two of those constraints cause most of the support questions.
The first is Multiple Choice scoring. LearnDash requires the learner to select every correct answer before the question counts as correct, so a learner who finds two of three correct options scores the same as one who guessed. If you want credit for a partial answer, you need the weighted grading that arrives on the Pro plan, or you rewrite the item as Single Choice.
The second is Matrix Sorting Choice. It only supports one-to-one associations, which means a matching exercise where one category legitimately takes two items cannot be built that way. People discover this after writing the question, not before. Free Choice has a gentler version of the same trap: it ignores capitalization but not spelling, so every acceptable variation has to be listed by hand.
How do I create a quiz in LearnDash?
Create the quiz first, then attach questions to it. In the WordPress admin, LEARNDASH LMS > QUIZZES creates the quiz shell and its settings. Questions live in their own post type under LEARNDASH LMS > QUESTIONS, and the quiz builder screen is where you associate them, reorder them and set point values. That separation is why the same question can appear in more than one quiz without being duplicated.
Then attach the quiz to the course. A LearnDash quiz can sit at course level, at the end of a lesson, or at the end of a topic, and where you put it changes what completing it means for progression. A quiz attached to a lesson has to be passed before the lesson is marked complete when you have required progression on, which is the usual reason a learner reports being stuck.
If the material is a recording, do the question writing before you open WordPress at all. Paste the lecture or training link above, review what comes back, then create the questions with a finished draft in front of you. It turns an authoring session into a data entry session, and data entry is much easier to hand to somebody else.
Does LearnDash have an AI quiz builder?
Yes, on the Pro and Elite plans. Liquid Web lists AI Course Outline and Quiz Builder as a Pro feature, described as generating a structured outline with lessons from a topic you describe, ready to customize and publish. It is not part of the Essentials plan, so a solo instructor on the $259 tier does not have it.
What it works from is the difference that matters. The LearnDash AI builder starts from a topic you type, which is the right shape when you are designing a course from scratch and want a skeleton. It does not start from your recorded material. If the content already exists as a webinar, a lecture capture or a training session, questions generated from a topic description will be generically correct and will not test what you actually said.
That is the gap this page exists for. VidQuiz reads a YouTube link and writes questions about the specific content in it, with a timestamp on each so you can check the claim against the moment it came from. Then LearnDash does what it is good at: delivering, gating and reporting.
How much does LearnDash cost?
Three annual plans, in US dollars, all with one license covering unlimited courses and unlimited learners. Essentials is $259 a year and is aimed at a solo instructor. Pro is $399 a year and is marked as the popular tier. Elite is $599 a year and is positioned for institutions and learning and development teams. All three renew annually and can be cancelled.
The plan line that decides most purchases is not the price, it is where the features sit. Essentials covers the course builder, the quiz builder, memberships and subscriptions, payment integrations, certificates and plagiarism detection. Pro adds the AI course outline and quiz builder, advanced reporting, enrollment tracking, weighted grading and custom report cards. Elite adds group course management, the instructor role, front-end course creation and seat based selling.
So weighted grading and the AI builder both live behind the same $140 a year step from Essentials to Pro. If you are writing a lot of multiple choice and you want partial credit to be possible, that step is the one to look at, and it is worth checking against what generating the questions elsewhere would cost you.
- Essentials: $259 per year, solo instructors
- Pro: $399 per year, adds AI quiz builder, weighted grading and advanced reporting
- Elite: $599 per year, adds groups, instructor role and seat selling
- One license, unlimited courses, unlimited learners on every plan
- LearnDash offers 48 hours of access with no credit card required
Do I need the LearnDash Advanced Quizzes add-on?
Only if the eight core types genuinely do not cover your assessment. The core set handles almost every knowledge check, graded lesson quiz and final exam that a course actually needs, and the cost of the extra types is another moving part to maintain through WordPress and LearnDash updates.
Where it earns its place is question behaviour rather than question shape: pools that draw a random subset, richer answer handling, and the extra types that the third-party spreadsheet importer explicitly supports alongside the core ones. If you are already buying that importer for a large migration, the two are usually specified together.
For a course built out of recorded material, neither add-on changes the bottleneck. The questions still have to be written by somebody, and the number of them is what makes a course feel thorough or thin. Generate the set first, then decide how much LearnDash tooling the delivery actually needs.
Spec
The 8 LearnDash question types and the rule that catches people
Swipe left to see all columns →
| Question type | How the learner answers | The rule worth knowing before you write 50 of them |
|---|---|---|
| Single Choice | Picks one radio button | One correct answer. There is no limit on how many incorrect options you add alongside it |
| Multiple Choice | Ticks every box that applies | The learner must select ALL of the correct answers for the question to be marked correct. A partial match earns nothing |
| Free Choice | Types an answer into a field | You can accept one answer or several acceptable variations. Capitalization is ignored |
| Sorting Choice | Drags answers into order | The order you enter in the backend is the correct order. There is no second acceptable sequence |
| Matrix Sorting Choice | Drags items onto fixed criteria | Only one-to-one associations are supported, so one criterion cannot take two answers |
| Fill in the Blank | Types into gaps in a sentence | Blanks are written with curly braces. If a question has more than one blank, every blank must be answered correctly |
| Assessment (Survey) | Picks a point on a scale | Only one answer may be selected. It is a rating question, so it is not scored the way the graded types are |
| Essay / Open Answer | Writes text or uploads a file | Graded by hand after submission. Nothing is scored automatically |
Question types and their behaviour read from the LearnDash quiz questions documentation, September 2026. VidQuiz writes multiple choice items, which map onto Single Choice and Multiple Choice.
Related reading
- quiz maker for online courses is the wider page for course creators selling their own material.
- turning a course video into a quiz covers the use case most LearnDash authors arrive with.
- Rise 360 quiz generator documents another authoring tool with no question import at all.
- Brightspace quiz converter covers the academic LMS with the opposite problem, too many import routes.
- quiz converter lists every export format we write and which platform reads each one.
- LMS quiz generator is the pillar page covering every platform we export for.
Why VidQuiz
What you get with learndash quiz
The writing gets done first
Paste a YouTube link and get question text, four options, the marked correct answer and a short explanation. LearnDash still gets typed into, but you are editing rather than inventing.
Shaped for the spreadsheet add-on
If you run the third-party Quiz Import/Export add-on, our CSV is the source you reshape into its XLSX template. Every question already carries a marked correct option.
One set, several destinations
The same questions export as CSV, PDF, QTI or a Google Forms quiz, so a course that later moves off WordPress does not need rewriting.
What you can do
Everything learndash quiz import gives you
Paste a YouTube link and VidQuiz reads the video itself; for anything else, upload it with its transcript. Either way it writes the questions and you edit anything before you share. You stay in control of the final quiz.
- Stock a LearnDash quiz from a recorded lecture or webinar
- Write end of lesson knowledge checks without composing each one
- Get a marked answer key instead of setting one by hand
- Produce a question set to reshape for the XLSX import add-on
- Build a final assessment across several recorded modules
- Keep a copy of the questions outside WordPress
Quiz Studio
Try it on a video right here
Pick a sample or paste your own link, generate the quiz, then answer the questions. Each one is tied to a moment in the video, with the answer and a short explanation.
What you are looking at
Three quizzes VidQuiz generated from three real YouTube videos. They are saved output, not generated in your browser. Pick one to answer it, and open the source video to check the questions against what is actually said in it.
Your own video gets a fresh quiz once you sign up.
We have not read that link.
This page only serves quizzes that were already generated, and it does not send your link anywhere. Reading a video takes about half a minute of real work on our side, so it runs in your account, not in an anonymous demo.
Good questions
Questions about learndash quiz
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The only import that ships with LearnDash is XML, and its own documentation says that route is for moving quizzes between LearnDash sites. Generate the questions first, then enter or import them. Make your first quiz in seconds.