Step‑by‑Step Guide to Adding Drip‑Feed Videos in LifterLMS

Updated 2026-07-14 · Hosting Reviews

Creating an online course is one of the best ways to monetize your expertise, but releasing all your content at once can overwhelm students. That is where drip content comes in. This drip feed videos LifterLMS guide will show you how to release your lessons over time, keeping your students engaged and preventing them from rushing through your material.

Infrastructure for Your Online Course Site

Before you can drip content, you need a stable foundation. An Online Course Site requires more resources than a basic blog because it handles student logins, progress tracking, and video embeds. You will need three core components: a domain name, a reliable hosting provider, and the WordPress platform.

For those starting out, I recommend Hostinger. It is an affordable, beginner-friendly option that offers one-click WordPress installation and free SSL certificates, which are non-negotiable when you are taking payments from students. Their servers are fast, which ensures your course pages load quickly across different regions.

When choosing a plan, you have three main paths. Shared hosting (usually $3–$10/month) is great for beginners. Cloud hosting ($10–$25/month) offers more stability for growing traffic. VPS hosting is for high-volume sites needing full root access. For 90% of new course creators, a managed WordPress or Cloud plan from Hostinger provides the perfect balance of speed and cost.

Setting Up Your LifterLMS Environment

LifterLMS is a powerful plugin that turns WordPress into a full-fledged learning management system. It handles everything from student management to payment gateways, allowing you to keep 100% of your revenue without paying a third-party platform a percentage of every sale.

To get started, install the LifterLMS core plugin via your WordPress dashboard. Once active, you will set up your Course, then create your Lessons. It is important to remember that you should never upload your videos directly to your WordPress media library. Doing so will slow your site to a crawl and likely crash your server. Instead, host your videos on Vimeo, Wistia, or YouTube (as unlisted) and embed the links into your lessons.

Step-by-Step Drip Feed Videos LifterLMS Guide

Drip feeding is the process of making content available based on a schedule or a trigger. In LifterLMS, this is managed through the "Content Dripping" feature. Here is exactly how to set it up:

1. Install the Drip Content Add-on: LifterLMS offers a specific add-on for dripping. Ensure this is installed and activated in your plugins list.
2. Edit Your Lesson: Navigate to the specific lesson containing your video.
3. Locate the Drip Settings: Scroll down to the LifterLMS settings box below the main content editor.
4. Choose Your Trigger: Select whether the video should unlock based on the "Enrollment Date" (e.g., 7 days after they join) or after the "Completion of a Previous Lesson."
5. Set the Interval: Enter the number of days or hours the content should remain locked.
6. Update and Test: Save the lesson and use a test student account to verify the video is hidden until the trigger date is met.

Optimization: Speed, Security, and Payments

A slow course site leads to high drop-out rates. Because you are using an Online Course Site model, security is paramount. Ensure your hosting includes a free SSL certificate—Hostinger provides this automatically—to encrypt student data and payment information.

To keep the site snappy, use a lightweight theme like Astra or GeneratePress. Since you are embedding videos, your server doesn't have to do the heavy lifting of streaming, but you should still use a caching plugin to speed up the delivery of your lesson pages.

For payments, LifterLMS integrates with Stripe and PayPal. This allows you to set up one-time payments or recurring subscriptions. Since you own the platform, you avoid the massive monthly fees associated with hosted course builders.

Managing Your Budget and Growth

Building your own site is significantly cheaper than using an all-in-one platform. Your primary costs will be your domain (usually $10–$20/year) and your monthly hosting (ranging from $3–$15/month for beginners). Keep in mind that introductory hosting rates often increase upon renewal, so always check the renewal terms.

As your student base grows, you can easily scale your resources. If you notice page load times increasing, you can upgrade your Hostinger plan to a higher tier without needing to migrate your entire site to a new provider.

FAQ

Do I need a fancy server for drip feed videos?

No, you don't need a high-end server as long as you embed your videos from an external host like Vimeo. A standard managed WordPress plan from a provider like Hostinger is more than enough for most course creators.

Can I drip feed content based on quiz scores?

While basic dripping is date or lesson-based, LifterLMS allows for advanced prerequisites. You can set a requirement that a student must pass a quiz with a certain percentage before the next video is unlocked.

Is LifterLMS better than using a hosted platform like Teachable?

It depends on your goals. Hosted platforms are easier to set up but take a cut of your revenue and limit your design. Using WordPress and LifterLMS gives you 100% control, lower monthly overhead, and full ownership of your student data.