LifterLMS and Astra Theme Getting Started Guide

Astra is a lightweight WordPress theme that works well with LifterLMS for building online courses, coaching programs, memberships, schools, and training websites. LifterLMS powers the learning platform features, while Astra controls the site design: header, footer, colors, typography, buttons, layouts, sidebars, and page width.

This guide shows you how to install Astra, connect it with your LifterLMS site, customize the most important theme settings, and understand which Astra features are available in the free theme compared with Astra Pro or the Business Toolkit.

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• A WordPress site.
• The LifterLMS plugin is installed and activated.
• At least one course or a sample course, if you want to preview the course layouts.
• Optional: Astra Pro or Business Toolkit if you want premium Astra design controls.

1. In your WordPress admin, go to LifterLMS > Add-ons > Themes.
2. Search for “Astra”.
3. Install and activate the Astra theme.

After activation, Astra appears in the WordPress admin sidebar.

The free Astra theme is enough to start building a LifterLMS site. You can upgrade later if you need premium Astra features such as distraction-free checkout, distraction-free learning, additional LMS display controls, or advanced design tools.

In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Astra > Dashboard.

This page in the Astra dashboard links to the most important Customizer panels. These settings affect the appearance of your LifterLMS pages and the rest of your WordPress site.

Customize the Header

The header is important on a LifterLMS site because students need clear access to courses, memberships, account pages, and support links.

To edit your website header, navigate to Appearance > Customize > Header Builder.

If your site uses groups, communities, coaching areas, or member-only content, add links to them if you think they are useful to students. Avoid crowding the header with every admin or marketing page.

Header Tips

• Put Courses or your main course catalog near the beginning of the menu.
• Add Dashboard or Student Dashboard for logged-in students.
• Use a clear Sign In, Account, or Dashboard link instead of hiding student navigation.
• Check the mobile menu after editing the desktop header.
• If you use Astra Pro profile-link features, confirm the link points students to the correct LifterLMS account or dashboard area.

Customize LifterLMS Layouts in Astra

Astra provides LifterLMS-specific controls in the WordPress Customizer. To edit LifterLMS-specific appearance settings, navigate to Appearance > Customize > LifterLMS. From this panel, you can control how LifterLMS pages fit into the Astra theme.

The available options vary depending on whether you are using Astra Free, Astra Pro, or the Business Toolkit.

Container Layout

Container layout controls the width and structure of LifterLMS content.

• Use a contained or default layout for most course, lesson, membership, and dashboard pages.
• Use a wider layout for landing pages or course sales pages if the design needs more visual space.
• Avoid very wide lesson layouts unless your typography and spacing are tuned for comfortable reading.

Lesson pages are reading pages. A layout that looks good for a homepage may be too wide for lesson content.

Sidebar Layout

Astra lets you control LifterLMS content sidebars. Sidebar behavior matters because not every LMS page needs the same structure.

Recommended sidebar choices:

Checkout pages should stay focused. Removing sidebars from checkout can reduce distractions and make the purchase path clearer.

Global Sidebar Style

If Astra shows sidebar style options such as Default, Unboxed, or Boxed, preview the effect on an actual LifterLMS page before publishing.

Use a boxed sidebar style only if it helps separate navigation from lesson content. On smaller screens, confirm that the sidebar does not push the main lesson or checkout content too far down the page.

Course and Membership Catalogs

LifterLMS creates catalog-style pages for courses and memberships. Astra can help control where these pages appear in your theme layout.

When reviewing catalog pages, check:

• Course card spacing
• Featured image consistency
• Course title length
• Button styling
• Membership card layout
• Mobile stacking
• Empty or hidden sidebar areas

If your course catalog looks too narrow, too wide, or misaligned, review the Astra LifterLMS container and sidebar settings first.

Astra is designed to work well with LifterLMS, but theme and layout conflicts can still happen on WordPress sites.

LifterLMS catalog and taxonomy pages are often the most theme-sensitive pages because they depend on how the active theme handles archive layouts. If a catalog page looks wrong, check Astra’s LifterLMS container, sidebar, and layout settings first.

1. Keep the header simple and student-focused.
2. Link to courses, memberships, dashboard, and support from predictable places.
3. Use Astra global styles before writing custom CSS.
4. Remove sidebars from checkout and sales-focused pages.
5. Use sidebars on lessons only when the learning navigation is required.
6. Preview course, lesson, checkout, and dashboard pages on mobile.
7. Label Pro-only features clearly when documenting the setup for clients or site admins.
8. Avoid installing extra Astra dashboard suggestions unless they solve a specific need.

Read our docs on LifterLMS Catalog Compatibility to learn more.

If you found the free version of Astra useful, consider adding the Astra Pro plugin to your website to unlock more Astra theme design features for LifterLMS. Astra Pro is a plugin from Astra that provides more advanced LifterLMS website customization options.

For a complete overview of Astra’s powerful theme option for LifterLMS, visit Astra’s LifterLMS documentation here. If you need support for the Astra theme, you can reach the Astra support team here.