3 Exciting New Thinkific Features To Boost Your Training And Education

New Thinkific features are regularly added that help organizations and creators build better learning experiences, engage their audiences, and sell training online.

In the latest additions, Thinkific features have focused on three areas: courses, community, and commerce.  While some updates improve the platform behind the scenes, others introduce practical new capabilities that course creators and training organizations can use to improve their programs.

Let’s look at three exciting new Thinkific features, why they matter, and how you can use them to improve your online training and education.

1.  Create a better learning experience with the Thinkific Learner Hub

What is the Thinkific Learner Hub?

This new Thinkific feature, the Learner Hub, replaces the previous Student Dashboard and gives learners a richer, more centralized experience.

Rather than simply giving learners access to their courses, the Learner Hub creates a central destination where they can access and manage their learning.

Customize the learner experience

Thinkific also gives site owners options to customize Learner Hub elements.  In addition, Thinkific continues to develop greater customization through widgets.

As a result, organizations have more opportunities to create a learning environment that reflects their brand and makes it easier for learners to find what they need.

Make certificates more useful

New Thinkific features have also strengthened its certification capabilities.

Site owners and administrators can now access a learner’s certificate, making it easier to resend certificates when needed.  Meanwhile, learners can add certificates directly to their LinkedIn profiles.

Organizations can also add credit values to certificates, which is especially useful for continuing education and professional development programs.

Why these Thinkific features matter

Together, these improvements can help you:

• Create a more professional learner experience
• Make courses and learning resources easier to access
• Give learners greater value from completing training
• Support continuing education and professional development programs
• Strengthen the visibility of your training program

However, a strong learning experience doesn’t have to end when someone finishes a lesson.  That’s where Thinkific’s expanding community features come in.

2.  Build learner engagement with improved Community Thinkific features

Turn online courses into learning communities

Online learning can sometimes feel isolated.  Thinkific Communities gives organizations another way to connect learners with instructors, experts, and one another.

For example, organizations can create different spaces for specific programs, subjects, audiences, or groups.  As a result, learners can continue conversations beyond individual course activities.

For organizations using Thinkific’s Grow plan, Thinkific currently allows up to three communities with 20 spaces within each community.  These spaces can be private or open.

Create more engaging community experiences

Several useful Thinkific features have been added that give community managers greater flexibility.

Depending on your plan and setup, you can:

• Tag individual community members
• Host live events in private spaces
• Archive spaces you no longer need
• Organize discussions around specific audiences or topics

As a result, you can use Thinkific Communities for more than informal discussion.  You could also use them to support cohorts, professional learning networks, customer education programs, membership programs, or ongoing employee development.

Manage conversations with moderated posts

Recent new Thinkific features include stronger moderation options.

You can require approval before community posts appear.  Furthermore, if a moderator rejects a post, they can provide an explanation that Thinkific includes in the notification email sent to the learner.

Alternatively, organizations that don’t require moderation can keep posting open.

Why Thinkific Communities matter for training

These features can help organizations extend learning beyond a traditional online course.

For example, you can use a community to:

• Encourage peer-to-peer learning
• Continue discussions after course completion
• Answer learner questions
• Host live sessions
• Share additional resources
• Build stronger relationships with learners

Of course, creating a great learning experience represents only part of the challenge for organizations that sell training.  Thinkific is also making it easier to turn courses into revenue.

3.  Sell training more effectively with new Thinkific Commerce features

Thinkific continues to strengthen the commerce side of its platform, particularly for organizations that sell training to multiple audiences or operate internationally.

Sell courses in multiple currencies

Thinkific’s multi-currency functionality lets buyers purchase training in their local currency.

This can create a smoother purchasing experience for international customers.  More importantly, organizations that sell training globally can remove a potential barrier during checkout.

Make purchasing easier with a shopping cart

Thinkific features currently under development include shopping cart functionality that allows customers to add multiple items to a single purchase.

Presently, you can’t mix subscriptions and one-time purchases.  Nevertheless, the feature represents an important step toward a more flexible e-commerce experience.

For organizations with multiple courses, bundles, or training products, a shopping cart could make purchasing considerably easier.

Encourage larger B2B purchases with volume discounts

Volume discounts on group orders offer another particularly useful Thinkific feature for B2B training providers.

Instead of treating every enrolment as an individual sale, organizations can encourage customers to purchase training for larger groups.

For example, a training provider could offer different pricing for 10, 25, 50, or 100 learners.

Why these Thinkific features matter

Together, these Commerce Thinkific features can help training providers:

• Reach international customers
• Simplify the purchasing process
• Sell multiple training products more easily
• Encourage larger group purchases
• Support B2B training and customer education programs

Taken together, these updates show that Thinkific is becoming much more than a platform for simply hosting online courses.

How Thinkific’s Courses, Community and Commerce work together

Perhaps the most interesting development isn’t one individual feature.  Instead, it’s how Thinkific is connecting courses, community, and commerce.

For example, a learner might purchase a course through Thinkific’s commerce tools, complete their learning through the Learner Hub, earn a certificate, and then continue interacting with other learners through a community.

As a result, organizations can create a more complete learning ecosystem within one platform.

This approach could prove particularly valuable for:

• Professional associations
• Continuing education providers
• Customer education programs
• Training companies
• Non-profit organizations
• Businesses selling B2B training
• Organizations building membership-based learning programs

However, even with these expanding capabilities, it’s important to consider how Thinkific compares with other LMS platforms.

How does Thinkific compare with other LMS options?

Thinkific offers a strong combination of course delivery, community and commerce features, which makes it particularly attractive to organizations that want to sell training, deliver customer education, or build an online learning business.

However, Thinkific isn’t the right LMS for every organization.  Other learning management systems may offer stronger features for complex compliance training, advanced reporting, employee training, integrations, or managing large numbers of internal learners.

Therefore, when comparing Thinkific with other LMS options, consider:

• Who will use the LMS? Think about employees, customers, association members, external learners, or a combination of audiences.
• What type of training will you deliver? Your requirements can differ considerably for customer education, professional development, compliance training, or internal employee learning.
• How will you sell or provide access to training? Thinkific’s growing commerce capabilities make this an important strength for organizations that sell courses.
• What reporting and administration do you need? More complex organizations may need reporting, automation, integrations, or administrative capabilities beyond course delivery.
• How important are communities and learner engagement? Thinkific’s expanding community features can add value if ongoing interaction is part of your learning strategy.

Ultimately, the best LMS isn’t necessarily the platform with the most features.  Instead, choose the LMS that best matches your learners, training goals, technical requirements, budget, and growth plans.

If you’re comparing Thinkific with other platforms, our LMS selection process can help you define your requirements, compare your options, and choose a platform that fits your organization.

What should you consider before adopting these Thinkific features?

New features can be exciting, but that doesn’t mean every organization needs to use them all.

Before changing your Thinkific site, consider what you want learners and customers to accomplish.

Do learners struggle to navigate your current site?
Explore the Learner Hub and its customization options.

Do you want learners to stay engaged after completing a course?
Consider adding a Thinkific Community.

Do you sell internationally?
Multi-currency purchasing may improve the customer experience.

Do organizations purchase training for groups?
Explore volume discounts and Thinkific’s B2B commerce capabilities.

Ultimately, start with the learner or customer problem, then choose the Thinkific features that solve it.

Are these new Thinkific features right for your organization?

Thinkific continues to evolve from a straightforward course platform into a broader learning and commerce ecosystem.

The improved Learner Hub and certification tools can strengthen the learning experience.  Meanwhile, Thinkific Communities can encourage ongoing engagement and peer learning.  Finally, the expanding commerce features can make it easier to sell training to individuals, international customers, and organizations.

However, the Thinkific features alone don’t create an effective online learning program.  You still need well-designed courses, a clear learner journey, and a platform configuration that supports your organization’s goals.

Need help getting more from Thinkific?

The right Thinkific features can make a big difference—but the platform is only part of the equation.  You also need engaging course content, a strong learner experience, and a training strategy that supports your goals.

At Spark + Co., our expert instructional designers help organizations create practical, engaging online learning experiences that get results.  Whether you’re developing a new Thinkific course, improving existing training, or deciding how best to use your LMS, we can help.

Not sure where to start?  Book a complimentary consultation with one of our expert instructional designers.  We’ll discuss your training goals, answer your questions, and explore how you can create a better learning experience for your audience.

Frequently asked questions about Thinkific features

What are the main new Thinkific features?

The new Thinkific features combine tools for creating and delivering online courses with features for learner management, communities, certificates, e-commerce, and selling training to individuals and organizations.

What are some of the newest Thinkific features?

Recent improvements include the Learner Hub, enhanced certificate functionality, expanded community management features, multi-currency purchasing, shopping cart functionality, and volume discounts for group purchases.

Does Thinkific support continuing education?

Thinkific can support continuing education programs through features such as course completion certificates and the ability to assign credit values to certificates.

Can you use Thinkific for B2B training?

Yes.  Thinkific includes features that can support B2B training, including group purchases and volume discounts.  Organizations can also combine courses and communities to create more comprehensive training programs.

Can Thinkific support customer education?

Yes.  Organizations can use Thinkific to deliver customer education courses, provide certificates, build learning communities, and sell or provide access to additional learning products.