Before we get into the WordPress LMS plugins for creating and selling your online course, let's define the problem a bit more clearly.  

If WordPress is a robust content management system and your course is awesome sauce why exactly do you need a special LMS plugin?  

Why can't you just put together your course in say 30 pages and call it a day?

Well, when we think of online courses our perception of a well designed course besides the content is how well it's delivered and how easy it was for us to consume, resume, and complete.

Our perception of "a quality course" takes a few technical features as part of the experience and we lump it together as part of the course in general.

For example, here are five features that can impact a students view of how valuable they consider a course to be.

1. A course having a quiz at the end of each unit or module can increase the perceived value of your course as it ensures that your student has grasped the knowledge in a sufficient way.
   
2. Feedback/Surveys during the course to find the topics your students are struggling with and then addressing those topics would show your students that you care about them personally.
   
3. This goes without saying, but these days video/audio content is seen as standard formats and your students expect this.
   
4. Tracking course progress and resuming from the last 'completed' section has a higher quality course perception than a list of links and menu dropdowns.
5. Engaged community where there are lots discussions and wins shared shows your students that your course delivers on it's promise.
   

Now, these "basic features" that you are associating with a well executed course are as you might have guessed "features" 🙂 and why you need a plugin to implement these.

And that my friend is what LMS plugins do and a whole lot more including a the backend management of students and your "marketing" options necessary for a successful online course 🙂