Automated reminders and user sync for AAB’s board training platform.
Project
Integration / Automation
Client
Boligforeningen AAB
ABOUT
Boligforeningen AAB runs a mandatory board education programme (Bestyrelsesuddannelsen) through a WordPress-based LMS powered by LearnDash. As the user base grew, manual follow-up on course progress and three-month completion deadlines became unsustainable. Webnorth built a custom automation plugin that synchronises users and course assignments from Azure AD, tracks individual progress, and delivers timed reminder emails across two behavioural tracks.
One track targets users who have not yet started, the other targets users who are in progress but have not completed all mandatory courses. The plugin detects genuine changes to course assignments and resets timelines accordingly, notifies administration when deadlines are missed or late completions occur, and gives AAB full control over all email content directly from the WordPress backend.
INDUSTRY
Social housing / Housing association
PROJECT TYPE
Integration / Automation
DURATION
12 weeks
CORE TECHNOLOGY
WordPress, LearnDash, Azure AD, Mandrill
PROCESS
Scoped, built, and launched inside a running LMS.
No discovery phase needed. The platform was live, so the process started with agreements and email content, then moved straight into development and time-compressed testing.
1
Approval & content
Approval of specification, budget, project plan, and service and hosting agreement. Finalisation of email texts and template design.
Internal review, testing of automation flows, email delivery validation, edge case handling (track switching, assignment resets, duplicate prevention).
4
External test
Client-side testing and review. Coordinated with Webnorth due to time-based triggers and third-party dependencies (LearnDash, Azure AD, Mandrill).
5
Final content & Go-live
Final content adjustments by client. Launch preparation, deployment validation, go-live.
ARCHITECTURE DECISIONS
Automation within the existing WordPress platform.
Three decisions that kept the automation inside AAB’s own platform rather than bolting on external tools, so everything from user data to email content stays in one place and under one login.
Self-contained WordPress plugin over external automation
Rather than introducing an external automation platform or marketing automation tool, all automation logic was built as a self-contained WordPress plugin with its own database tables.
This keeps the entire system within the existing platform, avoids additional licensing costs, and allows AAB’s administration to manage all email content directly from the WordPress backend without external dependencies.
Snapshot-based change detection over trigger-on-write
The automation plugin maintains a snapshot of each user’s mandatory course set so it can detect real changes. A simpler approach would trigger a timeline reset on every Azure AD sync, but that produces false restarts when the sync writes identical values.
By comparing the actual mandatory courseID set before and after, the system only resets timelines when the course assignments genuinely change.
Web-safe fonts over brand fonts for email templates
The transactional email template uses web-safe fonts, consistent, predictable rendering across all email clients. AAB’s brand typeface would fail silently in Outlook, which is the primary email client for recipients.
By sticking to web-safe fonts and aligning the rest of the template with AAB’s visual identity through layout, colour, and spacing, the emails look intentional everywhere they land.
TECH STACK
The tools behind automated course tracking and deadline enforcement.
WordPressCMS and platformHosts the LMS, the automation settings page, and the admin area where AAB manages all email content and user data.
LearnDashCourse and progress trackingProvides the course structure, module completion status, and progress data that the automation plugin reads to determine each user's reminder track.
Azure ADUser synchronisationSingle source of truth for user accounts and course assignment values, synced daily into WordPress with change detection to prevent false timeline resets.
WP CronScheduled automationRuns the full automation flow daily, evaluating every eligible user's milestone position and sending the corresponding reminder or notification.
MandrillEmail deliveryHandles all transactional email dispatch, delivering track-specific reminders to users and deadline notifications to administration.
2 Email tracks
Track 1 reaches users who have not started any modules: an initial email on assignment, then reminders at 14 days, one month, two months, and a final deadline notification at three months.
Track 2 reaches users who have started at least one module but have not yet completed all mandatory courses, following the same milestone schedule but with progress-aware messaging consolidated into a single email per user.
Users who complete everything before the deadline receive no further emails. Users who move from Track 1 to Track 2 mid-flow keep their original start date and milestone schedule, so no one gets a full restart just because they began a course.
100% client-managed content
All email texts and reminder content are editable by AAB directly from the WordPress backend.
0 manual follow-ups needed
All deadline tracking and reminder delivery is fully automated from assignment through completion or escalation.
CONTACT US TODAY
Do you need to automate workflows within your existing WordPress platform?
With multiple years of experience in the design and communication industry, Jacob has the knowledge and expertise to combine tech and creativity while focusing on guiding clients through the process and securing user-friendly and innovative digital solutions.
He has worked with some of the biggest Danish and international companies, demonstrating his ability to deliver exceptional results and high-quality solutions tailored to their specific needs.
