In an era where online learning is transforming education, creating a Learning Management System (LMS) that’s powerful, scalable, and user-friendly is no small feat. WiseAcademy.org.uk was developed to meet this demand designed and engineered from the ground up using the robust Laravel framework.

This project delivers a complete eLearning ecosystem that connects students, teachers, and institutions on one dynamic platform. With features like course purchasing, instructor onboarding, live bootcamp enrollment, digital classrooms, and revenue-sharing models, WiseAcademy stands as a modern solution in the growing online education market.

This portfolio dives deep into the architectural design, technologies used, feature set, challenges overcome, and business impact of this Laravel-based LMS platform.

Project Goals

The vision for WiseAcademy.org.uk was to create a centralized hub for both learning and teaching. The main goals included:

1. Offer students an intuitive and engaging eLearning experience.

2. Allow educators to independently publish and sell courses.

3. Enable students to join interactive bootcamps and live sessions.

4. Create a robust admin system for platform management.

5. Design for scalability, speed, and mobile responsiveness.

6. Support multiple payment gateways and secure transactions.

7. Provide real-time communication tools (discussion, comments, announcements).

Technologies Used

• Backend: Laravel 10+

• Frontend: Blade templating + Vue.js (for dynamic components)

• Database: MySQL

• Authentication: Laravel Breeze with Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

• Payment Gateways: Stripe, PayPal

• Live Bootcamp Integration: Zoom API (extendable)

• Video Hosting: Embedded support for Vimeo and YouTube, with future cloud storage options

• UI Framework: Tailwind CSS, Alpine.js

• Deployment: NGINX, SSL, Cloudflare CDN

• SEO Tools: Laravel Meta, Sitemap Generator, Schema JSON-LD

Key Features & Functionalities

🎓 Student Dashboard

Students enjoy a personalized learning dashboard that includes:

• Enrolled courses and progress tracking

• Resume learning with one-click access

• Upcoming bootcamps and event schedules

• Downloadable certificates upon course completion

• Direct messaging with instructors

🧑‍🏫 Teacher/Instructor Panel

Empowering educators to build their own brand and income:

• Instructor profile and portfolio creation

• Upload course materials (videos, PDFs, quizzes)

• Set pricing, coupons, and limited-time offers

• View enrollment analytics and earnings

• Withdraw earnings via Stripe or PayPal

🛒 Course Marketplace

WiseAcademy serves as a digital storefront for learning:

• Courses categorized by subject, difficulty, and rating

• Course preview video, syllabus, requirements

• Star ratings, reviews, and student testimonials

• Add to cart or direct checkout options

• Wishlist and comparison features

🧠 Bootcamp & Live Class Integration

For those looking for more interaction:

• Students can enroll in structured, scheduled bootcamps

• Countdown timers for next sessions

• Zoom/Google Meet integration

• Automatic reminders via email

• Session recordings accessible post-event

🔐 Role-Based Authentication & Access

The platform supports 3 main user types:

• Admin – full access to all settings, users, reports

• Teacher – can only manage their own content

• Student – limited to viewing, purchasing, learning

Authentication was built using Laravel Breeze with RBAC, middleware protections, and email verification.

📚 Course Creation Engine

A powerful multi-step course builder:

• Add modules and chapters

• Drag & drop lesson reordering

• Rich text editor for course content

• Upload media (video/audio/pdf)

• Attach quizzes, assignments, and supplementary materials

💳 E-Commerce Features

The LMS supports a full eCommerce flow:

• Secure payment processing via Stripe & PayPal

• Coupons and seasonal discounts

• Shopping cart and checkout system

• Automated email notifications post-purchase

• Invoice generation and download

📈 Admin Management

Platform owners can manage everything:

• Course approval system

• Manage user roles and permissions

• Control categories, tags, site content

• View revenue reports, user growth, and engagement stats

• Approve instructor applications

🛠️ Scalability and Optimization

Optimized to support thousands of concurrent users:

• Laravel job queues for background tasks

• Image lazy loading and asset minification

• CDN caching for faster asset delivery

• Database indexing for faster queries

• Horizontally scalable architecture

User Experience (UX/UI)

WiseAcademy’s design puts the user first:

• Clean and minimalist interface

• Responsive mobile and tablet views

• Dark/light mode toggle

• Animated transitions using Vue for dynamic areas

• Accessibility-compliant (WCAG guidelines followed)

• Breadcrumbs, course progress bars, and tooltips

DevOps & Hosting

The backend infrastructure was carefully optimized:

• Hosted on VPS with NGINX and PHP-FPM

• SSL certificate via Let’s Encrypt

• Automatic database backups

• Scheduled jobs for recurring tasks (reminders, certificate generation)

• Error monitoring and logging via Laravel Telescope

Testing & Quality Assurance

Stability and performance were non-negotiable:

• Unit and Feature tests with PHPUnit

• Live preview/staging environment for QA

• Cypress for end-to-end testing (checkout, course access)

• Performance testing with Lighthouse

• Responsive testing on 20+ real devices

Challenges & Solutions

📌  Managing Multiple User Roles

Balancing different experiences for admins, students, and teachers required custom middleware and policies in Laravel.

📌  Live Class Scheduling

Synchronizing time zones and live sessions was a major challenge. Solved using:

• Dynamic timezone detection

• Calendar integration

• Live countdown with backend cron jobs

📌 Secure Video Hosting

Preventing unauthorized access to paid content:

• Video links are dynamically generated

• Expiring access tokens for private videos

• Support for Vimeo private hosting and watermarking

Business Impact

Since launch, WiseAcademy.org.uk has shown outstanding results:

• 300+ student signups within the first 2 months

• 40+ instructors onboarded with their own courses

• 70%+ bootcamp enrollment rate from course buyers

• 80% mobile usage validating responsive-first design

• <2s average page load time

The platform is currently being used by independent instructors, academic institutions, and bootcamp organizers to deliver quality education remotely.

Future Enhancements

• Native mobile apps (React Native or Flutter)

• AI-driven course recommendation engine

• Gamification: badges, levels, leaderboards

• Subscription-based pricing model

• Affiliate marketing module for course sharing

• Multilingual support for global users

Conclusion

WiseAcademy.org.uk isn’t just an LMS it’s an entire education business in a box. Built with Laravel, it brings together speed, security, and flexibility in a platform that serves both learners and educators. Its scalable architecture makes it perfect for institutions of any size whether it’s a solo teacher selling a course or a full-fledged digital academy.

This project showcases my ability to build enterprise-grade, Laravel-powered platforms that are feature-rich, scalable, and business-focused. From concept to deployment, every component was crafted with performance and user experience in mind.

If you’re looking to develop a next-generation educational platform, I’d be thrilled to help you build something even more powerful.