You added points and badges, and nobody cares.
The plugin works. Members earn things. And it doesn’t seem to change what anyone does.
Danica LouweUpdated 5 min readPoints and badges only matter when they lead somewhere and members notice them. Plan the levels first, then the points it takes to reach each one. Tie rewards to real progress, like finishing a course, and give members something to spend points on. Show the reward at the moment it’s earned. GamiPress’s free plugin covers the points, badges and levels, and levels plus one type of points is enough to start.
A number going up isn’t a reward by itself.
It’s easy to install a plugin, create some badges and turn on points. Without a plan behind them, members see a number that doesn’t lead anywhere.
Points don’t buy anything
If members can’t spend points or reach something with them, there’s not much reason to collect them.
Rewards aren’t tied to real progress
A badge should mean something happened, like finishing a course. If it’s easy to earn or hard to explain, it won’t feel like much.
Set up in the wrong order
Without planned levels, you end up guessing how many points each action is worth, and fixing it after members have already earned them.
Nobody sees the moment
If a member earns a badge and nothing happens on screen, they may never know, and it’ll be just a line on a profile page.
Before you change anything, answer these.
They’ll tell you whether you need more rewards or just a clearer reason behind the ones you have.
- What do you want members to do more often: finish lessons, post, come back?
- What does a member get for their points today, if anything?
- Can a new member explain how to reach the next level?
- Can they reach the first level early enough to feel it?
- What happens on screen at the moment someone earns a reward?
- What will existing members start with?
Plan it like a game, in this order.
Online games have worked this out already: you level up with experience, and you earn a smaller currency to spend. Plan it in a spreadsheet before you set up anything.
- 1
Define your levels first
GamiPress calls these ranks. Decide how many points each one takes, for example 500 for level 1 and 1,000 for level 2, and make the first one easy to reach.
- 2
Add experience points
These only go up and move members through levels. Award them for the things you listed, like finishing a lesson or a course.
- 3
Add a currency if there’s something to buy
Tokens are a second points type that members spend. Give fewer of them than experience points, such as 10 tokens per 100 points, so they feel worth something.
- 4
Give points a use
Unlock a bonus video for 50 tokens, say. Once members can redeem something real, collecting points starts to make sense.
- 5
Use badges for milestones
Award a badge for finishing a course or reaching a point in the path, and show unearned badges greyed out so people can see what’s ahead.
- 6
Make the moment visible
Show a message, a short video or some confetti when it happens, and test it with a real member account. That’s the part members remember.
The technical version, for your developer
Our videos are from 2022 and 2023. Add-on names and prices were checked in November 2026, so test the rest on your version.
- Core. Create rank types and ranks, points types, achievement types and achievements. Set requirements in the order you planned them, because changing them after launch affects what members have already earned.
- LearnDash. Install GamiPress, then add the integration from LearnDash LMS > Add-Ons. The separate plugin listing on WordPress.org was closed in 2023, so use LearnDash’s Add-Ons screen rather than searching the plugin directory. Then confirm that the course, lesson and quiz events appear.
- Showing rewards. Use GamiPress blocks or shortcodes such as [gamipress_achievements]. For custom layouts, read earnings per user, and show unearned badges in grey.
- Notifications. The core plugin can send email. The paid Notifications add-on shows awards on screen without a refresh, with custom text, colours and sound.
- Video on award. Our popup used a claim page after course completion. Browsers only allow autoplay when muted, so start it muted or have the member press play.
- Past activity. Test GamiPress’s recount tools on a copy before you run them on a live site, so existing members don’t get a burst of awards and emails.
Watch it done
A working setup with levels, experience points and tokens members spend on bonus content, plus how to plan them in the right order.
Questions owners ask
Is GamiPress free?
The core plugin is free and includes points, achievements and ranks. Some add-ons are paid. Notifications, for example, starts at $49 a year for one site. Start with the free plugin and add one only when you have a reason.
Do I need two kinds of points?
No. One of our clients only wanted levels and one type of points, and that works. You only need a second, spendable type when members can redeem something with it.
Does it work with LearnDash?
Yes. LearnDash’s own docs describe a free integration, added from LearnDash LMS > Add-Ons, that lets you award points and badges for LearnDash activity.
Will this get more people to finish my course?
We can’t promise that, and we don’t have a number for it. What we can say is that rewards tied to real progress, and seen right when they’re earned, give members a reason to care. Watch your own completion before and after.
What about existing members?
Decide this before launch. Awards usually fire on new activity, so people who are already part-way through could start at zero. GamiPress has tools for working out past activity, but try them on a copy first.
