After several delays and a failed schedule attempt I am happy to announce that the myCred 1.6 beta is now available for download!
In this somewhat long post I will be going through some of the changes and new features coming to myCred. On January 15th January 23rd the website will be offline for a few hours while I update all the documentation to reflect these changes. myCred 1.6 will be publicly available on the same day.
This beta is not intended for use on production sites. If you want to test this on your live site, please make sure you backup your database before updating!
Remember that translating myCred is rewarded with Tokens, this also includes updating existing translations.
https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/mycred.1.6.1.zip
Reporting Beta Bugs
In order to help me separate issues between the current version of myCred and the 1.6 Beta I would like to ask you to please post your issues / finding in the Beta Forum! The beta forum is private which means you must be logged in to see it in the support forum.
Reporting issues in the beta version will as with the live version grant you Tokens.
You should report the following:
Issues and bugs
Issues in 1.5.4 that got resolved with the 1.6 beta
Language issues (bad grammar / spelling) (English only)
Layout / Design issues
Conflicts with third party plugins
Installation & Updates
Version 1.6 is installed / updated just like any other version but this beta contains a custom update script which will check for beta updates from the myCred server instead of WordPress.org. This script will not be part of the live version of course.
It is highly recommended that you update your beta copy as soon as an update becomes available! When the final version is launched all betas will receive an update that a new version is available allowing you to update your beta to a live version.
Update – Decimals
As of version 1.6, myCred will now allow you to change the number of decimals you want to use for each point type! There is however one limitation that we can not get around without making everything bulky and resource intensive.
This limitation is that your main point type (the default one myCred creates) must be the type that has the highest number of decimals. So if you want to use 10 decimal places then your main type must be the one using it. Furthermore all other point types you create can never have any higher number of decimal places then your main point type.
But as of 1.6 you can change the number of decimals each point type uses directly under your “Core Settings” preferences. When you change your main point types decimal places you will be presented with a new button asking you to update the database. You will need to click on this button in order for the new decimals to take effect.
Update – Badges Add-on
The Badge add-on has been updated to version 1.1 which includes a slight re-design of the badge editor along with two new features:
Levels
As of version 1.1 badges can now have “Levels” which allows you to award different types of badges for the same reference! You can have an unlimited amount of levels however too many of them will start effecting your websites performance when a user gains / looses points.
Manually Awarding Badges
The second new features is the ability to add / remove any users badges! Simply edit any user in your admin area and you will find a new “Badges” tab where all published badges will be listed. You can select here to give or take away a users badges and if you use Levels, which level they have reached.
Update – Ranks Add-on
The Ranks add-on has been updated to version 1.4 and now supports multiple point types! You can now if you want setup ranks for each point type and select as before if they are based on a users total balance or current balance!
As of this version you will find a “Ranks” submenu under each point type you have setup for each access.
This new feature was more complicated then I anticipated as I had to update almost every single function and shortcode in order to add support. This means that all Codex documentation is now incomplete for rank shortcodes and functions.
If you only have one point type then you have nothing to worry about. All functions and shortcodes will default to your main point type and you do not need to adjust anything.
The following shortcodes have been given a new shortcode attribute called ctype which allows you to show ranks for a particular point type.
- mycred_my_rank
- mycred_users_of_all_ranks
- mycred_list_ranks
Furthermore a new shortcode has been added called mycred_my_ranks which allows you to show all ranks a user has if you use more then one point type. The shortcode works just like the mycred_my_rank shortcode but without the ctype attribute.
BuddyPress
The Ranks add-ons settings has also been updated to allow you to select if you want to insert a users rank into their BuddyPress profile. You can also set the template to use for each point type if you have ranks for more then one point type setup.
Update – Gateway Add-on
The Gateway add-on has been updated to add support for awarding points to users who purchase products in your MarketPress store! It works just like the WooCommerce reward system allowing you to set an amount you want to award for each point type when editing a product.
Points are paid out when an order has been paid.
Remember that in the following situations users will not receive points:
- Order was paid using points
- Buyer is not logged in when making a purchase
Update – Email Notifications Add-on
The Email Notifications add-on has been updated to version 1.3 and now supports sending emails when a user earns a new badge / rank and you can now select to send emails only for a particular point type! Existing setups will default to the main point type.
The add-on has also received several updates “under the hood”. Emails are now sent once the point payout / charge has been completed instead of before.
I have also updated the template tags you can use in your emails:
%new_balance% The users new balance
%old_balance% The users old balance
%amount% The amount of points gained or lost in this instance
%entry% The log entry
New Statistics Add-on
I love statistics. So I thought I add in a new free add-on to bring some stats and graphs to myCred. Once enabled, you will find a new admin page under “Dashboard” called “myCred Statistics” which will show you how many points are in circulation, how these are gained / lost over the last 10 days and for this year.
I plan on adding a premium version of this plugin which will widgetize charts along with allowing you to change colors, what information to show etc.
I have not yet fully decided if Charts.js is the way to go for displaying charts and graphs as it seems to have a lot of bugs. The version I included is a custom version as I had to fix a few bugs myself. If you have a suggestion for an open source graph library please let me know.
Note that the color scheme currently supports maximum 5 point types.
Those interested in adjusting the color scheme already now, can use the following code snippet to change the colors. Colors must be set using rgba with opacity set to 1. You can use this code to change the color or add support for more point types.
add_filter( ‘mycred_point_type_colors’, ‘mycred_pro_adjust_stats_colors’ );
function mycred_pro_adjust_stats_colors( $result ) {
// Use only these three colors
return array(
‘mycred_default’ => ‘rgba(213,78,33,1)’,
‘mycustomtype’ => ‘rgba(46,162,204,1)’,
‘another_type’ => ‘rgba(34,34,34,1)’
);
}
New – Hook Limits
In version 1.6 I have added an optional limit for most hooks. You can now set how many times a user can get points for a specific instance or force a daily/weekly/monthly limit.
Some hooks have already built-in limits which in most cases were left but the “Points for logging in” hook has been updated to use the new system instead of the old one.
This means that if you have this hook enabled you must visit the hook page and update this hooks settings. By default no limit will be applied to this hook so if you are enforcing a limit make sure you update your settings!
New Hook – WP Postratings
As of version 1.6 myCred supports WP Postratings out of the box. You can award users points for rating content and / or the content author for receiving a rating.
You can select to either give the same amount of points no matter what the rating were or award points based on the rating value! If you want to award based on the rating value, you must go to the Ratings > Ratings Options page and set the amount you want to award under “Rating Value”. Does not support negative values.
New – Hook Table Shortcode
This new shortcode is an attempt to allow you to show your users how they can earn / loose points on your website. The shortcode will run though all your hooks and display the amount a user gains / looses and if there is a limit.
| Instance | Amount | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Tokens for accepted Code Snippet. | 25 tk. | No limit |
| Tokens for developer review of -user- | 100 tk. | – |
| Tokens for product review | 350 tk. | No limit |
| Tokens for sharing a tutorial | 1 tk. | – |
Available shortcode attributes:
- type – Allows you to show only hooks for a particular point type.
- gains – Allows you to set if only point gains are shown (1) or if gains and loses are shown (0). Defaults to 1.
- user – The text to show when your log entry contains a user related template tag.
- post – The text to show when your log entry contains a post related template tag.
- comment – Text to show when your log entry contains a comment related template tag.
- amount – Text to show when your log entry contains an amount related template tag.
- nothing – Text to show when no hooks are enabled.
Features that did not make the cut
A few features that was aimed to be included in 1.6 did unfortunately not make the cut.
Sell Content Add-on and support for multiple point types
While working on the ranks add-on I relaized that the myCred Module system is not really working well with heavy add-ons such as Sell Content add-on or the Ranks add-on. In order to allow users to buy content using multiple point types I would have to re-write the entire add-on without making things bulky. Unfortunately due to time constraints I have not been able to find a good solution. This feature will therefor be pushed to a later 1.6.x update.
New Hook for Publishing Content based on Taxonomies
This feature will be added in later version of 1.6.x as I have not been able to find a solution where it would be easy to setup how many points each taxonomy grants. I need to find a solution that works with websites that have a lot of taxonomies. It would be a pretty big hook if you have for example 40 categories and 100 post tags.
WooCommerce Affiliate Add-on
I have decided that instead of me writing an affiliate system I will instead add support for popular affiliate plugins. I feel that instead of trying to re-invent the wheel we should utalize dedicated affiliate plugins. In later version of 1.6.x I will be adding support AffiliateWP as a start. AffiliateWP already supports WooCommerce and it’s a great plugin to develop for. If you have an affiliate plugin to recommend please let me know.
Coming to the Store
Notifications Plus Add-on
Once 1.6 has been launched the Notifications Plus add-on will be updated to add support for showing a notice when a user has earned a new badge and when a user has gained a new rank.
myCred for Visual Composer
Once 1.6 has been launched this plugin will be updated to add support for the new shortcodes .
EDD myCred Gateway
The Easy Digital Downloads myCred Gateway plugin will be updated once 1.6 is launched to add support for awarding points to users who buys items in your store!
Changelog
* NEW – Added option to change number of decimal places after setup.
* NEW – Statistics Add-on
* NEW – Badges can now have levels.
* NEW – Added manual badge management when editing a user.
* NEW – Built-in hooks have been added optional limits.
* NEW – Added Rewards system for MarketPress allowing you to reward purchases with points.
* NEW – Added new hook for WP Postratings plugin.
* NEW – Added new shortcode: mycred_hook_table to show the amount of points users can earn or lose based on setup.
* NEW – Ranks now support multiple point types.
* NEW – Added new filter: mycred_run_this for adjusting points before being executed.
* NEW – Added new filter: mycred_add_finished for customizations after points have been awarded / deducted.
* NEW – Added new filters: mycred_wpecom_profit_share, mycred_marketpress_profit_share and mycred_woo_profit_share to allow customizations of the percentage to pay out to store vendors.
* NEW – Added new constants MYCRED_BADGE_WIDTH and MYCRED_BADGE_HEIGHT to set the width and height of badge images in pixels. Defaults to 100×100.
* NEW – Added support for sending email notifications for new badges.
* NEW – Added support for setting which point type an email is to be sent for.
* NEW – Added option to set what ranks for each point type is based on.
* NEW – Added new shortcode [mycred_users_of_ranks] to show all users ranks.
* TWEAK – Moved Email Notifications from mycred_add to mycred_add_finished.
* TWEAK – Moved Ranks check from mycred_add to mycred_add_finished.
* TWEAK – Added option to for BuddyPress and bbPress to select if we should show only earned or all badges in profiles / replies.
* TWEAK – Updated admin styling and available template tags for email notifications.
* TWEAK – When selecting “Set all balances to zero”, all ranks are reset as well.
* TWEAK – All rank shortcodes have been updated to support multiple point types.
* TWEAK – Re-organized certain add-on folders by moving js and css items into assets folder.
* FIX – Badge requirements show 1 instead of actual value.
* FIX – When points without decimals are purchased, NETbilling required them to have two decimals.
* FIX – Incorrect sorting variable is passed when sorting your points history in BuddyPress.
* FIX – When awarding points for BP Group members on x number of members, points are not awarded.
* FIX – mycred_give limit only works for the default point type.
* FIX – When ranks are not based on total point balance the awarding of a new rank is “one step” behind.
