Description
ESM Rewards & Benefits helps site administrators introduce a practical points and member-benefit program without requiring technical knowledge or an external service.
Start with the basics:
- Create member-friendly point types with names and symbols you choose.
- Decide which member activities earn rewards.
- Organize earning rules into campaigns.
- Keep a traceable reward history instead of overwriting old balances.
- Offer discounts, vouchers, invitations, access rights, delivery benefits or other member benefits.
- Preview important member-facing wording before saving.
- Show balances, history, campaigns and benefits in compatible content areas.
- Keep reward data on the site unless an optional connected service is explicitly enabled later.
Designed for your site first
The normal workflow is entirely about your own members, points, campaigns and benefits. Internal technical identifiers are not shown to members and do not need to be understood by administrators.
The plugin works independently. No external account, wallet or cloud service is required for the core reward program. If an existing compatible ESM reward module is already active on the site, the administrator can explicitly connect to it without creating a second reward ledger.
Optional ecosystem expansion
At the very bottom of Settings there is a separate, collapsed information area describing optional ESM ecosystem expansion. Opening that area does not connect anything or transmit data.
If a compatible existing ESM reward provider is detected, the Settings accordion first explains how to connect this plugin as the reward management UI while leaving the existing canonical ledger in place. No reward rows are copied or merged. A future external connection provider may additionally offer global reward, wallet, Web3 or verified-service capabilities; any external connection must remain an explicit administrator choice and explain data use before information is transmitted.
The optional information area also introduces compatible independent ESM public modules such as ESM Social and ESM Consumer Evaluation.
Built-in activities
Administrators can create earning rules for common activities such as:
- A new member joins.
- A member signs in.
- Content is published.
- A member comment is approved.
- A verified custom activity supplied by another compatible service.
The administrator sees friendly activity names. Internal platform-neutral activity codes are used only for integrations.
Frontend tools
Each Points, Campaigns and Benefits administration screen shows the appropriate shortcode next to each item with a Copy button. The same screen explains how to paste the shortcode into a page, post or shortcode-enabled widget area.
General shortcodes:
[esm_rewards_balance][esm_rewards_history][esm_rewards_campaigns][esm_rewards_benefits][esm_rewards_panel view="balance"]
Item-specific examples:
[esm_rewards_balance id="12"][esm_rewards_history id="12"][esm_rewards_campaigns id="5"][esm_rewards_benefits id="8"]
The public reward views use responsive card layouts for balances, activity history, campaigns and benefits. The included dynamic block can also show Balance, History, Campaigns or Benefits.
Automatic updates
The plugin does not include a custom updater or alternate update server. When distributed through WordPress.org, the standard plugin-list automatic-update controls and eligible update packages are provided by WordPress core and WordPress.org.
Privacy
The plugin stores reward history, reward activities and benefit claims when those features are used. These records may be associated with member accounts.
Version 1.0.0 does not transmit reward records to an external ESM service. It can optionally read an existing ESM reward ledger already present on the same installation after an administrator explicitly connects it; the existing ledger remains the single source of truth and is not copied. The plugin integrates with the platform privacy export/erase tools available in WordPress.
Screenshots
Blocks
This plugin provides 1 block.
- ESM Rewards & Benefits Show a reward balance, history, campaigns or benefits.
Installation
- Install and activate ESM Rewards & Benefits.
- Open ESM Rewards & Benefits from the administration menu.
- Review the example Site Points reward type or create your own points.
- Create a campaign and one or more earning rules.
- Create benefits if members should exchange points for site benefits.
- Use the included block or display codes where you want members to see the reward experience.
- Settings is always the final submenu. Existing-ESM handoff and optional ecosystem expansion are explained in the collapsed connection area at the bottom of that page.
FAQ
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How do I start a points program?
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Create one point type first, then create a campaign and an earning rule. The creation screens explain each choice and include previews before saving.
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Do I need an external service?
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No. The core points, campaigns, reward history and benefits work independently.
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Can I add connected services later?
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Yes. Optional connection is explained separately at the bottom of Settings. On an existing ESM site, connecting uses the current canonical reward ledger in place; on an independent site, your own points and reward history continue to operate separately.
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Does this release send reward data to ESM?
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No external transmission occurs. Version 1.0.0 can connect to a compatible ESM reward provider already installed on the same site, but that connection reads the existing canonical ledger in place and does not copy it. Opening the information accordion alone never transmits data.
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How do automatic updates work?
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Use the standard automatic-update controls in the plugin list. The Settings page shows the current status and links back to that native control. The plugin does not install a separate updater.
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Does uninstall delete data?
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Not by default. Administrators can explicitly choose whether this plugin’s own reward data should be deleted when the plugin is removed.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“ESM Rewards & Benefits” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “ESM Rewards & Benefits” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
- First public release.
- Site-first points and member-benefit workflow.
- Append-only reward history.
- Campaigns and friendly activity-based earning rules.
- Member benefits and protected claims.
- Live previews and contextual help before saving.
- Dynamic block, display codes and read endpoints.
- Privacy integration.
- Uses the native WordPress.org automatic-update controls without an alternate updater.
- Optional existing-ESM handoff and ecosystem information isolated at the bottom of Settings.
- Existing ESM connection is explicit, connect-not-copy, and read-only for balance/history/policies/campaigns in this release.
- Added edit, pause/resume and protected-delete management for points, campaigns, earning rules and benefits.
- Added item-specific shortcodes with one-click copy controls and contextual placement guidance on each relevant administration screen.
- Redesigned public shortcode views with responsive reward cards, activity timelines, campaign cards and benefit claim cards.
- Added a Reward Member Resolver so the current site account is used today without creating a separate reward-member database, while future Identity/Participant providers can attach mappings without copying members.
- No external ESM reward-data transmission in this release.