Post Credits
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Pro. This feature requires WB Member Blog Pro. The free plugin must be installed and active first. See the Pro index for every Pro module.
Post Credits charges members credits to publish. Members start with an opening balance, and get more from you, from a membership plugin, or by buying credit packs through WooCommerce. Use it to run a paid or tiered community blog, or to put a soft cap on posting that members can raise.
The Post Credits module is off by default. Turn it on under WB Plugins > Member Blog > Manage Modules, then configure it at WB Plugins > Member Blog > Post Credits. Turning the module on is the only switch; there is no second “enable” box on the tab.
How Credits Work
Section titled “How Credits Work”- Charged only on publish. A post costs credits at the moment it actually goes live: published from the form, approved from the review queue, published in the block editor, or published by the scheduler. Saving a draft, submitting for review and updating a live post cost nothing. A post is charged once; unpublishing it and publishing it again does not charge again.
- The author pays. The charge goes to the post’s author. When a co-author publishes a shared post, that co-author pays instead.
- The cost is set by Credits per post (1 by default).
- Never charged: administrators and editors (anyone who can edit other members’ posts). They see no credit box on the form and are never blocked.
- Credits never expire. Every grant adds to the balance and unused credits carry forward.
Set Up Post Credits
Section titled “Set Up Post Credits”- Go to WB Plugins > Member Blog > Manage Modules and switch Post Credits on. The switch saves as you flip it.
- Open WB Plugins > Member Blog > Post Credits.
- In General Settings, choose the Credit Source, the Default Credits new members start with, and the Credits per post.
- Set a Purchase URL if you have a page where members get more credits.
- Click Save Settings.
- Optionally connect a membership plugin (Membership Plugin Credits) or sell packs (Selling Credit Packs with WooCommerce).
General Settings
Section titled “General Settings”| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Post Credits | Shows whether the module is on, with a link to the Modules screen to change it | On while the tab is visible |
| Credit Source | Where credits may come from: Membership Plugins Only, Manual Assignment Only, or Both (Membership + Manual). See below. | Both |
| Default Credits | Opening balance for each member. Set to 0 to give none. | 25 |
| Credits per post | Credits deducted each time a member publishes a post. Minimum 1. | 1 |
| Block at Zero Balance | Stop a member publishing when their balance cannot cover the next post | On |
| Allow Negative Balance | Let a publish take the balance below zero instead of stopping at zero | Off |
| Show Balance on Form | Show the member’s balance above the post form | On |
| Low Balance Warning | Balance at or below which the form warns the member and shows the Get more credits link | 5 |
| Purchase URL | Page to send members who need more credits, such as your credit packs or membership page | Empty |
| Zero Balance Message | What a member with no credits reads | “You have no post credits remaining.” |
Credit Source decides who may add credits:
| Choice | Membership plugins and WooCommerce packs | Manual changes on this tab |
|---|---|---|
| Membership Plugins Only | Add credits | Refused |
| Manual Assignment Only | Add nothing | Allowed |
| Both (Membership + Manual) | Add credits | Allowed |
Default Credits is granted with any choice.
Default Credits goes to each new member when they register. Members who were already on the site when you turned Post Credits on receive it too, once, the first time their balance is used. Set it to 0 if only an admin, a membership or a purchase should give credits.
What Members See
Section titled “What Members See”Above the post form, with Show Balance on Form on:
- “You have 8 post credits remaining. Publishing costs 1 credit.”
- At or below the Low Balance Warning, or when the balance cannot cover one post, a Get more credits link to your Purchase URL is added. Without a Purchase URL no link is shown.
- With no credits, the Zero Balance Message, plus the Get more credits link when a Purchase URL is set.
The box is not shown right after a submit, when updating a post that is already live, or when a refusal banner is already explaining why the member cannot publish.
When the balance cannot cover a post and Block at Zero Balance is on, the member keeps the full form and can write and save drafts. A banner headed “Not enough credits” says, for example, “Publishing costs 1 credit and you have 0.”, led by your Zero Balance Message when the balance is empty. It offers a Get More Credits button when a Purchase URL is set. The Publish and Submit for Review buttons are disabled until they have enough credits.
A member whose role cannot post at all is told “Your account can’t publish posts. Contact the site admin.” and is not offered credits.
Credit history. Members can see their balance and every credit added or spent with the [bpmb_my_credit_history] shortcode or the My Credit History block.
When a Publish Cannot Be Paid For
Section titled “When a Publish Cannot Be Paid For”With Block at Zero Balance on:
- Review queue. If a reviewer approves a post whose author has too few credits, the post goes back to the author’s drafts and the reviewer is told: grant credits, then approve again. The author is not told their post was sent back.
- Scheduled posts. If the author cannot pay when the post is due, it returns to draft and the author is emailed that it could not be published.
With Block at Zero Balance off, members can publish with no credits. With Allow Negative Balance also on, the balance goes below zero to record what they owe.
A Member Says They Cannot Post
Section titled “A Member Says They Cannot Post”Check these in order:
- Is it really credits? Ask what the banner above their form says. “Not enough credits” is this feature. A different message (a posting limit, a word count, or “Your account can’t publish posts”) is a different problem; see Posting Limits and Restrictions.
- Can they still write? They should be able to open the composer, write, and save a draft. Only publishing a new post, or submitting one for review, is blocked by credits.
- What is their balance? Search for them under Manual Credit Management and check Balance against Credits per post. A balance below the cost blocks a new publish when Block at Zero Balance is on.
- Should they be charged at all? Administrators and editors (anyone who can edit other members’ posts) are never charged and never see a credit box. If one of them is blocked, the problem is their role, not credits.
- Did a change already happen and not show? A membership renewal, a WooCommerce order, or a manual grant should appear in their Credit History with the level, order, or note. If it is missing, check Credit Source is not set to the option that would have refused it (Manual Assignment Only refuses membership and WooCommerce grants; Membership Plugins Only refuses manual changes).
- Did they publish before, and it seemed to work? A post is charged once, at the moment it goes live. Unpublishing and republishing the same post does not charge a second time, so a member who expects to spend credits again on the same post will not.
Manage a Member’s Credits
Section titled “Manage a Member’s Credits”The Manual Credit Management card on the Post Credits tab:
- Type a name or email in Search by name or email… and click Search.
- Pick the member. Their Balance, Used (credits spent on posts) and credit Type appear.
- Click +5, +10 or +25, or -5 or -10. Or type a Custom amount (a negative number removes credits), add an optional Note, and click Apply.
- The Credit History below lists every change with its date, amount, type, source and note. Load More shows older entries.
Removing credits by hand lowers the balance but does not count as Used, which only counts credits spent on posts. Manual changes are refused while Credit Source is Membership Plugins Only. Removing more than a member holds is refused unless Allow Negative Balance is on.
Shortcodes and Blocks
Section titled “Shortcodes and Blocks”| Shortcode | Block | Shows | Attributes |
|---|---|---|---|
[bpmb_my_credit_history] |
My Credit History | The logged-in member’s balance and credit history. Visitors are asked to log in. | per_page (default 20) |
[bpmb_credit_packs] |
Credit Packs | Credit packs for sale through WooCommerce | columns (default 3) |
See Selling Credit Packs with WooCommerce for what [bpmb_credit_packs] shows with and without WooCommerce.
Turning Post Credits Off
Section titled “Turning Post Credits Off”Switching the module off stops charging and hides the tab. Balances and credit history are kept and come back when you switch it on again.
Related
Section titled “Related”- Membership Plugin Credits
- Selling Credit Packs with WooCommerce
- Posting Limits and Restrictions - limit posting without charging for it.
- Modules