Expert
Recognised expert in a specific WordPress area.
Earned, not bought. Recognition for the work you put into the WordPress community, and a way for new visitors to spot people worth following.
Identity
Identity badges describe a confirmed status. They sit next to your name in the directory and the spotlight rotation. Both are awarded after admin review.
Recognised expert in a specific WordPress area.
Identity verified by WPFolks.
Anniversary
Six tiered badges marking how long you have been part of the WordPress ecosystem, plus the one-time WP @ 23 badge for folks active on WPFolks during the 23rd-anniversary celebration. Tenure tiers are derived from your wp.org account "joined" date, so linking your wp.org profile is the only step needed. Only the highest tier you have earned shows on your profile card; older tiers stay in the ladder so the progression is visible.
One year in the WordPress ecosystem. The journey starts.
Three years exploring the WordPress ecosystem.
Five years in the WordPress ecosystem. A steady presence.
Ten years in the WordPress ecosystem.
Fifteen years on the WordPress horizon.
Twenty years in the WordPress ecosystem. Genuine pioneer.
Twenty-five years in the WordPress ecosystem. Unlocks when WordPress turns 25 in 2028.
Active on WPFolks during WordPress's 23rd-birthday week, May 27 to 31, 2026.
Roadmap
Earned automatically when you contribute to the WPFolks roadmap. Submit a bug, suggest a feature, vote on what matters. The system fires the badge the moment your trigger condition is met.
Among the first 100 contributors on the WPFolks roadmap.
Reported a bug that shipped a fix.
Suggested a feature that shipped on WPFolks.
Cast 25 or more upvotes on the roadmap to help keep the board healthy.
WordPress core
Cross-referenced live against the wp.org core credits API. Link your wp.org profile, and if you're credited on a recent release, the badge lands automatically with your full version history.
Credited as a contributor in a recent WordPress core release.
Contributions
Tiered badges per content type for cumulative published work on WPFolks: plugins (1 / 5 / 10 / 50), snippets (1 / 10 / 50), and themes (1 / 5 / 20). Theme thresholds are lower because theme dev is rarer per author. Earned automatically on each publish; only your highest tier per category shows on your profile.
Submitted your first plugin to WPFolks.
Published 5 or more plugins on WPFolks.
Published 10 or more plugins on WPFolks.
Published 50 or more plugins on WPFolks.
Shared your first snippet on WPFolks.
Published 10 or more snippets on WPFolks.
Published 50 or more snippets on WPFolks.
Submitted your first theme to WPFolks.
Published 5 or more themes on WPFolks.
Published 20 or more themes on WPFolks.
Academy
Folks Academy is the live learning calendar where folks teach how to contribute to WordPress. Host sessions to climb the speaker tier ladder (Speaker → Mentor → Master → Legend at 1 / 5 / 15 / 50 hosted sessions). Attend a session and enter the attendance code in the final minutes to earn the per-track learner badge for that contribution area. Co-hosts earn the same speaker credit as the primary host.
Hosted their first Folks Academy session.
Hosted 5 Folks Academy sessions.
Hosted 15 Folks Academy sessions.
Hosted 50 Folks Academy sessions. The cap.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Translation contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Core contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Docs contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Design contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Accessibility contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Plugins contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Themes contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Photos contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Performance contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Security contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Community contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Mobile contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Support contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Meta contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Training contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on TV contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Marketing contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on CLI contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Hosting contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Tide contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Openverse contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Playground contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Core AI contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Core Program contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Speaking contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Organizing contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Writing contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Open source contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Mentoring contribution.
Attended a Folks Academy session on Other contribution.
Attended their first Folks Academy session.
Attended 5 Folks Academy sessions.
Attended 10 Folks Academy sessions.
Attended 25 Folks Academy sessions.
Attended 50 Folks Academy sessions.
Attended 75 Folks Academy sessions.
Attended 100 Folks Academy sessions. A Folks Academy legend.
Certifications
Claim the WordPress VIP, marketplace, or cloud certs you hold. Each submission is admin-reviewed against a public verification URL. Approved credentials earn points + tier badges (Credentialed, Multi-Certified, Certified Stack, Authority), plus the WordPress VIP Certified badge for Automattic-issued credentials.
Earned 1 verified professional certification.
Earned 3 verified professional certifications.
Earned 5 verified professional certifications.
Earned 8 or more verified professional certifications.
Holds an approved WordPress VIP certification (Automattic-issued).
Holds the paid, proctored Advanced Professional WordPress Developer Certification from WordPress VIP.
Completed their first course on the road to mastery.
5 course completions logged. The learning habit is forming.
10 course completions logged. Self-study is now routine.
25 course completions logged. Serious self-taught track record.
50 course completions logged. Lifelong learner energy.
100 course completions logged. A walking course catalog.
TV
Folks TV badges recognise the folks building the WordPress video library. Submit and curate videos, add timestamped notes, pin assets, present on stage, or rack up watch hours. Tiered tracks (submitter, note-taker, views, watch hours) auto-collapse to your highest tier on profiles.
Submitted 5 approved Folks TV videos.
Submitted 20 approved Folks TV videos.
Submitted 50 approved Folks TV videos.
Added 100 timestamped notes on Folks TV videos.
Added 200 timestamped notes.
Added 500 timestamped notes.
Pinned 10 assets to Folks TV video timestamps.
A video you submitted was selected as Folks TV Weekly Pick.
Your Folks TV submissions hit 100 cumulative watched-views.
1,000 cumulative watched-views.
10,000 cumulative watched-views.
Watched 5 hours of Folks TV content.
Watched 25 hours.
Watched 100 hours.
Tagged as a presenter on a Folks TV video.
Tagged as a presenter on 5+ Folks TV videos.
Featured (panelist, host, or guest) on 5+ Folks TV videos.
Flagged 5+ videos that the community confirmed as outdated.
Your Folks TV submissions average 10+ upvotes per video (10+ submissions required).
Referrals
Eight tiered badges that scale with how many folks you bring to WPFolks via your invite link. Each badge stacks on top of the previous, so prolific inviters hold the whole tree.
Brought 5 verified folks to WPFolks.
Brought 10 verified folks to WPFolks.
Brought 20 verified folks to WPFolks.
Brought 50 verified folks to WPFolks. 🏆
Brought 100 verified folks to WPFolks. 👑
Brought 250 verified folks to WPFolks.
Brought 500 verified folks to WPFolks.
Brought 1,000 verified folks to WPFolks. The summit.
Followers
Five tiered badges marking follower-count milestones. Earned automatically the moment a follow lands and pushes you across each threshold. Permanent once awarded, even if your follower count fluctuates later.
Reached 50 followers on WPFolks.
Reached 100 followers on WPFolks.
Reached 250 followers on WPFolks.
Reached 500 followers on WPFolks.
Reached 1,000 followers on WPFolks.
Reactions
Four tiered badges that grow with cumulative reactions across your community posts. Self-reactions don't count. Earned automatically the moment a reaction pushes the running total across each tier.
Received 100 reactions across your community posts.
Received 500 reactions across your community posts.
Received 1,000 reactions across your community posts.
Received 5,000 reactions across your community posts.
Engineering
Connect your GitHub on /settings/?tab=profile and these badges auto-award based on real signals from your public repos. The WPFolks Quality Workflow is a copy-paste GitHub Actions file that runs PHPCS and composer audit on every push and reports the results back here.
A qualifying repo runs a GitHub Actions workflow.
A qualifying repo declares PHP 8.0 or higher as its floor.
A qualifying repo passes the WordPress Coding Standards.
A qualifying repo has no known vulnerable Composer dependencies.
A qualifying repo runs CI against PHP 8.3 or higher.
A qualifying repo passes PHPStan static analysis.
A qualifying repo has 80 percent or higher PHPUnit line coverage.
Recognition
Admin-awarded honors for community contributions that don't leave a clean data trail. Spotting subtle issues, welcoming new folks, hosting meetups, hyping us on social, and the quiet help that keeps the community running.
Spotted a subtle issue others missed. 👀
Reported spam, abuse, or a security issue that led to action. 🛡️
Tested a feature before public release. 🛠️
Submitted a substantive, well-reasoned feature proposal. 🧱
Actively helps and supports the WPFolks community. 🌟
Champions WPFolks on X, LinkedIn, and beyond. 📣
Wrote about WPFolks somewhere in public. ✍️
Helps quietly behind the scenes. 🤝
Greets new folks and makes them feel at home. 👋
Actively shares knowledge with the community. 🎓
Runs WPFolks meetups, online sessions, or community gatherings. 🎟️
Most badges come from contributing on the roadmap or sharing the platform with people who'd find it useful.