If you have a membership site with online learning content, you may have noticed that too many users aren\u2019t completing your courses. Even if you create engaging material, that may not be enough. <\/p>

WHAT'S INSIDE<\/p>\nToggle<\/span>

See how MemberPress + the free GamiPress plugin make gamification super easy in WordPress.<\/a>
- What Gamification Is (And Why It Works)<\/a><\/li>
- 5 Ways to Add Gamification to Your Online WordPress Courses<\/a><\/li>
- Conclusion<\/a><\/li>
- Start Selling What You Know!<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
  Without external factors like grades and deadlines, motivation can be a real struggle with self-paced online learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  However, there\u2019s some good news, too. Research shows that gamification <\/strong>can\u00a0significantly increase motivation. Gamification is a technique for building fun, interactive elements that can help create external motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  In this article, we\u2019ll go over four ways you can use the free GamiPress<\/a> WordPress plugin to add gamification to your courses. Let\u2019s get going!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  <\/span>What Gamification Is (And Why It Works)<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  Intrinsic motivation<\/a> is when you take actions because you\u2019re driven by non-physical rewards. For example, you may be intrinsically motivated to wake up 30 minutes early to go to the gym, because it makes you feel more energetic and productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  On the other hand, extrinsic motivation<\/a> is caused by external factors, such as waking up at 7 a.m. to make it to work on time and avoid being fired. Intrinsic motivation tends to come and go, but if there are extrinsic motivators involved, we\u2019re likelier to complete a task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  $\"man$ <\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
  For example, you may work harder at learning a new skill if you\u2019re taking a class with a scheduled exam than if you\u2019re studying at your own pace. In fact, research shows that we even get a small dopamine surge<\/a> whenever we feel we\u2019ve accomplished an activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  Gamification is a way of creating a structured reward system that relies on extrinsic motivation, in order to keep up a steady dopamine stream. The name comes from the fact that this technique involves adding game-like elements to something that\u2019s not normally fun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
  Online courses, for instance, can use features such as badges, streak tracking, and points to add gamified elements to their content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  Effective gamification<\/a> relies on a mix of white hat <\/strong>and black hat<\/strong> strategies. (Don\u2019t confuse these terms with white hat and black hat SEO! There\u2019s nothing unethical about black hat gamification.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
  White hat (or positive)<\/a> strategies inspire feelings related to meaning, accomplishment, empowerment, and social influence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
  Black hat strategies motivate people by triggering more negative concepts, such as scarcity, avoidance, unpredictability, and greed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  For example, online learning sites like DuoLingo and Khan Academy track the number of days in a row that you\u2019ve completed a specific task. This \u201cstreak\u201d is a positive motivator, showing your accomplishments in a concrete form:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  $\"The$ <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
  On the other hand, a black hat strategy might involve resetting your streak when you miss a day, or displaying a sad message of some kind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
  The goal is to create a mix of positive and negative reinforcement, so that users are rewarded for the positive things they do, and are motivated to improve when they mess up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  <\/span>5 Ways to Add Gamification to Your Online WordPress Courses<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  Throughout the next few sections, we\u2019ll review four ways to include gamification in WordPress using MemberPress Courses<\/a>. Then we\u2019ll discuss how to get them rolling with the free GamiPress plugin<\/a>. Let\u2019s jump right in!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  1. Progress Tracking<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
  Progress tracking is built in to MemberPress Courses. It\u2019s an excellent motivational tool that breaks an online course down into small chunks to spread out the user\u2019s feelings of accomplishment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
  Progress tracking presents visual cues that show users how far they\u2019ve come, and can be very effective in helping people create small goals for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  $\"memberpress$ <\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
  For example, imagine a nine hour online course presented in one big chunk. That\u2019a long time! And someone taking that course might find their motivation to complete it waning partway through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
  But if that same course is broken down into 15-minute lessons, and the user gets points for completing each lesson, they might be more compelled to complete the course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  By creating mini tasks, you can help users feel satisfied after each small chunk of activity, motivating them to keep moving forward:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  In addition to MemberPress Courses built-in tracking, you can add a progress bar to your curriculum using the Progress Map<\/a> add-on for the GamiPress plugin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
  You can create as many individual progress maps as you\u2019d like, configure them<\/a> to suit your needs, and decide which tasks to include as a part of each user\u2019s progress. You can then place the maps anywhere on your site using a shortcode<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  2. Quizzes<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
  Study after study show that the lesson quiz is one of the most effective gamification techniques. And they\u2019re incredibly simple to add to your lessons with MemberPress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  $\"Add$ <\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
  Quizzes are built in to MemberPress Courses, which is included with every MemberPress subscription. With this drag-and-drop feature you can\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  Make a quiz required to progress through a course<\/li>
  Show correct answers once a quiz is complete<\/li>
  Give automatic feedback for wrong answers<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
  $\"MemberPress$ <\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
  Pair your quizzes with GamiPress reward features, and you\u2019ve got yourself a super powerful motivator for progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  3. GamiPress Streak Tracker<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
  As we mentioned before, a streak tracker delivers positive reinforcement for completing a specific task every day. Streak trackers reward users for consistency<\/strong>. Even if they\u2019re feeling unmotivated, a learner may still log in to avoid losing their streak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  $\"A$ <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
  The online language learning course DuoLingo makes effective use of this strategy. It pairs streaks with optional daily emails, reminding the user that learning a language requires consistent practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  You can add a streak tracker to your online WordPress courses using the GamiPress Daily Login Rewards<\/a> add-on. This displays a calendar showing each user\u2019s daily log-in record. You can configure as many calendar<\/a> types as you want, and place them on your site a using a shortcode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  You can make streaks even more effective by setting up milestones rewarded through a badge system. Next up, let\u2019s talk about what badges are and why they\u2019re effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  4. GamiPress Badges<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\nBadges are another effective motivational tool<\/a>\u00a0that combines a feeling of achievement with the desire for ownership. For example, if your site displays a list of all possible badges, that can help users want to keep going until they\u2019ve earned each one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  Online learning sites like Khan Academy use badges to reward a variety of activities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  $\"The$ <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
  You can even create different categories of badges. Some badges could be awarded for completing milestones in a specific course, others for hitting specific streak numbers, and still others for scoring well on a course quiz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  The GamiPress plugin<\/a> enables you to set up a badge system with achievements. And it lets you create as many badges and categories as you\u2019d like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
  You can configure badges<\/a> by choosing from a drop-down menu of activity types, such as \u201ccompleting steps\u201d or \u201clog in to website,\u201d and configuring the number of times the user must complete that task:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  $\"Badges$ <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
  You can then place the [gamipress_achievements]<\/em> shortcode on any WordPress page to display all the badges to your users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  5. GamiPress Points<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
  Of course, we can\u2019t wrap up a gamification post without mentioning point systems. You can award users points based on specific activities. So, for example, they may win a certain amount of points for watching a video or reading a lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  You can weave your points system into your badge system, by awarding badges based on the total number of points earned. Alternately, you can offer other types of rewards, such as coupons or freebies<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  To create a points system<\/a> in GamiPress just go to GamiPress > Points Types<\/em> in your WordPress dashboard. Within each points type, choose Add new points award<\/em> to define the activities that will award points. You can also use Add new points deduct<\/em>\u00a0to choose activities that will remove points:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  $\"Creating$ <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
  Creating a give-and-take structure like this combines both white hat and black hat strategies. Users will be motivated to earn more points and<\/em>\u00a0will want to avoid having their existing points taken away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  <\/span>Conclusion<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nGamification is a smart way to make your course material more engaging and keep your visitors coming back to your site every day. Fortunately, it\u2019s easy to add gamification to your online WordPress courses using plugins like GamiPress<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  As we\u2019ve discussed, five ways you can gamify your WordPress site include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  Adding a progress bar<\/li>
  Adding lesson quizzes<\/li>
  Implementing a streak tracker<\/li>
  Creating a badge system<\/li>
  Rewarding users with points<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
  Do you have any questions about how to gamify your online WordPress courses? Let us know in the comments section below!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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  \n\t\t\t $\"cta$ \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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  <\/span>Start Selling What You Know!<\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t
  Courses is included with MemberPress. Get started today!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t
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  See how MemberPress + the free GamiPress plugin make gamification super easy in WordPress. If you have a membership site with online learning content, you may have noticed that too many users aren\u2019t completing your courses. Even if you create engaging material, that may not be enough. Without external factors like grades and deadlines, motivation [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76756,"featured_media":36004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_strive_editorial_status":"not-started","_strive_copy_of":0,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_strive_checklists":"\"\"","_strive_active_checklist":"62291e2bb2422","_strive_post_notes":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35,792,145,400],"tags":[440,438,441],"class_list":{"0":"post-17027","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-features","8":"category-courses","9":"category-tools","10":"category-trends","11":"tag-elearning","12":"tag-gamification","13":"tag-wordpress-courses","14":"entry"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t