This guide walks you through creating your first certificate in PressPrimer Certificate, from choosing a design to issuing and downloading a finished PDF. The guided setup tour covers this same flow interactively; this article is the reference version.

Step 1: Set Your Design Defaults (Optional)

Before building anything, consider visiting Certificates > Settings > Appearance to set your certificate size, brand colors, logo, and signature. Starter templates apply these automatically, which saves editing time in the designer.

Step 2: Create a Template

1. Navigate to Certificates > Templates in your /wp-admin/ sidebar.
2. Click Add New at the top of the page.
3. Pick a design from the starter gallery. Each design is available in landscape and portrait, in both Letter and A4. You can also start from a blank canvas.

The template opens in the certificate designer.

Step 3: Personalize the Design

1. Click any text on the canvas to edit its content, font, size, and color in the properties panel.
2. Replace or reposition the logo and signature images.
3. The recipient name on every starter design is a merge field. It fills in automatically with the real recipient’s name each time a certificate is issued, so leave it in place.
4. Click Preview at any time to see a sample PDF rendered exactly as recipients will receive it.

Step 4: Name It and Publish

Give the template a title. Something like “Course Completion: Advanced Botany” works well. By default this is also the name learners and verifiers see, so make it something you would be happy showing them. (If you would rather they saw something different, or a name built from the course that earned it, the Award tab has a Certificate display name field for exactly that.) Then click Publish. Only published templates can issue certificates.

Step 5: Connect a Trigger (Optional)

Open the Award tab to make the certificate issue itself automatically. Click Add trigger and choose an event, like passing a specific PressPrimer Quiz or completing a course. Each source picker also offers an “Any” option (any quiz, any course), so one certificate can cover your whole catalog. Triggers appear based on which supported plugins are active on your site. If you pick an “Any” option, the tab suggests a display name like “{{source.course_title}} Certificate” so each certificate is named after what earned it; one click accepts it. If you skip this step entirely, you can still issue the certificate manually at any time.

Step 6: Issue One to Yourself

1. Navigate to Certificates > Certificates.
2. Click Issue Certificate.
3. Choose your new template, search for your own user account as the recipient, and confirm.
4. Find the new certificate at the top of the list and click Download PDF.

You should also receive the certificate email if email delivery is enabled. Try scanning the QR code on the PDF or clicking the verification link in the email to see the public verification page confirm your new credential.