Edutain Certificate Validator

Description

Edutain Certificate Validator adds online certificate verification to your WordPress site without requiring an LMS. Upload certificate records from CSV or add them individually, then let learners, employers and other visitors verify a certificate by entering its unique code.

The core certificate validator is fully functional, unlimited and free. CSV certificate upload, individual record management, CSV/XLSX export and the public verification form are not restricted by Pro.

Free certificate verification features

• Upload and merge certificate records from CSV files up to 10 MB.
• Import up to 100,000 data rows per uploaded file.
• Use four required columns in any order: Name, Authentication Code and Issue Date.
• Optionally store a Email address with each record.
• Add and edit records individually.
• Search, sort and paginate the records table.
• Delete individual records, or delete all records after confirmation.
• Export the complete dataset as CSV or XLSX.
• Use [edcv_validator] as a certificate verification shortcode on any page or post.
• Share direct verification links using ?certificate_code=CODE or ?code=CODE.
• Display a verification result with the learner name, course, completion date and Authentication Code.
• Let visitors copy a verification link or print the result.
• Limit public verification attempts to reduce automated certificate-code guessing.
• Automatically create a published Validate Certificate page on activation.
• Keep certificate records in a dedicated, indexed WordPress database table.

CSV certificate upload

Your CSV must contain these three headers, in any order and with case-insensitive matching:

• Name
• Authentication Code

• Issue Date

  Email is optional. Issue dates may use dd/mm/yyyy or yyyy-mm-dd and are stored in ISO format. Authentication Codes must be unique. Duplicate codes and invalid rows are skipped and reported. Duplicate column names stop the import so ambiguous data is not processed.

Free imports accept the core columns only. With Pro active, additional CSV columns can be stored as certificate extras. Expiry Date and Certificate Status are recognised Pro columns; other additional columns become public custom fields, up to 30 custom fields per record.

Pro certificate management features

Pro features are delivered through the licensed Premium edition of Edutain Certificate Validator;Learn more about Pro.

• Generate individual QR codes that open direct certificate verification links.
• Download QR codes as PNG or PDF, create multi-certificate QR PDF sheets, and print QR sheets.
• Generate branded landscape PDF certificates with an optional Media Library logo, accent colour, signature name and embedded QR code.
• Optionally let learners download PDFs from valid public verification results.
• Add expiry dates and mark certificates as valid, revoked or suspended, with an optional status reason.
• Show expired, revoked and suspended states on the public verification result.
• Add up to 30 custom label/value fields per certificate and choose which are public.
• Bulk delete selected records and bulk-set expiry, status, Email or custom-field values.
• Send or resend certificate emails manually using the stored Email address.
• Customise the email subject and message with certificate placeholders.
• Queue bulk email sends in WP-Cron batches of 15 to reduce request timeouts and pressure on host mail limits.
• Log verification attempts and view totals, failed attempts, recent activity and most-verified Authentication Codes.
• Choose a verification-log retention period or retain the log indefinitely.

Email management

Pro email management uses the optional core Email value for each certificate record. The subject and message support these placeholders:

{name} `{course_name}` `{issue_date}` `{authentication_code}` `{verify_link}` `{site_name}`

Bulk sends are queued in the background in groups of 15. They use WordPress WP-Cron, so processing time depends on site traffic and the site’s email configuration. Email is sent through WordPress using wp_mail().

External services

Edutain Certificate Validator integrates services provided by Freemius, Inc. Freemius is used for optional account connection and management, Pro licence activation and entitlement checks, premium software updates, and the Pro checkout process.

The plugin loads the Freemius Checkout JavaScript from https://checkout.freemius.com/js/v1/ on EDCV’s Dashboard, Data Management, dedicated Upgrade, and Freemius Account admin pages, where purchasing or upgrading controls may be needed. This remote script request can occur before a Freemius account connection or licence activation and communicates with Freemius. As with other web requests, Freemius and its infrastructure may receive request information such as the requesting device’s IP address, browser or user-agent headers, and the referring admin-page URL. Opening Checkout sends the selected EDCV product and plan, licence quantity, and billing cycle to Freemius. Contact, billing, payment, tax, and purchase information entered during Checkout is handled by Freemius and its payment providers.

When an administrator chooses to connect a Freemius account, opts into data sharing, activates or manages a Pro licence, uses the Freemius Account screen, checks or receives Freemius-managed premium updates, or interacts with related Freemius notices, the bundled SDK may communicate with Freemius. Depending on the action and permissions shown in the Freemius interface, transmitted information may include:

• The site or homepage URL and site title.
• The WordPress and PHP versions, site language, and multisite or network context.
• The EDCV plugin version, Freemius SDK version, and whether the plugin is active, deactivated, or uninstalled.
• The WordPress administrator’s first name, last name, and email address when connecting an account.
• Freemius user, site, install, product, plan, licence, and activation identifiers, including a licence key when one is submitted.
• Optional diagnostic information, which can include installed plugin and theme names, slugs, versions, and activation states when that permission is enabled.

Freemius presents its connection, licence, and diagnostic permissions in WordPress. Some communication is required to activate and validate a Pro licence or use a Freemius account, while optional diagnostic sharing can be controlled through the Freemius permissions and opt-out controls. Checkout communication occurs when its remote script is loaded and when the administrator opens or completes a purchase. Freemius-managed update checks and installation-state updates may also communicate information needed for licence and update delivery.

No EDCV code path was found that passes learner names, Email addresses, course names, issue dates, Authentication Codes, certificate custom fields, or verification analytics to the Freemius SDK or Checkout configuration. These certificate-related values are used by EDCV’s local database, verification, PDF, QR, analytics, export, and email features instead. This statement describes EDCV’s own integration code and does not replace Freemius’s policies for information processed through its SDK, checkout, account, licence, or update services.

Freemius terms: https://freemius.com/terms/

Freemius privacy policy: https://freemius.com/privacy/

If an administrator configures a certificate logo using an external image URL instead of the WordPress Media Library, the site fetches that image when generating a PDF. The image host may receive normal request information such as the site server’s IP address and request headers. EDCV does not add certificate-record values to the logo request.

Usage

1. Install and activate the plugin.
2. Open Certificate Validator > Data Management.
3. Download the example CSV, upload your completed file, or add a certificate record manually.
4. Open the automatically created Validate Certificate page, or add [edcv_validator] to another page or post.
5. Give each learner their Authentication Code or a direct verification link.

Privacy

Certificate records, including learner names, optional Email addresses and the optional expiry_date value, are stored in a dedicated table in your WordPress database. Pro expiry logic uses that core expiry_date value. Pro certificate status and custom fields are stored in a separate metadata table.

Public verification compares a submitted Authentication Code with the local certificate table. Rate limiting creates a temporary transient keyed by an MD5 hash of the visitor’s IP address. With Pro analytics active, each verification attempt is stored with the submitted Authentication Code, result, certificate state, timestamp and a salted MD5 hash of the visitor’s IP address. The analytics retention setting controls scheduled deletion; it can also be set to retain logs indefinitely.

Pro email management sends certificate information to valid Email recipients through WordPress wp_mail(). Bulk email jobs store temporary job state in the edcv_pro_email_queue option, including a job identifier, record-scan cursor and maximum record ID, recipient/count progress, status, and timestamps. WP-Cron processes eligible records in batches of 15. Legacy jobs created by earlier 2.0.0 development builds may temporarily retain pending record IDs until those jobs finish or are cancelled. Delivery and any transfer to an email provider depend on the WordPress site’s mail setup.

QR codes and PDFs are generated locally. QR generation uses temporary files that are deleted after use. A PDF logo selected from the Media Library is read from its local attachment file; a manually configured external logo URL is downloaded temporarily during PDF generation and then deleted.

The bundled Freemius SDK provides account, licensing, entitlement, premium-update and Checkout functionality. Its remote Checkout script is loaded on EDCV’s Dashboard, Data Management, dedicated Upgrade, and Freemius Account admin pages where purchasing or upgrading controls may be needed, while account, licence, update and optional diagnostic communication depends on the administrator’s actions and the permissions presented by Freemius. See the External services section for the categories of information involved and links to Freemius’s terms and privacy policy.

Plugin data is retained on uninstall unless the administrator enables the relevant deletion settings. Core certificate data and Pro metadata/analytics have separate opt-in deletion controls.