Points & rewards

Joining in pays off: your activity earns points, unlocks achievements and moves you up the leaderboard – and with a bit of luck there are even real rewards.

Points, achievements and the leaderboard are three separate features. An event may show just one, two or all three. If you don’t see one of them, the host hasn’t enabled it for this event (or the event plan doesn’t include it). At the bottom you’ll find an overview of what to do when something is missing.

It depends on two conditions

Points and the leaderboard only appear when both are true: the host’s plan includes the feature and the switch for this event is on. That’s why an event can have the leaderboard switched on and the menu item still be missing – then the plan lacks the entitlement. The same goes for the points entry in the profile menu. As a guest you can’t change any of this; it’s entirely up to the host.

Note

Device profiles such as photo booths or cameras show no points, no rank and no achievements – they deliberately do not appear in the leaderboard. So if you’re looking for a photo-booth profile there: that’s intended.

Seeing your point total

The fastest route is the profile menu in the top right. There are three ways to check your total.

Way A – Profile menu, top right

1. Tap your profile icon or avatar in the top right.

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   The profile menu in the top right gets you to points, profile and management. ① your points and solved tasks, ② Profile options with My Profile, Language, Theme and Help, ③ Management with Account Settings, Moderation and Admin Portal – this section is missing until you hold a role for it, ④ Account with Sign out.

2. The menu shows an entry “N Points” (Points) with a yellow star icon – it displays your current total right there as a number. This entry only appears when points are enabled for the event.

3. Tap it. The Points Summary dialog opens.

Way B – The Points Summary dialog in detail

The Points Summary dialog shows everything at a glance:

• At the very top the title Points Summary with the subtitle Earn points to climb the leaderboard.
• A large circle with your current point total, next to it the line Current Points: and a chip “N pts” on the right. Below that a motivational line (“Step by step, point by point—you’re unstoppable!”).
• The Point Earnings Breakdown section lists how many points each action is worth. The host sets these values. Depending on which features are enabled, up to four tiles appear:
  • Image Upload – always shown.
  • Task Completion – only when challenges are active.
  • Photo Like – only when likes are active.
  • Repeat Task – only when tasks are active; often worth fewer points than the first time.
• At the bottom, the View Leaderboard button – only when the leaderboard is enabled. It takes you straight to the leaderboard.

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The Points Summary dialog in our demo event: 242 points in the circle and the four tiles below – here 10 points per image, 30 per task, 3 per like and 15 for a repeat.

Tip

Points are credited in real time, but after an upload or a solved challenge it can take a moment for the number to update. The dialog has no refresh button – close it and open it again to load the fresh total.

Way C – In your profile (permanent display)

Your profile shows your point total permanently:

1. Open My Profile from the profile menu.

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   Your profile shows points, achievements and your rank permanently. ① your profile picture, ② your name with the pencil that changes the nickname, below it points, published photos and the last visit, ③ Account Settings, ④ your Task Progress.

2. In the profile header you’ll see a yellow chip “N points” (points) as soon as you have more than 0 points.

3. In the Recognition panel, the row Points Earned shows your total.

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   On the left, Media engagement: 1 liked images, 2 published images, 3 received likes. On the right, Recognition with Earned points and Unlocked achievements — your point total and achievement progress.

What earns points

You earn points for concrete contributions to the event. There are exactly these four point sources (which of them count depends on the enabled features):

• Upload a photo/video (Image Upload) – the default source, active almost always. See Uploading photos.
• Solve a challenge/task (Task Completion) – only when tasks are active. See Challenges.
• Solve a task again (Repeat Task) – usually worth fewer points than the first time (or the same, depending on the host).
• Give a like (Photo Like) – only when likes are active. See Likes & comments.

Note

The exact number of points per action is set by the host – you can look it up in the Points Summary dialog (Way B above). There’s no fixed global rule.

Other metrics such as comments, shares, downloads or views are counted (they appear in your profile stats and partly as leaderboard rankings), but they don’t necessarily feed into the points score. The point sources are the four listed above.

Example

Take the values from the picture above: Image Upload 10, Task Completion 30, Repeat Task 15, Photo Like 3.

Over the evening you upload 6 photos (60), solve the task Group photo with the family (30), solve it a second time later on (15) and hand out 12 hearts (36). The circle then reads 141 points.

Your four comments do not show up there: comments are counted, and can even be a leaderboard ranking of their own, but they are not one of the four point sources. And if the number still looks stale right after your last upload – the dialog has no refresh button, so close it and open it again.

Achievements

For certain milestones you unlock achievements – small badges with a name, a description and progress (e.g. first photo, 10 likes, all challenges solved).

Where to find your achievements

1. Open your profile from the profile menu in the top right.

2. Scroll to the Achievements section with the trophy icon. It only appears when achievements are enabled and have been created for the event.

3. Alternatively, tap the chip “N achievements” (achievements) in the profile header – that opens the achievements overview directly on the Unlocked tab.

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   The achievements overview: the All tab also lists the locked ones with their conditions.

The Achievements Unlocked tile in the Recognition panel shows <earned>/<total>, i.e. how many of the available achievements you already have.

Tip

Some events show your next milestone right in the gallery – as the Next Achievement card. What it looks like is described further down under The cards in the gallery.

What a single achievement looks like

Tapping an achievement tile opens the achievement dialog:

• Unlocked: a colourful badge with confetti and a glow effect, name and description, plus the Close button.
• Locked: the badge is greyed out, a Locked chip sits in the top left, and an orange info box with a padlock reads “Achievement Locked:” followed by “Complete the requirements below to unlock this achievement.”. Below it, a progress display shows how much you still need (e.g. points, likes received, images uploaded or tasks solved). So you can see exactly what’s left to do.
• Open another guest’s achievement and you’ll see a User’s Achievement chip – with no redemption buttons.

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A locked achievement: 1 the orange “Achievement Locked:” info box, 2 the requirements with your progress below it – that's where you read off what's still missing.

Viewing all achievements

At the bottom of the achievements section you’ll find the See Available Achievements button. It opens an overview of all achievements – including the ones still open, with their conditions. That’s how you plan which one to go for next.

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The button sits at the foot of the achievements section. If you haven't unlocked anything yet, the tiles are replaced by the line “Complete challenges to unlock achievements!” – the button is still there.

Note

The specific conditions of each achievement are set by the host and appear in that achievement’s dialog. Achievements you see on other guests can only be viewed, not redeemed.

The leaderboard

The leaderboard shows who’s ahead at the event.

How to open the leaderboard

• On a computer: the Leaderboard menu item in the top navigation bar.
• On a phone: the trophy “Leaderboard” icon in the bottom navigation bar.
• Alternatively: the View Leaderboard button from the Points Summary dialog or from the Recognition panel of your profile.

On a computer Leaderboard sits in the top bar – right next to Albums.

On a phone the trophy icon in the bottom bar takes you to the leaderboard.

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1 switch the metric (points, uploads, likes), 2 your own rank with your point total and the gap to the next position, 3 first place in the list.

Which ranking it’s sorted by

At the top of the leaderboard page there’s a metric selector (dropdown) when the host has released more than one ranking. The default is Points, when available.

1. Open the metric dropdown at the top.
2. Tap the ranking you want. Possible rankings (each only visible when the related feature is active and the host has selected it):
   • Points
   • Likes Received
   • Achievements
   • Likes Given
   • Tasks Completed
   • Unique Tasks Completed
   • Images Uploaded
   • as well as shares, downloads, media viewed, views received, comments and comments received.
3. Your choice is remembered in the address (URL). A shared link opens the leaderboard directly with the same ranking.

If only one ranking is released, a fixed display appears instead of the dropdown – there’s nothing to choose then.

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The leaderboard header: 1 the metric selector, 2 the refresh button right next to it.

Tip

Next to the selector, or in the leaderboard header, you’ll find a refresh button (round arrow icon, tooltip “Refresh leaderboard”). Press it when fresh points don’t show up yet.

What the leaderboard shows

• At the very top the “Your Progress” card: Current Rank as 4 / 6 on the left, next to it your own value under “Your Points” (or the name of the ranking you picked). Below that a bar, and on the right the gap to the next place – e.g. “330 points to rank 3”. The Profile button in the card opens your profile.
• The top 10 participants. Places 1–3 get a trophy in gold, silver or bronze and a coloured ring around the profile picture.
• A progress bar relative to the leader, plus the number and ranking name per person.
• Names are clickable – a tap opens that person’s profile. That’s how you look at other guests’ uploads and achievements.
• The header subtitle names the number of participants, e.g. Currently N uploaders.

Your position and special states

Depending on the state of the event, the leaderboard shows different things:

• You’re Not Ranked Yet: with 0 in the selected ranking, a banner appears calling you to join in (e.g. “Upload Images”, “Solve Tasks”, “Give Likes”). A single action is enough to appear.
• Uncontested!: if you’re alone at the top, a special view with confetti and rank 1 appears.
• Be the First!: if nobody has points yet, a large Upload Now button appears.
• Leaderboard disabled: if the host has switched it off, the page shows a note that the feature isn’t active for this event.
• No rankings: leaderboard on, but no category selected – then you’ll see the note that no leaderboard rankings are available.
• Error Loading Data: on an error, the refresh button helps.

When the standing is frozen – the winners

Some events crown winners at the end. To do that the host freezes the standing at a point in time – from then on, later uploads, likes or deletions no longer change the result.

How you notice it’s over

The moment the standing is frozen, every open device gets a notice “The result is in” with the text “The competition has ended — take a look at the winners!”. Open the leaderboard after that and you no longer see the live ranking but the final result.

The route stays the same: the Leaderboard menu item on a computer, the trophy icon on a phone.

What the final result page shows

• At the very top a trophy and the heading “The final result is in”, below it “Standing frozen on …” with the date and time.
• If the host crowned several scoring categories, you switch between them with chips at the top – each has its own winners.
• The winners come first, with a trophy, their place number, a coloured border and a bar. Below them follows the section “Other places” with everyone else who is ranked – so you find yourself even when you didn’t win.
• Your own row has a coloured background and carries the tag “(you)”. Other guests’ names can be tapped to open their profile.
• On a tie, several people share the same place – which is why more than one person can sit on “place 1”.

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The final result page: the trophy and the freeze time on top, the winners and the other places below.

If you won

Then a highlighted card appears above the list (with confetti):

1. The card reads “You won!” and below it your placement in the format “Place N — ranking”.

2. Tap “Collect prize”. A dialog opens with your placement as its heading.

3. The dialog explains: you’ll get a code to show the hosts. Below that sits a field “Your name (optional)”.

4. The name is voluntary. You can fill it in so the hosts find you more easily – or simply leave the field empty and continue anyway.

5. Tap “Show code”. Your six-digit code now appears in large type in the format XXX-XXX, together with the note “Show this code to the hosts to collect your prize.”

6. Finish with “Done”. The code isn’t gone: the same button – now labelled “Show code” – brings it back any time.

If your prize has already been handed over, the dialog additionally reads “This prize has already been handed out.”

Note

The host verifies your code in their management area, which marks the prize as handed out. It’s the same flow as for the real rewards on achievements – except that here it’s about your placement at the end, not about an unlocked task.

Caution

If the host re-opens the competition as an exception (because it was frozen too early), the codes handed out so far stop working. The leaderboard then runs on as normal, and the next freeze gives you a new code.

The cards in the gallery

On the gallery page – not the home page – Photogala shows up to three small progress cards above the photos. Which ones you see is up to the host. When at least two of them are active they turn into a carousel: swipe sideways, tap the dots below, and on a computer use the arrows on the left and right as well.

The “Next Achievement” card

It shows which achievement you can reach next:

• Top left the label “Next Achievement”, on the right your progress as a percentage.
• Below it the name of the achievement, plus a ring around the achievement’s image or around a trophy.
• If a reward is attached, a line with a gift icon and the reward appears.
• At the bottom a progress bar and a concrete hint about what’s still missing – for example “Upload 3 more photos” or “Get 5 more likes on your photos”.
• Tapping the card opens the overview of all achievements.
• Once you have unlocked everything, the card switches to “All Achievements Unlocked!” with confetti and the line “N of N completed”.

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The carousel's second card: the ‘Collector’ achievement at 92 %, with the hint ‘Upload 2 more photos’. Below it the three dots for the three cards – on a computer, arrows on the left and right page through them, on a phone you swipe.

The “Captured together” card (memories counter)

This card doesn’t count your own effort but the whole event’s:

• The label “Captured together”, below it a large number and the word “memories”. That means every published photo and video all guests have contributed together.
• On first display the number counts up from 0. After that it keeps ticking live: when new media arrives, a +1 floats upwards, the heart icon pulses and the number pops.
• On round milestones there’s a brief burst of confetti.
• The tooltip reads “Shared by all guests”.
• The card only appears when the host has enabled the Memories Counter and at least one photo exists.

A short buzz as feedback

On devices that support it, Photogala gives you brief haptic feedback:

• when you like a photo – a single, very short pulse;
• when you unlock an achievement – a small two-pulse pattern; unlock several at once and it gets a little longer;
• when the standing is frozen – every guest with an open page feels that one, together with the notice;
• when opening the final result reveals that you won, and when you unlock a real reward – the slightly more pronounced pattern in both cases.

Note

On iPhones none of this happens: Safari doesn’t support the vibration feature. On desktops nothing happens either. And if you have reduce motion enabled in your system settings, Photogala deliberately skips the buzz.

Redeeming real rewards

Some achievements are tied to a real, physical reward – a drink or a small prize, say.

• Your profile then shows a chip “N redeemable” (redeemable) with a gift icon. A click opens the overview directly on the redeemable tab.
• In the achievement dialog of a redeemable achievement you’ll find an info box with the host’s redemption instructions (e.g. “Collect at the prize table”) and a green Confirm Receipt button. It generates a confirmation code you show to the host.
• Already redeemed? Then it reads View Confirmation Code with an Already Redeemed note.
• Out of stock? Then the Out of Stock button is disabled.

The full flow is described in its own guide, Redeeming real rewards.

Visibility & troubleshooting

Points, achievements, the leaderboard and real rewards are four individually toggleable features and depend on the event plan. Only the host can switch them on or off and set the point values and leaderboard rankings (under Settings → Features; see Enabling features).

If you don't see something

• No points / no points entry in the menu → The “Points System” feature is off or the plan doesn’t include it.
• No leaderboard / no leaderboard menu item → The Leaderboard card in the settings (Gallery features ▸ Joining in & points) is off. Then the menu item disappears entirely, not just the page.
• Leaderboard there, but empty or just me → That’s normal at the start of an event. It fills up with uploads and challenges – press the refresh button.
• No achievements section in the profile → “Digital Achievements” are off, or no achievements have been created yet.
• My new points are missing → A short delay is possible; press the refresh button on the leaderboard or reopen the Points Summary dialog.
• A photo booth/camera is missing from the leaderboard → Device profiles are deliberately not ranked.
• The leaderboard suddenly shows a final result → The host froze the standing. That’s intended and can’t be switched back by a guest.
• I won but see no winner card → The card only appears in the categories where you sit on a prize-winning place. Switch category at the top and check whether your place is still within the places on offer.
• My code doesn’t work with the host → If the competition was re-opened in the meantime, old codes are invalid. Get a new one after the next freeze.
• No cards above the gallery → The host has switched off task progress, next achievement and the memories counter – or there is no content for them yet (no photo at all, for instance).
• No buzz on my iPhone → Safari doesn’t support it. That’s not a fault of your device.

Related help pages

• Challenges – the main source of points and achievements.
• Uploading photos and Likes & comments – further point sources.
• Profile – where points, achievements and rank live permanently.
• Redeeming real rewards – the redemption flow in detail.
• For hosts: Turning features on & off, Redeeming rewards and Crowning winners & handing out prizes.