Charitable Documentation

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Fliers and Posters

Requires: Charitable Pro plugin 1.8.16+
Pro plan and higher
Charitable Ambassadors 3.4.7+

Do your fundraisers need something to hand out at a race, pin on a noticeboard or leave on a staffroom table?

Charitable Ambassadors gives you 2 printables for that, and both print straight from the browser. You don’t need a design tool or a PDF plugin.

  • A fundraiser flier is for one fundraiser. It shows their name, their story and their goal, plus a QR code that opens their own page.
  • A recruitment poster is for a parent campaign. It shows your organization’s details and a QR code that opens the sign-up form, so someone who scans it can start their own fundraiser.

This guide covers switching fliers on, choosing a layout and logo, where fundraisers find their flier, printing a poster, and the developer hooks.

A flier asks for a donation to one person’s page, and a poster asks for a new fundraiser. So knowing the difference helps you print the right one for each place.

Read the full feature announcement »

What’s in This Guide?

Watch the Fliers and Posters Video

This short walkthrough shows how to switch fliers on and where your fundraisers find Print Flier. It also shows how to print a recruitment poster from the campaigns list.

When to Use Fliers and Posters

Fliers and posters help anywhere your supporters meet people in person.

  • Race days and event tables. A pile of fliers gives a supporter who paid in cash a way to give online later.
  • Schools and clubs. A poster on the noticeboard lets new fundraisers sign up without you inviting each one.
  • Workplaces. A poster in the kitchen and fliers at reception ask for both donations and new fundraisers.
  • Door-to-door and neighbourhood drops. The Hand out layout is made for giving to people.
  • Places without a screen. A church hall, a village shop and a gym all work.

What a Fundraiser Flier Shows

A flier is a one-page document for a single fundraiser, and that fundraiser prints it themselves.

A printable fundraiser flier, showing the campaign name, the fundraiser's headline and photo, their story, their goal and a QR code that opens their page

Everything on it comes from the fundraiser’s own page. You’ll see the campaign name above their headline, their photo and story, their goal, and a QR code that says “Scan to donate”. Your logo, or your site name if you haven’t set one, appears in the footer.

How to Turn On Printable Fliers

Fliers are off by default, so updating Ambassadors never shows a Print Flier link to your fundraisers before you’re ready. To get started, head over to Charitable » Ambassadors » Other » Fliers.

The Printable Fliers settings, showing the Enable Printable Fliers switch, the Flier Logo picker and the Hand out and Post up layout options
SettingWhat it does
Enable Printable FliersThis switch adds a Print Flier link to My Campaigns and to each fundraiser’s own page. It stays off until you switch it on.
Flier LogoThis optional logo appears in the flier footer. If you leave it empty, the footer shows your site name as text.
Flier LayoutThis lets you choose Hand out or Post up. The next section explains both.

The logo and layout settings only appear once fliers are switched on. If you switch fliers off again, both choices are saved for next time.

How to Choose a Flier Layout

The Flier Layout chooser, showing the Hand out and Post up options

Hand out is the default. It’s made for giving to friends and family, with a photo, the full story, the goal and the QR code in a side column.

Post up is made for a noticeboard. It shows a photo, a short hook and 5 tear-off tabs with the QR code.

Both layouts print portrait on one page. A tip at the top of the flier reminds you to choose Portrait in the print dialog, because landscape splits the flier across 2 pages.

Once fliers are on, every fundraiser gets a Print Flier link in 3 places. All 3 open the same flier.

  • On My Campaigns, on each of their fundraisers.
  • In the launch panel a new fundraiser sees right after their page is approved.
  • On the creator toolbar on their own fundraiser page, while they’re signed in.
A fundraiser's card on the My Campaigns screen, where the Print Flier link appears

When they click it, the flier opens as its own page, and they can print it with their browser.

Who Can Print a Fundraiser Flier

Only the fundraiser’s owner and site administrators can open a flier. Nobody else can, whether they’re signed in or not.

Charitable checks who owns the fundraiser before it checks any permission. This matters because most fundraisers have the Subscriber role, and a roles plugin that removes edit_campaigns would otherwise stop them printing their own flier.

What Fundraisers See When a Flier Can’t Be Printed

Instead of printing a broken page, the flier shows a message that explains the problem.

SituationWhat the visitor sees
The fundraiser is still waiting for approval.They see “You can print a flier once this fundraiser has been approved and published.”
Someone opens another person’s fundraiser.They see “You cannot print this flier.” Only the owner and administrators can print it.
The campaign doesn’t use peer-to-peer fundraising.They see “Fliers are for peer-to-peer fundraisers.” A standalone campaign has no flier.
Fliers are switched off.Someone who could switch fliers back on sees “Printable fliers are turned off.” Everyone else sees a plain not-found page, so the page never mentions a feature the visitor can’t use.

What a Recruitment Poster Shows

A poster is a one-page document for a parent campaign, which is the main campaign your fundraisers raise money under. Whoever runs that campaign prints it, and its job is to bring in new fundraisers.

A printable recruitment poster, showing Now Recruiting above the campaign name, the goal, and a QR code to sign up and start fundraising

The QR code opens your fundraiser sign-up page, not a donation form. Someone who scans the poster lands on the form that creates their own fundraising page, even if they don’t have an account yet.

How to Print a Recruitment Poster

To print a poster, head over to Charitable » Campaigns and click the Print Poster icon at the end of the campaign’s row.

Note: The Print Poster icon is on the Charitable Campaigns list, not in the Ambassadors Directory. The 3.4.6 release notes pointed to the Directory, and this guide has the correct location.

A parent campaign's row on the Charitable Campaigns list, with an arrow pointing to the Print Poster icon

The icon only appears on rows where a poster can open. The campaign has to be a peer-to-peer parent campaign, and you have to be someone who can print its poster. A fundraiser’s own row doesn’t show the icon, because nobody signs up to a single fundraiser.

The poster opens in a new tab and brings up your browser’s print dialog.

Who Can Print a Recruitment Poster

Anyone who can manage the parent campaign can print its poster. That means the campaign’s author, or anyone with permission to edit it.

This is a different rule from fliers on purpose. A flier checks whether you own the fundraiser, and a poster checks whether you run the campaign.

How to Point a Poster at One Fundraiser Type

If your campaign accepts more than one type of fundraiser, you can print a poster that sends people straight to one type, so they skip the choice. Add type to the end of the poster’s web address.

/poster/123/?type=individual
/poster/123/?type=team
/poster/123/?type=team-member

Replace 123 with your campaign ID. Without type, people choose for themselves when they sign up.

Pro tip: Print different posters for different groups, such as a team poster for coaches and an individual poster for the lobby.

How Recruitment Posters Work With Fliers Switched Off

Enable Printable Fliers only controls fliers. A recruitment poster works whether that setting is on or off.

Posters do use the Flier Logo setting, so you only need to upload your logo once. Once a Flier Logo is set, it appears on your posters even with fliers switched off.

Flier Layout doesn’t change a poster. A poster has a single layout for now, so Hand out and Post up produce the same poster.

If you want posters but not fliers, switch on Enable Printable Fliers, choose your logo and save. Then switch fliers off again. Your logo stays saved and keeps appearing on your posters.

What Fliers and Posters Have in Common

Both printables work the same way behind the scenes.

  • They are standalone pages. Neither one loads your theme’s stylesheet, so they print the same on every site.
  • They are never indexed or cached. Both send noindex, nofollow and no-cache headers. A flier never shows up in search results, and a fundraiser who edits their story gets the new version the next time they print.
  • Their QR codes are tagged. A flier’s QR code is tagged as coming from a flier and a poster’s as coming from a poster, so Ambassadors can tell you which printout brought people in.
  • They are printed, not downloaded. The page opens and you print it. Your browser can save it as a PDF if you want a file.

Tips Worth Keeping in Mind

These habits help your printables reach the right people.

  • Set your logo before you switch fliers on for everyone. Your fundraisers’ first fliers will then carry your branding.
  • Use fliers for donations and posters for sign-ups. A flier’s QR code opens a fundraiser’s page, and a poster’s opens the sign-up form.
  • Tell fundraisers to choose Portrait. Landscape is the one print setting that splits a flier across 2 pages.
  • Pick Post up for noticeboards. Its tear-off tabs let people take the QR code away with them.

Troubleshooting Fliers and Posters

Check Enable Printable Fliers under Charitable » Ambassadors » Other » Fliers, because it stays off until you switch it on. If it’s on, make sure you’re looking at a published peer-to-peer fundraiser rather than a standalone campaign.

A Fundraiser’s Flier Shows a Not-Found Page

Most often, the fundraiser isn’t published yet. Also check that they’re signed in as the owner, because a visitor who isn’t signed in sees a plain not-found page.

The Print Poster Icon Is Missing From a Campaign’s Row

First, check that you’re on Charitable » Campaigns, because the icon isn’t in the Ambassadors Directory.

The icon only appears on peer-to-peer parent campaigns. If the campaign isn’t accepting fundraisers, or it’s a fundraiser itself, there’s no poster to print. Check the campaign’s Peer to Peer Fundraising settings.

The Flier Prints Across 2 Pages

Choose Portrait in the print dialog. Both layouts are made for one portrait page, and landscape splits them.

Your site name is what appears when no logo is set. Set a Flier Logo under Charitable » Ambassadors » Other » Fliers, and remember the field only appears once fliers are switched on.

Posters Still Work After I Turned Fliers Off

That’s expected. Enable Printable Fliers only controls fliers, as explained in How Recruitment Posters Work With Fliers Switched Off.

Developer Reference for Fliers and Posters

Flier and Poster Hooks and Filters

HookTypeWhat it does
charitable_ambassadors_flier_view_argsfilterFilters everything the flier template renders, including the headline, story, goal, logo, QR code, owner name and image.
charitable_ambassadors_flier_layoutfilterFilters the resolved layout, hand-out or post-up. It receives the fundraiser ID, so you can vary the layout per campaign.
charitable_ambassadors_flier_qr_urlfilterFilters the URL the flier’s QR code encodes.
charitable_ambassadors_flier_story_wordsfilterFilters how many words of the fundraiser’s story the flier includes.
charitable_ambassadors_flier_slugfilterFilters the route segment, which is flier by default.
charitable_ambassadors_poster_view_argsfilterFilters everything the poster template renders.
charitable_ambassadors_poster_urlfilterFilters the poster URL built by charitable_ambassadors_get_poster_url().
charitable_ambassadors_poster_qr_urlfilterFilters the sign-up URL the poster’s QR code encodes.

Override the Flier and Poster Templates in Your Theme

Copy any of these files into your theme at the same path to override it.

your-theme/charitable/charitable-ambassadors/campaign/fundraiser-flier.php
your-theme/charitable/charitable-ambassadors/campaign/fundraiser-flier-hand-out.php
your-theme/charitable/charitable-ambassadors/campaign/fundraiser-flier-post-up.php
your-theme/charitable/charitable-ambassadors/campaign/fundraiser-flier-footer.php
your-theme/charitable/charitable-ambassadors/campaign/fundraiser-flier-notice.php
your-theme/charitable/charitable-ambassadors/campaign/recruitment-poster.php

Useful Functions for Fliers and Posters

  • charitable_ambassadors_flier_enabled() returns whether fliers are switched on.
  • charitable_ambassadors_flier_layout( $fundraiser_id ) returns the resolved layout.
  • charitable_ambassadors_flier_logo_id() returns the chosen logo attachment, which posters share.
  • charitable_ambassadors_get_poster_url( $parent_id, $type ) returns a poster URL, or '' when that campaign has no poster.
  • Charitable_Ambassadors_Flier_Controller::can_print( $fundraiser_id, $user_id ) checks whether a user can print a flier.
  • Charitable_Ambassadors_Flier_Controller::get_block_reason( $fundraiser_id, $user_id ) returns '', or one of disabled, not_found, forbidden, not_fundraiser or unpublished.
  • Charitable_Ambassadors_Poster_Controller::can_view( $parent_id, $user_id ) checks whether a user can print a poster.
  • Charitable_Ambassadors_Poster_Controller::get_block_reason( $parent_id, $user_id ) returns '', not_found, forbidden, or a parent-resolution error code.

Both access checks take an explicit $user_id, so you can ask about an anonymous visitor (0) or a specific user without a real request.

Code Example for a Different Flier Layout on One Campaign

add_filter( 'charitable_ambassadors_flier_layout', function ( $layout, $fundraiser_id ) {
    $parent = wp_get_post_parent_id( $fundraiser_id );

    return ( 123 === (int) $parent ) ? 'post-up' : $layout;
}, 10, 2 );

Code Example for a Longer Story on the Flier

add_filter( 'charitable_ambassadors_flier_story_words', function () {
    return 90;
} );
$url = charitable_ambassadors_get_poster_url( $parent_id, 'team' );

if ( '' !== $url ) {
    printf( '<a href="%s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">%s</a>', esc_url( $url ), esc_html__( 'Print a poster', 'your-theme' ) );
}

charitable_ambassadors_get_poster_url() returns an empty string rather than a WP_Error, because every caller is a UI deciding whether to show a link. Use Charitable_Ambassadors_Poster_Controller::get_block_reason() when you need the reason.

Wrapping Up

That’s it! You’ve learned how to switch on fundraiser fliers, choose a layout and logo, and print a recruitment poster. Your fundraisers can now print their own fliers, and new supporters can sign up straight from a poster on the wall.

If you get stuck on any step, our support team is happy to help.

You May Also Want to Read

These guides cover the parts of Ambassadors that fliers and posters build on.

  • Peer-to-Peer Concepts. Learn how parent campaigns and fundraisers differ, which decides who gets which printable.
  • My Campaigns. See the screen where fundraisers find their Print Flier link.
  • Fundraiser Page. Find out where the story, goal and photo on each flier come from.
  • Directory. Manage your fundraisers, and note that the Print Poster icon is on Charitable » Campaigns instead.
  • Hooks and Filters in Ambassadors. Browse the full developer reference.

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