Badges - Vanilla Success
<main> <article class="userContent"> <p><strong>Higher Logic Vanilla</strong> (<strong>Vanilla</strong>) Badges are a great way to encourage and award desirable behaviours in users of a Vanilla community.</p><p>Awarding a badge is <strong>not</strong> intended as an indicator of “the best.” Rather, badges should be <em>one reward among many</em> within a comprehensive gamification strategy that is designed to encourage participation and acceptable behaviour in your Vanilla community.</p><p>Vanilla gives you:</p><ul><li>a <em>ready-to-use set of badges</em> (if you have the <strong>Badges</strong> addon and its enabled) and</li><li>the ability to <em>create your own custom badges</em>.</li></ul><p>This article describes both of these options, as well as how to manage your Vanilla community badges.</p><h2 data-id="higher-logic-vanilla-badges"><strong>Higher Logic Vanilla Badges</strong></h2><p>All badges in Vanilla are configured with criteria that determine why/when they are awarded. The criteria can be <em>action-based</em> (e.g., the user uploads a profile picture), <em>threshold-based</em> (e.g., user has been a member for 5 years), or <em>reaction-based</em> (e.g., user’s comment received 5 likes).</p><p>The flexibility of badges means that users can be <em>directly and indirectly awarded</em> for their participation; and when a user earns a badge, it displays on their profile where others can see how engaged they have been.</p><p>You can manage (create, edit, delete, etc.) your badges on the <strong>Manage Badges</strong> page by navigating to <strong>Settings > Membership > Badges</strong>.</p><h2 data-id="the-badges-addon"><strong>The Badges Addon</strong></h2><p>The <strong>Badges</strong> addon must be enabled in your Vanilla community in order to use out-of-the-box and custom badges.</p><p>1. Navigate to <strong>Settings > Addons > Addons</strong>.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/2AL4ECCAU1TV/badges-addon-enabled.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/2AL4ECCAU1TV/badges-addon-enabled.png" alt="Badges addon-enabled.png" height="374" width="1068" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>2. Make sure that the toggle is to the right, as shown above.</p><p>3. Click the <strong>settings</strong> icon to access your list of badges on the Manage Badges page.</p><p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: When the Badges addon is enabled, you have access to dozens of out-of-the-box badges.</p><h2 data-id="out-of-the-box-badges"><strong>Out-of-the-box Badges</strong></h2><p>When the Badges addon is enabled, you have access to dozens of out-of-the-box badges. These are pre-configured and awarded for specific purposes, such as commenting, membership anniversaries, and to show approval.</p><p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: Some of the badges are dependent on the <strong>Reactions</strong> and <strong>Q&A addons</strong> being enabled in your Vanilla community. Refer to <strong>Addons that assign badges</strong>, below.</p><p>The out-of-the-box badges are grouped by <strong>class</strong>. Some of the classes (such as Commenter and Answerer) have multiple badges in order to accommodate (<em>and encourage</em>) continued activity. For example, a user can earn a Commenter badge for their first comment and then additional Commenter badges for every 10, 100, 500, 1000, 2500, etc. comments they contribute.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/4TOW68P0M1ZG/commenter-badges-list-partial.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/4TOW68P0M1ZG/commenter-badges-list-partial.png" alt="Commenter badges list-partial.png" height="287" width="831" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: The Answer badges are earned based on the <em>number of Answers posted</em>. However, if you have toggled "on" the <strong>Enables points award</strong> option for Q&A settings (to award points for answering questions), the Answer badges are instead earned based on <em>the number of Accepted Answers posted</em>.</p><ul><li>To learn more, see <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/20-questions-answers-q-a#awarding-points" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Questions & Answers (Q&A) - Awarding Points</a>.</li></ul><h2 data-id="list-of-badges"><strong>List of </strong>Badges</h2><p>The Manage Badges page lists all the badges that are available in your Vanilla community. On this page, you can see which badges are enabled and disabled, and you can manage these settings with the toggle sliders.</p><p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: You can access this list of badges by appending <strong>/badge/all</strong> to your Vanilla community URL, as in <strong>https://vanilla-community.com/badge/all</strong>.</p><p>The sections that follow describe what you can do with badges.</p><h2 data-id="view-badge-details"><strong>View Badge Details</strong></h2><p>Click a badge’s name to open a page with its description and the most recent recipients.</p><ul><li>Click your browser’s <strong>Back</strong> button to return to the list of badges.</li><li>Users can get to this page by clicking the badge in their profile. </li></ul><h2 data-id="enabledisable-a-badge"><strong>Enable/Disable a Badge</strong></h2><p>Use the slider next to a badge to control <em>whether it is enabled or disabled</em>.</p><ul><li>Disabled badges remain awarded to any users who had earned them, but they no longer display on user profiles.</li></ul><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/QG060XC6ZGSD/enable-disable-badges.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/QG060XC6ZGSD/enable-disable-badges.png" alt="Enable-Disable badges.png" height="493" width="992" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <h2 data-id="delete-a-badge">Delete a Badge</h2><p>You can delete <em>only custom badges</em> that were created in your Vanilla community.</p><p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: You <strong>cannot</strong> delete any of the Vanilla out-of-the-box badges.</p><ul><li>Click the <strong>trash can</strong> icon to delete a badge. At the confirmation prompt, click <strong>Okay</strong>. </li></ul><h2 data-id="edit-a-badge"><strong>Edit a Badge</strong></h2><p>You can edit the various properties of badges by clicking the <strong>pencil</strong> icon next to the badge; the options are pretty straightforward.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/A0HZ4AS3QC3O/edit-badges.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/A0HZ4AS3QC3O/edit-badges.png" alt="Edit badges.png" height="493" width="992" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <ul><li>Editing the name, description, and/or image of a badge will not affect its automated functionality, but it will update these properties for any users who have already earned the badge.</li><li>Editing the points of a badge will not change anything for any users who have already earned the badge.</li></ul><h3 data-id="the-slug-field">The Slug Field</h3><p>The Slug field is what shows in the URL for the badge’s page; it is its unique identifier. Some Slugs, (e.g., name-dropper) are text only, whereas others have a numeral to indicate a level, as in anniversary-4.</p><p>When editing a Slug, consider that the text part of a Slug <em>supports its automation</em>.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/DH8N27I2BTWJ/edit-badge-slug-field.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/DH8N27I2BTWJ/edit-badge-slug-field.png" alt="Edit badge-slug field.png" height="306" width="740" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>Referencing the image above:</p><ul><li>You can “safely” change the numerical level of a Slug. For example, change comment-100 to comment-99.</li><li>If you change the text of a Slug, it will <em>no longer be associated</em> with any automation assigned to it. For example, do <strong>not</strong> change comment-100 to remark-100.</li></ul><p>🛑 <strong>WARNING</strong>: Vanilla <strong>strongly cautions against</strong> changing the text of a Slug of any of the Vanilla out-of-the-box badges.</p><h2 data-id="create-a-badge">Create a Badge</h2><p>You can create your own custom badges for use in your Vanilla community.</p><p>1. Click the <strong>Add Badge</strong> button above the list.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/DXK3NBYY64KE/add-badge-button.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/DXK3NBYY64KE/add-badge-button.png" alt="Add Badge button.png" height="493" width="992" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>2. On the <strong>Add a Badge</strong> dialog, work through the fields as described below to configure your new badge.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/ZPO08CHJWIOL/add-badge-dialog.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/ZPO08CHJWIOL/add-badge-dialog.png" alt="Add Badge dialog.png" height="621" width="1018" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <ul><li><strong>Name</strong> – Use this field to provide a label that and clearly indicates the purpose of the badge.</li><li><strong>Slug</strong> – This field must be unique and should consist of only lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens. Refer to <strong>The Slug field</strong>, above, for more information.</li><li><strong>Description</strong> – Use this field to explain the purpose of the badge and how users can earn it. This information will appear on the badge’s page.</li><li><strong>Points</strong> – Use this field to specify the number of points that users are awarded when they earn the badge.</li><li><strong>Badge Class</strong> and <strong>Badge Class Level</strong> – Use these optional fields to apply internal-only classification to the badge.</li><li><strong>Add Image</strong> – Use this field to add a 100x100 (pixels) .PNG image for the badge.</li></ul><p>3. Click <strong>Save</strong>.</p><h2 data-id="understand-custom-badges"><strong>Understand Custom Badges</strong></h2><p>The custom badges that you create are <em>unique to your Vanilla community</em>. They can be awarded <strong>manually</strong>, <strong>via an API</strong> (as described in <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/202-apiv2-reference-endpoints#/Badges/post_badges__id__users" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">API v2 Reference & Endpoints</a>), and <strong>automatically</strong> when a user comments on a specific discussion (as described in <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/104" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Badgify Comments</a>).</p><p>If you want to automate a custom badge, there are a few options:</p><ul><li><strong>Custom Work</strong>: Talk to your Sales Executive or your CSM to get an estimate on custom work to achieve this. This is restricted to Corporate and higher tier-plan customers.</li><li><strong>Feature Request</strong>: Think your badge idea is awesome and would benefit our product and others? Submit your idea via our <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/categories/product-ideas" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Product Ideas page</a>.</li><li><strong>DIY</strong>: This method requires an experienced developer writing code that includes the criteria/action/logic in your Vanilla community and then, based on that logic, making a POST call to give the badge to the appropriate users. See <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/202-apiv2-reference-endpoints#/Badges/post_badges__id__users" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">API v2 Reference & Endpoints</a> for more information.</li></ul><h2 data-id="give-a-badge">Give a Badge</h2><p>Moderators and Administrators can manually give badges to users because the permission is built into those roles (see <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/39-roles-permissions" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Roles & Permissions</a>). All badge permissions are grouped in the Reputation section of permissions, which applies only when the Badges addon is enabled.</p><p>You can manually give a badge to users in two places; these are described in this section.</p><h3 data-id="manage-badges-page">Manage Badges Page</h3><p>To give a badge while on the Manage Badges page:</p><p>1. Click the <strong>Give Badge</strong> icon associated with the badge.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/93R2C9ZH1PID/give-a-badge.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/93R2C9ZH1PID/give-a-badge.png" alt="Give a badge.png" height="493" width="992" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>2. In the dialog, type the first name of the user in the <strong>Recipients</strong> field. As each letter is typed, matching usernames display below the field.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/CMIVYSEQKVCN/give-a-badge-configure.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/CMIVYSEQKVCN/give-a-badge-configure.png" alt="Give a badge-configure.png" height="297" width="849" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>3. When you see the correct username, click to select it. The username now displays in the field.</p><ul><li>Repeat these steps to select additional recipients. The system automatically comma-separates recipient names.</li></ul><p>4. Click <strong>Give Badge</strong> to finish.</p><p>A confirmation displays in the lower left and then the page returns to the list. The number in the badge’s <strong>Given</strong> column increments by the number of badge recipients.</p><h3 data-id="user-profile">User Profile</h3><p>To give a badge while on a user’s profile page:</p><p>1. Open the <strong>Options</strong> menu and select <strong>Give Badge</strong>.</p><p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: You <strong>cannot</strong> give badges to multiple users from this page. To do that, refer to the previous section, <strong>Manage Badges page</strong>.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/OATEV79QG0A2/give-badge-user-profile.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/OATEV79QG0A2/give-badge-user-profile.png" alt="Give Badge-user profile.png" height="321" width="698" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>2. In the dialog, click the dropdown and select a badge. A message displays <em>if the selected badge has already been given to the user</em>.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/ZHJN73PUD8HI/give-badge-user-profile-configure.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/ZHJN73PUD8HI/give-badge-user-profile-configure.png" alt="Give Badge-user profile-configure.png" height="314" width="575" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>3. Optionally, provide a reason for giving the badge.</p><p>4. Click <strong>Give Badge</strong> to finish.</p><p>The profile page refreshes, and the badge now displays.</p><h2 data-id="revoke-a-badge">Revoke a Badge</h2><p>To revoke a badge that has been given to a user:</p><p>1. Navigate to <strong>Settings > Membership > Badges</strong>.</p><p>2. Locate the badge that you want to revoke and click the number that displays in the <strong>Given</strong> column.</p><p>3. Locate the username and click <strong>Revoke</strong>.</p><p>On the Manage Badges page, the number in the badge’s <strong>Given</strong> column decrements by one. </p><h2 data-id="request-a-badge">Request a Badge</h2><p>Users can request a that a badge be given to them. Below are a few notes about badge requests.</p><ul><li>Only manually awarded badges can be requested (via the <strong>Request This Badge</strong> button on the badge’s description page).</li><li>“Automatic” badges do <strong>not</strong> have an option to be requested.</li><li>A user must have the <em>Badges > Request</em> permission to be able to request a badge. To learn about this permission, see <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/39-roles-permissions" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Roles & Permissions</a>.</li><li>Badge requests <strong>require a reason</strong> as to why the user deserves the badge.</li></ul><h3 data-id="manage-badge-requests">Manage Badge Requests</h3><p>Administrators and Moderators can manage the badge requests in their Vanilla community.</p><ul><li>Badge requests display under <strong>Badge Requests</strong> in the Dashboard.</li><li>Only Administrators and Moderators can <strong>approve or decline</strong> badge requests.</li><li>Badge requests can be managed either <strong>individually or in bulk</strong>.</li><li>Administrators and Moderators have an option under their <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/47-forum-notifications" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Notification Preferences</a> to set <strong>whether they want to be notified</strong> (by pop up or email message) of new badge requests.</li></ul><h2 data-id="users-badges">Users’ Badges</h2><p>A list of earned badges displays in the lower portion of users’ profiles.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/3Z952SSBUIGY/user-profile-badges-list.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/3Z952SSBUIGY/user-profile-badges-list.png" alt="User profile-badges list.png" height="324" width="873" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>Here, you can:</p><ul><li>Click the name of the badge to visit the badge’s description page.</li><li>Click the <strong>x</strong> (and <strong>Okay</strong>) to remove the badge.</li><li>Click <strong>Comment</strong> to leave a comment for the user (refer to <strong>Comments</strong>, below).</li></ul><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/XLWH7FO6Y5G6/user-profile-badges-comment.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/XLWH7FO6Y5G6/user-profile-badges-comment.png" alt="User profile-badges-comment.png" height="202" width="509" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <h3 data-id="comments">Comments</h3><p>Comments display under the associated badge.</p><ul><li>The <strong>creation time</strong> displays for the duration of the current day, then it updates to the <strong>creation date</strong>.</li><li>Click <strong>Delete</strong> (and <strong>Okay</strong>) to remove the comment.</li></ul><h2 data-id="integrations-addons-that-assign-badges">Integrations & Addons that Assign Badges</h2><p><strong>Zapier integration</strong> - This integration has an <strong>Award a Badge to a User</strong> Action that awards a badge to a user as specified by a Vanilla Trigger. To learn more, see the <em>Vanilla Triggers and Actions</em> section in <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/329" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Zapier Integration</a>.</p><p><strong>Reactions addon</strong> – This adds “reaction” options to discussions and comments. Badges are available for each of our default <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/22-reacting-to-content" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Reactions</a>. Badges are awarded for receiving 5, 25, 100, 250, 500, 1000, 1500, 2500, 5000, and 10,000 reactions.</p><p><strong>Q&A addon</strong> – This gives users the ability to designate a discussion as a Question and then mark comments as “accepted” Answers. Users earn a badge the first time their answer marked as an “accepted” answer, and they earn additional badges for providing 5, 25, 50, 100, and 250 “accepted” Answers.</p><p>📝 <strong>NOTE</strong>: Both of these addons have their own settings. Click the <strong>settings</strong> icon to access the Settings dialog.</p> </article> </main>