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Ben Halpern
Ben Halpern

Posted on

Changelog: Badges!

dev.to members can now receive badges for being awesome. We have rolled out a couple so far: one for having had a post appear in the weekly must-read roundup, and another for longevity.

They'll appear on folks' profiles as a collage of sorts, with different tilts depending on the database ID of the awarded badge instance.

We've wanted to do something like this for a while, but we wanted it to actually be fun — not just "Internet Points".

Our goals for the badges:

  • They will be unique and funky designs that add character to your DEV Profile.
  • They will reward things that align with good community values. Some will be based on objective achievements and some will be individually awarded by other community members based on taste and quality.
  • They will be fairly rare. While some will be for everyone, they aren't going to be something you just get for doing every little action.

Carry on with your days. The badges probably will not affect your lives in any major way, but they will hopefully add a bit of extra character to our community platform.

Happy coding. ❤️

Top comments (11)

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Ben Halpern

P.S. Thanks to @liana for designing the first two badges!

But we'd love some variety in these designs. If you'r an artist and you'd like to contribute a badge design, email liana@dev.to for details. 🙂

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Michiel Hendriks

I think cheevos are a bad thing. They add a game-able element and create a divide in the community on arbitrary factors.

From the current two badges I think the "One Year Club" is a bad one. Older members are not anymore special than newer members. Just because you discovered this site earlier doesn't make you any more special.
The "Top 7" is better, as it does celebrate a well received contribution. Although as the community grows it will become more difficult to achieve as competition grows.

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Omar Sinan

Love the idea! Can’t wait to see what badges you’ll introduce next :)

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pichardoj profile image
J. Pichardo

Sweet addition, I love the design too.

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Ben Halpern

Yay, glad to hear!

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Stephanie Handsteiner

Nice addition for the user profiles. I love the look of the badges, good work! :)

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Ben Halpern

Yay! We thought so. Good luck on getting your first. Looks like it will be July 6th at the latest 😄

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Frederik 👨‍💻➡️🌐 Creemers

Are you planning to add a page that lists all available bAdges, so people can aim to get a particular one? Or do you think that would lead to people gaming the system?

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Ben Halpern

We will be adding a page as badges are awarded, or something like that. I'm not to worried about system gaming at this stage based on how we expect to use these.

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Simon Landry

I see you have a hacktoberfest badge on your profile. I have completed the 2018 and 2019 editions and do not have one, how can I get the badge / submit completion proof?

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Anushka Raj

Cool addition!