Playing around with forum badges

[Naomi Most]

Hey everybody,

I'm starting to think that those little squares under people's icons need to be a little more descriptive and reflective of the individuals in our community.  I might like to get rid of them entirely.

It would be fun to have some more graphics to look at, rather than just words and squares (which usually reflect post-count, although I've statically set these "stars" to 2 for CBL members and 4 for superheroes).

So I'm hunting down right now a set of "badges" we could assign to different member groups -- e.g. the "Superhero" group OBVIOUSLY needs to have a kickass looking badge.

Here's an example of what I mean by Badges:

http://eebots.forumify.com/viewtopic.php?id=2

Those won't work for us (black background and kinda gamer-y), other wise I'd nab 'em, but this should give you the gist.

Any badge set we use will have to be transparent in background, because we may change the forum theme (to match a DH redesign that we may do in the next few months).

Comments? Suggestions?

[sckiely]

Sounds cool, those squares still confuse me 😏

[Dmunnee]

makes sense.  If anything it may be easier to distinguish quickly who a poster is.

[Naomi Most]

Sounds cool, those squares still confuse me 😏

Yeah that's because they're inherently confusing. 

[Big Tex]

Sounds great!

[soulmind]

Sounds cool, those squares still confuse me 😏

Me too.  I've got over a hundred posts and only one square (not that I attach self worth, just really confused what gives you more squares).  Perhaps we could base it off muscle groups or metabolic functions (I see it now: mTOR member, Pectoral Major member, tGlut moderator).  My only request is to use a font similar to what Death Metal bands use so I can spend hours trying to figure out what I'm reading.

[Michael Powell]

In addition to badges you might look into forum reputation. If someone gives great advice we can positive rep them, if they give bad advice or say something that offends you can negative rep them. This helps separate the good folks from the riff raff that seems to find their way in forums and detracts from the learning experience.

[Dmunnee]

I might worry about personal opinions getting in the way of being accurate, but I get your meaning and could be a good idea.

[Naomi Most]

In addition to badges you might look into forum reputation. If someone gives great advice we can positive rep them, if they give bad advice or say something that offends you can negative rep them. This helps separate the good folks from the riff raff that seems to find their way in forums and detracts from the learning experience.

Yeah, I've been periodically looking into that idea, actually.  I have long wanted a "thumbs up" or SOMETHING.

If you guys feel like helping the cause, look for plugins for the Simple Machines Forum (that's the software we're using).

I am not interested in implementing Facebook (or any other social media service) integration, there are just too many failure modes involved in that.  Just a simple our-forum-only system.

[ibobland08]

In addition to badges you might look into forum reputation. If someone gives great advice we can positive rep them, if they give bad advice or say something that offends you can negative rep them. This helps separate the good folks from the riff raff that seems to find their way in forums and detracts from the learning experience.

Yeah, I've been periodically looking into that idea, actually.  I have long wanted a "thumbs up" or SOMETHING.

If you guys feel like helping the cause, look for plugins for the Simple Machines Forum (that's the software we're using).

I am not interested in implementing Facebook (or any other social media service) integration, there are just too many failure modes involved in that.  Just a simple our-forum-only system.

I think a positive rep only is a good idea.  I have noticed that people have differing opinions in the gray areas of CBL and Carb Nite.  I think people will negative rep people they don't agree with on things that we really won't be able to settle due to lack of expertise. 

[teeboye]

It look great anyway! I will look out for that.