Badges/Badge Specification
Badge Description Syntax
A collection of attributes for representing Badges.
- This version
- https://wiki.mozilla.org/Drumbeat/Badges/Badge_format
- Latest version
- https://wiki.mozilla.org/Drumbeat/Badges/Badge_format
- Previous version
- Editors
- Joshua Gay, P2PU.org, Mozilla Foundation joshuagay@gmail.com
- Mark Surman, Mozilla Foundation
- Robert Chang, Remix Learning
Goals
The following are the goals and timeline for the 0.1 draft specification.
Goal 1: Gather (indiscriminately) possible attributes of a Badge.
Goal 2: Determine the minimum set of attributes/fields required for two sites to share Badges between them.
Target Date: 10/19/2010.
Motivation
There has been an increasing use of badges across a number of Web sites, network services, and gaming platforms over the last several years. Badges are used for a variety of reasons including rewarding achievement, encouraging different forms of user engagement, or simply for the fun of it.
Recently a number of individuals involved in education projects and initiatives came together to discuss how badges could be integrated into their Web sites and platforms. As a result a collaboration has formed amongst some of them with the ope that perhaps badges on one system could be carried over by users to another system. To support these kinds of activities the development of a general Badge infrastructure is underway, with a Badge backpack allowing individuals to store badges locally or on a third-party web service. One of the first steps necessary to allow for a Badge framework and backpack to be developed is to determine the common attributes shared by badges across the different platforms and sites.
Syntax Overview
Required Fields
- Name of badge
- This is simply a UTF-8 String.
- Who earned the badge
- Not all children and youth are able to something like OpenID accounts, particularly with COPAA requirements. Perhaps site-user-name and/or email address could be used for some badge providers?
Optional Fields
- What does the badge signify
- Is this different than why was it awarded? There should be minimally descriptive metadata on what the badge represents and optionally any detailed requirements for receiving the badge and who can award (if there are any restrictions) the specific badge. Perhaps permitted issuer(s) or open should be a separate field?
- When was the badge acquired
- TIMESTAMP?
- Where was it given
- URI?
- What does it look like?
- Dimensions? Description? Caption? Accessibility description?
- Multimedia properties?
- E.g., Image-type, Video, Interactive SVG, JavaScript, Is it a video, embedded JavaScript, SVG, Canvas, etc. -- HTML5 Canvas since declining support for SVG (thoughts?)
- Insignia or device
- Sometimes badges can be modified with additional insignia over time. For example, this could be adding stripes to indicate a "level" (or counter) at which you have earned a given rank or badge, to indicate that you've earned a badge more than once, etc. Accessibility description concerns?
- Associated Value
- This could be a numeric value of what this is worth, e.g., points, karma, etc. This value may be used to distinguish the relative "worth" of badges or the aggregate worth of your badges may unlock certain activities or be used as a way to compare members of a group.
- Version
- Some badges are part of version control systems and come with a release number.
- External URLs
- Sometimes a badge may link to URLs to show exactly where or for what you earned a badge.
- Dependencies
- What badges are first required before you can earn this badge?
- Groups
- Is this badge part of a larger group of badges?
- Unlocked properties
- Often when you earn a badge it unlocks the ability to pursue other badges or partake in other activities in an organization or on a given system.
Notes, Concerns, Thoughts
References
Related Specifications
Other References
- Badges, badges, everywhere!, joshuagay.org/blog
- Awards_and_decorations_of_the_United_States_military