FastComments offers a feature-rich badge system on all plans to award your users and moderators. Read on to learn what types of badges we support, who can get what type of badge, and the requirements for each.
Basics 
FastComments User Badges are configured by administrators with the Customize Data permission.
This is done via Customize -> Badges in your admin dashboard.
When a user is awarded a badge, it is displayed on their profile and on their comments.
When adding a badge we can setup a Display Label, which is the name the user sees associated with the badge. For example, if we add a Comment Count badge
we probably don't want to show that technical name because it's very lame. We might call it Super Member or similar. Badges can also stack and replace each other, as we'll cover
later in this document.
Badges also have configurable thresholds.
Badges can be created, and then later disabled by unchecking Enabled. Disabling a badge means it will no longer be automatically awarded, and won't show in the Award Manual Badge menu, but
users will keep the badge.
Badge Display Types
Badges can be images or text badges, which support some basic styling (text color, background color, and border color). You can also style badges via CSS.
Image badges can be GIF images to show animated badges.
Tip - Do Not Remove Badges!
Users love badges. They tend to really care about them, even if it's a bug that you added by mistake and you want to change the badge icon.
If we've learned anything, it's extremely difficult to take something away from users. Removing a badge because you as an owner of the site no longer like it or want to make changes may result in a very angry group of users who suddenly leave your site out of frustration. For this reason
Delete was not even an option for the first few months we released this feature - however we ended up having to add it. But please, use delete with caution. We have
seen many long-time, multi-year users get very frustrated and leave their communities because administrators decided to delete a badge.
If you must stop using a badge, we suggest you simply disable it so that users keep their badge.
Badge Reprocessing
When a badge is added or changed, the system will retroactively check anyone who interacted with your site to see if they should get the badge. This will be visible in the Badges page in the admin dashboard, as a spinner will be shown instead of the number of users that have the badge. This is because the number of users is being determined.
Seeing Who Has a Badge
In the Badges list each link has a View Users option to show the list of users who have earned or were manually awarded a badge.
Progression
FastComments shows progression via badges in a number of ways.
For the following examples we'll have the badges set up:
- New User (Comment Count Badge with threshold = 1)
- Newbie (Comment Count Badge with threshold = 10)
- Top Member (Comment Count Badge with threshold = 100)
Badge Stacking
Stacking is the default badge behavior. When a user earns a new badge, it simply gets added to their profile and displayed on all their comments. Up to 15 badges are displayed.
Replacing Badges
Badges can be configured to replace other badges. When editing a badge, you can select which badge the new badge replaces.
We can configure Newbie to replace New User and Top Member to replace Newbie. This way, the previous badge
is automatically hidden and the new shiny badge is shown. All versions still remain in the user's account. They can always
hide the Top Member badge if they want and show the Newbie badge.
Checking Progress
A user can see the progress of earning a badge on their profile. It will show, at the top of their profile, how far along they are for earning a badge (for example, how many comments they've left and how many more they need to leave, or how long they've been a member, etc).
Manual Badges
Manual badges are badges that are never automatically awarded. Administrators and moderators can award this badge by
selecting the Award Badge option in the comment menu, which will award the badge to the user and display it on all their comments, or
by opening the user's profile by clicking their avatar and, in the top-right menu, clicking Manage Badges.
Comment Count
The Comment Count badge type is awarded when a specified threshold is met. It is awarded only for approved comments.
Note: Removing comments does not revoke this badge.
Upvotes
The Up-Votes badge is awarded based on the number of upvotes, or likes, to users' comments. It is not affected by the user upvoting their own comments, and it is not affected
by downvotes.
Note: Removing comments does not remove this badge.
Replies
The Replies badge is earned based on the number of replies a user earns. This is to drive engagement - if a user is earning replies to their comments, they're
getting users to spend time on your site, so you should award them and encourage this behavior.
Note: Removing comments does not remove this badge.
Pinned Comments
The Pinned Comments badge is awarded based on how many of the user's comments get pinned over time. This is to encourage
users to create content that is useful enough to be pinned.
Note: Unpinning or removing comments does not remove the badge.
Veteran
The Veteran badge is automatically awarded based on the time since the user's first comment. It is configured to be awarded after a set number of years.
Note: Removing comments does not remove this badge. We store the user's first interaction with your site separately.
Night Owl
The Night Owl badge is awarded based on whether the user is commenting at night in their local time zone. This helps users feel special
for interacting with your site off-hours, which may show dedication.
Currently, comments left between 10 PM and 4 AM count toward this badge and this is not configurable.
Fast Reply Time
The Fast Reply Time badge progress is earned when a user quickly replies to another user. This can be used to encourage members
of your community to quickly help other members, among other things. Only approved comments count.
To count progress toward this badge, the reply must be within 40 seconds of the parent (FastComments is live, after all!). This is not currently configurable today but may be via support request.
Note: Removing comments will not remove progress toward this badge.
Reply to a Specific Page
The Reply to Specific Page badge can be configured to be awarded when a user comments on a particular page. For example, if you have
an FAQ page, you might want to award users for answering questions there. It is based on a configurable threshold, for example you
might only want to award this badge after they post 10 comments on that page.
Introduction to Moderator Badges
Moderator Badges are badges available only to moderators.
They are designed to reward moderators for helping you with your site! They can also add a little friendly competition.
Like the user badges, they are not set up automatically. You must add and configure them the way you want.
Comments Deleted
This badge is awarded when comments are deleted. It is called Big Hammer by default.
Comments Approved
This badge is awarded when comments are approved. It is called Big Stamp by default.
Comments Unapproved
This badge is awarded when comments are unapproved (hidden). It is called Red Stamp by default.
Comments Reviewed
This badge is awarded when comments are marked as reviewed. It is called Fast Mod by default.
Comments Marked as Spam
This badge is awarded when comments are marked as spam. It is called Spam Detector by default.
Comments Marked as Not Spam
This badge is awarded when comments are marked as not spam. It is called Not Spam by default.
Got Suggestions?
That's it for FastComments Badges! Let us know below if you have any questions, or if you have any ideas for more badges!