What is a badge?
Badges are used to celebrate the completion of a program or major program element (like several learning chapters) or some type of accomplishment. For example, if a participant completed a learning program, they might receive a badge celebrating the accomplishment and recognizing the achievement.
How to create a custom badge
Badges can be added by an Administrator who has access to the "Awards and Badges" section of the app.
Select badges and a list of all current badges will appear along with a button "create badge". All that is required to create a badge is:
- The name of the badge.
- A description of the badge that explains its purpose or reason for being awarded.
- An image that represents the badge in the platform.
- The option to add a certificate, a more formal representation of information tied to the achievement.
Badge dimensions and format
Badges are small square graphic elements with a 1:1 aspect ratio. Whistle suggests that badges should be 512x512 pixels as that represents that largest form for the badge in the app. Larger files can be uploaded but additional detail is lost due to the badges small size. Smaller files can also be uploaded, however the badge image may appear fuzzy as it is automatically resized to fit the space in the app.
Example of a small badge
Things to Avoid
When creating a new badge, here a few things you want to avoid:
- complex designs that will be lost when the image is reduced in size to appear in program cards
- Low contrast between graphic elements as the design might not show up well
- Small text as it will not be easily read as the badge is used in the platform
Badge File Format
Whistle supports JPG and PNG file formats for badges. Most graphic design software like Photoshop and basic presentation software like Powerpoint can save/export files in these file types.