Aurora: About member Ranks and ranking formulas
Most online communities use a series of ranks to recognize and reward community members. When they first join a community, members typically receive a “newbie” rank. As members spend time creating and engaging with content in the community, they can advance in rank. Rank titles are visible on community member’s profiles as well as the Account menu. The criteria required for achieving ranks, however, are not visible to non-admins. About Ranks About ranking formulas About Ranks A rank is essentially the set of criteria a member must meet and the rewards the member receives as a result. The criteria for a rank typically measure a member's activity in the community over time. For higher ranks, you may want to include criteria that measure the quality of community contributions in the form of number of solutions accepted or average ratings. The rewards for a rank tend to be increased recognition in the form of special icons or styling for the member’s username and access to privileges that are otherwise restricted. Ranks should be organized in order of how difficult they are to achieve. The most difficult ranks to achieve should be displayed at the top of the ranking structure on the Ranks page and have lower numbers (shown to the left of the rank) associated with them. The higher the rank level number is, the easier that rank is to achieve and the lower it is shown in the ranking structure. For instance, 0 is the lowest rank level number in your ranking structure, but it is the hardest rank to achieve. When creating your ranks, keep this hierarchy in mind—that is, don’t put ranks in a random order or organize them alphabetically. If you don’t organize them by difficulty of achievement, they will not be awarded appropriately across the community. Ranks are calculated when a member signs in to the community or shortly after (about 15 minutes) the member has met the criteria for the rank. Note: A member can hold only one rank at a time. The most common events that affect a member's rank are: Number of Tags applied to content Registration age Minutes online Number of sign-ins Number of page views Number of posts created Accepted Solutions granted Likes received Likes given Role required (e.g., the “Moderator” role is required for the “Moderator” rank) You can also create your own ranking formula, which can include a lot more. When you first launch your community, you have a set of default ranks already created. However, you may want to add more lower-level ranks to enable members to progress more quickly and get instant reinforcement. As your community matures, you may want to add higher-level ranks that are more difficult to achieve. About ranking formulas A ranking formula is a Boolean expression composed of values for a subset of the member metrics in the system plus a variety of operators (such as and, or, not, less than, more than). If the Boolean expression equals true (this means the member meets the criteria), the member receives the rank. The operator you choose makes a big difference in the results produced by a formula. For example, you might require members to have more than 200 page views and no fewer than 20 posts. Or, you might require members to have at least 20 posts or more than 200 page views. In the first example, the member must meet both criteria before attaining the rank. In the second example, the member can achieve the rank by meeting either criterion. When you define a rank using the predefined metrics, we add an implicit “AND,” which means that members must meet all of the criteria before receiving the rank (this is the most common way to combine multiple criteria). Related topics: Create a rank Create a ranking formula About default community ranksAurora: Create a ranking formula
For a rank to work as intended, you need to write a ranking formula outlining the criteria needed for a member to achieve that rank. Our default ranks already have criteria associated with them; you can use these for a quick Ranks setup or you can view them for more examples on how ranking formulas are written. The format for a formula is: (variable operator value) Boolean operator (variable operator value) A variable is one of the member metrics captured by the system. Examples of member metrics include number of accepted solutions, number of posts, number of post views, and number of minutes online. Note:To view a list of the Aurora member metrics you can use in your ranking formulas, refer toMember metrics for ranking formulas. A value is the measurement that you want the metric to have. A value can be numeric or alphabetic. For example, if the metric is minutes online, the value will be a specific number of minutes. If the metric is user ID, the value will be a username. The operator indicates the relationship between the metric and the value. The relationship can be numerical or text-based. These are the operators you can use: Operator Description == Equal (numeric or text) != Not Equal (numeric or text) >= Greater Than or Equal <= Less Than or Equal + Text Concatenation + Numerical Plus - Numerical Minus * Numerical Multiply / Numerical Divide The Boolean operator defines a relationship between two or more variable expressions. Each variable that you set as a criterion is a separate expression. You can use these Boolean operators: Operator Description ! Boolean Not && Boolean And || Boolean Or You must enclose each variable expression (variable + operator + value) in parentheses. You can also combine variables to calculate values that the system may not otherwise provide. For example, to calculate the number of posts a member has made, you would start with the posts metric and subtract the deleted_posts metric. In a formula, it would look like this: (posts - deleted_posts>=35) Posts - deleted_posts is the variable, >= is the operator, and 35 is the value. Here is a more complex example containing many metrics—it defines the age of the account, the number of content contributions (e.g., posts, articles, and comments), and the community engagement level (e.g., number of accepted solutions and likes) required for achieving the rank: (registrationAge >= 259200) && ((((net_threads) + (net_replies*2) + (net_blog_articles*10) + (net_blog_comments) + (net_idea_threads*5) + (net_idea_comments) + (net_contributed_posts*5) + (net_published_tkb_articles*10) + (net_tkb_comments)) >=7000)||(overall_posts >10500)) && (((net_accepted_solutions*10) + (net_kudos_weight_given) + (net_kudos_weight_received*2) + (tagging_tag_count)) >=2800) Custom fields that have been added to your community can also be included in ranking formulas. For example, a ranking formula composed entirely of custom fields may look like this: ((userInfo("c_fields_int.total_courses_count"))+(userInfo("c_fields_int.total_pathways_count"))+(userInfo("c_fields_int.academy_signin_count")*10)>=200) && userInfo("c_fields_string.favorite_disney_character")=="Mickey" Written in a standard mathematical expression, this translates to: (Total Khoros Academy Courses Completed) + (Total Khoros Academy Learning Pathways Completed) + (Academy Sign-ins Count * 10) >= 200 AND Favorite Disney Character = Mickey This means that a member receives the rank only when the combined total of their completed Khoros Academy courses, learning pathways, and sign-ins multiplied by 10 is greater than or equal to 200… and their favorite Disney character listed on their member profile is Mickey. To compose a ranking formula: Go to Admin > Settings > Users > Ranks. In the row of the rank whose formula you want to edit, open the Options menu and then Edit (or select Add Rank to add a new rank with a formula). In the Criteria field, enter the formula you want to use. Select Save Changes. The rank now uses the criteria from the formula you added. Related topics: About member Ranks and ranking formulas Create a rank Member metrics for ranking formulasAurora: Member metrics for ranking formulas
You can include any per-member metrics in your ranking formulas. However, you cannot use per-post metrics or metrics that relate to general areas of the community, like groups. You can include any of the following member metrics as variables in your ranking formulas. Note: This is not a complete list but rather a list of the more common member metrics that you may consider using in your formulas. Accepted solutions accepted_solutions The member’s total number of accepted solutions. This number includes any accepted solutions that might have been revoked. See also net_accepted_solutions. net_accepted_solutions The member’s total number of solutions that were accepted during a period minus those that were revoked during the same period. net_other_solved_accepted_solutions The member’s total accepted solutions to someone else’s question minus those that were revoked during the same period. net_self_solved_accepted_solutions The member’s total accepted solutions to the member’s own questions minus those that were revoked. author_accepted_solutions The total number of solutions accepted by the author. author_revoked_solutions The total number of solutions that were revoked by the question's author. mod_accepted_solutions The total number of posts written by any member that were marked by a moderator as solutions. You can view this metric for specific moderators or for all moderators. mod_revoked_solutions The number of times a moderator has revoked an accepted solution. net_solved_threads The number of solved discussions started by a member minus the number of solved discussions started by the same member or that were revoked. This is the net change in the number of solved discussions started by this member. net_solved_threads_to_net_threads ratio The number of net solved discussions divided by the number of net discussions. Note: This ratio is not cumulative; it covers activity only during the period selected. The longer the period, the more useful this metric is likely to be. solution_revoked_threads The number of times solutions written by any member were later revoked. solutions_marked The number of times the member has marked a post as a solution. solutions_unmarked The number of times the member has revoked a post marked as a solution. solved_threads The number of times discussions written by any member have been marked as solved. other_solved_accepted_solutions The member’s total number of solutions to someone else’s questions that were accepted by anyone in the community. other_solved_revoked_solutions The member’s total number of solutions to someone else’s question that were revoked. revoked_solutions The member’s total number of accepted solutions that were revoked. self_solved_accepted_solutions The member’s total number of solutions to the member’s own questions that were accepted by anyone in the community. self_solved_revoked_solutions The member’s total number of solutions to the member’s own questions that were revoked. Blog activity blog_page_views The number of times a member has viewed blog-related pages. blog_article_views The number of times a member has viewed blog articles. blog_articles The number of articles a member has posted to blogs. blog_comments The number of comments that a member has posted to blogs. General community activity logins The number of times the member has signed in to the community. minutes_online The total number of minutes the member has been logged in to the community. video_upload_complete_count The number of videos a member has successfully uploaded to the community. image_upload_count The total number of images a member has uploaded to the community regardless of their size. Content metrics posts The total number of discussion posts—both new discussions and replies—the member has posted. This includes any posts that have been deleted. You may want to calculate the net number of posts by subtracting deleted posts. See also deleted_posts. overall_posts The overall number of posts across all types of content (forums, blogs, etc.) Metric results for custom date ranges reflect the time zone defined in your profile. Administrators who have set a different time zone in their profile see different metrics results for these custom date ranges. replies The number of replies to content the member has posted. This includes any replies that have been deleted. You may want to calculate the net number of replies by subtracting deleted replies. threads The total number of new discussions the member has started. This includes any discussions that have been deleted. You may want to calculate the net number of discussions by subtracting deleted ones. totalposts_per_thread The total number of posts a member posted divided by the number of discussions the member started during the same time interval. deleted_posts The number of the member’s posts that have been deleted. deleted_threads The number of discussions the member has started that were also deleted. net_contributed_posts The number of contributed or linked posts minus the number of contributed or linked posts removed. Tagging activity tagging_avg_tags_per_message The average number of tags the member has applied across all posts. tagging_tag_count The total number of tags the member has applied. KB activity published_tkb_articles The number of KB articles a member has published. tkb_articles The number of KB articles a member has started. tkb_comments The number of comments a member has posted to a KB. nominated_messages The number of posts that a member has made that have been nominated to be included in a KB. Viewing metrics board_views The number of times a member viewed the overview page for a forum. message_views The number of posts the member has viewed. page_views The number of community pages the member has viewed. Likes kudos_events_received The number of times this author's posts have received Likes. kudos_events_received_revoked The number of times this author's Likes have been revoked. net_kudos_events_received The number of times this author's posts have received Likes minus the number of times this author's Likes have been revoked. kudos_weight_received The sum of the Likes weight for this author's posts that have received Likes. kudos_weight_revoked The sum of the Likes weight for this author's posts that have had Likes revoked. kudos_events_given The number of times this member gave Likes. kudos_events_given_revoked The number of times Likes given by this member were revoked. net_kudos_events_given The number of times this member gave Likes minus the times Likes given by this member were revoked. kudos_weight_given The sum of the Likes weight for Likes this member gave. net_kudos_weight_given The sum of Likes given minus the sum of Likes that were revoked. Likes here are measured by the net Likes weight for this member. net_kudos_weight_received The sum of Likes this author received minus the sum of Likes that were revoked. Likes here are measured by the net Likes weight for this member. In addition to the member metrics, you can add these special variables in your ranking formulas. contributionScore Overall knowledge base contribution score. registrationAge The number of minutes since the member registered in the community. userId The numeric ID associated with a member account. userInfo Include a custom field that is present on your user entity. Related topics: About member Ranks and ranking formulas Create a rank Create a ranking formulaAbout default Aurora community ranks
Aurora communities include a set of pre-defined, default ranks. Review these out-of-the-box ranks and their associated ranking formulas and decide which ones you want to include in your community rank structure. The default ranks we’ve provided have the following names and ranking formulas: Rank Formula Khoros hasRole("Khoros") Community Manager hasRole("Administrator") Moderator hasRole("Moderator") Honored Contributor (registrationAge >= 300000) && ((net_threads) + (net_replies*2) + (net_blog_articles*10) + (net_blog_comments*1) + (net_idea_threads*5) + (net_idea_comments) + (net_published_tkb_articles*10) + (net_tkb_comments) + (net_accepted_solutions*15) + (net_kudos_weight_given*2) + (net_kudos_weight_received*4) >= 222500) Esteemed Contributor (registrationAge >= 250000) && ((net_threads) + (net_replies*2) + (net_blog_articles*10) + (net_blog_comments*1) + (net_idea_threads*5) + (net_idea_comments) + (net_published_tkb_articles*10) + (net_tkb_comments) + (net_accepted_solutions*15) + (net_kudos_weight_given*2) + (kudos_weight_received*4) >= 100000) Respected Contributor (registrationAge >= 200000) && ((net_threads) + (net_replies*2) + (net_blog_articles*10) + (net_blog_comments*1) + (net_idea_threads*5) + (net_idea_comments) + (net_published_tkb_articles*10) + (net_tkb_comments) + (net_accepted_solutions*15) + (net_kudos_weight_given*2) + (kudos_weight_received*4) >= 50000) Trusted Contributor (registrationAge >= 175000) && ((net_threads) + (net_replies*2) + (net_blog_articles*10) + (net_blog_comments*1) + (net_idea_threads*5) + (net_idea_comments) + (net_published_tkb_articles*10) + (net_tkb_comments) + (net_accepted_solutions*15) + (net_kudos_weight_given*2) + (kudos_weight_received*4) >= 30000) Valued Contributor (registrationAge >= 150000) && ((net_threads) + (net_replies*2) + (net_blog_articles*10) + (net_blog_comments*1) + (net_idea_threads*5) + (net_idea_comments) + (net_published_tkb_articles*10) + (net_tkb_comments) + (net_accepted_solutions*15) + (net_kudos_weight_given*2) + (kudos_weight_received*4) >= 20000) Super Contributor (registrationAge >= 120000) && ((net_threads) + (net_replies*2) + (net_blog_articles*10) + (net_blog_comments*1) + (net_idea_threads*5) + (net_idea_comments) + (net_published_tkb_articles*10) + (net_tkb_comments) + (net_accepted_solutions*15) + (net_kudos_weight_given*2) + (kudos_weight_received*4) >= 5000) Regular Contributor (registrationAge >= 86400) && ((net_threads) + (net_replies*2) + (net_blog_articles*10) + (net_blog_comments*1) + (net_idea_threads*5) + (net_idea_comments) + (net_published_tkb_articles*10) + (net_tkb_comments) + (net_accepted_solutions*15) + (net_kudos_weight_given*2) + (kudos_weight_received*4) >= 2000) Frequent Contributor (registrationAge >= 43200) && ((net_threads) + (net_replies*2) + (net_blog_articles*10) + (net_blog_comments*1) + (net_idea_threads*5) + (net_idea_comments) + (net_published_tkb_articles*10) + (net_tkb_comments) + (net_accepted_solutions*15) + (net_kudos_weight_given*2) + (kudos_weight_received*4) >= 750) Contributor (registrationAge >= 10080) && ((net_threads) + (net_replies*2) + (net_blog_articles*10) + (net_blog_comments*1) + (net_idea_threads*5) + (net_idea_comments) + (net_published_tkb_articles*10) + (net_tkb_comments) + (net_accepted_solutions*15) + (net_kudos_weight_given*2) + (kudos_weight_received*4) >= 200) Occasional Contributor (registrationAge >= 5670) && ((net_threads) + (net_replies*2) + (net_blog_articles*10) + (net_blog_comments*1) + (net_idea_threads*5) + (net_idea_comments) + (net_published_tkb_articles*10) + (net_tkb_comments) + (net_accepted_solutions*15) + (net_kudos_weight_given*2) + (kudos_weight_received*4) >= 50) New Contributor (registrationAge >= 2880) && ((net_threads) + (net_replies*2) + (net_blog_articles*10) + (net_blog_comments*1) + (net_idea_threads*5) + (net_idea_comments) + (net_published_tkb_articles*10) + (net_tkb_comments) + (net_accepted_solutions*15) + (net_kudos_weight_given*2) + (kudos_weight_received*4) >=1) Senior Member (registrationAge >= 43200) && (overall_posts==0) && ((message_views*.25)+(net_kudos_weight_given*2) >= 10000) Established Member (registrationAge >= 43200) && (overall_posts==0) && ((message_views*.25)+(net_kudos_weight_given*2) >= 5000) Regular Visitor (registrationAge >= 43200) && (overall_posts==0) && ((message_views*.25)+(net_kudos_weight_given*2) >= 2500) Frequent Visitor (registrationAge >= 11520) && (overall_posts==0) &&((message_views*.25)+(net_kudos_weight_given*2) >= 500) Visitor (registrationAge >= 11520) && (overall_posts==0) &&((message_views*.25)+(net_kudos_weight_given*2) >= 150) Occasional Visitor ((message_views*.25) && (overall_posts==0) >= 25) New Member (logins >= 1) For each of the provided ranks you intend to use, you should change the name to reflect the personality of your community. For example, if your brand is focused on music, you might want to reflect that theme in your ranks ("Beginner,""Rock Star,""Conductor"). Or, you might want to use more general rank names like"New Member,""Top Contributor,""Expert," or"Esteemed Contributor" that reflect a member’s status, contributions, and influence level in your community. Rename, edit, or delete any of these ranks to meet your specific needs before launching your site. Additionally, you can create new ranks before or after you launch your site. Related topics: About member Ranks and ranking formulas Create a rank Create a ranking formulaAbout Aurora badge rules and supported criteria
For each community badge you want to create, you must define the rule that determines how a member achieves or receives the badge. For simpler rules, you can use the built-in tool that enables you to select a criterion and additional qualifiers. However, if you want a more complex rule for a badge, you can use the Advanced Editor to enter badge formulas. Badge formulas include a combination of a formula clause type, a keyword, an operator, and a value. When the calculation of a value in a formula returns a true result, the member achieves the badge. The badge achievement is then reflected in their profile and badges page. To create more complex badge rule expressions that require multiple rules be met before awarding a badge, you can use the “AND” operator. Common use cases for badges with multiple rule criteria include profile completion tasks and more complex engagement options. For example, you may want to award a “VIP Contributor” badge to members who: Have received at least 100 likes Have had at least 25 answers marked as Accepted Solutions Have posted at least 10 blog articles Tip: You can also use community roles as an additional requirement for any badges based on activity. By taking advantage of the “unlocking” game dynamic, you can set certain badges to be earnable only after a community member has reached a rank that grants them the required role. Create a complex badge rule Go to Settings > Users > Badges. To add a rule to a badge in an existing badge set, click the name of the badge set that contains the desired badge and then click Add Badge. Otherwise, create a new badge set where you want the badge with complex rules to live (see Create badge sets and badges). After entering the badge Name, Description, and Icon, in the Criteria drop-down menu, select Advanced Editor. In the Advanced Editor field, enter your custom badge rules. Enter each rule you want met (making sure that each rule has an identifier, operator, and value). Enter AND between each rule. Select the Hide from member profile until earned checkbox to ensure that the badge is displayed on member profiles only when the rules are met. Click Add Badge. Let’s say you want to create a badge for new members to encourage them to begin participating in the community. You might create a rule like this: metric.net_overall_threads >= 5 AND metric.net_kudos_weight_received >= 20 AND metric.net_accepted_solutions >= 3 This complex rule may be great for a badge that rewards users for creating new content with great quality. Feel free to use this example for your own community! Note: You cannot create complex rules with OR or NOT. Supported badge clauses and badge criteria A badge formula can include one of five types of clauses depending on the type of behavior you want to reward. You can chain rules together to create complex criteria using these clause types: Metric: Assigns a badge based on the value of a specific community activity recorded for each member. Member in role: Assigns a badge to a set of members based on community-level roles. User ID in set: Assigns a badge to a manually specified set of members based on their numeric user ID. This should be reserved for awarding rare badges to a small group of members. Non-Default profile setting value: Assigns badges based on members changing the default state of a specific setting or profile field on their member profiles. Specific profile setting value: Assigns badges based on the member changing a setting in their profile to a specific value. (For example, you could award a badge when a member sets their profile language to French.) Clause Type Clause Format (variables in bold) Metric metric.name_of_metric >= number Example: metric.net_accepted_solutions >= 1 Roles user.role.name in ['role'] Example: user.role.name in ['Administrator', 'Khoros'] User ID user.id in [id] Example: user.id in [10, 2, 5] Non-default profile setting setting.setting_key != 'default' Example: setting.profile.location != 'default' Profile setting value setting.setting_key = '[value]' Example: setting.profile.location = 'Argentina' Rewarding user activity using metrics For definitions of exactly what these metrics are, refer to these Aurora Analytics Metrics Definitions. The following member activity metrics are supported for use in a badge formula using the format: metric.name_of_metric >= [number] Accepted Solutions metric.net_accepted_solutions All Content Types metric.net_overall_posts metric.net_overall_replies metric.net_overall_threads Blogs metric.net_blog_articles metric.net_blog_comments metric.net_blog_posts Forums metric.net_posts metric.net_threads metric.net_replies Ideas metric.net_idea_threads metric.net_idea_comments metric.net_idea_posts Images and video metric.image_upload_count metric.video_upload_complete_count Likes metric.net_kudos_weight_given metric.net_kudos_weight_received Message views metric.message_views Sign-ins metric.logins KBs metric.net_published_tkb_articles metric.net_tkb_comments Rewarding specific members You can award badges to a specific group of members based on their role or user ID. Since you can’t edit a rule after you create the badge, we recommend using roles as the basis of your rule criteria. That way, if you need to add or remove members later, you can modify the member list for the role independent of the badge rule criteria. Important: If you want members to be notified (via email or real-time notifications) of a role-based badge, you must roll out the badge first and then add the role for that member. If the member already has the role before the badge is published, the member will not be notified. Keep in mind: Newly created badges are automatically applied to all members who already match the criteria, resulting in email notifications being sent out to community members depending on your badge notification settings. You need to coordinate such badge releases with Khoros to avoid a surge of emails being sent out to the community members, which can impact your community performance. Use single quotes around the role name. Use commas if you enter more than one. For example, to award a badge to all members with the “Admin” or “Moderator” role, enter this rule criterion: user.role.name in [‘Admin’, ‘Moderator’] You should use "user ID in set" in badge criteria only if you have a static, unchanging list of specific members. This clause type should be used only in special cases to award badges for one-time achievements. Otherwise, you’ll need to delete and recreate the badge each time you want to add another member’s user ID to the rule. Use commas if you enter more than one. For this case, use this format: user.id in [10,2,5] Rewarding profile completion You can use the profile setting below to create badges that reward members for filling out more information about themselves in their profile. These settings can all be used with the "Non-default profile settings" clause. Profile setting identifier Setting name Setting location setting.profile.name_first First Name My Settings > Personal setting.profile.name_last Last Name My Settings > Personal setting.profile.location Location My Settings > Personal setting.profile.biography Bio My Settings > Personal > Bio setting.profile.url_homepage Personal Site My Settings > Personal avatar_changed Note: To award a badge when a member changes their default avatar image, use this syntax: avatar_changed = true Avatar My Settings > Personal > Edit Rewarding date-based activity You can award badges based on date-based activities. Setting identifier Setting options Examples consecutive sign-ins number setting.user.max_consecutive_logins >= 2 registration_date date registration_date > "2015-01-01" (see supported syntax options below) time_since_registration time value in days, months, or years time_since_registration >= "1 years" signin_date date signin_date > "2015-01-01" (see supported syntax options below) About sign-in related activity We store a counter of the number of days in a row and the last sign-in time. When someone signs in, we get the date of the last increment and the date of today, and we count the days between. If < 1, we ignore it (so no gaming the system). If == 1, we increment the day counter. If > 1, we set the day counter to 0. About entering dates You can enter dates (which must be in quotes) in all formats supported by ISO 8061: Year: YYYY (eg 1997) Year and month: YYYY-MM (eg 1997-07) Complete date: YYYY-MM-DD (eg 1997-07-16) Complete date plus hours and minutes: YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmTZD (eg 1997-07-16T19:20+01:00) Complete date plus hours, minutes and seconds: YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD (eg 1997-07-16T19:20:30+01:00) Complete date plus hours, minutes, seconds and a decimal fraction of a second YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.sTZD (eg 1997-07-16T19:20:30.45+01:00) where: YYYY = four-digit year MM = two-digit month (01=January, etc.) DD = two-digit day of month (01 through 31) hh = two digits of hour (00 through 23) (am/pm NOT allowed) mm = two digits of minute (00 through 59) ss = two digits of second (00 through 59) s = one or more digits representing a decimal fraction of a second TZD = time zone designator (Z or +hh:mm or -hh:mm) Note: When an ISO 8601 date doesn't specify a time zone, it is considered to represent local time. We do not override the local time zone for this purpose, so the date is parsed from the badge clause based on the server's local time zone. So that will differ depending on the AWS region: US-West-2 (PST) EU-West-1 (CET) To prevent confusion on the Internet, date strings (for example, in badge clauses) may specify a time zone. Related topics: About Badges and Badge sets Create badge sets and badges Feature badge sets on the member profile Delete badge sets and badges Example badge sets and badges View badges from the member profileAbout Aurora Mentions
Mentions enable members to call out other community members and community content within a post. Aurora supports two kinds of mentions: Member Mentions Content Mentions Note: Product Mentions will be available in a future release. With Member Mentions, community members can call out other members in their posts and invite them to join the conversation. You might mention a community member when you know they can answer a question or provide valuable insight into a thread. Or, you might just want to make sure they see it when you want to say thank you or give public praise. Content Mentions enable community members to call out specific posts within the body of a post. Additionally, you can use Content Mentions to mention other places in the community, such as a specific category or board. It’s a way to quickly embed a link to other content in the community. Mentions are supported in all content types and in replies/comments. Member Mentions Let’s say you want to thank a community member for a great post she made. Using the content editor, enter an “at” symbol (@) followed by her username. As you type, a pop-up menu appears with matching names and content. Select the appropriate name from the list. After you’ve selected the name, the mentioned username is highlighted in blue and preceded by a person icon: The mention is treated as a single item, so if you enter additional text anywhere inside of it, that text is cleared out and the username remains intact once you post. If you need to change the mention, you must delete it entirely to add a new one. Here are a few more Member Mention features: You can press the Escape key to exit out of the mention menu. (Any text you’ve entered before pressing Escape remains in your post as plain text.) You see Member Mentions in search results and inRecent Content widgets. You can type an apostrophe+s ('s) as well as other characters immediately after a Mention without breaking the Mention. Content Mentions Let’s say you’re responding to a forum topic and you want to link to another post that includes some helpful information. Using the content editor, enter the @ symbol. Enter keywords in the subject or body of the message you want to link to. Note: Members appear at the top of the suggestion list. As you type, search results with messages matching that keyword organized by board type appear in the pop-up. You can enter multiple words in the mentions pop-up. When multiple words are entered, all words must be present in the subject and/or body. Special characters and spaces are supported in the mention. When you select an item in the list, Aurora adds the subject of the post with a hyperlink, preceded by the board type icon, in the body of your message. Press the Escape key to exit out of the mention suggestion list. (Any text you’ve entered before pressing Escape remains in your post as plain text.) Mention notifications When members are mentioned in posts, they are sent emails to let them know. The email uses the Member Mention notification email template. (If members are mentioned multiple times in a post, they are sent only one email.) Additionally, members mentioned in private forums (coming in a future release) that they cannot access will not receive notification emails. When a member’s content is mentioned in posts, the member is also sent an email to let them know. The email uses the New Content Mention notification email template. Mentions you receive are also shown in your community notifications (bell icon). Related topics: Manage Member Mentions permissions (admin) About Email NotificationsAbout Aurora Badges and Badge Sets
A badge is a type of visual reward that community members can earn for completing specific community actions or for achieving important community milestones. They serve as a great way to encourage members to use different community features and spend more time engaging with the community. You can create badges that encourage the specific behaviors that you want to instill in your members. When participation slows, they are a great tool to re-engage members. Note: The default maximum number of badges is set to 200. If you require more badges in the future,open a Support ticket. In Aurora, badge sets are groups of related badges. These can be designed to reflect linear progression in a particular achievement—for example, a badge set titled “Likes” could have badges in it that reflect a member receiving 10 likes, 20 likes, 50 likes, 100 likes, and so on. But badges in a set could also be related in a different way that does not require a progression, such as in a badge set called “Helping Hand,” in which there is a badge for creating a post, a badge for replying to a post, a badge for receiving a like, and a badge for having an accepted solution. When members earn badges, their profile is updated to reflect these accomplishments for everyone to see. Each badge has its own custom image, making it instantly recognizable in the community. An admin can choose to upload the same or a different image for each badge in a set. Each badge has its own event-based requirements that are calculated each time a member takes an action or has actions taken on their content or their profile. Each achievement has a unique trigger, name, description, and image associated with it. The top of the Member Profile shows the most recently earned badge in up to 5 different badge sets. If an admin has chosen to feature any badge sets, those sets are prioritized. Click View All Badges to see a complete list of earned badges. Depending on admin configuration, members may also see unearned badges shown in gray.When the member discovers new achievements, those badges gain color to show that they’ve been reached. Below the set, an indicator is displayed for how many badges in that set have been unlocked. If no badges in that set have been unlocked, “Locked” appears instead. Related topics: Create badge sets and badges About badge rules and supported badge criteria Feature badge sets on the member profile Delete badge sets and badges Example badge sets and badges View badges from the member profileAurora: Create and edit badge sets and badges
In Aurora communities, admins can categorize a group of related badges into a badge set. These can either progress in difficulty (such as an increasing number of likes received) or relate in another way (such as likes received, accepted solutions, and posted content rolling up into one overall achievement). After creating a badge set, admins can add badges to it. As members earn badges in a set, they can view which badges they’ve earned, and if designated by an admin, which badges they have yet to earn. Create a badge set Create a badge Edit an existing badge set Edit an existing badge Create a badge set Badge sets enable you to group your related badges together. You can also set which badge sets you want to feature on the member profile, which is useful if you have a large number of badge sets. To create a badge set: Go to Settings > Users > Badges. Click Add Set. On the Add Set window, enter a Name for the set. Click Add Set. Add badges to the set as needed. Reorder badges using the drag and drop functionality. (Optional) To feature a particular badge set on member profiles, go to the main Badges page and click the Feature (star) icon. The most recently achieved badge earned within this set is shown. Note: You can feature 5 badge sets at one time. Reorder badge sets using the drag and drop functionality. If you do not feature any badge sets, the order of the badge sets determines the badges that appear on the member profile. The most recently earned badge in up to 5 badge sets appears. Create a badge When you create a badge, it belongs to a set of related badges. Using the Criteria field, you determine the requirements needed to earn the badge. To create a badge: Go to Settings > Users > Badges. Click the name of the set where you want to add the badge or create a new badge set. Click Add Badge. On the Add Badge window, enter the Name of the badge. (Optional) Enter a Description for the badge. Upload an Icon for the badge. SVG or PNG format is required. For best results, use a square image with 240px minimum dimensions. To begin building rules for this badge, in the Criteria drop-down menu, select a criterion: Requirement builder: To create requirements guided by predefined metrics, select an option other than Roles or Advanced Editor. Then, when another field, such as Number of times, appears, enter a value. For example, to award members who receive 25 likes, in the Criteria menu, select Likes received, and enter 25 as the Number of times. Roles: To award this badge to members with specific roles, search for the applicable role and select it from the list. Advanced Editor:Enter the formula you want to use for the badge. Note: You cannot edit badge Criteria after saving the badge. Select the Hide from member profile until earned checkbox to hide the badge from member profiles until it is earned. If you do not select this checkbox, members can view this badge in gray until it is earned, when it will gain color. (Optional) To download a CSV file of all members who have been awarded this badge, click Download CSV on the Edit Badge window. Click Add Badge. Edit an existing badge set After you’ve created a badge set, there may be circumstances in which you want to manage the badges that are included within it or change the name of the set. Go to Settings > Users > Badges. Expand the badge set you want to edit by clicking its name. Complete the following as needed: To manage the set name, click Edit Set and edit the Name field. To add more badges to the set, click Add Badge. To move a badge from one set to another, ensure that the set to which you want to move it is also expanded, and then drag and drop the badge to the desired location in the destination badge set. To delete a badge from the set and from your community, hover your cursor over the row of the badge you want to delete, open the Options menu, and click Delete. Edit an existing badge After a badge has been added, the Criteria field and related values cannot be modified. If you need to manage the criteria for a badge, you must delete the badge and recreate it with the new criteria. Otherwise, you can edit the Name, Description, and Icon and change your selection for the Hide from member profile until earned checkbox. To manage these settings: Go to Settings > Users > Badges. Click the badge set name to expand the badge set containing the badge you want to edit. Hover your cursor over the row of the badge you want to edit and open the Options menu. Click Edit. Change settings as desired. (Optional) To download a CSV file of all members who have been awarded this badge, click Download CSV. Click Save Changes. Relatedtopics: About Badges and Badge Sets About badge rules and supported badge criteria Feature badge sets on the member profile Delete badge sets and badges Example badge sets and badges View badges from the member profileAbout Aurora Accepted Solutions
Moderators or members who post the first message in a forum discussion can mark one of the replies as an accepted solution. After a solution is accepted, the original message is marked as solved, and the reply is marked as a solution. Marking a reply as an accepted solution helps communities identify content that solves members’ problems and makes helpful material more prominent and easy to access. Note: A discussion can have only one solution. When you migrate from Community Classic to Aurora, all accepted solutions are retained, including cases in which multiple solutions were marked. However, after migration, you cannot mark any other reply as a solution. To do that, you must first revoke the existing accepted solutions. Set accepted solution permissions By default, administrators and moderators are granted permission to manage accepted solutions. The only other member who can accept a reply as a solution or revoke the acceptance is the original author who posted the question or issue. For example, the member might find another solution later on with more complete information. For more information, see: Enable accepted solutions Accept or revoke a solutionAurora: Create a rank
While Aurora communities provide some out-of-the-box ranks, you can also create your own to fit the needs of your community. To create a rank: Go to Admin > Settings > Users > Ranks. In the Rank Levels area, click Add Rank. On the Add Rank window, complete the following steps: Add a Name for the rank. (Optional) Enter a Description. Enter the desired Criteria for the rank (see Create a ranking formula). Note: Enter1==1in this field to create a newbie-style rank with no required criteria. (Optional) Enter any Roles granted to members who achieve this rank. Note: Administrator and Moderator roles cannot be granted via achieving a rank, so you cannot select these roles. (Optional) Enter any Roles removed from members who achieve this rank. Note: Administrator and Moderator roles cannot be removed via achieving a rank, so you cannot select these roles. In the Visual Style area, select a Label type: Text Only Outline Filled Select a color from the Label color drop-down menu. (Optional) In the Icon area, upload an icon from your machine to include beside the rank label.Only PNG and SVG images are supported. Note: Uploaded images are converted to 16 pixels in height and up to 100 pixels in width wherever they appear in the community (square images will be 16 px by 16 px). Your image will be scaled to fit the supported dimensions, so we don’t recommend using a really tall image as it will be difficult to see when it’s scaled to 16 pixels high. As described in the next step, you can see a preview of your rank image before saving. View the Preview of your design to verify that it looks the way you want it to. Click Add Rank. Back on the Ranks page, in the Rank Levels area, drag and drop the newly created rank to the desired position in the ranking structure. Ranks should be organized in order of how difficult they are to achieve. The most difficult ranks to achieve should be displayed at the top of the ranking structure on the Ranks page and have lower numbers (shown to the left of the rank) associated with them. The higher the rank level number is, the easier that rank is to achieve and the lower it is displayed in the ranking structure. For instance, 0 is the lowest rank level number in your ranking structure, but it is the hardest rank to achieve. When creating your ranks, keep this hierarchy in mind—that is, don’t put ranks in a random order or organize them alphabetically. If you don’t organize them by difficulty of achievement, they will not be awarded appropriately across the community. The rank is now available for use in the community. Members are evaluated against the ranking system each time they sign in to the community or shortly after they have met the criteria. At that point, they are awarded the rank. Related topics: About member Ranks and ranking formulas Create a ranking formula About default community ranks
