Badge FAQ
Badges are bestowed upon users who contribute positively to Smogon in a significant way. Users are badged as a sign of recognition for the type of work they have done for the site. Trophies are given to the winners of Smogon's most prestigious Tournaments.
Badges are given out completely at the discretion of the Smogon administration, and imply a recognition of effort, maturity on the forums and in any Smogon chat, and the responsibility all badged users share: improving the site.
Users with at least one badge have their account upgraded from Registered User to Community Member and gain the ability to use attachments, have slightly larger avatars sizes, and change their custom title. In addition, it also grants some editing access to articles on the site. Badged users are also welcome to participate in internal site discussions. A comprehensive list of Smogon contributors can be found
here
Any users who want to contribute to Smogon are always encouraged to do so, but remember that being badged is a special recognition and a privilege. As such, asking to be badged is never a good idea, and doing so will never hasten the process. Hard work does not go unnoticed, but neither do overzealous senses of entitlement. All badges have an associated Badge Leader who is responsible for identifying and nominating new candidates.
Here are the different classes of badges and how to get them:
Contribution
User is a Pre-Contributor. Pre-Contributors (often referred to as "Ladybug") are most notably badged for their helpfulness in the
Contributions & Corrections forum, as they regularly post and edit articles for the site, but users may also earn the Pre-Contributor badge as a stepping stone toward another badge. This is a symbol of recognition for the efforts of a user attempting to earn a full badge and may be removed for inactivity or poor attitude. If another badge is awarded to a user with this badge, the Pre-Contributor badge will be removed. The Pre-Contributor badge leader is
Lumari.
User is a Contributor. Contributors write and edit articles and competitive analyses for the site. Note that being recognized as a Contributor to Smogon requires a significant amount of quality content submitted to the site, such as guides, articles, and analyses. Visit the
Contributions & Corrections forum for more information. The Contributor badge leaders are
autumn,
Estarossa, and
UT.
User is a Tiering Contributor. Tiering Contributors have made a concerted effort to contribute to the creation, modification, and facilitation of the policies that shape both the present and future of competitive Pokemon. The badge is granted to those who lead a tier or have voted either in four suspect tests in a single official tiers or in ten suspect tests across the board and display a general interest in Smogon's tiering system. If the Tiering Contributor badge is awarded for serving on a council, it is maintained only with high levels of activity. The Tiering Contributor badge leader is
shiloh. All Tier Leaders may post badge nominations.
User is a Community Contributor. This badge is awarded to those who have contributed to the forums by posting and leading high quality discussion in our discussion forums. In addition, this badge can have other applications for superb work in areas that are not presently recognized by another badge, such as maintenance of on-site hubs and hosting particularly successful tournaments. This is a badge that is maintained only with high levels of activity. The Community Contributor badge leader is
Coconut.
User is a Programmer. Programmers fix reported bugs and contribute to the progression of Smogon's technical projects. Programmers are often involved in the maintenance of Smogon-endorsed mobile applications, damage calculators, etc. Furthermore, the Programmer badge is awarded to those that have contributed long-term efforts to simulators such as Pokemon Showdown. The Programmer badge leader is
chaos.
User is a Researcher. Researchers contribute in-game data and mechanics to Smogon in order to help keep simulator mechanics up to date and as accurate as possible. The Researcher badge leader is
Marty.
User is a Smogon Artist. Artists contribute pieces of their artwork to sections of the site, such as Competitive Discussions, Tournaments, Article Workshop, and Smogon's very own Facebook and Twitter pages. Visit
Smeargle's Studio for more information. The Artist badge leaders are
Kaiju Bunny and
Kalalokki.
User is a Contributor to Smogon Media. Smogon Media Contributors write, edit, and code significant amounts of material for the
The Flying Press, Smogon's online media publication. The Smogon Media Contributor badge leaders are
Lumari and
Quite Quiet.
User is a Contributor to Social Media. Social Media contributors create content for and contribute to Smogon's social media pages on other websites, such as our
Facebook,
Twitter,
Twitch, and
YouTube pages. This is a badge that is both earned and maintained only with high levels of activity and dedication. The Social Media Contributor badge leaders are
deetah,
Kris, and
royalfluxh.
User is a CAP Contributor. Users have shown great dedication and participation in the
Create-A-Pokémon section on Smogon. This badge is awarded to those who lead the CAP community with competitively-minded discussion. The CAP Contributor badge leader is
snake_rattler and
spoo.
User is a Smogon Discord Contributor. These users lead discussion and provide positive chat presences in the official Smogon Discord. This is a badge that is maintained only with high levels of activity. The Smogon Discord Contributor badge leaders can be found
here.
User is a recognized Tournament Host. This badge acknowledges users who show a strong understanding of Smogon's official tournament rules, the ability to keep tournaments running to completion in a timely fashion, and solid judgement when making decisions on behalf of these tournaments in the official Smogon Tournaments section. The Tournament Host badge leader is
Merritt.
Staff
User is a Site Content Manager. Site Content Managers are appointed by experience and trust, as they can cache edits to the site. Most users are awarded this badge for their helpfulness in
Contributions & Corrections or upon being appointed
Smogon's Flying Press or
Translations staff. The Site Content Manager badge leaders are
Lumari and
UT.
User is a Tournament Director. Tournament Directors manage the official Smogon tournaments such as Smogon Tour, Smogon Premier League, and the Smogon Grand Slam. They also approve and maintain user-hosted tournaments. Users with this badge also moderate the Tournaments forum. Users who have this badge are picked on an as-needed basis. Visit the
Tournaments forum for more information. The Tournament Director badge leader is
Merritt,
Star, and
TPP.
User is a Staff member on the
Smogon Pokemon Showdown! Server. PS! Staff have proven their resourcefulness as Voices and established themselves through their maturity and overall contributions either through public rooms, technical support or being an appointed Section Leader. The Battle Server Staff badge leaders are all PS! Administrators.
User is a Moderator on the
Smogon Pokemon Showdown! Server. PS! Moderators are chosen on an as-needed basis for their maturity, server activity, and/or policy involvement. The Battle Server Moderator badge leaders are all PS! Administrators.
User is an Administrator on the
Smogon Pokemon Showdown! Server. These users have proved either their technical or policymaking ability within the PS! staff forums and are selected for promotion on a subjective basis by the PS! administration. The Battle Server Admin badge leaders are the PS! Administrators.
User is a Forum Moderator. These users are very knowledgeable and active in a few subforums of this site and have the ability to moderate those forums. The Forum Moderator badge leader is the collective Senior Staff team (or Super Moderators+).
User is a Community Leader. In addition to having the ability to moderate one or a few subforums of the site, these users are typically leaders of the tier or community project they are involved with, or they have proven themselves exemplary staff members in multiple areas of the site. The Community Leader badge leader is the collective Senior Staff team (or Super Moderators+).
User is a Super Moderator. These users have been helpful throughout all of Smogon and are often leaders of a particular tier or community project. They have moderation powers in every forum as well as significant administrative capabilities, being responsible for running and making many of the important decisions involving the site. The Super Moderator badge leader is the collective Senior Staff team (or Super Moderators+).
User is an Administrator. This badge is currently reserved for the site owners, chaos on the Smogon side and Zarel on the PS! side. (or Administrators).
Helpfulness
User is a Tutor. Tutors help new members become acquainted with the competitive aspect of battling. Tutor badges are awarded after at least four rounds of high-quality tutoring—simply being accepted as a tutor does not earn you a badge. For more information about the tutor & apprentice system, please check the
Battling 101 Forum. The Tutor badge leaders are
Ticken and
Yellow Paint.
User is a recognized Team Rater. Team Raters provide frequent constructive advice to those who post in topics in the
Rate My Team forum. The Team Rater badge leaders are
awyp and
maroon.
It should be noted that all badges are based on constant activity,
except Contributor, Programmer, Researcher, Smogon Media Contributor, CAP Contributor, and Artist. These badges are permanent. Do not think that once you're badged you can just stop contributing, though; that shows poor attitude. Any and all badges can be stripped for having a distasteful attitude towards the community, and badged users can be infracted. Being badged means you should hold yourself to a higher standard of maturity in the forum and on the server, which is why a person would be badged in the first place along with contributions.
If a badged person has made significant contributions to the site and/or forums but stops contributing, they can be rewarded with one of the Alumni badges. These greyed-out versions of the normal badges show the great appreciation the Smogon staff has for the Alumnus's contributions.
