Badges (for Hub administrators & Badge issuers)

Digital badges help higher education institutions, organizations and professional networks clearly communicate the skills and competencies learners acquire. They improve alumni employability by offering verifiable, shareable credentials aligned with workforce needs. 

In Linkr, the Badges feature allow Hub administrators to easily create, manage and issue badges to any number of recipients, from any number of contexts (groups, classes, etc.).

Note:

Open Badges 3.0 is a global standard that defines what of metadata a badge must include how a badge should be verified (e.g., Badge name and description, Criteria that define what the learner had to do to earn the badge, Issue date, Recipient ID, etc.). Badges in Linkr are fully compliant with the Open Badges 3.0 standard and please contact support@linkreducation.com if you need more information about our Open Badges 3.0 compliance.

In this article, you will learn about:

• How badges work in Linkr
• How to create and manage badges for your program or organization
• Badge creation guidelines
• How to issue badges
• Analytics and how to track engagement after a badge has been issued
• How to revoke a badge
• Archiving badges
• How to manage categories
• How to manage skills
• Linkr's Open Badges 3.0 compliance

How badges work in Linkr

A badge is a validated, visual representation of a skill, achievement, or credential earned through education, training, or experience. Unlike static images, these badges contain embedded, verifiable metadata detailing the issuer, criteria, and evidence of achievement. They are designed to be shared securely online, such as on LinkedIn, for professional development and career growth.

A badge can for instance look like this:

In the background, badges in Linkr dynamically connect the issuer and the recipient ensuring 100% real-time authentication for viewers.

Once a badge is issued on Linkr, the recipients will receive an email notification:

The badge will be automatically added to their Linkr account in the Badges section:

Form that section, recipients will be able to decide whether they want to show that badge on their Linkr profile or not, as badges will be hidden by default (because of our Privacy by Design guidelines):

Each issued badge will also have a specific badge page in a recipient's Linkr account, which will contain all the information related to the badge itself (issuer, description, date of issuance, earning criteria), and multiple sharing options (Add to your LinkedIn Profile, copy a public link, post on Instagram, etc.):

Per compliance to the Open Badges 3.0 standard, each badge issued also has a page outside of Linkr accessible to any third-party for them to authenticate the validity of the badge in real-time:

Each badge created in Linkr comes with a corresponding certificate that can be downloaded from the badge page:

As a Hub administrator, you will have a specific section where you can create and manage your badges:

In that section, Linkr provides you with all the tools to make it easy to manage your badges at scale:

• You will be able to add categories to your badges to sort them out
• You will have a complete history of all events related to a badge (creation, edition, issuance, etc.)
• You will have for each badge a complete, real-time exportable list of recipients
• You will have have access to an analytics dashboard to track user engagement with your badges once you've issued them.

How to create and manage badges for your program or organization

As Hub administrator, go to the Badges tab and click on + Add Badge:

From there, you will have to fill the badge creation form, which has three specific sections:

Details

This section contains all the information to describe the badge and what it is awarded for.

Badge name:

The badge name won't appear on the badge visual (which will have to be a custom visual, more on that below) itself but will be showed on any badge list:

and on the badge page:

Category

While adding a category is not mandatory, doing so will help you manage your collection of badges at scale as they will allow you to segment your badges both in list, export files and analytics. (Learn more about managing Categories)

Description

The description field will allow you to add more information about the badge, what it is and how it is earned, but it's also a good place to share some details about your organization or program for people that would discover you through this badge first.

Here is how the description is featured on the badge page:

External URL

While not mandatory, adding a link to your organization website or program page is strongly recommended because it will allow you to share some information about your organization or program for people that would discover you through this badge first. On the badge page, this URL will appear as the "Learn more" link:

Skills

This field will allow you to list the skills your recipients have acquired through your program, training, course or webinar. The skills are shared between all your badges in a centralized list, more on that here.

On the badge page, Skills will appear as tags:

Earning Criteria (Optional, but strongly recommended)

This section contains all the information to describe how the badge was earned. While it's an optional field, we strongly recommend you to add some Earning Criteria has they will increase the perceived value of this badge.

You can add as many criteria as you like, by clicking on +Add Criteria, select a category in the dropdown list, and then by adding a description:

In a badge page, these criteria will look like this:

Appearance

This section will allow you to upload the visual for your badge, like this one:

While there is some flexibility, we'd advise to stick to the following guidelines:

1. Aim for a visual that could be contained in a square, most of the platforms where badges could be displayed will handle a square better than a rectangle (landscape or portrait).
2. No padding is required, for a badge like the one above, you can crop any unnecessary space showed in pink in the example below

3. Keep in mind that the same badge, on Linkr, LinkedIn etc. will appear in several sizes. For instance, on the Linkr badge page, the badge's dimensions will be 405x405 pixels, but once displayed on a LinkedIn profile, LinkedIn will automatically reduce the dimensions to a 90x90 pixels. So, when crafting a badge, make sure to check it in different sizes to make sure it's still readable and impactful.

Badge creation guidelines

A badge should be instantly recognizable, readable at small sizes, and meaningful at a glance. The goal is not to tell the full story on the image itself, but to visually represent the achievement. Below are a few guidelines to spark your badge creation:

1. Focus on the Core Message

We think that a badge visual should primarily communicate:

• What was achieved (skill acquisition, milestone or completion)
• The level or type of achievement (if applicable)

Everything else belongs in the badge’s metadata, not on the image. Learn more about metadata and Linkr's Open Badge 3.0 compliance.

2. Recommended Elements (Keep it as lean as possible)

The badge image is a symbolic representation of an achievement. Its purpose is to:

• Be instantly recognizable
• Clearly signal what was achieved
• Look credible and professional when shared publicly
• Work at very small sizes (profiles, portfolios, resumes, feeds)

The visual should answer one simple question:

“What did this person earn?”

It is not meant to explain:

• How the badge was earned
• When it was earned exactly (although cohorts can be useful)
• Who earned it
• The full scope of the program

So while it can be tempting to add a lot of information to a badge, a strong badge design usually includes only 2–3 elements:

• A badge title or short label

• Supporting branding elements that anchors trust and gives legitimacy to the badge

  Branding should signal who issued the badge, without competing with what was earned. If branding is the most dominant element, the badge risks feeling like marketing instead of recognition.

That’s it!

If an element doesn’t support recognition, it probably doesn’t belong on the visual, but will go on the badge page instead.

Why this balance matters and to whom:

• Learners want badges that represent their achievement
• Viewers want to quickly see what skill or milestone the badge stands for
• Employers want issuer credibility, not promotional graphics

What not to put on the badge visual

To avoid clutter and confusion, do not include:

• Recipient names
• Long descriptions or criteria text
• Organization taglines or marketing copy
• Internal codes, IDs, or references
• URLs or QR codes

This information is better handled in the badge page, where space is not limited.

3. Design for small sizes

Badges are often viewed as:

• Thumbnails
• Profile icons
• Resume or portfolio elements

Because of this we would advise you to:

• Use large, legible text
• Avoid thin fonts or excessive wording
• Prefer simple shapes and high contrast

4. Be consistent across badges

A badge system should feel like a cohesive set, not a collection of unrelated images. While it's tempting to start very fast, considering the future when designing your first badge will allow your badging system to work at a larger scale.

5. Last piece of advice from the Linkr team

A clean, focused visual increases trust and perceived value, clutter will do the exact opposite. Following Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's quote:

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add,

but when there is nothing left to take away.”

How to issue badges

Now that your badge is created, it's time to issue it!

To do so, go in your badge section, and click on the three dot menu of the badge you'd like to issue:

The first step will be to select the recipient(s), and for that you will have three options:

• Some or all your members:

  This will load the list of all the members of your hub and you will be able to select all or some of them as recipients.

• Members of a specific class:

  This will load a list of classes from this hub, select the one you'd like to issue badges to. As for the complete members list, you will be able to select all or some of the class members as recipients.

  Please note that you can select several classes at the same time.

• Members of a specific group:

  This will load a list of groups from this hub, select the one you'd like to issue badges to. As for the complete members list, you will be able to select all or some of the group members as recipients.

  Like for classes, you will be able to select several groups at the same time.

Once you have selected at least one recipient, you will be able to continue to preview.

And in case a member would already have received that same badge, it will be greyed out and a message will appear on mouse over:

The preview stage will show you the email the recipients will receive, and if you're satisfied, simply press Issue badges:

Don't worry about making mistakes, because:

• Any issued badge can be revoked later (learn more about revoking a badge)
• Any error you'd like to correct on the badge itself will update already issued badges (apart from certificates already printed by the recipients 😬)

After issuing the badge, you will be taken to the Badge management page, where you'll have access to a very detailed history for that specific badge, including issuance, edits, revocation, etc.:

Analytics: How to track engagement after a badge has been issued

Linkr makes it easy to track how recipients engage with their badges. To do so, go to to the Analytics tab of your Badges section:

Then:

• Select a Badge
• Select the recipients to explore. You can choose between:
  • Looking at all the recipients that have been awarded this badge
  • Focusing on specific groups and classes

Overview

The “Overview” chart illustrates the overall activity related to each badge:

• The Issued bar will tell you how many times this badge was issued
• The Viewed bar will tell you how many of the recipients viewed their badge page in Linkr
• The Engaged with bar will tell you how many of the recipients interacted with their badge by, for example, sharing the badge, downloading the certificate, or adding their badge to their LinkedIn profile.

Interactions track the use of any interaction that is available for badges in Linkr. These interactions can be reviewed on each Badge’s page in two different charts:

Interactions

The Interactions chart shows specific interactions with the badge:

• "Added the badge to their Linkr profile" means recipients clicked on the "Show on profile" option so that the badge appears on their Linkr profile
• "Copied the link" means that the recipients clicked on the "Copy link" option which provided them a sharable link to their badge
• "Added the badge to their LinkedIn profile" means that the recipients clicked on the "Add to LinkedIn" option to add their badge in the "Licenses & certifications" section of their LinkedIn profile
• "Downloaded the PDF"  means that the recipients clicked on the "Download PDF" option of their badge. A badge can then be viewed and used as a certificate, as in the below example:

Social sharing

The “Social Sharing” chart provides analytics of the most commonly used social platforms

How to revoke a badge

As per Open Badges 3.0 requirements, Linkr badges support Badge revocation.

In a digital badge context, revocation is the process of invalidating a previously issued digital badge when it should no longer be considered valid. In Open Badges 3.0, this is typically done through a credential status or revocation list that allows verifiers to check whether a badge has been revoked. Revocation may occur due to errors, misconduct, expired credentials, or changes in eligibility.

To revoke a badge that you previously issued, simply scroll to the bottom of a specific badge management page and look at the Issuance table, where you'll be able to see all the recipients and have the ability to revoke any issued badge if needed:

When you click on Revoke badge, you'll be prompted to confirm your choice:

If you confirm your decision, the badge will now appear as "Revoked" in the list:

For the recipient, the badge page will then show that the badge has been revoked and when:

Archiving badges

There are several reasons why you would archive badges at some point:

• Learning programs evolve over time

  Trainings are updated, renamed, or discontinued. Archiving will allow you to retire badges that should no longer be issued while preserving their history. This also prevents outdated badges from being accidentally awarded again.

• Avoiding visual and organizational clutter

  Over time, your organization may create many badges for pilots, cohorts, or temporary programs. Archiving will allow you to keep your badge library clean by hiding old or unused badges from the main creation interface while still keeping them accessible in records.

• Supporting program and training iterations

  When a training evolves (for example “Data Literacy 2023” becoming “Data Literacy Advanced”), you may want to create a new badge version while archiving the previous one. This maintains clarity about which version of the achievement someone earned.

Why would you archive badges instead of simply deleting them?

Even if a badge is no longer active, recipients who already earned it should retain their credential and verification record. Archiving lets the badge remain valid and viewable without being available for future issuance.

How to archive badges?

Archiving badges in Linkr is very simple. Go to your badge list, and click on the three dot menu on the top right of a badge card, and select Archive:

As you can notice in that screenshot, the Delete option is greyed out, this means that this badge has already been issued at least once and can't be deleted anymore, it can only be archived. Mousing over the Delete option will confirm this information:

As soon as you archive a badge, the tag at the top left will switch from a green Active to a black Archived:

From there, the only available option for that badge will be to unarchive it, which you can do by clicking on the three dot menu on the top right of a badge card, and select Unarchive.

How to manage categories

While adding a category is not mandatory, doing so will help you manage your collection of badges at scale as they will allow you to segment your badges in lists, export files and analytics. Categories are purely internal and will never be seen by the recipients.

In your badges list, categories will appear as section titles:

Categories can be created, edited and deleted at any point in time. Please note that deleting a category will not delete the badges associated to it, it will simply label them as "uncategorized", like this:

To add a category, simply go in the "Categories" tab of your Badges section, and lick on + Add category:

You can also create new categories when creating a badge, by clicking on + Add a new category in the Category dropdown:

Once created, you can reorder your categories by drag and dropping them using the 6 dots at the left of a category line:

And you can edit them or delete them by clicking on the three dot menu at the end of a line:

Note:

It's only possible to delete a category when no badge are associated to it, so if you want to delete a category, make sure to go into each associated badge first to remove that category.

How to manage skills

This field will allow you to list the skills your recipients have acquired through your program, training, course or webinar. The skills are shared between all your badges in a centralized list, and you can add, edit or delete them at any time.

Please note that any action on a skill will automatically update all already issued badges it was added to.

To add a skill, simply go in the "Skills" tab of your Badges section, and lick on + Add skill:

Once created, you can edit them or delete skills by clicking on the three dot menu at the end of a line:

Note:

Like Categories, it's only possible to delete a skill when no badge are associated to it, so if you want to delete a skill, make sure to go into each associated badge first to remove that skill.

Linkr's Open Badges 3.0 compliance

Open Badges 3.0 is a global standard that defines what of metadata a badge must include how a badge should be verified (e.g., Badge name and description, Criteria that define what the learner had to do to earn the badge, Issue date, Recipient ID, etc.).

As per Open Badges 3.0 requirements, Linkr badges:

✓ Issue OpenBadgeCredential Verifiable Credentials

✓ Use JSON-LD with correct contexts (see below an example of such JSON)

✓ Define Issuer profiles

✓ Define Badge Classes

✓ Issue badge assertions to recipients

✓ Support cryptographic verification

✓ Provide criteria and evidence URLs

✓ Support revocation

✓ Host resolvable metadata URLs

✓ Allow export and verification

Badges in Linkr are fully compliant with the Open Badges 3.0 standard and please contact support@linkreducation.com if you need more information about our Open Badges 3.0 compliance or of you have any question about badges.