Smogon Badge FAQBadges 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 slightly larger avatars and attachments, as well as 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. 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. Most 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
Staff
Helpfulness
Finally, for the most prestigious, hard working, and dedicated contributors, there are the Top badges. These are upgraded versions of the original badge, signified by a shine that rolls across the badge. This illustrates that the user in question has set themselves apart even in comparison to fellow contributors of the same type, and thus deserve to be recognized for their outstanding accomplishments. 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, he/she 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' contributions. |
User is a Pre-Contributor. Pre-Contributors are most notably badged for their helpfulness in the 
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 
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, serve on a tiering council, or have voted in suspect tests—ten overall or four in one tier—and display a general interest in Smogon's tiering system. This is a badge that is maintained only with high levels of activity and/or a sufficient quantity of suspect test votes.
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.
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.
User is a Researcher. Researchers contribute in-game data and mechanics in order to help Smogon's simulator up to date and as accurate as possible.
User is a Smogon Artist. Artists contribute pieces of their artwork to sections of the site, such as Competitive Discussions, Tournaments, The Flying Press, and Smogon's very own Facebook and Twitter pages. Visit 
User is a Contributor to Smogon Media. Smogon Media Contributors write, edit, and code material for 
User is a Contributor to Smogon Social Media. Smogon Social Media contributors create content for and contribute to Smogon's social media pages on other websites, such as our 
User is a CAP Contributor. These users have shown great dedication and participation in the 
User is a Live Chat Contributor. These users lead discussion and provide positive chat presences in the 
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.
User is a Smogon Site Content Manager. Site Content Managers are appointed by experience and trust, as they can cache edits to the site. Most users are awarded the Site Content Manager badge for their helpfulness in 
User is a Tournament Director. Tournament Directors manage the official Smogon tournaments such as Smogon Tour, Smogon Premier League, and 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 
User is a Driver or Section Leader on 
User is a Moderator on 
User is an Administrator on 
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.
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.
User is a Super Moderator. These users are typically leaders of a particular tier or community project. In addition to having moderation powers in every forum, they have access to the Admin Control Panel, which allows them to badge and edit users.
User is an Administrator. In addition to having the same powers as the Super Moderators, these users are responsible for running the site and making many of the important decisions involving the site.
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 and apprentice system, please check the 
User is a Team Rater. Team Raters provide constructive feedback to other users for teams they share. Rates can be earned from both the