Creating a badge application

In this case, a badge earner is active and applies for the badge by filling out an application that asks for information and possible evidence. Once the badge earner has sent the application to be reviewed, the badge issuer, in this case the reviewer, can accept and issue the badge or reject the application. In Open Badge Factory, the creator builds the badge application in Creator tools → Badge applications area, and the creator can also activate the application. 

The application can be activated (shown to potential earners), and it can be managed by users also in Issuer tools → Badge applications area (click on the badge application → Settings). 

Badge applications can be organised by category, in the same way as for badges and milestone badges.

Creating a badge application 

Basically creating a badge application is that a badge application is added to an existing badge that has been defined as Ready for issuing. There are five steps to creating a badge application. First, a desired badge for the application is chosen from the badge library as well as the application’s approval method. There are four different approval methods:

• After review = The most commonly used approval method meaning that a reviewer goes through the application and either issues the badge or rejects the application.
• Multi-step assessment = The badge is issued after the application has been reviewed by a jury of reviewers.
• Peer assessment = The badge is issued after the application has been reviewed by a group of qualified end users.
• Automatically without review = The badge is issued as soon as the application is submitted.
• Claim code = An applicant can claim the badge by entering a claim code.

NB! The approval method of the badge application can’t be changed after it has been chosen. If another approval method is wanted for the badge, a new badge application needs to be created for it.

After the approval method is chosen, a five-step process begins:

1. Badge

You can see the badge that has been chosen for the application in the Application badge section. In case the badge is wrong, you can still change it here by clicking the badge, and you will see all badges available in a new window.

If instructions have been set for the badge, they are automatically copied to the Instructions for issuers section. Instructions can be edited.

2. Form

This is the section where the application form is built. It’s possible to build the form from scratch using ready-made elements, or the form can be uploaded from ready-made form templates (Pick a form template). It’s possible to write instructions for the badge earners, for example on how they should use the form in the Instructions for earners section. This text will be shown at the top of the form.

To build the form from the beginning, start by clicking + Add element dropdown menu. There are seven elements to choose from:

• Text input = Creates a single line text input. This can be used for example when asking the applicant’s title, employer, or similar information.
• Multi-line input = Creates a multi-line text input where the form creator can determine how many lines are needed. This can be used for larger open questions.
• File upload = Creates automatically a button through which the applicant can upload a file from his/her computer. NB! The max. size of the file is 10 MB. The max. size will be visible in the form automatically so there’s no need to write it there separately.
• Checkboxes = Creates checkboxes through which the applicant can choose one or more options.
• Radio buttons = Creates radio buttons through which the applicant can choose one option.
• Select box = Creates a select box through which the applicant can choose one option.
• Static text = The form creator can write for example specified instructions to different sections of the application form with this element.

It’s possible to change the order of the form elements by clicking the green arrow up or down. The form’s appearance can be checked through the Form preview link. If the form or parts of it could also work for another badge application, it’s good to save the ready-made form as a form template (Save as template).

3. Message

It’s possible to write a message that is used to inform the badge applicant that his/her application has been approved and that the badge will be sent to them in the Application approval message section.

NB! If an approval message has been defined for the badge when creating it, this message is automatically copied to this section. However, it’s possible to edit the message without changing the original message that has been attached to the actual badge.

This is also the place where it’s possible to write the Application rejection message. If the badge application’s reviewer decides to reject the application (Issuer tools > Badge applications), s/he will see the application rejection message. They can also edit this message before sending it.

In the 'New Application submitted message', a confirmation message can be sent to the applicant after a new application is received. The application is not reviewed yet. URL to the pending application will be appended to message body.

4. Approval/Reviewers

Depending on what approval method has been chosen when the building of the form started, different things are defined in this section.

After review application

It’s set as a default for this type of application that anyone from the organisation that has a user account (admin, creator, issuer) to the organisation’s Open Badge Factory account can do the review.

It’s also possible to determine users outside the organisation’s Open Badge Factory account to act as reviewers by choosing Use external reviewers and writing their e-mail addresses in the field that opens after checking the box. It’s also good to write them a message in the Notification e-mail for reviewers section that will go out to the reviewers when a new badge application form arrives for review. NB! Applications pending for review are sent from the system once a day (6:00 am Finnish time), not right after the application form is submitted by the applicant.

Peer assessment application

In peer assessment, Required badges are first determined that the reviewer has to have so that s/he can act as a reviewer for this particular badge application. The required badges can consist of one or more badges, and it’s also possible to determine a minimum number of badges (Minimum number of badges required).

How many peer assessments are needed to approve or reject the badge application is determined in the Minimum number of reviews section. The reviews are counted as they arrive, and the option with enough votes first wins.

It’s possible to add external reviewers also in peer assessment by adding their e-mail addresses to the field in the Other authorised reviewers section.

It’s good to write the reviewers a message in the Notification email for reviewers section that will go out to the reviewers when a new badge application form arrives for review.

Automatically without review application

In this case, badges are issued right after the application form has arrived so there is no actual approval process. The badge application creator doesn’t therefore have to do anything in section 4. Approval.

Claim code application

A claim code is generated for the badge application with the Generate new claim code button. It’s also possible to write short instructions for the issuers in the Description for issuers field. This can be for example info on how the claim code and url are best shared to the badge applicants. This information is visible in Issuer tools → Review applications → Select badge → Details.

5. Settings

Here are the settings of the badge application. The name is by default the name of the badge picked for the application, but it can be changed. The language selection sets the language of the user interface (Finnish, English, Spanish, French, German) of the application (name and e-mail fields and submit button).

The status of the application can be Draft, Disabled, or Active. Draft means that the application is not ready and can’t be activated by an issuer. Disabled means that the application is not active at the moment, and for example the url of the application is not working, but creators can activate the application in Creator tools → Badge applications → Settings.

The Advertise in Passport feature enables the advertisement of the application in Open Badge Passport’s Badges → Apply for a badge section. (The application status has to be Active for this feature to work.)

Active from and Active to settings make it possible to set a specific time when the application is active.

If the badge application is active, it can be shown for example in a website by copying and attaching the Application URL to the website or by using the Embed code.

Application URL allows you to directly share the link to the badge application form.

Embed code to embed the badge application form on a web page.

Redirect URL is an optional field where it’s possible to determine an address where the applicants will be redirected after submitting the application. If the field is left empty, the applicant will receive the standard OBF notification stating that the application has been sent.

Use application form as evidence is a feature that the badge application creator can use for specifying if the application is attached as evidence to the issued badge. The information given by the applicant is also visible in the application.

• Yes = The badge application and information in it is attached as evidence to the issued badge. 
• No = The badge application and its information is not attached to the issued badge. 
• Optional (earner preference) = The applicant can decide if the form is attached to the issued badge or not.

NB! Technically, the badge application and the information filled in it are attached as an URL (from where it’s possible to look at the application) to the badge’s Evidence section. Depending on the badge repository the badge earner uses (for example, Open Badge Passport), the badge earner can have different options on how the evidence is actually shown. For example, in Open Badge Passport, the badge earner can still choose if s/he wants to show the badge application as evidence in the badge or not, even if the application creator has determined Yes in the above-mentioned options.

Using a form template

The form templates are useful when the organisation wants to create badge applications that are similar in structure and style. The purpose is to make the creation of badge applications easier and faster in cases where the badge applications don’t differ a lot from each other and the same kind of language and design is needed for coherence. 

Read more about form templates

Creating a badge application at the Pro service level

The Pro service level offers additional features for creating badge applications:

• Multi-step assessment,
• Edit and review permissions.

Multi-step assessment application

Explore the issuing process with multi-step assessment in the tutorial below.

Editing and reviewing permissions

Here you can manage who can review and edit this badge application. Note that these settings apply to logged-in users only.