[t]Digital Badges[/t]
[t]Volunteers have always been at the heart of Translation Commons. Their dedication across translation, engineering, web design, project management, and many other areas has enabled the organization to deliver multilingual guidance on language digitization and innovative digital solutions that connect people and cultures around the world.[/t]
[t]To recognize this collective effort, we’ve created a structured digital badging system that celebrates the skills and experience each volunteer brings to our community. These badges honor individual growth and teamwork alike — acknowledging translators, reviewers, engineers, web designers, and many others who contribute their time, creativity, and expertise to advancing language technology and collaboration.[/t]
[t]How the Badging System Works[/t]
[t]Each badge represents a milestone in a volunteer’s journey — a visible recognition of skill, experience, and sustained impact. The system is designed to grow with our community, spanning multiple disciplines and roles: from the first successfully completed task to advanced leadership across complex, multi-team initiatives. Volunteers can earn badges for different types of work, with levels that progress as their contributions deepen and diversify.[/t]
[t]All badges are issued digitally and verified through Translation Commons, ensuring that they can be proudly shared on professional profiles, résumés, and social platforms. Together, these badges form a living record of achievement — highlighting the collaborative spirit, technical excellence, and creative energy that define our global volunteer community.[/t]
[t]Milestone Recognition[/t]
[t]Badges mark significant achievements in your volunteer journey, celebrating your skills and contributions.[/t]
[t]Progressive Levels[/t]
[t]Earn badges across different types of work, with levels that progress as your contributions deepen and diversify.[/t]
[t]Verified & Shareable[/t]
[t]All badges are digitally issued and verified, ready to share on professional profiles, résumés, and social platforms.[/t]
[t]Translation Commons Badges[/t]
[t]We are issuing the following badges to recognize contributions across different roles and disciplines within our community.[/t]
[t]All Contributors[/t]
[t]Recognition for volunteers across all roles and contributions.[/t]
[t]Engaged Volunteer[/t]
[t]For contributing to one project[/t]
[t]Awarded to anyone who participates in a Translation Commons project, regardless of the number of words translated or reviewed. Celebrates the person’s decision to support the initiative and recognizes their impact.[/t]
[t]Consistent Contributor[/t]
[t]For contributing to 3 projects[/t]
[t]Demonstrates a volunteer’s growing experience and dedication, having completed three projects.[/t]
[t]Senior Contributor[/t]
[t]For contributing to 5 projects[/t]
[t]Honors a volunteer’s consistent contributions and expertise across five projects.[/t]
[t]Accomplished Contributor[/t]
[t]For contributing to 10 projects[/t]
[t]Celebrates a volunteer’s outstanding commitment and leadership, with ten completed projects.[/t]
[t]Translators[/t]
[t]Honoring translation work measured in words translated.[/t]
[t]Translator – Bronze[/t]
[t]For translating 5,000 words[/t]
[t]Translator – Silver[/t]
[t]For translating 10,000 words[/t]
[t]Translator – Gold[/t]
[t]For translating 15,000 words[/t]
[t](which corresponds to the length of a novella like Dickens’ A Christmas Carol).[/t]
[t]Translator – Platinum[/t]
[t]For translating 30,000 words[/t]
[t](which corresponds to the length of a short book like Sant-Exupéry’s The Little Prince).[/t]
[t]Translator – Diamond[/t]
[t]For translating a minimum of 50,000 words[/t]
[t](which corresponds to the length of a complete novel like Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby).[/t]
[t]Proofreaders[/t]
[t]Celebrating meticulous proofreading and editing excellence.[/t]
[t]Proofreader – Bronze[/t]
[t]For proofreading and editing 7,500 words[/t]
[t]Proofreader – Silver[/t]
[t]For proofreading and editing 15,000 words[/t]
[t]Proofreader – Gold[/t]
[t]For proofreading and editing 22,500 words[/t]
[t](which corresponds to the length of a short novel like Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea).[/t]
[t]Proofreader – Platinum[/t]
[t]For proofreading and editing 45,000 words[/t]
[t](which corresponds to the length of a mid-length novel like Coelho’s The Alchemist).[/t]
[t]Proofreader – Diamond[/t]
[t]For proofreading and editing 75,000 words[/t]
[t](which corresponds to the length of a full-length novel like Camus’ The Stranger).[/t]
[t]Reviewers[/t]
[t]Recognizing quality assurance and linguistic review.[/t]
[t]Reviewer – Bronze[/t]
[t]For reviewing 7,500 words and ensuring linguistic quality[/t]
[t]Reviewer – Silver[/t]
[t]For reviewing 15,000 words and ensuring linguistic quality[/t]
[t]Reviewer – Gold[/t]
[t]For reviewing 22,500 words and ensuring linguistic quality[/t]
[t]Reviewer – Platinum[/t]
[t]For reviewing 45,000 words and ensuring linguistic quality[/t]
[t]Reviewer – Diamond[/t]
[t]For reviewing 75,000 words and ensuring linguistic quality[/t]
[t]Project Managers and Localization Project Coordinators[/t]
[t]Honoring leadership in coordinating and delivering localization projects.[/t]
[t]Project Management – Bronze[/t]
[t]For successfully coordinating and delivering one project[/t]
[t]Awarded to volunteers who have successfully managed their first Translation Commons localization project, demonstrating initiative, organization, and teamwork in guiding a project from start to finish.[/t]
[t]Project Management – Silver[/t]
[t]For successfully coordinating and delivering 3 projects[/t]
[t]Recognizes volunteers who have developed growing experience and confidence by managing multiple projects, balancing tasks, and supporting collaboration across teams.[/t]
[t]Project Management – Gold[/t]
[t]For successfully coordinating and delivering 5 projects[/t]
[t]Honors project managers who have consistently delivered results, showing strong leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills across several projects.[/t]
[t]Project Management – Platinum[/t]
[t]For successfully coordinating and delivering 10 projects[/t]
[t]Celebrates advanced project leaders whose sustained commitment and oversight have enabled the successful delivery of numerous localization projects.[/t]
[t]Project Management – Diamond[/t]
[t]For successfully coordinating and delivering 20 projects[/t]
[t]Recognizes exceptional dedication to project management excellence and making a lasting impact on the Translation Commons mission and community.[/t]
[t]Engineers[/t]
[t]Honoring contributions to the Translation Commons Github, tool development and community engagement.[/t]
[t]Engineer – Bronze[/t]
[t]For meaningful contributions to Translation Commons repositories[/t]
[t]Criteria (fulfill at least three of five): • Minimum 3 merged pull requests and/or 5+ commits across any TC GitHub repositories. • Contributed to issue resolution or documentation. • Completed 5+ Simple WordPress tasks such as bug fixes, content updates, or link corrections. • Initial data analysis contributions such as cleaning datasets, generating simple reports, or validating data for projects. • Early-stage research contributions, e.g., gathering reference material, testing experimental tools, or supporting feasibility studies. Example Contribution Types: Bug fixes, README improvements, issue comments, WordPress plugin/theme updates, documentation edits.[/t]
[t]Engineer – Silver[/t]
[t]For substantial technical input or mid-term involvement[/t]
[t]Criteria (fulfill at least three of six): • 7+ merged pull requests and consistent commits over multiple weeks. • Authored a feature/module/tool used in production. • Continuous contribution for 3+ months. • Published at least one new WordPress page (layout, styling, or functionality). • Researched and tested plugins/themes to ensure compatibility and smooth operation. • Initial R&D contributions (prototypes, feasibility studies). • Data contributions such as building reusable analysis scripts, automating reports, improving data pipelines, or publishing insights that directly support projects. Example Contribution Types: Developed a translation management script/tool, improved CI/CD workflows, created prototype automation scripts, implemented new WordPress features.[/t]
[t]Engineer – Gold[/t]
[t]For major code contributions and system improvements[/t]
[t]Criteria: • Delivered major refactor or feature deployment. • Regularly maintained/reviewed code in one or more repos. • Publishing 3+ WordPress pages with Custom Design. • Significant R&D outcomes (proof-of-concept leading to adoption, architecture exploration). • Delivered impactful data analysis/reporting supporting TC projects. • Continuous contribution for 6+ months. Example Contribution Types: Created internal dashboard, translation automation pipeline, new WordPress module, NLP/ML experiment for translation workflows.[/t]
[t]Engineer – Platinum[/t]
[t]For leading engineering efforts and mentoring contributors[/t]
[t]Criteria: • Provided technical leadership (mentorship, reviews, project roadmaps). • Architected or managed a critical system. • 8+ months of active engagement across projects. • Led cross-functional projects combining engineering + data + web dev. • Advanced research direction or integration of new technologies. Example Contribution Types: Mentored new contributors, led a multi-repo migration, guided R&D on AI-assisted translation.[/t]
[t]Engineer – Leadership[/t]
[t]For empowering the TC engineering community through collaboration, outreach, and vision[/t]
[t]Criteria: • Led an open-source initiative, sprint, or cross-team collaboration. • Organized onboarding for tech volunteers. • Represented TC in external engineering discussions/events. • Advocated for new tech adoption based on research and feasibility. Example Contribution Types: Designed mentorship tracks, represented TC at open-source conferences, initiated a research partnership.[/t]
[t]Engineer – Excellence[/t]
[t]For transformative, widely adopted contributions across TC engineering efforts[/t]
[t]Criteria: • Work has been widely adopted in TC projects. • Recognized for outstanding code quality, documentation, and best practices. • Contributions spanning engineering, web development, R&D, and data analysis. • Peer or maintainer nominations affirming impact. • Consistently sets engineering standards for maintainability, scalability, and innovation.[/t]
[t]Marketing Contributors[/t]
[t]Recognising real marketing impact across campaigns, content, data, and community.[/t]
[t]Marketing Contributor – Bronze[/t]
[t]For people who have started contributing in a real way[/t]
[t]Awarded to volunteers who have completed their first meaningful marketing tasks from social posts and email edits to campaign support and team brainstorms. Recognises the initiative to show up, learn, and contribute to TC’s marketing mission.[/t]
[t]Marketing Contributor – Silver[/t]
[t]For stable contributors with visible results over time[/t]
[t]Recognises volunteers who have created 10+ marketing assets over 3+ months, owned a small initiative end-to-end, and demonstrated consistent, collaborative effort. Celebrates growing skill and reliability in TC’s marketing work.[/t]
[t]Marketing Contributor – Gold[/t]
[t]For people who drive impact and systems, not just tasks[/t]
[t]Honours volunteers who have led a full campaign from brief to report, produced reusable assets across channels, achieved measurable results, and supported newer team members. Reflects a shift from execution to leadership.[/t]
[t]Marketing Contributor – Platinum[/t]
[t]For people who shape direction and cross-team work[/t]
[t]Celebrates volunteers who have designed audience strategy, led cross-functional campaigns, built major systems (dashboards, CRM flows, playbooks), and represented TC externally — sustained over 12+ months of active contribution.[/t]
[t]Storytelling & Content Badge[/t]
[t]For volunteers who bring real stories to life across formats and audiences[/t]
[t]Awarded to contributors who have created 15+ pieces of content, used genuine volunteer and community stories, built a content series, and received positive feedback on their work. May also recognise localisation of content across regions or languages.[/t]
[t]Data-Driven Marketer Badge[/t]
[t]For volunteers who turn data into decisions[/t]
[t]Recognises contributors who have set up or improved tracking, run documented experiments (A/B tests, audience segments, posting times), prepared insights reports that influenced team decisions, and helped teammates understand analytics tools.[/t]
[t]Community Builder Badge[/t]
[t]For volunteers who build lasting connections and engagement[/t]
[t]Celebrates contributors who have launched or managed recurring community touchpoints, maintained active spaces with consistent engagement, created feedback loops, turned community input into real changes, and welcomed new members with visible care.[/t]
