Consider adopting Holopin

[ovflowd]

Hey folks 👋, during Hacktoberfest I got ahold of a tool called Holopin, which gave badges to people contributing to open source.

It seems that the Holopin folks are collaborating with open-source projects to give badges (gamification) to people contributing to open-source (like achieving milestones).

@elenalape, a friend of mine that works there, wanted to kickstart some discussions here.

My intentions are:

• Are we interested in this?
• How could this benefit potential contributors or existing ones?
• Is this sort of gamification healthy?
• If we all agree, what is the implementation process and for what kind of contributions one' would get a badge
• What and how many badges we would make?

cc @nodejs/tsc

[RaisinTen]

Doesn't GitHub already provide something like that (https://github.com/ovflowd?tab=achievements in your case)? I'm not sure how Holopin is different from that, could you please elaborate?

Also what does it mean for this project to adopt Holopin? Does it mean that the nodejs organization would be able to send custom badges to some contributors via Holopin or some other medium?

[ovflowd]

Doesn't GitHub already provide something like that (https://github.com/ovflowd?tab=achievements in your case)? I'm not sure how Holopin is different from that, could you please elaborate?

I don't think GitHub Achievements highlights at all project-specific achievements.

Holopin is kinda a wall of "virtual" stickers, I would say. But I believe @elenalape can do a better job on explaining her goals 👀

Also what does it mean for this project to adopt Holopin? Does it mean that the nodejs organization would be able to send custom badges to some contributors via Holopin or some other medium?

Yes, I believe that's what I believe so. I think one of the ideas she explained to me, was to "reward" contributions or at least "show gratitude" 🤔

[elenalape]

Hi hi! Founder of Holopin here. 🦖 Thank you for looping me in, happy to provide more context and answer your questions.

Holopin lets you issue sticker-like digital badges for achievements, recognition, awards, event participation. Open source contributions is one of the use cases, and a natural fit for open source projects like NodeJS.

@RaisinTen — exactly, NodeJS would be able to create and send custom badges! The badges are collected in one place on Holopin, and are shareable on socials. Holopin also provides a GitHub integration that lets you embed your badge board within your personal README or on your website. More integrations are coming, including Discord. I've just sent you a badge to the email specified in your GitHub profile.

On @ovflowd points:

How could this benefit potential contributors or existing ones?

It's a way to recognize and/or encourage the types of contributions you are looking for. Each badge is a unique permanent record (not NFT!) of appreciation. It also lets you recognize the non-code contributors.
As a badge recipient, you can show it off as an achievement, and build a collection or a board of all the cool things you've done as a developer. It's like virtual laptop stickers, as you mentioned 🙂 To the outside world, Holopin badges provide a way to see exactly what you've earned it for.

Is this sort of gamification healthy?

The level of gamification is entirely up to you. There could be some elements of gamification, or none at all. For NodeJS, it may be less about gamification, and more about contributor recognition. So quality over quantity.
Of course, you can have badges that are based on number of contributions or impact, eg. "merged 10 PRs" or "top contributor of the year".

If we all agree, what is the implementation process and for what kind of contributions one' would get a badge

We'd first create a NodeJS organization on Holopin (see org example). From there, you'll be able to add/remove admins and members who can create badges.

Then for issuing, one option is to use the GitHub bot, which lets you automatically send a badge by either labelling the issue, or by directly mentioning @holopin-bot. We also provide an API that lets you generate a unique claim link, and optionally send it to the recipient via email.

The badges are designed & then uploaded to Holopin by the issuing organization. Everything apart from the actual badge design is a self-serve platform experience. If you don't have a designer, you can use sticker designs from your previous conferences, ask the wider community for help, or use a tool like Canva to create the images. We provide some basic guidelines and good examples!

What and how many badges we would make?

Just to give you some ideas for your badges — new members, core NodeJS team members (maintainers/contributors/triagers), good first Issues or PRs, folks who help troubleshooting errors, security bounties, docs contributions, translations, NodeSchool participants, bloggers. As the year is wrapping up, you could even have a 2022-themed badge for those who were particularly helpful. You're welcome to start with just one or a few badges, and add more as you go along.

Hopefully that gives you a better idea of Holopin! Always happy to provide more details here or discuss via email elena@holopin.io.