Top contributor badge

The Top Contributor (Merit) badge is given to a contributor whose high volume and top voted content earns them the highest calculated useful content score.

Note: The content score is calculated and updated daily using a comprehensive formula.

The Top Contributor badge system offers tiered recognition to identify and celebrate users who provide the most useful content to the community:

Note: The content score combines both a contributor's content submissions (such as Full text reviews, Approved answers, and Ratings-only reviews) and the community feedback they receive, either Helpfulness Votes or Best Answer votes. 

Style Top Contributor badge

You can change the look of the default Top Contributor badge. You can to match it to your company's specific brand and design. Learn more about styling badges.

Note: The default Top Contributor badge will automatically inherit the color of the filled review stars on your site.

Top Contributor (Merit) badge association with contributor profiles

As the Top Contributor (Merit) badge is a contributor badge, it’s tied to either a Contributor ID or Contributor Profile rather than an individual user account.

• A single contributor ID can be shared and assigned to multiple users. For example, several employees in a department might share one Top Contributor profile.
• Once set up, the Top Contributor badge automatically appears on all content submitted using that specific contributor ID, including:
  • Reviews
  • Answers submitted to Questions & Answers
  • Comments

Set up Top Contributor badge 



Before you begin, enable the Top Contributor (Merit) badge using the Badge Editor tool.

Note: This is a one-time step for your company instance.

Assign Top Contributor (Merit) badge

Content Administrator Account Administrator

To add a top contributor badge:



1. Sign in to the Bazaarvoice Portal.
2. From the navigation bar, select Ratings & Reviews > Reviews.
3. From the list view, navigate to the action menu (...) in the upper-right corner.
4. Select Manage contributors. The Contributors page appears.
5. Filter your list of contributors or enter the Contributor ID in the search bar.
6. Select the Contributor ID hyperlink. The Contributor details modal appears.
   
   
7. Select the MERIT BADGE ELIGIBLE option.

8. Select Save updates.

Note: When editing an individual contributor, their existing moderation status, badges, and hyperlink settings are pre-loaded.

How the badge is calculated

Caution: To maintain fairness and prevent potential abuse, it’s recommended that you do not disclose the exact formula details to your reviewers. 

This section explains the criteria, weighting, and limits used to calculate the top contributor badge ranking. The calculation formula runs nightly, updating based on activity published in the last 24 hours.

1. Useful content score 

The top contributor badge score is calculated daily using a formula that combines a contributor's content submissions and the community feedback they receive.


The weighting system results in the following approximate equivalencies for scoring purposes:

• Approximately 3 Helpful Votes equal the value of one full contribution (either a full review or an approved answer).
• Approximately 3 Best Answer votes equal the value of one full contribution.


  
  

2. Qualification limits (eligibility)

To ensure the prestige of the Top Contributor badge, the system enforces two qualification limits based on your site's contributor population:

A. Population cap (prestige maintenance)

Bazaarvoice ensures the number of badges assigned grows relative to your distinct contributor base. The system is designed to award the Top Contributor (Merit) badge to no more than 20% of your site's active contributor population.

B. Minimum contribution threshold

A contributor must first meet a minimum content requirement to be eligible for any badge:

• An individual must provide a minimum of two approved contributions (a combination of reviews and/or answers).
• This minimum threshold is client-configurable.



3. Tie Resolution

In the event that two or more contributors have an identical merit score, the system employs the following tie-breaking rules: