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Ebooks.SE has just recently morphed from “private beta” to “public beta”.

Yet, as far as I can see, not a single person gained the Beta badge… even though the description says:

Beta — Actively participated in the private beta

(emphasis mine)

Now, I know many of us around here have been participating actively during the private beta period. So, there has to be something I am not understanding correctly in relation to that badge. But what am I missing?

Currently, I see two possible options:

  1. According to the description, a good chunk of the members here should have received the badge, but they didn't… which would point to a bug in the system.

  2. The alternative is that the current “public beta” is still regarded to be a private beta by the system and the description is wrong. In that case, someone should probably update that description.

  3. The badges are manually awarded by the staff at SE, and we went to public beta during a holiday week. It is now the weekend, and it will probably happen sometime next week (another holiday week by the way)

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    Option 3. The badges are manually awarded by the staff at SE, and we went to public beta during a holiday week. It is now the weekend, and it will probably happen sometime next week (another holiday week by the way).
    – James Jenkins
    Dec 28, 2013 at 11:57
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    Maybe someone forgot to pass out the badges?
    – James Jenkins
    Jan 7, 2014 at 20:14
  • @JamesJenkins If that's not the case, it surely would be cool if someone from SE could give us a heads-up on this one so we can stop wondering. (To ensure the question stays in focus, I've unaccepted your answer to push it back into the "unanswered" corner - hope you don't mind.)
    – e-sushi
    Jan 8, 2014 at 11:53
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    Perfect, and I edited (yesterday) to bring it near the top of the active queue.
    – James Jenkins
    Jan 8, 2014 at 12:01
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    These have apparently been awarded; I just got mine this morning.
    – elixenide
    Jan 18, 2014 at 20:26
  • @EdCottrell Same here, making it status complete.
    – e-sushi
    Jan 18, 2014 at 20:42

1 Answer 1

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While I think that option 3 is the correct answer, there are a couple things to keep in mind.

The requirement is 'Actively participated in the private beta' what is required to be considered "Actively" is not clear. It is addressed at List of all badges with full descriptions

the exact requirements not disclosed to prevent users from just doing the bare minimum

If your profile at Area 51 shows a fulfilled commitment for ebooks, you can probably expect the badge when someone gets back from vacation.

If your profile does not show fulfilled commitment, someone will probably deciding if you earned it or not. Many of the processes of bring a site up are manual, it is reasonable to expect awarding the 'Beta' badge is manual also.

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  • So, that's what I was missing. I thought all badges were awarded by the system without human interaction. Now things make sense to me. Thanks for the information! Much appreciated… [+1] and gladly accepted.
    – e-sushi
    Dec 28, 2013 at 17:49
  • I think there is a 60 or 90 day minimum to get these badges.
    – Chad
    Jan 15, 2014 at 21:37
  • I got my pet beta badge on Oct 23, 2013. I think it started private beta on Oct 9, so that would be almost at the same time as the public beta.
    – James Jenkins
    Jan 15, 2014 at 23:04
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    Just got mine too. Status complete indeed.
    – e-sushi
    Jan 18, 2014 at 20:42
  • It appears to be 30 days...
    – Chad
    Jan 18, 2014 at 23:53

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