If you evaluated the Karma add-on on your productive system you might want to reset the Karma Points before going live with. Here is how you can do it:
Please go to the Karma Overview page (it is within the user menu at the top right) and check the Karma value of the first person in the Karma Ranking. This is the highest Karma value within your system.
Then go to the Karma Administration and open the configuration for the Karma Events. At the bottom you find the Event for losing/gaining Karma regularly. Please enter a very high negative value (it must be higher than the Karma value of the first person in the Karma Ranking).
Afterwards open the Scheduled Jobs in the Confluence Administration. Search for "Karma Decrease/Increase Job" and start it manually (or wait for the next execution time). Check the Karma Overview again. All users should have 0 Karma Points.
Please do not forget to set the points for losing/gaining Karma back to the original value in the Karma Administration.
A CSS definition causes a wrong layout of the Confluence 'Tip' macro. This issue will be fixed in the next release.
For the moment you can use the following workaround:
Insert this stylecode into your global Administration > Stylesheet section to fix the styling.
body .success {
color: #333;
text-align: left;
}
#givemedalcontainer .success {
color: green;
text-align: center;
}
Detailed information is available at the ticket:
Even though the attitude in companies toward the Social Intranet and Social Business often varies, and is not always positive, things are clearly going in this direction. This is because the up-coming generation of workers is demanding it. The advantage is that these new employees want a Social Intranet and when they have it, they will use it actively. They do not particularly need extra outside motivation. Nevertheless it is certainly helpful to keep the usability relatively simple, and to integrate elements that an on-liner knows from their experience with forums and communities. But what does that mean exactly?
Gamification in Forums and Communties
In Forums, for example, it is already common practice to reward active employees with virtual awards. An active placement in a Community raises the status and the rank of a member and, in the eyes of the others, is more valuable. Beginners often turn to seasoned members if they need advice, since the opinion of a 'Heavy User' weighs rather more than that of a newbie. This 'Gamification' is found in many Social Mediums, and it often serves as a push for a lively network.
In Social Intranets and company wikis the picture is somewhat different. Here the surface is often low-key, and the motivation for intense use is hardly encouraging. If the employees themselves are not intrinsically motivated enough, then the whole expensive acquisition and installation of a tool for team collaboration and for knowledge management is all for nothing, simply because it will hardly be used.
Gamification in Company Wikis with Karma 1.0
In order to counter this, Communardo developed a small Plugin sometime ago for the Company Wiki Confluence, that goes under the name of “Karma”. Karma represents exactly what users of forums and communties have already been used to for a long time: a virtual reward for activities and type of competition among the participants for badges and awards. (New Features in Karma 1.0)
The Sense of Gamification
The System will only be used when
a) it makes sense
b) it offers additional benefits
c) using it is easy and intuitive
d) it is fun
And it just for this last point that Karma has been set up for Confluence. It raises the fun-factor, it offers motivation in the form of points, medals, and badges thus providing more activity and more intensive exchanges. Gamification is thus a decisive success factor for a Social Intranet or for a Company Wiki like Confluence.
And Why Shouldn't You Use It?
If you take an even closer look, there's no reason not to. Of course in the beginning there are always voices that fear that the employees will start to play around the system just to attain points, not using it for what it is intended. Our experience shows that this can indeed happen in the first few days. However this initial playful giddiness rapidly dwindles and Karma's potential can then start to be made use of. It is just like with a new Smartphone or a new piece of software. In the beginning everyone plays around with all the features to get the feel of things. When the initial euphoria then subsides, as it inevitably does, then the new device or system quickly becomes integrated into everyday activity and can be effectively used.
Karma for Confluence is the Plugin by which you can increase the activity in your Confluence, and at the same time reward work production in and with the company Wiki. First of all, the fun-factor of using it eases the introduction of the Wiki, and secondly, the competition between colleagues in Karma for awards and medals means an active and lively use.
Since the publication of Karma 0.9 a few months ago, we have received loads of positive feedback, including numerous good ideas – for this, we want to thank you very much! A large percentage of these ideas found their way into the subsequent development that led to publication of Release Karma 1.0. It is this new product, that I want to take a closer look at with you.
What could the Karma Version 0.9 do previously?
- users collect Karma points and badges through certain activities in Confluence
- notification of all information concerning Karma, seen in the user's overview (e.g. activities that were achieved using Karma, ranking list of the user's Karma, and the awards of the user)
What new functions does Karma 1.0 now offer the user?
- awarding medals to colleagues to honor outstanding work
- new activities through which the user can attain Karma
- information in the Workbox on newly acquired awards and badges
- extensive configuration for administrators and users
In order to further publish Karma for Confluence with new features – which includes further development using your feedback – we have also decided to publish the Plugin in the future with a commercial license, for a fee.
The New Funktions of Karma 1.0 in Detail
Awarding Medals to Colleagues
A colleague has saved you a massive amount of time, earned a big 'thank you,' or is simply the Hero of the Day? Show him your appreciation by bestowing a medal upon them. Your colleague thereby receives additional Karma points and, along with their entire network, will be informed about the new medal in the Workbox.
New Karma activities
Whether it is the setting of personal areas, working on Wiki-sites or searching in the Wiki...the user has now even more possibilities to gather Karma. And this keeps the experience of using Confluence a sheer pleasure even through the introductory phase. In addition, administrators now have the possibility to configure for which available activity the user will receive what amount of Karma.
Information in the Workbox
You and your colleagues will be informed in your network about the recent badges and medals through a notice in the Workbox.
Configuration possibilities for Users and Administrators
Perhaps there is no reason for some user to want to collect Karma – that is of course too bad. So through their own configuration in the Karma Overview, each user may deactivate their participation in Karma. And in actuality, Administrators can configure all further parameters of Karma – for instance if the users want to be provided with all the possible Karma activities, badges, and awards, including how many Karma points maybe accumulated for each.
We have already heard, that maybe the Karma points of each user should not be so prominently displayed – so now the possibility for adjusting this setting is available to administrators.
Furthermore we have made smaller improvements to existing functions, fault rectifications and added compatibility with the newest Confluence version – the Release notes give a complete overview.
Do you want even more fun when using Confluence?
Then contact your friendly Administrator or Wiki representative as soon as possible – he or she can generate a 30-day trial run for free at the Atlassian Marketplace. Here you can try out every function of Karma for Confluence in your Wiki at no cost. At the Marketplace you may also just as fast and simply buy a license for 10% of the Confluence costs.
Having fun while discovering Confluence
Some users who are not yet familiar with Wikis or other Social Software applications, often find it difficult to get used to the new working methods. Two months ago Atlassian offered you 5 tips for a successful Intranet with Confluence. Now you are getting the 6th ultimate tip from us: Karma for Confluence.
With this Plugin, you can motivate the users of Confluence to use the system and all its features. Writing blog entries, commenting on other articles and simply using Confluence on a daily basis makes it even more fun.
Even if your company has already successfully established Confluence, the Plugin Karma offers you additional value. Your Wiki offers a few functions that are probably as good as never used – what a shame for all the great effects! Do you and your colleagues update your statuses daily? Do you tag key words in every blog entry to make the search for content easier? No? Then just wait until you have installed Karma. Using all these functions earns Karma points. Karma for Confluence offers your Wiki a new kind of power and more fun, even for the most enthusiastic user.
Collect Karma and Badges, and compare with colleagues
In general, the number of collected Karma points is shown behind the names of the users. In the Karma overview, you then have the possibility to see your earned Karma points in detail. Perhaps most interesting in the overview is the list of colleagues (sorted by the number of Karma points). This allows you to immediately see how many points you still need to surpass your team colleagues. When you click on the profile of a colleague, you will come to their Karma overview.
Along with the Karma points shown in the Karma overview, the current status of the badges can also be seen. For particular actions or an accumulation of activities, the user can obtain Badges. Nearly everyone can get the Badge ‘Mayfly’. But how many employees will be able to land the titles of ‘Label Neurotic’ or ‘Morning Bird’? Active users can be rewarded with the acquisition of badges.
Karma for Confluence facilitates the implementation of your Confluence Wikis, whereby it uses the ideas from ‚Gamification’, which everyone is talking about these days.
Test Karma for Confluence for yourself – on your Confluence System or in our Demo-Area. And, if you have as much fun with it as we do, then we invite you to drop a good word off about it at the Atlassian Marketplace. Karma for Confluence is our entry in this year’s Codegeist competition from Atlassian. Your vote will raise our chances to take one of the top places and perhaps even win a prize. This would allow us to implement even more ideas from the Community in the next version, “Karma for Confluence 1.0”.
Karma for Confluence brings people closer together. Connect everything you need with a little bit of fun. Generate knowledge with delight!