Squidbadges

We recently introduced some new little goodies that you can earn for your lenses. Basically, marks of excellence and celebrity on Squidoo. These stars and badges will help new readers know when they've landed on a really standout page by a top member of the community. And they're kind of fun to brag about, too.

You might see some lenses with any combination of icons in the top right bio section of the page. So, here's the straight scoop on what it all means.

"Giant" badge: Giant Squids are distinguished by their exceptional skill for making top-notch lenses, and lots of them. Whenever you land on a Giant Squid's lens, you know the person behind it is passionate about the topic and is hard at work making the lens worthy of your time and attention. Giant Squids have 50 or more really great lenses, and they get quite a few perks for all their hard work. This is just one. Learn more about what it takes to be a Giant.

"Citizen" badge: Citizen Squids are the people who really run the show around here. They're volunteer lensmasters who dedicate their time and talent to helping other people make good lenses. They also do a little testing with us behind the scenes, when possible. If you'd like to meet some Citizens, just stop by the the SquidU forum and look for this badge.

"Angel" badge: SquidAngels are passionate lensmasters who spend a lot of time looking at lenses on Squidoo, and have special powers to bless remarkable lenses with a few extra LensRank points. They're also a huge help at keeping Squidoo safe from spam. If you think your lens is just about as good as you can make it, stop by the Angels forum and test your luck!

Gold stars: This shows that a particular page is a certified gold star lens, which means it's the best of its kind on Squidoo (or shows some serious potential for getting there.) When your lens gets a gold star, it also automatically gets a little LensRank boost. Not bad. For now, only Giant Squids can get gold stars on their lenses. But turn that frown upside down: All lensmasters are welcome to join the Giant Squid challenge and earn their way in!

Purple stars: COMING SOON! Bow down to the purple star. Purple stars are the end all, be all symbol of greatness on Squidoo. And they come with some serious perks. They're not hooked up yet, but when they are, oh boy. Stay tuned.