Barnstars

It is the custom to reward Wikipedia contributors for hard work and due diligence by awarding them a barnstar. To give the award to someone, just place the image on their talk page (or their awards page), and say why you have given it to them. If you are sure the barnstar is appropriate, don't be shy!

The barnstar is not unique to Wikipedia. Some years ago, some wiki-based communities began to give their users awards called barn stars, using a star anchor to represent the concept of the shared work experience, as in barn raising. The concept of the barnstar as a Wiki award was created by SunirShah on MeatballWiki. Web designers were invited to incorporate a similar barn star design into their project as Easter eggs.

Wiki barnstars were introduced to Wikipedia in December 2003. Since then, the concept has become ingrained in the Wikipedia culture. These awards are part of the Kindness Campaign and are meant to promote civility and WikiLove. They are a form of warm fuzzy: they are free to give and they bring joy to the recipient.

While awarding a barnstar, remember to provide relevant and polite text as to why you are awarding it. The following are some of the barnstars and awards currently in use. If you don't feel any of these covers the topics you are concerned with, you can always design your own award (using these examples, if you like). If you have questions, WikiProject Wikipedia Awards is a group of volunteers who help guide these pages.

There are many types of barnstars. Please make sure that your choice is fair and appropriate, which will help prevent over-use. Remember that there are other ways of showing simple appreciation to someone, such as a comment on the user's talk page, and alternative awards such as cookies in Personal user awards.

Adding a Barnstar
If you would like a barnstar to be added to the list, please discuss it at WikiProject Wikipedia Awards talk page. Please don't add it without a consensus! Barnstars without consensus will be removed.

Barnstars
''Barnstars are listed in chronological order, that is, in the order in which they were introduced to the English Wikipedia. Please add any new barnstars to the bottom of the appropriate section.''

General Barnstars
General Barnstars are awarded for work or contributions that do not fall into a specific Wikipedia category, but instead that describe contributions or editing along a specific theme.

They can be sorted by title by clicking the button next to "Title and description".

Topical Barnstars
A topical barnstar is for a topic or area of substantial interest to users of Wikipedia.

OurMed-space Barnstars
These barnstars are given to editors for things done behind the scenes, in those corners of the OurMed project unseen by the general public, helping to keep things moving along.

Variations
Editors are free to use variations as appropriate. Best created by subst: the barnstar of your choice then customizing the layout to suit the purpose.

Some examples:

Usage: Pick your barnstar, then go back and change the size to 50.
 * The small barnstar, for gnomish work:


 * The Multiple Barnstar:

Usage: See the documentation.

Multiple-barnstars are particularly good for WikiProject awards, where the first barnstar is the Project barnstar and the additional ones are for the specific task. They are also useful in conjunction with The Teamwork Barnstar.

This is just a partial list designed to inspire barnstar creativity. Please consider adding your more creative mixtures of barnstars to this list or to Personal user awards.