In recent weeks you may have noticed a few new colorful badges adorning various user contributions on the site.  Below is a brief explanation of the various badges and their meaning.

 - Admins are responsible for the general running on the site. They may move posts to the correct forums, help identify potential abuses on the site, and generally assist users.

 - Pretty self explanatory.

 - The “Trusted Advisor” designation is given to an elite group of Symantec Connect community members who voluntarily share their expertise and experience with the Symantec Connect Community. Trusted Advisors are identified in the community with a special badge and are the front line of support for community users. Trusted Advisors are not Symantec employees. Trusted Advisors are not paid and offer up their expertise purely on a volunteer basis.

 - Symantec Technical Support team members are identified with the green badge. These members periodically help out in the forums as their schedules allow.

 - Symantec Partners are identified with the Partner badge. To receive the partner badge, you must be a member of Symantec PartnerNet. You must also be registered for PartnerNet with the same email address that you use for your Symantec Connect account. Symantec Connect accounts are updated with the Partner badge automatically. Please allow up to 30 days for badge to appear.

 - Accreditation is the vehicle by which partners are assessed by Symantec. Accreditation counts towards Symantec Partner Program achievement status with access to Partner Program benefits, rewards, and incentives, dependent upon partner type, level, and geography. The Accredited badge is automatically updated through the PartnerNet account. To have the Accredited badge added to your username, you must use the same email address for Connect and your PartnerNet account.

 - The Certified badge indicates users who have passed Symantec certification exams. Certifications are customer focused and the exams are designed specifically for customers and cover core elements measuring technical knowledge and competency against factors such as installation, configuration, product administration, day-to-day maintenance, and basic troubleshooting. The Certified badge is automatically updated through the CertTracker system. To have the Certified badge added to your username, you must use the same email address for Connect and CertTracker. Please allow 30 days for new certifications to be added to your Connect account. If you have checked your email address and it has been more than 30 days since your exam, please email accreditation@symantec.com