Guide: Managing Your Active Challenges in devActivity
devActivity's Active Challenges are a fantastic way to gamify your development workflow, track achievements, and earn XP. This guide will walk you through how to view, track, and even create custom challenges to boost engagement for yourself and your team.
How to View and Track Active Challenges
Follow these steps to navigate and monitor your progress on challenges:
- View Active Challenges: Navigate to the 'Rewards' section in devActivity and select 'Active Challenges' to see a comprehensive list. Each challenge entry displays its type, XP reward, and current progress. If progress is not shown, a prompt to 'Select Contributor to display progress' appears.
- Filter Challenges: Use the filter options above the challenge list. You can filter by 'Contributor' to view individual progress, or by 'Type' to categorize them as 'All', 'Custom', 'One-Time', 'Monthly', or 'Accumulative'.
- Track Progress: Regularly check the 'Progress' column for each challenge. For monthly challenges, detailed progress indicating how much is left to achieve the reward can be viewed by selecting a specific contributor.
How to Create Custom Challenges
Administrators or authorized users have the power to create custom challenges tailored to their team's needs:
- Create Custom Challenges: Access the custom challenge creation interface (typically within the 'Active Challenges' section or a related settings area). Define the challenge name, description, type, and the XP reward. Crucially, link the challenge to specific tasks or events within GitHub (e.g., closing an issue, merging a pull request, or making a commit). Upon the linked GitHub task's completion, the challenge is automatically marked as complete.
Earning Rewards
Once you've completed a challenge, the system automatically processes your reward:
- Earn Rewards: Upon completing a challenge, the system automatically awards the specified XP and/or badges to the individual or team, based on the challenge configuration. Your XP total will update, and any earned badges will be added to your profile.
Tips for Maximizing Challenge Engagement
- Prioritize Tasks: Use the challenge list to identify activities that align with your professional goals and offer XP rewards.
- Onboard New Hires: Create or leverage existing 'One-time' challenges like 'Hello World!' (first commit) to guide new developers through initial contributions and reward their early engagement.
- Incentivize Key Behaviors: For team leads, custom challenges are excellent for promoting specific development practices, such as code reviews or timely issue closures.
- Monitor Team Progress: Use the contributor filter to keep an eye on team participation and progress in gamified activities, fostering a collaborative and motivated environment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I filter challenges to find specific types or see a contributor's progress?
You can filter challenges by 'Contributor' to view individual progress, or by 'Type' to categorize them as 'All', 'Custom', 'One-Time', 'Monthly', or 'Accumulative' using the filter options above the challenge list.
How much progress have I made on a specific challenge?
Your progress is displayed in the 'PROGRESS' column for each challenge. For monthly or individual tracking, you may need to select a specific contributor using the filter to see detailed progress.
Can I create my own custom challenges in devActivity?
Yes, if you are an administrator or authorized user, you can create 'Custom' challenges. These can be linked to specific GitHub tasks or events and award custom XP or badges upon completion.
How are custom challenges linked to GitHub tasks?
When creating a custom challenge, you can configure it to automatically complete upon the fulfillment of a specific GitHub task, such as closing an issue, merging a pull request, or making a commit. The system monitors these GitHub events to award rewards.
