We’ve received a number of questions through email and through comments regarding the new ratings associated with each blog on pfblogs.org. The biggest question is regarding the method that determines the numbers. As of right now, it’s a very simple calculation, easily prone to tampering. A clever sleuth can expose the formula with basic mathematics skills and then manipulate any number upwards (or downwards in some cases) to his or her liking. I won’t divulge the magic formula here and now because the calculation method will be changing soon.
They’re just meaningless numbers, anyway.
So…is a higher number better or a lower number? Is it a rank of popularity or quality or ?? Seems like a cool idea.
Aha. Yes, they do seem to be easily manipulated (though I’m not sure how to make them go down). If they weren’t easily manipulated, they’d be an interesting metric, though. They’re more a measure of how well a person writes an effective lede than anything.
Total visits(clicks) / total posts tracked by pfblogs.org = rating.
At least this is my guess of the formular.
So the higher the number is, the more attention your blog gets? But a lower number might just means that the blog has lots of entries like seeking alpha’s 3 point something score.
again.. just my guess …
Very good deduction. Don’t get used to it, though. I’ll be implementing a new system for click tracking that is less susceptible to tampering and creating a new formula for ranking based on some other numbers. The current ranking is just saving the space.
Howdy: Looks like under the new setup, you’re highlighting updates from regular blogs and deemphasizing those from friends of pfblogs. Er, was this intentional?
I haven’t checked it under all browsers yet, but Friends should have large text with a red background and others should have regular text with a grey background.
Whoa, what a difference using IE! I’m using Firefox. 1.5.0.3 For an example of what I see,click here. The pain of development…I went about a week once with my blog totally messed up on IE browsers without realizing it, so I thought I’d pass on what I’m seeing in case it’s helpful.
I use Firefox, too. Clear your cache — you don’t seem to be grabbing the latest stylesheet (updated last night) with the new CSS classes.
Nice! I love the new look! The “Friends” really stick out. Great idea.
Great! We now have another unattainable goal to strive for! One where we can beat each other’s ego senseless and hold them hostage. Everybody that has a higher rating than me will be toppled! just you wait…lol
BTW, just joking, don’t want to make any enemies (yet). Love the new look, and the ratings system, whenever the new formula hits!