You may notice that the sorting on http://weblogs.asp.net isn't strictly chronological anymore. Scott wrote up a post that details why this is.
The short version is that there is now an algorithm (Digg inspired) that sorts the posts based on relevance. New posts start on the top but to stay on top the post follows a weighted algorithm based on age, comments, views, rating, etc.
We're using this on weblogs.asp.net now — if you've got feedback let us know!
Doesn’t this simply reward the already rewarded more and makes it impossible for a post from a person with not a lot of viewers to stay on top? IMHO in the end, all ScottGu’s posts are at the top and we’re below it, simply because his blog has so many more subscribers than others.
But it can be I don’t yet fully grasp the whole algorithm.
Hi Frans,
We do not factor in RSS views to the algorithm, so ScottGu’s large subscriber base should only factor in if they start clicking through and making comments…and if that is true then it should float to the top.
I am working on an updated version based on what we are seeing now. We are adding some bonus points for really fresh content (e.g., posted in the last 12 or 24 hours) which will hopefully give just about every post a little time near the top to catch an eyeball or two.
-Scott
Honestly this makes the front page useless to me. I like to view this by chronological order and find it difficult to keep up with everything if it is not sorted like that. Is it possible to add another link or option so we can choose between the two views?
Can you provide a number of different home page views? I am think of something like the home page of dotnetkicks.com:
‘Latest Stories’ – This is the old homepage view for weblogs.asp.net
‘Top Stories’ – The new ranked view
My only thoughts on this is the process to change something on the main page should be done through a democratic process.
Even if weblogs.asp.net belongs to someone, after all we are all contributing to its success and I truely believe in democracy.
What’s about asking using a poll to all the bloggers here before doing any changes?
Paschal
It’s a great approach, but it doesn’t work for me.
I expect the newest pieces to be up on top. I’m not interested in scrolling through the whole page looking for a new post.
Would it be possible to publish a NewestPostOnTopFeed.RSS ?
Chuck
Nice to see you’re evaluating diferent approachs for post sorting but some of us prefer the chronological order, hope you have the time to add an option to see the post in the chronological order, and it applies to both the RSS feed and the default web page.
I guess I’m in the boat of liking it the way it was. Now if I come to the front page I just see the same stuff I didn’t want to read the last time I came.
I’d rather see the new stuff I may or may not want to read.
Thanks for the feedback everyone — we’re going to revisit this again, but for now it sounds like the concensus is we need better tools to allow the reader to find the content more easily (and the preference is chronological).
I really liked the chronological order. I come to this site to see the newest blogs, not to see the same blogs I had already read.
“(and the preference is chronological).”
You said it!
The people like this: … and the preference is chronological.
I liked the chronological order in weblogs.asp.net. I come to this site every day to see the newest blogs, not to see the same blogs I had already read.
If you release a option: Top Stories. Will be great idea. Chronological order by default, plz.
I’d rather see the new stuff I may or may not want to read.
Javier Luna
guydotnetxmlwebservices.blogspot.com