Thread of the day

My name is URL

How is that selected?

It seems like a great feature to have but it never really delivers a good thread, imo.

Beruthiel

I could be wrong, but I think it's just a totally random thing.

My name is URL

Beruthiel wrote: »

I could be wrong, but I think it's just a totally random thing.

That's what I thought. Could it not be done in more determined way?

for example, the ratio of (amount views a thread has) divided by the (amount of views the containing forum got the day before)..

That way it would always throw up a thread that's popular in proportion to whatever forum its in

My name is URL

In retrospect, this may have been better suited in the Development forum. =p

Could an admin move it to there? Cheers

Conor

My name is URL wrote: »

for example, the ratio of (amount views a thread has) divided by the (amount of views the containing forum got the day before)..

While we know how many views a thread has got, we don't know how many of those occurred in a given period so your method above would mean that the Poker chat thread would be the thread of the day, every day.

If we average the number of views over the time the thread has existed (and limit it to threads started in the last 24 hours) we start to get places. Using that formula, here are the current top 5 threads:

Rank|Thread
1|Compaq mini desktop with 21.5in monitor €69.99
2|Becoming an escort....
3|oh crap
4|BF snapped at me
5|Is mechanic ripping us off?


It's a good first start, but I think it unfairly favours forums with a large audience. Whether that's OK or not is highly subjective.

Thanks for bringing the subject up, it's certainly one we're interested in.

My name is URL

Ah yes, I see what you mean. It would need to be restricted to threads started in the last 24 hrs to avoid repeated threads.

Though if a thread has even only 20 views in a forum which had 300 views in the same period, it's ratio would still be greater than a thread with 500 views in a forum with 10,000 views.

20 / 300 = 0.066
500 / 10 000 = 0.05

I'm not sure how the view counter works though.. Does it count unique views or total views?

Your top result there certainly seems worthy of the honour =p

Conor

My name is URL wrote: »

Ah yes, I see what you mean. It would need to be restricted to threads started in the last 24 hrs to avoid repeated threads.

Though if a thread has even only 20 views in a forum which had 300 views in the same period, it's ratio would still be greater than a thread with 500 views in a forum with 10,000 views.

20 / 300 = 0.066
500 / 10 000 = 0.05

I'm not sure how the view counter works though.. Does it count unique views or total views?

It counts total views.

Also, we don't have a "forum views" statistic so we'd have to either calculate that (relatively expensive) or figure out a way of doing without it.

Would it be possible to have several threads of the day?

For example, using your idea Conor, average the number of views which the thread has received during its existence (the last 24 hours or whatever). But now, instead of having one overall "leader", have, just say, 5, and the 5 would come from different sections. For example, using this method, calculate the most popular thread from Soc, Rec, Sci, Region, etc. etc.

The only possible pit fall in this is that you mightn't be able to calculate (easily and cheaply) the number of views for individual catagories; is it possible?

I know I for one wouldn't mind being able to view 5 or so popular (and varied) threads; I think having one is limiting the potential.

Conor

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

Would it be possible to have several threads of the day?

Conceptually, no reason why not.

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

For example, using your idea Conor, average the number of views which the thread has received during its existence (the last 24 hours or whatever). But now, instead of having one overall "leader", have, just say, 5, and the 5 would come from different sections. For example, using this method, calculate the most popular thread from Soc, Rec, Sci, Region, etc. etc.

The only possible pit fall in this is that you mightn't be able to calculate (easily and cheaply) the number of views for individual catagories; is it possible?

Not easily. We only have thread view counts, not forum or category view counts. We can synthesize the forum/cat views by summing the views on the threads in each forum/cat but we don't have an easy breakdown of number of thread views for a given day. The thread view counter is cumulative over the life of a thread.

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

I know I for one wouldn't mind being able to view 5 or so popular (and varied) threads; I think having one is limiting the potential.

I like the idea. More thought required here.

turgon

You should add the sum of thanks for all posts in the thread into the equation - in the interest of quality - divided, of course, by the total number of thanks in the specific forum in the last 24 hours. For the craic.

My name is URL

Conor wrote: »

It's a good first start, but I think it unfairly favours forums with a large audience. Whether that's OK or not is highly subjective.

Could the results be compared to a static reference point for each forum? A small forum would rationally have the same baseline stats as a large one when you consider the amount of threads started per day as opposed to the amount of views per day...maybe

I have no idea tbh.

It probably wouldn't be worth monitoring extra stats etc and equating sh!t just for the sake of a single thread =p

Maybe Boards should start a Digg-like site, where algorithms are king :pac:

Another solution:

How about having an option to vote for a thread (a more accessible option than the current thread rating system), and then ranking the top five highest rated threads daily? This could sort out two issues that I feel could be improved:

1) The thread rating system. As has been said before, if a system similar to YouTube's rating system were to be implemented (where stars are easily and visibly clickable, and then showing its rating out of 5), it would result in more people rating threads. If this could be implemented, it would sort the thread of the day issue aswell:

2) The thread(s) which have received the best ratings in the previous 24 hours would be the thread(s) of the day.

This would also stop the same threads topping the polls, as a person can only vote for an individual thread once.

I don't know how feasible that rating system would be to implement, but it could be a solution to two simliar "problems".

Conor

turgon wrote: »

You should add the sum of thanks for all posts in the thread into the equation - in the interest of quality - divided, of course, by the total number of thanks in the specific forum in the last 24 hours. For the craic.

Thanks is a useful indicator, but it will have to be weighted carefully. It's just too easy to "game". I'll definitely try to include it in the blend though as it's a useful feedback mechanism.

My name is URL wrote: »

Could the results be compared to a static reference point for each forum? A small forum would rationally have the same baseline stats as a large one when you consider the amount of threads started per day as opposed to the amount of views per day...maybe

I'll have a think about that, there may be some stats elsewhere in the database that we can use as a rough guide for this.

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

1) The thread rating system. As has been said before, if a system similar to YouTube's rating system were to be implemented (where stars are easily and visibly clickable, and then showing its rating out of 5), it would result in more people rating threads. If this could be implemented, it would sort the thread of the day issue aswell:

There are many improvements on the way for the boards.ie UI and this is one which has been mentioned in the office and thought of as a good idea. As much as I'd love to jump in and create that right now, it's probably best if we work it into the schedule of UI changes which are upcoming.

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

2) The thread(s) which have received the best ratings in the previous 24 hours would be the thread(s) of the day.

I do like the idea of including thread ratings in the calculation of what becomes thread (or threads) of the day but I'd be hesitant to go purely on ratings as (like thanks) it's a little too easy to game.

sells

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