Help Central

How Are Stories Ranked On Propeller?

Our engineers have created a series of algorithms that measure a wide range of participation. For any given story, we factor in the number of votes (or “props”), page views, and comments inspired by the post. Stir in a few more variables, and you get a “Propeller Popularity Index” for the story (Fig A, below). The top-scoring stories make it to the front page – and of course those stories will keep changing, 24 hours a day.

Longtime Propeller members will recall that voting used to be the key variable in the equation. More recently, we decided that it made more sense to rank stories on the basis of total participation, rather than focusing on exactly how many people pulled the virtual lever. The Propeller Popularity Index (yes, you may call it the PPI) is ultimately a measure of the community’s attention and enthusiasm. (Fig B, below)

Help! How do I…?

• Submit Great Stories
• Prop a Story
• Create my Own Group
• Join a Group
• Create an Account

FAQs View All »

• What’s the benefit of registering?
• How does the Propeller home page work?
• How do tags work?
• What is the Middleman Rule?
• Propeller is not accepting submissions from a specific URL. Why not?
• What do you mean by spam and sock puppets?