How Ranking Works
Every community faces the same problem: how do you decide what people see first? We use an algorithm that balances freshness with community signal, so the front page reflects what matters right now, not what was popular last week.
> The Core Idea
Each post's rank is the product of two forces: a time-decay factor that steadily pulls every post downward, and a vote multiplier that pushes well-received posts back up. Neither force wins on its own. A post needs both recency and community endorsement to stay visible. This creates a feed that's always moving: fresh content enters, the community signals what's worth reading, and older posts gracefully make room.
> Why Time Decay Matters
Without time decay, a single viral post could dominate the front page for days. That's bad for a news community because it buries everything else and discourages new submissions. Our decay function starts gently: a post that's a few hours old barely feels it. But the curve accelerates, and after a day or two the effect becomes significant. This guarantees turnover. It means there's always a reason to check back, and it means your post doesn't need a hundred votes to get seen. It just needs to be timely.
> How Votes Shape the Feed
Upvotes extend a post's life on the front page; downvotes shorten it. The vote multiplier sits on top of the time-decay score, so a well-received post resists the pull of decay a little longer, while a poorly-received one fades faster than its age alone would dictate. Every vote counts. Even a single upvote on a fresh post can be the difference between it being seen or slipping away. This is why voting thoughtfully matters: you're not just expressing a preference, you're actively curating what the community reads.
> Different Feeds, Different Rules
The ranking algorithm only applies to the Popular feed. The Latest, Ask, and Jobs feeds are purely chronological, newest first. This is deliberate: not every post is competing for attention. Job listings, community questions, and new submissions each deserve equal initial visibility regardless of how many votes they receive. The Popular feed is where the community's collective judgment surfaces the best content; the other feeds are where everything gets a fair start.
> Inspiration
Our ranking system is directly inspired by Y Combinator's Hacker News algorithm, which has been battle-tested across millions of posts since 2007. We adapted the core mechanics (time decay and vote weighting) to fit the pace and needs of the XRPL community. We're grateful to the Hacker News team for openly sharing their approach, and we think transparency about how ranking works is something every community deserves.
Rankings are recalculated every hour. The algorithm is the same for everyone: no promoted posts, no exceptions.