I don't often step into threads but I wanted to quickly respond to the comment that we might be "fudging" figures.
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The first thing to say is I am delighted that the question was asked on the site. I'd much rather people told me about any concerns so I can respond and fix them, much better that than an unhappy user who disappears.
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As far as our ability to fudge figures for "most read" etc I'm afraid I wouldn't know where to start, even if I did want to! The most read column (and all other "stats") are worked out automatically and I can't "demote" or "promote" any listing on an individual basis.
What I can change, by asking our techies, is the basis on which the calculation for the listing is made.
For example, at the moment, its worked out that the "most read" thread is the one with the most views in the last week.
So a thread that is very popular in the last seven days will beat a thread that has had more views in, say, the last year, if those views were over a week ago.
However, if I was to ask my IT whizz's to make a change to the calculation, it would change all the results, not just one that I wanted to "game".
We are going to relaunch the site in the next few weeks with some pretty major changes and one of the items we're looking at is should we change the basis of the "most read" calculation.
My feeling (and shout if I am wrong) is we want it to reflect popular "current" viewing as opposed to the most popular of all time.
For example the celebrities "thread" has been read almost *sixteen thousand times* ( I actually can't believe that, I just looked it up!) and its hard to see anything else catching that up. Especially as once it is at the top of the "charts" people will keep seeing it and it becomes self-perpetuating.
So, I hope this waffley post has put aside any worries that I might be sitting in an underground chamber subverting what you see
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Lastly, as a sort of PS, this High View thread is exactly why I launched NVN! I hope it is helping current parents, potential parents, teachers, governors and maybe even the council.
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Thanks guys for using NVN and sorry this post was sooooo long.
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