[X of Y favorites] -- what is X? December 24, 2008 12:08 PM   Subscribe

What's up with the way favorites are now displayed on Popular Favorites? (See screenshot.)

I'm really sorry if this has been asked before -- it feels like it has -- but I wasn't able to find anything in the archives.

On the Popular Favorites page, the number of favorites are sometimes displayed as [X of Y favorites] where Y is the total number amount and X is... well, I don't know.

What is it?
posted by nitsuj to MetaFilter-Related at 12:08 PM (23 comments total)

Why not try the link to "what the numbers mean?"
posted by CunningLinguist at 12:12 PM on December 24, 2008


Doh, I didn't even notice that link.

[Marked as best]
posted by nitsuj at 12:14 PM on December 24, 2008


Hooray!
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:28 PM on December 24, 2008


Dang. I don't get it. What's X? Is this why I suck at algebra?
posted by iamkimiam at 1:02 PM on December 24, 2008 [1 favorite]


Here's the FAQ entry that's linked from "what the numbers mean": What do the counts on the Popular Favorites page mean? So X is the number of favorites that were added within the specified time period that you're looking at: 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days. Y is the number of total favorites the post has received.
posted by pb (staff) at 1:21 PM on December 24, 2008


Oh neato. Thanks.
posted by iamkimiam at 2:19 PM on December 24, 2008


Math is hard!



(UK version: Maths are hard!)
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 3:47 PM on December 24, 2008


Bush version: Maths is hard!
posted by gman at 4:05 PM on December 24, 2008


Somewhat related:

If a FPP has "23 comments (7 new)", what does that mean? What constitutes a new comment? The newness threshold seems to be non-deterministic.
posted by ryanrs at 4:09 PM on December 24, 2008


I think it's '7 new comments' since you last logged in...
posted by eclectist at 4:14 PM on December 24, 2008


But I last logged in sometime last year...
posted by ryanrs at 4:22 PM on December 24, 2008


I think it's 7 new comments since you last loaded the page, although there is some limit on how often the stat is calculated (or so I've noticed). I find it to be fuzzily accurate.
posted by bluefly at 4:23 PM on December 24, 2008


Possible, but the time limit would need to be at least several hours in order to match my observations.
posted by ryanrs at 4:28 PM on December 24, 2008


Rarely is the question asked: "Is our favorites increasing?"
posted by lukemeister at 5:13 PM on December 24, 2008 [1 favorite]




ryanrs, the new comment count is a notoriously sketchy best guess. Here's a recent discussion about it. Basically we calculate how many new comments have been added since you last hit the site. We set your last visit time when you start a new "session", which lasts about 20 minutes. That method has all kinds of problems obviously but so far we haven't come up with a method of accurate tracking that doesn't involve 30 million rows in a database. We're hoping for a breakthrough one of these days.
posted by pb (staff) at 5:27 PM on December 24, 2008


It's fuzzily accurate, but it links to a specific comment
posted by Pants! at 8:03 PM on December 24, 2008


yeah, it links to the oldest new comment in that thread since your last visit. (if that makes sense. and I think it does.)
posted by pb (staff) at 8:47 PM on December 24, 2008


Now that's been answered (and I know it pales in comparison to the 'Single book best introduction to your field' [985 favorites]), what are the chances of stavrosthewonderchicken being knocked off his two year [310 favorites] perch before the year's end? 'You're really smart' [310 favorites] has been slowly gaining ground but 'Indian mom' [292 favorites] is really galloping along on the inside track. Yes, I know it's not a race but 'apologise I can't do much more about it'.
posted by tellurian at 7:30 AM on December 25, 2008


'You're really smart' [310 favorites]
Me - not so smart, 'You're really smart' [300 favorites]
posted by tellurian at 7:38 AM on December 25, 2008


309, 301 and 293 now. I guess it's not going to happen this year.
posted by tellurian at 2:35 PM on December 29, 2008


But it did happen this year. I think the competition win took it over the line.
posted by tellurian at 2:51 PM on January 4, 2009


Yeah, Manjula was #1 as of this morning. Rhaoumi's CN post will catch it in the next week if I don't miss my guess.

I've been watching the climb with my jaw on the floor. The favorites don't even smell like me any more. I hardly know them! They smell like curry though, so it's all good.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:46 PM on January 4, 2009


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