FIRST Topsite?

[Calvin]

I was thinking about starting a FIRST Topsite; where FIRST websites can join and have their websites listed. Everyone that joins gets a code which they place on their website.

This code will display a 88x31 image with the rank number on it.
example:


Anybody interested in helping out with this project?

I've started working on it here: http://franklin.f2o.org/topsite/

How the Ranking Works
"Hits in" "Hits out" and "Clicks in" are added up as the "Today".
Then all the "Todays" of each day are added up as the "Total Hits".

Then the "Total Hits" is divided by the "Days Existed" to get the "Average."

You are ranked by Average Hits per Day.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Looks good..

[tiffany34990]

looks really cool idea-- would help out w/ scouting really easy --good job so far

[Jessica Boucher]

Very nice, but remember that you run the risk of running into the same issues that CD runs into in terms of reputation.

If anything, its a great way to quickly get to all the websites without going through the FIRST site or the website thread. Every so often, I'll see a site with the "FIRST Robotics WebRing" (or some variation of it). The image will at least show that you're attempting to reach out to the FIRST community as a whole, which is great.

[Kevin Sevcik]

Sadly, the image doesn't follow FIRST logo usage guidelines. You'll need probably need to change it. To view the entire exhaustive list of guidelines, click here

[DarkJedi613]

Those things are so abused though - everyone just goes and clicks there own site everyday. If not for that I'd be all for it...

[Tim Arnold]

Originally Posted by DarkJedi613

Those things are so abused though - everyone just goes and clicks there own site everyday. If not for that I'd be all for it...

Exactly. I wrote a long response to parent, but it some how IE (should of been using firefox) went back and lost all of my writing.

Anyway, I agree you with completely. Most top sites become blind linking farms from shoddy webmasters who wish to capture the elusive first place.

Also, if you are coding this from scratch its nice, but not necessary because there are many free, opensource top sites apps out there (usually in PHP). I think Fantastico! (an auto installer included with many hosting plans) has one. A quick google search turned up quite a few such as these.

BTW, the demo link isnt working...

[XYR0c]

well, i would be intrested

[Calvin]

Originally Posted by DarkJedi613

Those things are so abused though - everyone just goes and clicks there own site everyday. If not for that I'd be all for it...

That problem can be easily eliminated, like restricting one hit for per ip address per 30 or so minutes.

My goal (when starting this post) was to see how many people would be interested. I can easily write my own script from nothing in a day or so, modifying or adding anything needed.

You may register or join now (at the link provided), and all the info will be transfered to the improved topsite later on.

Anyway, I agree you with completely. Most top sites become blind linking farms from shoddy webmasters who wish to capture the elusive first place.

If thats what you're worried about that, I can remove any links (or mentions) of my website from the topsite.

[Calvin]

OK I have added two new features...

Everytime your website loads, a hit will be added automatically (You don't have to visit the topsite).

One hit will be counted per ip address per 60 seconds. (So if you want to cheat, you have to wait 60 seconds).
Note: this time can be extended.

[AIBob]

I wouldn't go by average hits/day alone, you should also have it so that it checks votes, and limit the number of votes per ip address to one, and determine how significant each one should be by determining what would produce the greatest standard deviation among sites.

[Denman]

Originally Posted by AIBob

I wouldn't go by average hits/day alone, you should also have it so that it checks votes, and limit the number of votes per ip address to one, and determine how significant each one should be by determining what would produce the greatest standard deviation among sites.

Of course that also means that if you do it at school , only one vote counts ....
And by "Everytime your website loads" he means whenever you show the image that links to it )

[DarkJedi613]

Originally Posted by Calvin

One hit will be counted per ip address per 60 seconds. (So if you want to cheat, you have to wait 60 seconds).
Note: this time can be extended.

Trust me, people will 'cheat'. I've seen ones where it is once daily, and every day it gets clicked by the same IP. It should be used as a way to log traffic not as a way of listing it.

[the_unknown]

If you have the site set a cookie the contains the time last clicked, that doesnt expire for say, a month then log IPs. If a user has the cookie but a different IP, add the IP to a list to not count for that site. If the IP matches but not the cookie give that user a vote HOWEVER there vote would be worth half of whatever the last vote was worth.

For example, the first time it would be 1 pt second time it would be .5 point then .25 etc. etc. starting again every other week. Actually thinking about it, make it only decrease every 2 times that IP comes except for the first time. (first visit 1 pt, 2nd and 3rd .5 point etc.)

If the user has the cookie, they dont count as anything. (except when visiting another site)

[AIBob]

Originally Posted by the_unknown

If you have the site set a cookie the contains the time last clicked, that doesnt expire for say, a month then log IPs. If a user has the cookie but a different IP, add the IP to a list to not count for that site. If the IP matches but not the cookie give that user a vote HOWEVER there vote would be worth half of whatever the last vote was worth.

For example, the first time it would be 1 pt second time it would be .5 point then .25 etc. etc. starting again every other week. Actually thinking about it, make it only decrease every 2 times that IP comes except for the first time. (first visit 1 pt, 2nd and 3rd .5 point etc.)

If the user has the cookie, they dont count as anything. (except when visiting another site)

But the problem even with that is they could delete the cookie.
Or for the unique IP requirements, people could just use a proxy server to get another IP address, there really is almost no way to have it work by clicks alone, that is why a portion of the rank should be determined by voters, that are other websites, that have signed up for an account with you.