# Per-category (and per-tag) ranking factors (e.g. 0.9, 1.2 etc) **URL:** \ **Category:** Feature\ **Created:** [14. Oktober 2015 um 09:47 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-category-and-per-tag-ranking-factors-e-g-0-9-1-2-etc/34492 "2015-10-14T09:47:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1 ## AI-generated summary A discussion about introducing per-category and per-tag ranking factors, such as 0.9 or 1.2, to adjust the visibility of topics in certain categories or with specific tags. [meglio](/t/-/34492/1) proposed this idea to prevent non-professional topics in the "offtopic" category from dominating the `/top` page and giving a bad impression of the forum's professionalism. [erlend_sh](/t/-/34492/2) initially expressed concerns that this would make the ranking system more complex and "Reddit-esque," but later agreed that it makes sense for the `/top` page. [codinghorror](/t/-/34492/5) suggested that implementing a simple per-category multiplier would be easy but might not be widely used. However, [sam](/t/-/34492/6) and [codinghorror](/t/-/34492/7) pointed out that this feature could be useful for search results, allowing certain categories to be prioritized, such as "howto." [meglio](/t/-/34492/8) further suggested that these weight numbers could also be used for generating sitemaps.
**Author:** ![meglio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/meglio/32/71444_2.png) [@meglio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/meglio)\ **Post date:** [14. Oktober 2015 um 09:47 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-category-and-per-tag-ranking-factors-e-g-0-9-1-2-etc/34492/1 "2015-10-14T09:47:28Z")
I would like to propose to introduce per-category factors that would affect all components of a topic’s ranging system, depending on what category it is found in. The same can be applied to tags, btw. Even though our forum is specialized in goat farming, cheese making and also aimed at milk addicts, there are topics in the “offtopic” category that sometimes get too much attention and thus get quickly to the top in the `/top` page. Still, I’m unhappy about making such non-professional topics to be shown above all other topics. This makes an impression that our forum is not so professional. That’s why I’d assign a factor of 0.9 or 0.8 to the “offtopic” category. Of course, the factor should be always 1 by default unless you explicitly enter a value other than 1. ---
**Author:** ![erlend\_sh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/erlend_sh/32/119475_2.png) [@erlend\_sh](https://meta.discourse.org/u/erlend_sh)\ **Post date:** [14. Oktober 2015 um 13:22 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-category-and-per-tag-ranking-factors-e-g-0-9-1-2-etc/34492/2 "2015-10-14T13:22:11Z")
Interesting. It conflicts with the very simple and relatable logic of “newest first” though, becoming more Reddit-esque instead. Most forums probably won’t need this. How about you restrict your Off-topic forum to TL1 users and above? Then it won’t show up in Latest or Top for anon visitors. ---
**Author:** ![meglio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/meglio/32/71444_2.png) [@meglio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/meglio)\ **Post date:** [14. Oktober 2015 um 13:47 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-category-and-per-tag-ranking-factors-e-g-0-9-1-2-etc/34492/3 "2015-10-14T13:47:38Z")
> [@erlend\_sh](#): > > It conflicts with the very simple and relatable logic of “newest first” though The `/top` page is not about `newest first`, is it? ---
**Author:** ![erlend\_sh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/erlend_sh/32/119475_2.png) [@erlend\_sh](https://meta.discourse.org/u/erlend_sh)\ **Post date:** [14. Oktober 2015 um 15:00 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-category-and-per-tag-ranking-factors-e-g-0-9-1-2-etc/34492/4 "2015-10-14T15:00:08Z")
Ah, yeh you’re right of course. I missed the fact that you were specifically addressing the `/top` page. This makes plenty of sense for that. ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [14. Oktober 2015 um 19:04 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-category-and-per-tag-ranking-factors-e-g-0-9-1-2-etc/34492/5 "2015-10-14T19:04:04Z")
A simple per category multiplier seems like an easy enough thing to implement. But I highly doubt many people would ever use this. ---
**Author:** ![sam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/sam/32/102149_2.png) [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)\ **Post date:** [14. Oktober 2015 um 19:56 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-category-and-per-tag-ranking-factors-e-g-0-9-1-2-etc/34492/6 "2015-10-14T19:56:10Z")
For top I see this as less useful, but for search results yeah, you may want to push howto to the top always, this is something I have wanted for a while. ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [14. Oktober 2015 um 22:14 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-category-and-per-tag-ranking-factors-e-g-0-9-1-2-etc/34492/7 "2015-10-14T22:14:50Z")
Sounds like a weight number would be useful per category for search _and_ for /top so might be worth including. ---
**Author:** ![meglio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/meglio/32/71444_2.png) [@meglio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/meglio)\ **Post date:** [15. Oktober 2015 um 01:35 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-category-and-per-tag-ranking-factors-e-g-0-9-1-2-etc/34492/8 "2015-10-15T01:35:50Z")
Juat an idea: such a weight number can be further used for sitemap if it is ever generated by the core or by a plugin. ---
**Author:** ![chapoi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/chapoi/32/537252_2.png) [@chapoi](https://meta.discourse.org/u/chapoi)\ **Post date:** [4. Dezember 2025 um 11:37 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-category-and-per-tag-ranking-factors-e-g-0-9-1-2-etc/34492/9 "2025-12-04T11:37:03Z")