Behind the scenes on Ranking

With our beta test currently underway, I thought that I would share some insight into how each person who visits our site goes into making it better. We have a unique approach when it comes to how things work and some people might be interested in how it all comes together. Let me start by breaking down each piece of our ranking engine.

Attractions / Lands: This is what you can think of as a piece of content. Attractions are held by each land. If an attraction belongs to multiple lands then it is noted on the page for the attraction. Usually there are small differences and those are also noted. Ranking applies to each individual attraction. So there are multiple ranking entries, but just one page they are tied to. There’s so magic in there to differentiate the two.
Popularity: Each attraction and land has monitoring built into it. We know how many times a page is viewed by unique users. We use this as a small factor on how the ranking system outputs the order of Lands, Rides, and Attractions.
Contributions: Every user contribution goes towards ranking on the site. You can think of this as activity. If popularity determines ranking at the smallest scale, you can think of the amount of contributions as the next layer on top of that. This goes for comments, links shared, and more.
Ratings: If you’re signed in and rating the ride then it makes a huge difference on how a piece of content is ranked. Logged out users, less so, and our editors have a larger influence. User ratings can outweigh
Positivity: Somewhat of a trade secret, but we collect the mood of comments and use that as an influencer on the ranking system.

All of this is calculated behind the scenes for each Land and Attraction on our site. We’re excited to add new ways to rank in the future and are always improving how these factors go into ranking your favorite rides and attractions.