The Internet provides access to a number of online forums in which people can exchange information, ideas, opinions, and digital resources of various formats. Examples of these online forums include blogs, digital bulletin boards, online discussion boards, social websites, online gaming sites, online market places, and so forth. A user of an online forum can submit content (“content submissions”) to a server of the online forum, and the server provides the content submissions to other users for viewing and/or comments. Generally, content submissions include user submitted information, including, e.g., questions, ideas, comments, media resources, and so forth.
The server may generate items of ratable content, for example, by converting a content submission to a format that promotes receipt of rating information for the content submission. Generally, an item of ratable content includes a content submission that may be rated by users. Rating information may be in the form of comments, an approval vote, a disapproval vote, and so forth.
In an example, a server of an online forum receives a large number of content submissions from the users and generates a large number of items of ratable content from the content submissions. In order to facilitate viewing of the items of ratable content by the users, the server may generate “series,” for example, by associating the items of ratable content with topic categories. Generally, a topic category includes a label that is used to identify at least a portion of the items of ratable content. Generally, a series includes a grouping of items of ratable content that are associated with a particular topic category.
For items of ratable content in a series, the server may rank the items of ratable content, for example, based on rating information received for the items of ratable content. In an example, the items of ratable content are each associated with a number of votes. For an item of ratable content, the server tallies the votes received for the item of ratable content. The item of ratable content is ranked, based on an overall number of votes received, relative to the overall number of votes received for the other items of ratable content.