On a whim, I decided to create a "Recommended For You" block on the front page. This replaces the old information block that was highlighting the newsletter that went out in September that had all the latest writing contests & opportunities.
In any case, this is a very simple recommendation engine. All it does is it first tallies up all the likes over the past ten days. Each like is worth 1 point. It then adds 7 more points to each topic that someone you're following liked. It then adds an additional 7 points if the person you're following also follows you.
So say you're following X and X likes "Ragdolls." This would be a total of 8 points right there: 1 because X liked it and 7 more because you follow X. Now if X also follows you, then we get a total of 15 points for just one like. However, if you don't follow X and X does not follow you, that like is worth just one point. After all, the point of this is to recommend literary works that your YWS friends are reading.
Note that if X follows you and you do not follow X, then X's like is worth just one point. If you're not following someone, then the engine assumes you could care less what that person likes!
In the end, three topics get pulled out of this exercise (the top 3 topics by points). Then 1 of those 3 gets displayed randomly on the front page as a recommendation. Don't worry: if you already liked something, then it won't be recommended.
One last note: PLEASE remember that this is a just a very simple recommendation engine. As YWS grows, people forget that I'm the only one who does the programming. I am not about to spend hours upon hours improving something that is already good enough.
