How are stories ranked?
The basic algorithm divides points by a power of the time since a story was submitted. Comments in comment threads are ranked the same way. Other factors affecting rank include user flags, anti-abuse software, software which downweights overheated discussions, and moderator intervention.
How is a user's karma calculated?
Roughly, the number of upvotes on their stories and comments minus the number of downvotes. The numbers don't match up exactly, because some votes aren't counted to prevent abuse.
Can I ask people to upvote my submission?
No. Users should vote for a story because it's intellectually interesting, not because someone is promoting it. When the software detects a voting ring, it penalizes the post. Accounts that vote like this eventually get their votes ignored.
As soon as you post you will be in http://news.ycombinator.com/newest
Once you hit 5 or 6 upvotes, within the first five to ten minutes, you should get to the first or second page.
Keep the title the same as the article, except when adding either the author or more crucial details is needed.
Preface: I've been on the front page something like 30 or 40 times, often peaking at #1.
Write something genuinely interesting.
Submit your post.
It matters a bit when you post, this will be different depending on when your "fan base" is awake and running.
Once you get have enough highly-voted submissions, you will have to start asking others to submit for you. if you submit yourself, you will kill the submission.
The user who is submitting is only good for between 3 and ~20 submissions, depending on how often they interact on HN.
Get people to upvote it.
It doesn't matter so much whether your upvotes come from the same domain or not, it matters whether they come from a direct link.
It also matters that it's not always the same group of people upvoting.
After 6 upvotes you should gain natural traction, if you don't, give up.
Being on the front page becomes increasingly difficult once you've been there several times.
My blog, for instance, can no longer get there with just 6 upvotes, but needs more. In the beginning, just 3 were enough.
def calculate_score(votes, item_hour_age, gravity=1.8):
return (votes - 1) / pow((item_hour_age+2), gravity) |
← The three values of gravity tried here are 0.5, 1.8, and 2.0.