what is a most active user?

i think the algorithm is malfunctioning.

well when I was posting a few comments a day I was in the Most Active User list but then someone who hadn't posted for a while but has a large number of posts in total comes a long and posts, I get moved down the bottom of the list. I think one of the staff said there was a problem with it a little while ago.. It's certainly not a good representation of the most active users that's for sure..

Yeah, I sometimes wonder about it. I believe I once heard speculation that it is partly tied to how many responses one receives to your user-originated post. Can't say I ever cared enough to find out.

I think a more accurate title of the list would be "most active poster", and Tvans guess is pretty close to the mark. There are numerous explanations of the formular buried deep in the abyss of the conversation archives... I tried to bring up the link, perhaps someone else would have better luck finding it.

mandomikey, the DAU algorithm is even far from "most active poster" and evidence falsifies all claimed mechanisms behind it. In fact I would almost label it pure white noise. Sometimes I do nothing more than add one new post to my little "Grammar point collection" and two days later I miraculously jump up by about 100 points... Look at imy4's single post from Oct 2 2007 (two replies) and you know what I mean.

Funny, since I use Cpod I read several posts and comments where people wondered about how the MAU is working ... I think there is no logical explanation to the counting system... I am starting to think that maybe John or another Cpod staff member created this to laugh about our theories! ;-)

Henning: Discarding the rogue error in the algoithimic system (ie= imy4), the gross majority of those who consistently occupy the "Most Active Users" list (yourself, Bazza, Aunty, etc) are also those who post the most. I imagine you already know that points are earned not just for your own posts, but for people that reply with comments to your original post, which explains how you can jump up 100 points purely by having others commenting (which they often do) on one of your thoughtful posts. Based on previous explanations from John P. and others on the CPod team, I'm sticking to my answer that it should be called "Most Active Poster". As they claimed, there is nothing in the algorithim that accounts for number of lessons downloaded, hours logged onto the site, expansions and exercises completed, etc. All that being said... none of this really matters. The MAU list is probably displayed to encourage activity on the message boards, but I imagine the community would be just as lively and mutually beneficial as without it.