The best thing would be to have an algorithm like they have on digg.com and Reddit.com that ranks Ideas based on a mix between number of votes and when it was posted. Maybe not an easy solution, but the best one :-)

Basicly an advanced version of "What's hot".

I would show either ideas with no activity or just a random selection from the current idea space. In each idea space there is already a view for Popular ideas, so having it repeated in the sidebar isn't absolutely necessary.

While you're changing it I would like to see you add something to the header to make it clear the ideas listed are for the current idea space, such as "Random Ideas From [idea space]". The first time the What's Hot list changed I thought something was broken. :-p

Best, I think, would be a set of different logics to pick up the questions to present at that prominent place. One of the logic can be picked randomly, when the page refreshes:
- ideas with >20 promotes and few demotes
- very contentious ideas >10 demotes, >10 promotes
- idea with >20 promotes which has not created a single vote for 14 days.
- top 30 ideas (the one we have now can be one of the randomly selected logics).
- etc.

I go back and forth on this. I think perhaps the sidebar should default to the What's Hot list, as that tends to focus attention on recent items and quickly drive them up or down while they are still fresh in the mind, but I still think there needs to be a random selection that show up somewhere to allow older ideas some exposure over time. Perhaps instead of picking a random idea, it could pick a random tag and show ideas for that tag, sorted oldest first. That could be a list of ten (or fewer) and the other list of 15 (for space consideration) could be the What's Hot list.

I do not know how the data is currently stored but a indication how many points an idea has received the last 7 days would be a better indication to see if an idea is a 'lasting' good idea.

For Idea Jam visitors who have no profile the sidebar could build by random / cookies (last visit)

For user of Idea Jam who have a profile the sidebar could build by...

- the ideas which they have wrote (the basis could be: Idea Space and Tags + random / f.e. Notes Client and Mail or/and view ...)
- the comments to the ideas which they have wrote to other ideas (the basis could be: f.e. words in the comments for finding --> Idea Space and Tags + random )
- the votes which they gave to other ideas (the basis could be: Idea Space and Tags + random)
- or random (the basis could be: the clicks of the user. What ideas has he/she read the last visit or the unvoted ideas ...)

I like Axel's suggestion.

Ulf is probably correct in my mind, but I agree it might be hard to program. I like Axel's suggestions too. In most cases, I'd rather have a link to the top 30 ideas than have them displayed in the sidebar.

Axel,

What kind of view titles would you suggest for some of the views you listed? Take the one with < 20 votes. What would you label that view?

I like the idea of what's hot as I expect we will probably see the same items at the top of the current list for a long time... i.e. it doesn't change much. Perhaps the ideas that have generated the most "No Opinion" votes. i.e. issues that have been promoted and/or demoted a lot in the past WEEK. The top vote gatheres could still be available but from a menu option somehwere, not the main page.

I also have the feeling there's something happening with the ideas. When I launch a new idea, it sometimes gets votes fast, so you get the feeling this is a good one. And then it stops. It disappears somewhere in the mass, because it's not in the recent list. It's like having a potential hit, but it gets no airplay.
I like Ulf's idea on how to solve them, at least new ideas could be saved that way (it won't digg up the older ones, however: once buried, always buried :-))
Another note to Bruce: "Let's use Idea Jam to build Idea Jam" - in my opinion you're not using IdeaJam as it should here, basically you wanted a discussion thread here, you don't really want is to vote. Voting has no point here.
Maybe a good idea to have the possibility of creating "voteless" ideas, brainstorm corners. But then again, I should have posted this in a new idea ;-). Anyway I will promote your idea here. No real reason why, just for fun :-).

@Martin - No reason why you can't also use Idea Jam to start discussions :-). You can vote it up if you would like :-). Just look - 11 comments. How else would I have gotten such GREAT feedback in a short time on this site? :-). The "What's Hot" feature also takes into account comments.

Promote this idea if you feel that yes in fact the sidebar content needs to change.

Time for some morning coffee. Continue the chatter ;-).

@Bruce:
I would call those "Promising ideas", but be carefull with my advice on that as I don't consider my English very mainstream :-) .
Or maybe close to the logic used "Ideas which received less than 20 votes".

I'd like to have displayed:
Random ideas which I've not voted yet

If not enough available, fill in the list with ideas which have new comments since I voted for them

I think it should default to the What's Hot list too.

I like Nathan Freeman's idea battle because it give equal air play to all ideas based on random selection and of course it provides something like a bubble sort to order the ideas in order of "goodness".

Axel's ideas about different algorithms also resonates. Reddit algorithm is also good as it tries to redistribute air time more equitably. Note that it also hides the votes for the first two hours so that ideas have fairer chance to be noticed.

Bottom line, the side bar as it currently is has got room for improvement. As was said potential hits get buried because they were not part of the initial land grab. They have a very small time window in comparison to break out.

@Slawek - "Bottom line, the side bar as it currently is has got room for improvement. As was said potential hits get buried because they were not part of the initial land grab. They have a very small time window in comparison to break out."

This is why I posted this idea. We realize that there needs to be improvement.

@Bruce - I know you are working on it and even soliciting feedback. :-) Fantastic!

On the flip side, now that the top thirty looks like a random selection, when I saw more or less the same ideas on a day by day basis I knew I could mostly ignore it. Now I have to look carefully. I cannot assume that they are all that I have overlooked as there are some that I have seen and even voted on. This may not be practical but I want to see ideas that I have not voted on and that have previously fallen through the cracks.

I realize there is no right answer here. And this is just more feedback for your consideration.

Thanks Slawek. Matt White can shed some light on the new What's Hot sidebar functionality added on Sunday. Again, this is temporary as we work out the best scenario.

The new sidebar list is the most active ideas from the last 28 days (be that votes or comments) with the most active idea at the top.

It's a fair point that you don't know if you've voted on each idea, we'll try and work out a way of indicating ideas that you haven't voted on. But hopefully this list is slightly more useful and won't weight the voting as much as the old one.

Matt

@20 - Yes it definitely solves the issue of lack of exposure for newer ideas.

@All - It occurred to me that it may (however remotely) be possible that the ideas with the greatest appeal have been cast first as they happen to be the low hanging fruits. But that is just conjecture in the sidebar of this discussion.