Over the past two months, we have been running a plugin to the Boston Condo Blog in the background which calculates the posts that readers think are the most popular. The algorithm used to determine the most popular posts is based mainly on permalink page views (the direct URL to a post, rather than looking at it on the homepage of the blog), page views off of the archive and category pages, number of comments to a post left by readers, views directly from rss feed readers, and trackbacks (other bloggers or website link directly to the post in their blog posts). We held off counting views directly from the homepage, as this erroneously skews the numbers in favor of more recent posts.
We are now launching the plugin, and have placed the Most Popular Posts sidebar module on the far right sidebar column, underneath the Search box, and the Latest Blog Posts. The Most Popular Posts module gives readers an idea of what the majority of current readers have been looking at. It is fluid, and will change over time.
Of pertinent interest to readers currently is the Boston W Hotel & Condos, the mixed-use Carruth condo development in Dorchester, the Penny Savings Bank in Boston’s South End, and a recent write up on Boston condo pricing. See the Most Popular Posts module on the far right hand side for further details.
Keith Munsell 
