Community
Equal ballots from signed-in Topinion accounts.
Ranking methodology · version 1.0
Every position should have a clear reason.
Topinion keeps community experience and professional expertise visible, understandable and separate. This page explains exactly how the current product works.
#13 pts
#22 pts
#31 pt
One ranked ballot
The principle
Two perspectives. No hidden multiplier.
Community and expert results are independent leaderboards. Expert votes never count as hundreds or thousands of community votes, and community popularity never changes the expert score.
Experts
Equal ballots from approved professional profiles.
01 · Community ranking
People rank what they genuinely recommend.
A Topinion account is required to submit a ballot. Authentication confirms access to the account; it is not proof of a person’s real-world identity.
A ballot may contain one, two or three candidates, ordered from strongest to weakest preference.
Each account can hold one community ballot in a ranking. Submitting again replaces that account’s previous choices.
02 · Expert ranking
Professional opinion earns context, not extra weight.
Expert voting is available only after Topinion reviews and approves an expert application. Within the expert leaderboard, every verified expert ballot uses the same 3–2–1 system.
Visible professional context
Approved profiles can display the expert’s name, professional title, organization, website, top choices and written explanation.
An expert’s vote appears only in the expert ranking. It does not add points to the community ranking.
03 · Scoring and results
Simple points, added in public view.
Ballot positionPoints awardedMeaning
#13 pointsStrongest preference
#22 pointsSecond preference
#31 pointThird preference
- Points are added separately for community and expert ballots.
- Optional written explanations provide context but never add or remove points.
- Results can change when a new ballot is submitted or an existing ballot is updated.
- When candidates have equal points, the current display orders them alphabetically by candidate name. This is a display rule, not an extra score.
- An open ranking accepts ballots. A closed ranking remains viewable but no longer accepts updates.
04 · Topics and candidates
Inclusion starts with a clear, comparable list.
Topinion creates and manages the candidates shown in each published ranking. Signed-in users can privately suggest new ranking topics and possible candidates; suggestions are visible to the submitting account and Topinion administrators, not published automatically.
Being included in a ranking is not an endorsement. Topinion may approve or decline a suggestion and may refine its title, category or candidate list for clarity, comparability and fit. Approval does not guarantee publication.
05 · Integrity
The safeguards currently in place.
Account-based ballots
A signed-in account can save only one ballot per ranking and perspective.
Validated candidates
Only active candidates belonging to that ranking can receive points.
Verified expert access
Only accounts with an approved expert profile can submit to the expert leaderboard.
Manual review
Topinion may review identified suspicious activity and invalidate it when there is a clear basis to do so.
No pay-to-rank input
Current scores come only from saved ballots. Payment or sponsorship cannot add points or guarantee a position.
06 · How to read a Topinion result
A useful signal, not a universal fact.
Community results represent the signed-in accounts that chose to participate. They are not a scientific poll or a representative sample of the whole population. Expert results represent the verified professionals who participated, not every expert in a field.
Rankings express opinion and preference at a moment in time. They are provided for discovery and comparison, not as a guarantee of quality or a substitute for professional advice.
Planned, not active
Institutional perspectives.
Topinion may later add rankings from universities, professional associations or other qualified institutions. If introduced, they will appear as a third, clearly labelled perspective—never as a secret multiplier inside the community score.
See it in action