Shipped a real update to the leaderboard yesterday. Wanted to be upfront about what changed.
The leaderboard now ranks folks two ways. The default is a new tab called Impact. The old running-sum stays as All Time (Total) in the adjacent tab.
Why two ranks?
The single rank had a flaw. It rewarded volume, so importing a lot of snippets, videos, or deals could climb the board faster than shipping one genuinely useful plugin. That didn't reflect the real work being done, so I improved it.
What Impact rewards:
Your wp.org work (team memberships, plugin and theme adoption, recognized Core Contributor status) alongside on-site quality signals: Verified and Expert badges, other WPFolks badges, shipped ideas and roadmap items, WordCamp talks delivered, distinct folks who upvoted your work, and Folks Academy sessions you hosted or attended.
What it doesn't reward:
Bulk-posting, self-engagement, or volume over quality. Each signal is capped so no single behavior can dominate the board.
One important detail:
Your wp.org credit on Impact scales with your on-site activity. A wp.org legend who never participates here starts at 30 percent of their wp.org credit. Verifying your profile, earning WPFolks badges, or shipping work here unlocks the rest. The intent is to reward folks who contribute to WordPress and engage with this community.
What this means for your scores:
Your Total is unaffected. Your Impact is computed live every hour and may have shifted from where it was. Some folks will rank higher, some lower. Active community folks should land higher than they did before.
A full breakdown of every signal, every cap, and how the activity multiplier works lives at /leaderboard/how-it-works/
If your specific Impact number looks off, please drop me a line.
