As 'jrimbault provided[0], an earlier version was open source.

From the FAQ[1]:

> "How are stories ranked?"

> "The basic algorithm divides points by a power of the time since a story was submitted. Comments in threads are ranked the same way."

> "Other factors affecting rank include user flags, anti-abuse software, software which demotes overheated discussions, and moderator intervention."

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20664068

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html

I think it's supposed to be a combination of upvote speed and how quiet HN is at the given time.

Given that most of the front page articles have been around most of the day I imagine prioritising things with fast upvotes becomes more important.

An earlier version was open source.

https://github.com/wting/hackernews https://github.com/arclanguage/anarki/tree/5409fc74fdd6a0502...

Moderators will sometimes rescue a post which didn't receive a lot of upvotes and reset the submission time on the post. This is part of an experiment in giving good HN submissions multiple chances at the front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11662380

The moderators leave a lot of notes (as comments) when they modify the flow of information, but do they in that case?

No, at least not when my story was "re-upped", as they term it. The only indication that a story was rescued is observing the timestamp on the homepage vs. the timestamp on its comments page.

I'd guess that some keywords are ranked higher. Put telegram, crypto, Trump and guns in the title, and it'll make to the top with 1 vote.