OnceTopNews › About › Member levels
How member levels work
Your level depends only on how many days you visited OnceTopNews in the last 30 days: sign in and open any page, and that day counts — no need to click anything. It has nothing to do with money, and nothing costs anything. Levels are recalculated every night at midnight. Leveling up and dropping down use two different lines: the drop line is lower, so missing a few days here and there won’t cost you a level. The higher your level, the more points you get each day and the more you can save.
Guest
No sign-in needed
- Read everything
- Upvote (tap repeatedly — up to 10 per story per day, 20 per day in total)
- Use the mood buttons (Follow, Hope, Angry…) 10 times a day
Lv1
Sign in with OnceAccount
- 50 points a day, save up to 300
- Spend points to put stories on the Reader Picks board: Silver, Gold, Rocket…
- 60 upvotes a day in total (up to 10 per story; guests get 20)
- Mood buttons 20 times a day
- Start collecting achievement badges
Lv2
Level up：Visited 10+ days in the last 30
Drop：Visited fewer than 6 days in the last 30
- Everything in Lv1, plus:
- 150 points a day, save up to 600
- Mood buttons 30 times a day
Lv3
Level up：Visited 20+ days in the last 30
Drop：Visited fewer than 15 days in the last 30 (drop to Lv2)
- Everything in Lv2, plus:
- 300 points a day, save up to 1,000
- Mood buttons 50 times a day
- Recommend with the Plane, Super rocket and AI race car (Lv3 only)
- A gold name, a gold avatar frame and a little crown on the boards
Terms
- A day visited: you signed in that day and opened any page
- Points: there’s only one kind, and you’ll just see “You have N points.” You get them once a day on your first visit (no visit, no points). They add up until you hit your cap. You can also earn them: +50 for every 7-day streak, +100 for a new badge. They can’t be bought or transferred
- What recommending costs: see “What points can do” below
- Streak: shown on your My Page, and it earns streak badges; it doesn’t affect your level, so taking a day off won’t drop you
What points can do
Once you sign in, you get points every day to recommend the stories or events you think matter. Recommendations only show up on the Reader Picks board and the Reader Picks bar at the top of the page — they never change data rankings like Top stories, Surging on YouTube or Most discussed.
BoostRaise the story’s score on the Reader Picks board
- UpvoteFree+1 per tapTap repeatedly — up to 10 per story per day, with a combo animation
- Silver10 pts+5
- Fireworks20 pts+10Fireworks go off over the headline when you recommend it
- Gold40 pts+20
Where it shows up: The score appears to the right of each story on the Reader Picks board
PinJump straight to the top of the Reader Picks board
- Rocket60 ptsPinned for 30 minutes
- Big rocket120 ptsPinned for 1 hour
Where it shows up: At the top of the Reader Picks board, labeled “Pinned · 30 min left”
Reader Picks barAppear in the ticker at the top of every page
- Sports car250 ptsOn the Reader Picks bar for 1 hour
Where it shows up: The orange ticker at the top of the page — everyone sees it the moment they arrive
All weekNot available yet.
- Bullet train300 ptsIn “This Week’s Reader Picks” for a full weekAlso included in the weekly report
Where it shows up: “This Week’s Reader Picks” below the Reader Picks board
Lv3 onlyRequires Lv3
- PlaneLv3400 ptsSite-wide flyover for 20 minutesEveryone who visits during that time sees a plane fly by towing a banner with your name
- Super rocketLv3400 ptsPinned for 3 hoursDoesn’t count toward the 3-pin limit
AI race carLv3400 ptsOn the Reader Picks bar for 3 hoursShown first on the bar
Where it shows up: The plane flies across the whole screen; the Super rocket sits at the top of the Reader Picks board; the AI race car leads the ticker at the top of the page
- Each type of recommendation has one effect. Want two effects? Recommend twice.
- Stories you’ve recommended get a small icon after the headline — only you can see it.
- Points can’t be bought or transferred. You get them on your first visit each day, and they add up to your cap.
FAQ
- Why do I need to sign in to recommend with points?
- Points are kept on your account, and we need to know who recommended what so nobody can spam the board. Only your display name is public — nothing else.
- Can I buy points?
- No. Points only come from daily drops and from doing things on the site. Nothing that affects the Reader Picks board can be bought.
- If I’m not signed in, can I keep reacting by opening private windows?
- No. Limits are counted on our server, each network has a daily cap, and unusually heavy activity gets blocked.
- Can my level drop?
- Yes, but not the moment you miss a day. Leveling up and dropping down use two different lines: Lv3 takes 20 days to reach but only drops below 15; Lv2 takes 10 days to reach and only drops below 6. In between, you stay where you are. Levels are recalculated every night at midnight; if you’ve been away a long time you can drop two levels at once (for example, a month away at Lv3 puts you back at Lv1). Dropping never takes away points you’ve saved — your cap just gets lower, and you stop earning more once you’re at it.
- Will you warn me before my level drops?
- Yes. When you’re 2 days from the drop line, we’ll remind you in your avatar menu and on your My Page, and send you one notification. Visit a few more days and you’ll keep your level.
- Do point recommendations or mood buttons affect Top stories or the other rankings?
- No. They only count toward the Reader Picks board and the Reader Picks bar, completely separate from data rankings like Top stories, Surging on YouTube and Most discussed.