OniKanji

How the Leaderboard Works — Rankings, Scoring & Real-Time Updates

By mikan-chan ·

Ever wonder how you stack up against other learners? The OniKanji leaderboard tracks your performance across four categories — and it updates in real-time as you study. Here's exactly how each one works.


Where to Find It

The leaderboard appears in two places:

  • Home Dashboard — A compact view showing the top 5 in each category
  • My Stats Page — An expanded view showing the top 15 with more detail

The Four Categories

1. Total Accuracy

What it measures: Your overall correctness across all reviews.

The math:

Accuracy = (Total Correct Answers / Total Attempts) × 100

Displayed as a percentage to two decimal places (e.g., 98.45%). The higher your accuracy, the higher you rank. This one rewards precision — if you're careful and deliberate with your answers, you'll climb.

2. Speed Run

What it measures: Total time spent in review sessions.

The math:

Score = Sum of all review session durations (in minutes)

Displayed as total minutes (e.g., 342 mins). This leaderboard rewards volume and consistency — the more time you put into reviews, the higher you go. It's not about rushing through answers, it's about showing up.

3. Longest Streak

What it measures: How many consecutive days you've completed reviews.

The math:

Score = Current consecutive days of activity

Displayed as a day count (e.g., 47 days). Your streak resets daily at 12:05 AM UTC — if you don't complete at least one review before then, it goes back to zero. The My Stats page shows a live countdown timer so you always know how much time you have left.

4. Most Painful Kanji

What it measures: Which kanji characters have the highest mistake rate across the community.

The math:

Inaccuracy = (Total Incorrect Answers / Total Attempts) × 100

This one is different from the other three — it ranks kanji characters, not users. The #1 spot goes to the kanji that gives everyone the most trouble. Each entry shows the kanji itself, its associated level, the inaccuracy percentage, and total number of mistakes made on it.

It's a fun way to see which kanji are tripping up the community and maybe give those ones some extra attention in your own study.


How Rankings Update

Leaderboard data refreshes in near real-time. Every time you load the Home page or My Stats page, fresh data is pulled from the server. Results are cached for about 4 minutes to keep things fast, so after you finish a review session, your updated rank will show within a few minutes.


Podium & Rank Display

The top 3 in each category get special treatment:

Rank Badge Color
1st Place Gold Trophy Coral gradient
2nd Place Silver Medal Blue gradient
3rd Place Bronze Medal Orange gradient
4th+ Green Award Standard

Each entry also shows your public username, country flag, and current level — so make sure you've set a username in My Profile if you want to show up properly.


Leaderboard Messages

Here's a fun one — you can set a short status message on the leaderboard (up to 30 characters). Think of it like leaving a note for the other learners. Other users can see your message and upvote or downvote it.

If you update your message, all votes reset — fresh start, fresh reactions.


Tips for Climbing the Ranks

  • Total Accuracy — Take your time on reviews. A wrong answer hurts more than a slow answer.
  • Speed Run — Just keep showing up. Every minute of review time counts toward your total.
  • Longest Streak — Set a daily reminder. Even one quick review session keeps the streak alive.
  • Most Painful Kanji — Use Extra Study's Critical Condition mode to target the kanji that trip you up. Help bring that community inaccuracy down!

Good luck out there. See you on the board.