diff --git a/scripts/cronjobs/buildchooser.py b/scripts/cronjobs/buildchooser.py
index 837ac49b..bfd3c1d5 100644
--- a/scripts/cronjobs/buildchooser.py
+++ b/scripts/cronjobs/buildchooser.py
@@ -187,7 +187,9 @@ def owner(pid, p):
         text = ' '.join(str(p.get(k) or '') for k in ('name', 'shortdesc', 'description'))
         langs = sorted({LANGUAGES.get(l.lower(), 'Other')
                         for l in as_list(p.get('programming-language'))})
-        committers = len(groups.get(pmc, [])) or None
+        # podlings have their own group; 'incubator' is the whole Incubator
+        group = pid[len('incubator-'):] if pmc == 'incubator' else pmc
+        committers = len(groups.get(group, [])) or None
         est = (committees.get(pmc) or {}).get('established', '')
         rel = last_release(pmc) or last_release(pid)   # newest release of anything the committee ships
         records.append({
@@ -212,13 +214,14 @@ def owner(pid, p):
         if any(r['id'] == pid or r['id'] == 'incubator-' + pid for r in records):
             continue
         text = (p.get('name') or '') + ' ' + (p.get('description') or '')
+        committers = len(groups.get(pid, [])) or None
         records.append({
             'id': pid, 'name': p.get('name', pid),
             'desc': ' '.join((p.get('description') or '').split())[:300],
             'homepage': p.get('homepage'), 'pmc': 'incubator', 'podling': True,
             'language': [], 'area': classify([], text, AREAS), 'kind': classify([], text, KINDS),
-            'maturity': ['incubating'], 'size': [], 'activity': [],
-            'lastRelease': None, 'committers': None,
+            'maturity': ['incubating'], 'size': [size_bucket(committers)] if committers else [],
+            'activity': [], 'lastRelease': None, 'committers': committers,
         })
 
     def opts(field, labels):
diff --git a/site/chooser.html b/site/chooser.html
index cff357b7..44521465 100644
--- a/site/chooser.html
+++ b/site/chooser.html
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@
  .result h3 { margin: 0 0 4px; }
  .result .why { font-size: 85%; color: #666; margin-top: 6px; }
  .result .links a { margin-right: 12px; font-size: 90%; }
+ .result.new { animation: fadein .4s; }
+ @keyframes fadein { from { opacity: 0; transform: translateY(-4px); } }
+ #matches-h { margin-top: 28px; margin-bottom: 4px; }
+ #shown { color: #666; font-size: 90%; margin-top: 0; }
  .score { float: right; font-size: 85%; color: #c6262e; }
  .mock { background: #fff6d5; border: 1px solid #e6c84f; padding: 8px 12px; border-radius: 4px; font-size: 90%; }
 </style>
@@ -50,6 +54,13 @@ <h1>Help me choose a project</h1>
    support, design, translation and outreach just as much. Skip anything you don't care about.</p>
   <div class="progress"><div id="prog" style="width:0"></div></div>
   <div id="stage">Loading project data&hellip;</div>
+  <div id="matches" hidden>
+   <h2 id="matches-h"></h2>
+   <p class="hint" id="shown"></p>
+   <div id="list"></div>
+   <p id="empty" hidden>No matches - try going back and loosening an answer.</p>
+  </div>
+  <div id="advice"></div>
   <p class="answers" id="generated"></p>
  </div>
 </div>
@@ -71,7 +82,7 @@ <h1>Help me choose a project</h1>
  *   projects with incomplete metadata aren't thrown out entirely.
  * - We stop when few enough projects remain, or questions run out.
  */
-const STOP_AT = 8, SHOW = 12;
+const STOP_AT = 8, SHOW = 10;
 let DATA, answers = {}, history = [];
 
 const $s = () => document.getElementById('stage');
@@ -86,13 +97,12 @@ <h1>Help me choose a project</h1>
     (answers[qid] || []).some(v => vals.includes(v)));
 }
 
-function score(p) {
-  let s = 0, why = [];
-  for (const [qid, vals] of Object.entries(answers)) {
-    if (!vals.length || !isFilter(qid)) continue;
-    if (matches(p, qid, vals)) { s++; why.push(vals.filter(v => p[qid].includes(v)).map(labelFor.bind(null, qid)).join(', ')); }
+function score(p, ans) {
+  let s = 0;
+  for (const [qid, vals] of Object.entries(ans)) {
+    if (vals.length && isFilter(qid) && matches(p, qid, vals)) s++;
   }
-  return {s, why};
+  return s;
 }
 
 function labelFor(qid, v) {
@@ -102,9 +112,9 @@ <h1>Help me choose a project</h1>
 }
 
 // projects matching every non-skipped answer
-function candidates() {
+function candidates(ans = answers) {
   return DATA.projects.filter(p =>
-    Object.entries(answers).every(([qid, vals]) => !vals.length || matches(p, qid, vals)));
+    Object.entries(ans).every(([qid, vals]) => !vals.length || matches(p, qid, vals)));
 }
 
 // entropy of a question's split over the current candidates
@@ -133,6 +143,7 @@ <h1>Help me choose a project</h1>
   document.getElementById('prog').style.width =
     Math.round(100 * history.length / DATA.questions.filter(eligible).length) + '%';
   if (!q) return showResults();
+  document.getElementById('advice').innerHTML = '';
 
   const sel = new Set();
   const opts = q.options.map(o => {
@@ -149,19 +160,31 @@ <h2>${esc(q.text)}</h2>
         <button class="btn sec" id="skip">Skip / no preference</button>
         ${history.length ? '<button class="btn sec" id="back">Back</button>' : ''}
         <button class="btn sec" id="now">Show matches now</button>
-        <span class="remaining">${cands.length} communities match so far</span>
+        <span class="remaining" id="remaining"></span>
       </div></div>` + answerSummary();
 
+  // Toggling an option previews its effect on the match list straight away;
+  // Next commits it and moves on to the following question.
+  const pending = () => sel.size ? {...answers, [q.id]: [...sel]} : answers;
+  const preview = () => {
+    document.getElementById('remaining').textContent =
+      `${candidates(pending()).length} communities match so far`;
+    showMatches(pending(), 'matches so far');
+  };
   $s().querySelectorAll('.opt').forEach(el => el.onclick = () => {
     const v = el.dataset.v;
     if (!q.multi) { sel.clear(); $s().querySelectorAll('.opt').forEach(e => e.classList.remove('on')); }
     if (sel.has(v)) { sel.delete(v); el.classList.remove('on'); } else { sel.add(v); el.classList.add('on'); }
-    if (!q.multi) answer(q, [...sel]);
+    if (!q.multi) answer(q, [...sel]); else preview();
   });
   document.getElementById('next').onclick = () => answer(q, [...sel]);
   document.getElementById('skip').onclick = () => answer(q, []);
-  document.getElementById('now').onclick = showResults;
+  document.getElementById('now').onclick = () => {
+    if (sel.size) { answers[q.id] = [...sel]; history.push(q.id); }
+    showResults();
+  };
   const b = document.getElementById('back'); if (b) b.onclick = back;
+  preview();
 }
 
 function answer(q, vals) { answers[q.id] = vals; history.push(q.id); render(); }
@@ -173,15 +196,15 @@ <h2>${esc(q.text)}</h2>
   return parts.length ? `<p class="answers">Your choices: ${parts.join(' ')}</p>` : '';
 }
 
-function showResults() {
-  document.getElementById('prog').style.width = '100%';
-  const asked = Object.entries(answers).filter(([k, v]) => v.length && isFilter(k)).length;
-  const ranked = DATA.projects.map(p => ({p, ...score(p)}))
-    .filter(r => r.s > 0 || !asked)
-    .sort((a, b) => b.s - a.s || (b.p.committers || 0) - (a.p.committers || 0))
-    .slice(0, SHOW);
-  const html = ranked.map(({p, s, why}) => `<div class="result">
-      ${asked ? `<span class="score">matches ${s} of ${asked}</span>` : ''}
+// One card per project, built on first use and reused afterwards, so the
+// list can be re-ranked by moving nodes instead of rebuilding the page.
+const cards = new Map();
+function card(p) {
+  if (cards.has(p.id)) return cards.get(p.id);
+  const el = document.createElement('div');
+  el.className = 'result';
+  el.dataset.id = p.id;
+  el.innerHTML = `<span class="score"></span>
       <h3>${esc(p.name)}</h3>
       <div>${esc(p.desc)}</div>
       <div class="why">${p.language.length ? 'Languages: ' + esc(p.language.join(', ')) + ' · ' : ''}${
@@ -191,12 +214,48 @@ <h3>${esc(p.name)}</h3>
         ${p.homepage ? `<a href="${esc(p.homepage)}">Website</a>` : ''}
         ${p.podling ? '' : `<a href="project.html?${esc(p.id)}">Project details</a>`}
         <a href="https://lists.apache.org/list.html?dev@${esc(p.podling ? p.id : p.pmc)}.apache.org">dev@ list</a>
-      </div></div>`).join('');
-  $s().innerHTML = `<h2>Projects you might like</h2>
-    ${html || '<p>No matches - try going back and loosening an answer.</p>'}
-    ${gettingStarted()}
-    <div class="bar">${history.length ? '<button class="btn sec" id="back">Back</button>' : ''}
+      </div>`;
+  cards.set(p.id, el);
+  return el;
+}
+
+// Update the match list in place: drop cards that fell out of the top
+// SHOW, move the rest into rank order, and fade in newcomers.
+function showMatches(ans, what) {
+  const asked = Object.entries(ans).filter(([k, v]) => v.length && isFilter(k)).length;
+  const all = DATA.projects.map(p => ({p, s: score(p, ans)}))
+    .filter(r => r.s > 0 || !asked)
+    .sort((a, b) => b.s - a.s || (b.p.committers || 0) - (a.p.committers || 0));
+  const ranked = all.slice(0, SHOW);
+  const list = document.getElementById('list');
+  const keep = new Set(ranked.map(r => r.p.id));
+  [...list.children].forEach(el => { if (!keep.has(el.dataset.id)) el.remove(); });
+  ranked.forEach(({p, s}, i) => {
+    const el = card(p);
+    el.querySelector('.score').textContent = asked ? `matches ${s} of ${asked}` : '';
+    if (!el.isConnected) { el.classList.remove('new'); void el.offsetWidth; el.classList.add('new'); }
+    if (list.children[i] !== el) list.insertBefore(el, list.children[i] || null);
+  });
+  document.getElementById('matches-h').textContent = all.length > SHOW
+    ? `Top ${SHOW} ${what}` : what[0].toUpperCase() + what.slice(1);
+  // Always say that this is only the top of the list, not every match.
+  document.getElementById('shown').textContent = all.length <= SHOW
+    ? `Showing all ${all.length} matching communities.`
+    : `Showing only the top ${SHOW} of ${all.length} ${asked
+        ? 'communities that match at least one of your answers, ranked by how many they match, then by community size'
+        : 'communities, largest first'}.${
+        document.getElementById('next') ? ' Answer more questions to narrow it down.' : ''}`;
+  document.getElementById('shown').hidden = !all.length;
+  document.getElementById('empty').hidden = ranked.length > 0;
+  document.getElementById('matches').hidden = false;
+}
+
+function showResults() {
+  document.getElementById('prog').style.width = '100%';
+  $s().innerHTML = `<div class="bar">${history.length ? '<button class="btn sec" id="back">Back</button>' : ''}
      <button class="btn" id="restart">Start over</button></div>` + answerSummary();
+  showMatches(answers, 'projects you might like');
+  document.getElementById('advice').innerHTML = gettingStarted();
   document.getElementById('restart').onclick = () => { answers = {}; history = []; render(); };
   const b = document.getElementById('back'); if (b) b.onclick = back;
 }
diff --git a/site/json/foundation/chooser.json b/site/json/foundation/chooser.json
index 7e339c8c..4dc0af33 100644
--- a/site/json/foundation/chooser.json
+++ b/site/json/foundation/chooser.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
- "generated": "2026-10-30 18:01 UTC",
+ "generated": "2026-10-30 20:37 UTC",
  "questions": [
   {
    "id": "area",
@@ -215,17 +215,17 @@
     {
      "value": "small",
      "label": "Small - where every contribution is noticed",
-     "count": 66
+     "count": 85
     },
     {
      "value": "medium",
      "label": "Medium",
-     "count": 109
+     "count": 114
     },
     {
      "value": "large",
      "label": "Large - lots of people to learn from",
-     "count": 63
+     "count": 39
     }
    ]
   },
@@ -492,13 +492,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "medium"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "active"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2025-08-28",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 27
   },
   {
    "id": "answer",
@@ -690,13 +690,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "very"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-10-25",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 9
   },
   {
    "id": "atlas",
@@ -853,13 +853,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "active"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2025-12-30",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 11
   },
   {
    "id": "bigtop",
@@ -1010,13 +1010,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "very"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-08-25",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 10
   },
   {
    "id": "bval",
@@ -1089,13 +1089,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "quiet"
    ],
    "lastRelease": null,
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 9
   },
   {
    "id": "camel",
@@ -1169,13 +1169,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "very"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-10-13",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 13
   },
   {
    "id": "cassandra",
@@ -1327,13 +1327,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "medium"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "active"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-04-13",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 34
   },
   {
    "id": "cloudstack",
@@ -2055,13 +2055,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "very"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-10-07",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 13
   },
   {
    "id": "fineract",
@@ -2281,13 +2281,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "very"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-06-10",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 13
   },
   {
    "id": "geode",
@@ -2438,13 +2438,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "active"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2025-08-19",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 14
   },
   {
    "id": "gravitino",
@@ -2591,13 +2591,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "very"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-07-14",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 10
   },
   {
    "id": "hbase",
@@ -3289,13 +3289,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "medium"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "active"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-03-29",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 66
   },
   {
    "id": "knox",
@@ -3653,13 +3653,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "medium"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "very"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-10-30",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 29
   },
   {
    "id": "manifoldcf",
@@ -3901,13 +3901,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "quiet"
    ],
    "lastRelease": null,
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 6
   },
   {
    "id": "nutch",
@@ -4146,13 +4146,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "quiet"
    ],
    "lastRelease": null,
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 14
   },
   {
    "id": "openwebbeans",
@@ -4246,13 +4246,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "quiet"
    ],
    "lastRelease": null,
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 17
   },
   {
    "id": "incubator-otava",
@@ -4267,13 +4267,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "very"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-05-08",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 8
   },
   {
    "id": "incubator-ozhera",
@@ -4288,13 +4288,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "very"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-06-05",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 14
   },
   {
    "id": "ozone",
@@ -4416,13 +4416,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "quiet"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2023-12-11",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 19
   },
   {
    "id": "pekko",
@@ -4692,13 +4692,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "quiet"
    ],
    "lastRelease": null,
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 10
   },
   {
    "id": "pulsar",
@@ -5102,13 +5102,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "medium"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "active"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-01-28",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 49
   },
   {
    "id": "seatunnel",
@@ -5843,13 +5843,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "very"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-08-11",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 16
   },
   {
    "id": "tez",
@@ -6038,13 +6038,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "quiet"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2022-02-16",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 12
   },
   {
    "id": "trafficserver-traffic-server",
@@ -6502,13 +6502,13 @@
     "incubating"
    ],
    "size": [
-    "large"
+    "small"
    ],
    "activity": [
     "very"
    ],
    "lastRelease": "2026-08-24",
-   "committers": 4284
+   "committers": 12
   },
   {
    "id": "yetus",