diff --git a/homepage/participo/lib/participoLib/user.php b/homepage/participo/lib/participoLib/user.php
index 9f62943..3badb82 100644
--- a/homepage/participo/lib/participoLib/user.php
+++ b/homepage/participo/lib/participoLib/user.php
@@ -241,14 +241,18 @@ SQL;
 		return $this->name;
 	}
 
-	public function getFirstname()
+	public function getFirstName()
 	{
 		return $this->firstName;
 	}
 
 	public function getConfig()
 	{
-		return $this->config;
+		return $this->$config;
+	}
+
+	public function getStrBirthday(){
+		return $this->dateOfBirth->format("Y-m-d");
 	}
 
 	// static functions
@@ -325,4 +329,34 @@ SQL;
 		}
 		return User::fromDbArray($response[0]);
 	}
+
+	public static function loadFromDbByAttribute(int $attributeId){
+		$query =
+			"SELECT DISTINCT" .
+			"  `wkParticipo_Users`.* " .
+			" FROM `wkParticipo_Users`" .
+			" JOIN `wkParticipo_user<=>userAttributes`" .
+			"   ON `wkParticipo_user<=>userAttributes`.`userId` = `wkParticipo_Users`.`id`" .
+			" WHERE `wkParticipo_user<=>userAttributes`.`attributeId` = :attributeId". 
+			" ORDER BY `wkParticipo_Users`.`id` ASC;";
+
+		$response = dbConnector::query(
+			$query
+			, [
+				'attributeId'=>[
+					'value'=>filterId($attributeId)
+					, 'data_type'=>PDO::PARAM_INT]
+				]
+			);
+
+		// Postprocessing
+		// - convert the comma separated list into an array
+		foreach ($response as &$user) {
+			$user["eMail"] = explode(",", $user["eMail"]);
+			foreach ($user["eMail"] as &$email) {
+				$email = trim($email);
+			}
+		}
+		return $response;
+	}
 }
diff --git a/homepage/participo/pmelo.inc.php b/homepage/participo/pmelo.inc.php
index 7f83ea7..1eb4ab4 100644
--- a/homepage/participo/pmelo.inc.php
+++ b/homepage/participo/pmelo.inc.php
@@ -38,17 +38,20 @@ class PmElo{
             }
         }
 
-        if(!is_file("pmeloRanking.json")){
-            $this->log['info'][] = "Couldn't find `pmeloRanking.json`. Create a new one!";
-            file_put_contents("pmeloRanking.json", json_encode([]));
+        // load/recreate ranking data
+        if(!is_file(self::$pmeloJson)){
+            $this->log['info'][] = "Couldn't find `".self::$pmeloJson."`. Create a new one!";
+            file_put_contents(self::$pmeloJson, json_encode([]));
         }
 
         // init members
         $this->trainees = self::getTrainees();
+        $this->var_log(array_map(function($user){return $user->getFirstName();},$this->trainees), "trainees from db");
         $this->rankings = self::createRankings();
 
     }
 
+    // load all active trainees into a id=>User assoc array
     public static function getTrainees(){
         $traineeList = array_map('User::fromDbArray', User::dbSelectWithAttribute(4));
         $traineeAssocArray = [];
@@ -57,31 +60,51 @@ class PmElo{
         }
         return $traineeAssocArray;
     }
+
+    // load ranking from json file
     public static function loadRankings(){
-        return json_decode(file_get_contents("pmeloRanking.json"));
+        return json_decode(file_get_contents(self::$pmeloJson));
     }
+    
+    // save a ranking to json file
     public static function saveRankings(array $rankings){
-        file_put_contents("pmeloRankings.json", json_encode($rankings));
+        file_put_contents(self::$pmeloJson, json_encode($rankings));
+    }
+
+    function var_log($variable, string $prefix=null, string $logChannel='info'){
+        if(!in_array($logChannel, ['info', 'warning', 'error'])){
+            $logChannel='info';
+        }
+        $prefix = (!empty($prefix) ? $prefix.": " : "");
+        $this->log[$logChannel][]=$prefix.var_export($variable, true);
     }
 
     public function createRankings(){
         // load the last state of the ranking
         $loadedRanking = self::loadRankings();
+        $this->var_log($loadedRanking,"ranking");
 
         // check if the ranked trainees still are in training
         $cleanRanking = [];
-        $toBeInsertedTrainees = [];
+        $toBeInsertedTrainees = $this->trainees;
         foreach($loadedRanking as $rank=>$id){
             if(array_key_exists($id, $this->trainees)){
                 $cleanRanking[] = $id;
-                continue;
+                // id of the not in the ranking, we have to insert
+                unset($toBeInsertedTrainees[$id]);
             }
-            // id of the not in the ranking, we have to insert
-            $toBeInsertedTrainees[$id] = $this->trainees[$id];
         }
         
-        usort($toBeInsertedTrainees, function($lhs, $rhs){return $lhs < $rhs ? -1 : 1;});
-        var_dump($toBeInsertedTrainees);
+        $newTraineesIds = array_map(function($u){return $u->getId();},$toBeInsertedTrainees);
+        usort(
+            $newTraineesIds
+            , function($lhs, $rhs){
+                return $this->trainees[$lhs]->getStrBirthday() < $this->trainees[$rhs]->getStrBirthday() ? -1 : ($this->trainees[$lhs]->getStrBirthday() > $this->trainees[$rhs]->getStrBirthday() ? 1 : 0);
+            }
+        );
+        $this->var_log(array_map(function($id){return $this->trainees[$id]->getStrBirthday();},$newTraineesIds), "newTrainieesIdsByAge");
+        $this->var_log($newTraineesIds, "newTrainieesIdsByAge");
+        $this->var_log(array_map(function($user){return $user->getFirstName();}, $toBeInsertedTrainees), "newTrainees");
 
         // insert new trainees in the ranking
         // foreach($this->trainees as $trainee){
@@ -96,4 +119,6 @@ class PmElo{
     public $trainees = null;
     // list of id-s in the order of the current ranking
     public $rankings = null;
+
+    static $pmeloJson="pmeloRanking.json";
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/homepage/participo/pmelo.php b/homepage/participo/pmelo.php
index f7157ec..253fa36 100644
--- a/homepage/participo/pmelo.php
+++ b/homepage/participo/pmelo.php
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
 			<ul class="collection with-header">
 				<li class="collection-header"><h3>Logs</h3></li>
 <?php
-	foreach($pmelo->log as $logLevel=>$mesages){
+	foreach($pmelo->log as $logLevel=>$messages){
 		if(!empty($messages)){
 ?>
 				<li class="collection-item">