WP-PostRatings
Adds an AJAX rating system for your WordPress site's content.
The facts
- Rating
- 4.3★ from 179
- Active installs
- 20k+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 28 Aug 2026
- Added
- Feb 2006
- Requires WP
- 6.8
- Tested up to
- WP 7.1
- Requires PHP
- 8.2
- Downloads
- 2,284,402
Our analysis
AI-assistedWP-PostRatings is a WordPress plugin that adds a rating control to posts, pages, or custom post types. Visitors can select a rating, which is submitted in the background, allowing the result to display without reloading the page. This plugin is suitable for users who want to engage their audience by allowing them to rate content directly on the site.
The plugin offers various features, including ten CSS-drawn rating shapes, a scale or two-way control for rating, and shortcode options for displaying ratings. It also includes a rating log with sortable columns and Google rich snippet markup for better SEO integration. Users can manage settings through the WP-Admin interface, making it user-friendly for site administrators.
Best for: This plugin is best for WordPress site owners looking to add interactive ratings to their content.
What it does well
- ✓Adds a rating control to any post or page
- ✓Uses CSS for sharp, scalable rating shapes
- ✓Offers shortcode for easy integration
- ✓Includes a sortable rating log
- ✓Supports Google rich snippet markup
Where it falls short
- •Limited information on advanced features or customisation options
Verdict
WP-PostRatings provides a straightforward way to incorporate ratings into your WordPress site, enhancing user interaction. It is a solid choice for those wanting to add this feature without complex setup.
From the developer
Lester Chan's own description of WP-PostRatings, lightly tidied.
WP-PostRatings adds a rating control to any post, page or custom post type. Visitors pick a value, the vote is posted in the background, and the result appears in its place without a page load.
Features
- Ten rating shapes, drawn with CSS rather than shipped as images, so they stay sharp at any size and cost no HTTP requests — numbers among them, for a scale whose points are read rather than counted.
- A scale, or a two-way up/down control, with the rated and unrated colours as settings.
- Template tags and a shortcode for the highest rated, most rated, lowest rated and highest scoring posts, optionally within a category, a tag or a time range.
- A rating log with sortable columns, filters, bulk delete and Screen Options.
- Google rich snippet markup for the post and its aggregate rating.
- A sidebar widget, and a section on the WP-Stats page when that plugin is installed.
Donations
I spent most of my free time creating, updating, maintaining and supporting these plugins, if you really love my plugins and could spare me a couple of bucks, I will really appreciate it. If not feel free to use it without any obligations.
Usage
The simplest way, and the only one that works in a block theme without editing template files, is the shortcode. Put it in the post or page you want rated:
[ratings]rates the post it appears in.[ratings id="1"]shows the rating for post 1, wherever you put it.[ratings id="1" results="true"]shows post 1’s result without letting anyone vote from there.
To put ratings on every post automatically, a classic theme can call the template tag from single.php, archive.php or index.php, anywhere inside the loop:
<?php the_ratings(); ?>
The settings live at WP-Admin -> Ratings -> Settings, which has a Settings tab and a Templates tab.
Showing A Rating In A Block
A Ratings block is available in the editor, under Widgets. Two settings in the sidebar:
- Post ID — leave it at zero to rate the post the block sits in, which is what an empty
[ratings]does, or give an id to show another post’s rating wherever you put the block. - Show the result only — displays the rating without offering to change it, for putting a post’s score somewhere it should not be voted from. This is what
results="true"does.
It renders on the server, so the preview in the editor is the real rating rather than an approximation, and changing your shape, colours or templates updates every post showing it without re-saving anything. The preview is deliberately not clickable: rating from the editor would record a real vote.
The shortcode still works and is not going anywhere. [ratings], [ratings id="1"] and [ratings id="1" results="true"] behave exactly as they always have, and a post already containing one needs no change. The block calls the same code the shortcode calls, so the two render identically — use whichever suits the post.