A bit over a year ago, I installed the Post Ratings plugin just to see how it would work out. As it turns out, I’ve had mixed results.
On the one hand, people do use it. That was one of the questions that I was curious about. Unfortunately it’s not used that much. If I had to guess I’d put the numbers at around 1%. Since you can get 1% of users to do just about anything, it’s not that impressive a figure.
A second observation is that people tend to go out of their way to rate good posts. But that’s about it. Very few of my average or not-so-hot posts get rated.
Both of these points could be attributed to the fact that the plugin only shows itself when you’re looking at an individual post page and not when you go to the home page. That’s significant since I do get a lot of traffic to the front page as compared to the single post pages. I had it there for a while, but found that the extra pile of queries that it added to the front page slowed it down to a point where I no longer saw the benefit. Fast loading pages are very important and I’m on a slowish host.
Overall, my general impression is that the Post Ratings Plugin can get you some one-sided feedback from your community. It will generally be mostly positive, but knowing what works is just as important as knowing what doesn’t. If your server can handle it, make sure it’s visible on your front page. You’re far more likely to get people rating your posts if you are able to deploy the plugin in this manner.
plugin, Wordpress
(2 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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11 responses so far ↓
1 Top Dog // Mar 23, 2008 at 6:59 pm
i also use this plug in and find that its never used. i thought it would be good for interaction but it seems i’m the only person to use it.
2 DL // Mar 23, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I had it on one of my blogs for a while and found that it was just another “thing” in the way that made my blog appear cluttered.
I agree that it isn’t very useful.
3 Sarah // Mar 27, 2008 at 10:55 pm
It is one of those plugins that sounds great in theory however it requires participation which just creates a hassle for the visitor.
4 Mark // Mar 28, 2008 at 6:24 am
Same here…I have used it for a while but very few people are actually using it. Not sure if I should keep it or not.
5 Maximillian Gunther // Mar 31, 2008 at 5:12 am
It’s a good information to share. That way, I don’t have to get through the same experiment time. Thank you for sharing. The plugin turn out to provide one-sided feedback. But I have to give my server a break
6 David // Apr 1, 2008 at 2:56 pm
I used the plug in for one of my sites and I too had mixed results. While it does get people to particpate and have a voice, they’re have been bad comments regarding other readers and personal attacks. Thanks for sharing your story.
7 Wags // Apr 2, 2008 at 3:31 pm
In my experience, people like to rate things when there is a clear consequence for doing so.
It looks like your Top 5 posts might be based on the rating (they all have 5s), but sometimes other sites base their rankings on page views.
If the list is based on ratings, maybe include that information in the list.
You could also add a little text above the rating bar with an explanation of why you should rate the entry would help promote the tool.
In most cases, rating tools feel inconsequential.
8 Marf // Apr 3, 2008 at 12:29 am
I think comments are a better way for the reader to interact. You can explain and give feedback that way instead of just a little rating.
9 dood // Apr 4, 2008 at 7:08 am
People do like to rate things and see top 10 lists. We done it at our website with great success, it keeps the visitor from leaving after they seen what they wanted to see.
10 bh // Apr 6, 2008 at 12:04 am
It’s true that people in general like top lists. I myself always look to find these lists. I will probably use this plugin on my blogs in the future.
11 mark // Apr 11, 2008 at 8:14 am
Rating is probably important, but I do not like using such plugins on my blogs. If the reader wants to rate the post, he/she can better describe it using with words.