Stella Ratings and Reviews: Documentation and User Guide

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction & Core Architecture
• 2. Installation & Setup
• 3. Shortcodes & Layout Blocks
• 4. General Settings Configuration
• 5. Form Fields & Custom Fields
• 6. Auto Placement & Placements
• 7. Security, Limits & Anti-Spam
• 8. Free Version Features Reference
• 9. Premium Pro Features Setup
• 10. WooCommerce Integration
• 11. Analytics & Reports
• 12. Data Management & Uninstallation
• 13. Licensing & Premium Support

1. Introduction & Core Architecture

Stella Ratings and Reviews is a professional-grade, high-performance rating and review plugin designed for WordPress. Engineered from the ground up to prioritize site speed, database cleanliness, and maximum flexibility, the plugin allows website owners to collect customer feedback, display visual rating breakdowns, and leverage reviews to increase conversions and search engine ranking.

The plugin is divided into two distinct components:

• Stella Ratings and Reviews (Free Core): Handles the primary star selector, review submissions, basic AJAX moderation panel, custom frontend labels, and rate-limiting safeguards.
• Stella Ratings and Reviews Pro (Premium): Unlocks advanced visual features including multi-criteria rating breakdown, media uploads (photo/video), automatic verified buyer status, Google Rich Snippets SEO schema, administrator replies, and premium aesthetic layouts.

2. Installation & Setup

Installing the Free Version

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Navigate to Plugins > Add New.
3. In the search box, type Stella Ratings and Reviews.
4. Click Install Now, and once the download is complete, click Activate.

Installing the Pro Version

Note: The Free version of Stella Ratings and Reviews must be installed and active before activating the Pro extension.

1. Download the stella-ratings-pro.zip file from your customer account page.
2. Navigate to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard and click the Upload Plugin button.
3. Select the zip file and click Install Now.
4. Once installed, click Activate Plugin.

3. Shortcodes & Layout Blocks

Stella Ratings and Reviews provides absolute freedom in where you display your ratings and reviews widget. You can embed the widget on any post, page, or custom post type.

Shortcode Usage: [stella_ratings]

By default, calling the simple shortcode enqueues the widget and links all reviews automatically to the ID of the current page it is placed on.

Advanced Shortcode Attributes

Customize the shortcode behavior with the following parameters:

Gutenberg Block

For modern sites using the block editor (Gutenberg), the plugin provides the native Stella Ratings Block. Search for "Stella Ratings" in the block directory and drop it into any post layout. Customizable settings are visible in the right-side sidebar panel.

4. General Settings Configuration

Configure the foundational behaviors of your ratings system by navigating to Stella Ratings > Settings in the admin menu.

• Reviews Per Page: Configures how many reviews are rendered before navigation is required.
• Enable "Load More" Button: Toggle off traditional pagination numbers in favor of a modern, asynchronous AJAX "Load More" button.
• Default Sorting: Choose the default loading order for review listings (e.g., Latest, Highest Rated, or Helpful).
• Restrict to Logged-in Users: Prevent guest submissions by requiring users to be logged in to WordPress before leaving a review.

5. Form Fields & Custom Fields

Under the Form Fields Configuration section, you can customize the fields presented to users on the frontend submission form.

Default Fields

Toggle the visibility and mandatory status of standard inputs:

• Your Name: The public display name of the reviewer.
• Your Email: Secure email address (used for spam prevention and purchase verification).
• Your Website: Optional personal website link.
• Review Text: The textual description/feedback field.

Configuring Custom Fields

Add custom metadata fields (e.g., "Company Name", "Age Group", "Product Size Purchased") by inputting them into the field creator. Custom fields are automatically saved along with reviews and displayed nested under the reviewer's name to provide crucial context to other readers.

6. Auto Placement & Placements

Instead of manually dropping shortcodes onto every post, you can configure automatic rendering rules in the Auto Placement Settings panel.

• Enable Auto Placement: Toggle global automatic injection of the review widget.
• Target Post Types: Select checkboxes to restrict auto placement to specific types (e.g., Posts, Pages, or custom portfolios).
• Target Categories / Terms: Narrow down placements by targeting specific WordPress categories or custom taxonomies.
• Display Position: Choose whether the widget injects immediately Below Post Content or at the top of the template structure.

7. Security, Limits & Anti-Spam

Prevent review manipulation, rating spam, and bot submissions with robust built-in anti-spam algorithms.

• One Review Per Email: When enabled, restricts email addresses to a single rating per unique product key. If a user tries to submit again, they will receive a customizable validation alert.
• IP Rate Limiting: Block review flooding by defining rate limit ceilings (e.g., Max 3 reviews per unique IP address within a defined hourly window).
• Anti-Spam Throttling: Seamlessly throttles AJAX actions to prevent malicious scripts from flooding your WordPress database.

8. Free Version Features Reference

The core free plugin offers complete, high-quality, and production-ready rating features right out of the box:

• Ultra-Fast & Lightweight: Optimized for maximum speed and page performance with zero database bloating and minimal asset loading.
• Dynamic AJAX Moderation: Moderate, approve, or delete user reviews instantly from a single-page dashboard with zero page reloads.
• Customizable Form Fields: Easily add, remove, or customize fields (such as "Company Name" or "Job Title") to collect tailored customer info.
• Flexible Shortcode Integration: Place the star rating widget anywhere using the simple [stella_ratings] shortcode with custom parameters.
• Smart Theme Adaptation: Adapts perfectly to your active theme's styling, typography, colors, and light/dark modes out of the box.
• Reviewer Privacy Safeguards: Built-in email encryption and visibility controls to protect reviewer privacy and comply with privacy rules.
• Visual Rating Summary Bar: Displays a beautiful rating breakdown with star percentages and overall average scores.
• Granular Fields Management: Make specific fields mandatory or optional to guide reviewers during form submission.
• Selective Asset Loading: Enqueues scripts and stylesheets only on pages where the review widget is active to prevent sitewide slows.
• Robust CSRF & Anti-Spam Security: Utilizes WordPress nonces and internal validation checks to block spam submissions.
• Product-Specific Tracking: Easily bind ratings to distinct custom keys using shortcode attributes to segment reviews by product.

9. Premium Pro Features Setup

Activating Stella Ratings and Reviews Pro unlocks professional capabilities to optimize conversions, review credibility, and aesthetics. Here are the premium features included:

• Premium Glassmorphic Layouts: Choose from modern design layouts, stunning dark modes, or clean masonry grid displays.
• Official Owner Responses: Build customer trust by publicly replying to positive or negative feedback directly from the admin panel.
• Rich Media Attachments: Empower users to upload high-quality photos or videos with their reviews to showcase real-life usage.
• Helpfulness Voting System: Let visitors upvote or downvote reviews, bringing the most valuable feedback to the top dynamically.
• Direct Review Editing: Allow registered customers or buyers to update, modify, or correct their previously submitted ratings.
• Automated Review Approval: Save administrative time by automatically approving reviews from verified customers or logged-in users.
• Advanced Review Filtering: Allow frontend users to sort and filter reviews by newest, highest rated, lowest rated, or most helpful.
• Google Rich Snippets Schema: Automatically generates SEO-ready schema markup so star ratings show up directly in search engine results.
• WooCommerce Direct Integration: Seamlessly replaces or enhances WooCommerce's native product review widgets with Stella's interface.
• Email Notification Alerts: Instantly notify site administrators via email whenever a new review is submitted on the website.
• Historical Rating Analytics: View intuitive charts and graphs in the dashboard tracking star rating trends and review volumes over time.
• Single Site License: Use on a single production website with automatic updates and support.
• Multi-Site License: Use on multiple websites with priority support and updates.

How to Configure Pro Features

A. Multi-Criteria Ratings

Evaluate your product across several distinct quality metrics (e.g., Quality, Support, Delivery, Value).

1. Go to Stella Ratings > Settings > Pro Features.
2. Check the Enable Multi-Criteria Ratings box.
3. Under Define Criteria, enter your criteria as a comma-separated list (e.g., Quality, Price, Support, Delivery).
4. Save your settings. The frontend form will render individual 5-star sliders for each criterion, and the administration panel will average out and display individual scorecards.

B. Photo & Video Media Uploads

Allow customers to attach visual evidence of their purchases.

• Max Upload Count: Limit the number of photos or videos a user can attach (e.g., Max 5 files).
• Max File Size Limit: Set a threshold in Megabytes (e.g., 5MB) to preserve hosting server space.
• Allowed Extensions: Standardized secure filters accept jpg, jpeg, png, webp for photos, and mp4, mov, avi for videos. High-performance lightboxes display media inline on click.

C. Google Rich Snippets SEO Schema

Injects search-engine-compliant JSON-LD structured data into the headers of pages running active ratings.

1. Enable Aggregate Rating Schema to auto-inject aggregate star averages.
2. Check Include Individual Reviews in Schema to feed raw text reviews and reviewer names directly to Google spiders.
3. Test compatibility by copying your post URL and dropping it into the official Google Rich Results Test Tool.

D. Helpfulness Review Voting

Enables an interactive feedback section at the bottom of every frontend review. Visitors can select "Helpful" (Upvote) or "Not Helpful" (Downvote). The plugin automatically sorts reviews dynamically, prioritizing high-value feedback for your visitors.

E. Official Administrator Replies

Respond to customer reviews publicly to build brand trust.

1. Navigate to the Stella Ratings main moderation menu.
2. Click the Reply button on any approved review.
3. Write your response inside the AJAX popup window and hit save. Your official comment will show nested beautifully underneath the user's review on the frontend with an "Owner Response" badge.

F. Premium Design Themes

Unlocks advanced styles. Choose from gorgeous aesthetic frameworks in settings including Sleek Glassmorphism (semi-transparent blur), Modern Dark Mode, or Masonry Card Grid Displays designed to fit seamlessly on modern sites.

10. WooCommerce Integration

Stella Ratings and Reviews Pro deeply integrates with WooCommerce storefronts. In settings, you can toggle the WooCommerce Direct Integration checkmark to immediately replace native WooCommerce reviews on product pages with Stella's advanced rating widgets.

Automatic Verified Purchase Checkmarks

If a logged-in user who purchased the specific product submits a rating, Stella cross-checks WooCommerce order history records. If a completed transaction is found, a secure, golden Verified Purchase Badge is automatically appended to their username on the frontend, boosting trust instantly.

11. Analytics & Reports

Navigate to Stella Ratings > Analytics to view high-level business intelligence data.

• Customer Satisfaction Index (CSAT): The ratio of highly positive ratings (4 and 5 stars) to overall public ratings.
• Verified Purchase Ratio: Graph representing the percentage of verified sales ratings against casual reviews.
• Leaderboard Matrix: A tabular breakdown of all post IDs, showing total reviews, average score, and response rates.

12. Data Management & Uninstallation

To preserve clean database integrity, Stella Ratings includes rigorous data control settings.

Delete Data on Uninstall: When checked, all plugin options, custom criteria settings, logs, and betyg databases are permanently purged from your WordPress SQL database upon deleting the plugin. Turn this off if you wish to temporarily deactivate the plugin without losing user reviews.