[REQUEST] Add Rating to post/thread?

Is it possible to add a Rating system to each post or thread? So that users can rate the usability of each post on the forum. A total rating to the thread (accumulated by related post in the same thread) will be shown in the forumdisplay page.

Also, current counter of each post/thread did the way a page view do. I think it would be better to show how many unique user have had read the post but not only page views.

How do you guys think about that?

Fine idea...my guess is we'll see this in an upcoming release...don't know when though.

i never liked the idea of rating posts.... too judgemental for me

It's easy to do.

Add a column called "rating" to the post table, and then to the forum table.

Modify your postbit template to include something like

<a href="postings.php?action=rate&postid=$postid&value=1>Up</a>
<a href="postings.php?action=rate&postid=$postid&value=-1>Down</a>

Then modify postings.php to take that into account. Some SQL like "UPDATE post SET rating = rating + $value WHERE postid = $postid" will do the trick. (Also one for the thread table as well) Obviously check the $value var for illegal use (like someone modifying the URL to read "&value=9999" to stuff the ballot.

Also do some checking to make sure that the current $bbuserid is not the same as the post's in question (so as to not allow someone to rate their own).

Create another table called "Post_rating" or somesuch, with two elements:
"userid, postid"

That way you check to see if the user has already rated the post, if not insert the primary key set (userid, postid) from the given information to keep a record of it.

Other things you can do:
check to see if the post is available (not closed or whatnot)
check to see if the user has rights to it (so you can't rate something in a moderators-only forum)
etc.

Even though this is fairly easy -- it's a good primer for SQL and PHP so you should give it a shot -- if you have any problems let us (me? ) know and we can help you through it!

Note, that was not intended to be a slam against you -- but learning PHP now will give you great flexibility in the future with modification of VB -- and it means you don't have to rely on other people taking forever to come up with solutions!

I may have already worked on this for something too secret do divulge... shh! Once it is released I can show you all.

wow...working overtime are we

Originally posted by mrogish
I may have already worked on this for something too secret do divulge... shh! Once it is released I can show you all.

Thanks, mrogish.

Plus I have seen many types of rating.
1. drop down menu
2. combo boxes (rate 1-5 or 1-10 or what you want it to be)

and each user could decide to leave their comments of their rating. Also, other users could vote if the comments is useful to them. It was just like the Amazon.com do on their web site, ya know.

Hope this helps. :-)

Things to consider:

1) Only registered members can vote and they can only vote on each post once (need to add userid with each post and then check for duplicates)
2) Members profiles includes their average rating
3) A page that lists the top ranked members

I think perhaps some link to the "auto ignore" mod people have been talking about. Ignore people you dislike thing where their posts just collapse into a single line and you do not get emails when they post.

I would personally make the ratings all positive. If you don't vote then you don't think the post is that good. So like

1) = useful, 2) extremley useful 3) Perfect

something like that. Maybe enlarge to 5. I guess this would be left to each person to decide.

Just some ramblings. What do people think?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by acidburn

and each user could decide to leave their comments of their rating. Also, other users could vote if the comments is useful to them. It was just like the Amazon.com do on their web site, ya know.

Hope this helps. :-)

You don't need a comments section in a Discussion Board. They could just reply. Also you could integrate the ratings into the reply form. Could be a very neat feature.

I also like Chris' idea of making the ratings all positive, wouldn't hurt feelings.

Good point - you're bound to have a few "rating wars" of some sort or another with a hack like this...as for the "Top Rated Members"...I thought the idea was to rate topics? I suppose both would work; just caught me off guard a bit.

I think there would definetly have to be some way (cookie or otherwise) to ensure that multiple ratings do not occur...otherwise the entire hack is hardly worth it.