The Rating / Reviewing Preference

All Authors on Writing.Com are here for different reasons. Some of you are here to perfect the craft of writing, asking for honest, useful feedback for your items. Some of you write for pure pleasure and want to share your work with the community, but not receive suggestions for improvement.

Authors have the option to set the Rating/Review Preference on their items as "Unrestricted", "Rating Requires a Review" or "Comments Only; No Ratings". The first two options make your item a Rateable item while the third makes your item Unrateable.

The ability to set the rating preference on an item can be found on the item create / edit page. Simply choose the setting you want and store your item. The default setting is to allow Unrestricted ratings. This documentation is provided to help you decide which option is best for you and your items on Writing.Com.

RATEABLE ITEMS

Items that are "rateable" signify to our community members that you are looking for honest, constructive feedback for that particular item.

Members are able to rate your item on a scale of 1 - 5, from "Needs Work" to "Perfect". If they so choose, members also have the ability to leave extensive feedback for your item using the Review Box located at the bottom of your item. These reviews may be left anonymously or not; that is the choice of the reader. This information is very important for Authors looking to improve an item and, as such, reviews for each item are stored in the "Reviews" area of the item's header. For even more information about your item and its readers, Upgraded Members receive demographic breakdowns through Extended Statistics*.

In order to give the most exposure to those in need of honest and sincere feedback, Writing.Com public listings by type and genre are reserved for rateable items only. By visiting these areas and reading rateable items, you can feel confident as a rater that everyone listed there wants honest feedback. Rateable items are all available from any of the small icon buttons at the top of any page or the "Item Jumps" pulldown menu.

Items set to "Rating Requires a Review" will not accept ratings unless accompanied by a textual review. Since the average rating for these items excludes non-reviewers, their rating average is not shown publicly. Rating averages for "Rating Requires a Review" items are shown only to the author who owns the item. For the most feedback from readers and to get the most use from "Analyzing Your Item Statistics" , Writing.Com suggests using the "Unrestricted" option for the Rating/Reviewing preference setting of items.


UNRATEABLE ITEMS

Items that are "unrateable" signify to our community members that you are not looking for constructive feedback on that item.

For example, if you would like to showcase or store items within your portfolio, but do not want them to be rated or reviewed, you should set those items as unrateable. An unrateable item is just that: an item that members can not rate or review. Members do have the ability to send the Author an email regarding the item, but these emails are not permanently stored. These emails will not be counted toward the reader's "Reviews to Ratings" ratio and are unable to be sent anonymously.

Unrateable items will not be included in our public listings by type and genre. These areas are reserved for Authors looking to improve those items listed and needing honest feedback from the community. Since unrateable items are not able to be reviewed, these items may not be publicly reviewed either. Unrateable items will be found within your portfolio and you are able to link them in your sigs, forums, etc. just like any other item on Writing.Com. It is up to you to bring recognition to these items within the community.

To gain recognition for unrateable items, Authors may sponsor them in various areas of Writing.Com using our "Sponsored Items, Types and Genres." By doing so, these unrateable items will also be included on our public "Sponsored Items" listing, which is available from the top of any page or your Item Jumps pulldown menu.

If your unrateable item has been awarded an awardicon, your item will be found in the "Awardicons Listings" located at the top of any page or from your Item Jumps pulldown menu.

If your item already has ratings and you would like to set it as unrateable, you may do so by editing the item and choosing "Do Not Allow Ratings" from your Item Edit form. This hides the ratings and reviews for that item and denotes to the community that the item is for showcase only. If you decide to once again reopen the item as rateable, those same ratings and reviews will reappear.

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An Example Unrateable Item  [E] This is just an example of an unrateable item. By: Writing.Com Support

Now you know...
If an item is rateable, don't just slap that 5 on it and run away; that author is asking for your sincere reaction and feedback to that item, not just an encouraging word!


* Extended Statistics information available here: "Memberships @ Writing.Com"