Ratingboard

Ratingboard is a generic term used to describe a software component or subsystem that collects, stores, and presents user ratings for items such as products, media, or services. It provides a consistent way to capture opinions, compute summary statistics, and display them to users.

Core functions include capturing user ratings (for example via a 1–5 star widget or a thumbs mechanism), enforcing uniqueness per user-item, and storing timestamps. The system aggregates ratings to derive an aggregate score (average or median) and a distribution (count per rating value). It presents this information through a rating display and may offer sorting or filtering of items by rating.

Data models typically involve items, ratings, and users. Rating values are usually numeric, with optional fields such as weight, locale, or anonymity. Integrity constraints prevent multiple ratings from the same user for a single item, and there may be moderation and anti-fraud features such as rate limiting and anomaly detection.

Implementation considerations include API-driven design with endpoints to submit and fetch ratings, caching and denormalization for fast reads, and support for real-time updates. Accessibility and localization are common concerns, as are privacy controls and options for anonymous or signed ratings.

Common use cases span ecommerce product ratings, ratings for videos or articles, and app store-style aggregation. Ratingboards may be integrated with reviews or comments to provide richer feedback.

See also: rating system, review, feedback management.