raty

Raty is a lightweight, open-source JavaScript library that provides a star-rating user interface for web pages. Implemented as a jQuery plugin, raty enables developers to display a set of stars that users can click or hover to select a rating. It supports customization of the number of stars, the initial rating, hints for each star, and a read-only mode for display-only ratings. It can synchronize with form inputs or hidden fields, updating their values as the user interacts.

Key features include: configurable number of stars (default five), initial score, optional cancel button, hints per star, and callbacks for rating events. The API is designed to be straightforward: you initialize on a jQuery element and pass an options object. For example: $(selector).raty({ score: 3, number: 5, hints: ['bad','poor','regular','good','excellent'], click: function(score, evt) { /* handle rating */ } });

Raty typically uses image assets for star icons or CSS backgrounds and can be themed with custom icons or fonts. It integrates with forms by providing a target input or hidden field to store the numeric rating value, making it easy to submit with standard form data.

Origin and usage: raty has been adopted across many web projects to add interactive rating features without building a custom UI from scratch. As a self-contained plugin, it relies on jQuery and optional assets for visuals. Licensing and maintenance vary by distribution, and multiple forks and variants exist on code hosting platforms.

See also: rating widgets, jQuery plugins, star rating libraries.