Understanding Star Ratings and Feedback

Star ratings and feedback help you understand how helpful your articles are to readers. Use this data to improve your content and identify what users find most valuable.

What Are Star Ratings?

Star ratings let readers rate articles on a 1-5 star scale. This provides quick feedback on content quality and helps you identify your best (and worst) performing articles.

What Is Feedback?

Feedback is a simple "Was this helpful?" question that appears below articles. Readers can click "Yes" or "No" to indicate if the article helped them.

How It Works

For Readers

1. Read an article
2. See rating stars or feedback buttons at the bottom
3. Click to rate or provide feedback
4. Submit (one submission per session)

For You

1. View ratings and feedback in analytics
2. See average ratings per article
3. Track helpful vs not helpful counts
4. Use data to improve content

Enabling Ratings and Feedback

Default Settings

• Star ratings: Enabled by default on all knowledge bases
• Feedback: Enabled by default on all knowledge bases
• Both can be disabled: Turn off in knowledge base settings

Disabling Features

1. Go to your knowledge base settings
2. Find "Engagement" or "Ratings" section
3. Toggle off star ratings or feedback
4. Save changes

Viewing Ratings and Feedback

In Analytics

1. Go to Analytics for your knowledge base
2. View "Article Ratings" section
3. See average ratings per article
4. Check helpful/not helpful counts

Per Article

1. Open any article in your dashboard
2. View ratings and feedback stats
3. See total ratings and average
4. Check feedback breakdown

Using the Data

Identify Top Content

• High ratings: Articles users love
• High helpful count: Most useful content
• Use as examples: Learn what works
• Promote these: Feature best-rated articles

Find Improvement Opportunities

• Low ratings: Articles that need work
• High "not helpful": Content that's confusing
• Update these: Improve or rewrite
• Address gaps: Fill missing information

Content Strategy

• Create more like top content: Replicate what works
• Fix low-rated articles: Improve poor performers
• Address feedback: Respond to "not helpful" feedback
• Track improvements: Monitor changes over time

Best Practices

For Content Creators

• Review ratings regularly: Check analytics weekly
• Act on feedback: Update articles based on ratings
• Don't ignore low ratings: Improve poor content
• Celebrate high ratings: Learn from success

For Knowledge Base Owners

• Monitor overall trends: Track average ratings
• Set quality goals: Aim for 4+ star average
• Review feedback patterns: Identify common issues
• Use in content planning: Prioritize improvements

Privacy and Anonymity

Reader Privacy

• No personal data: Ratings are anonymous
• Session-based: One rating per session
• No account required: Anyone can rate
• Privacy protected: No tracking of individuals

Your Data

• Aggregate data only: See totals and averages
• No individual tracking: Can't see who rated what
• Session-based: Prevents duplicate ratings
• Respects privacy: Complies with privacy standards

Troubleshooting

Ratings Not Showing

• Check ratings are enabled in settings
• Verify article is published
• Clear browser cache
• Check knowledge base is public

Feedback Not Working

• Ensure feedback is enabled
• Check article status is "approved"
• Verify knowledge base settings
• Contact support if issues persist

Low Response Rate

• Normal: Not all readers rate content
• Improve placement: Make ratings more visible
• Encourage feedback: Add call-to-action in articles
• Analyze trends: Focus on relative changes