Rate and Review Script

Hello,

I am looking to create a site similar to http://fuzzysoftware.com/default.asp?id=14 which includes a review and rating system for web hosts.

Possibly with this site I would like to intergrate a free forum such as phpBB - though i would prefer an ASP based one.

I have seen a few sites similar to fuzzysoftware, directory sites, which is what I would like to create.

I was wondering if anyone could stear me in the right direction to find a free solution for a review and rating system.

Thanks!

It's actually fairly simple to provide this type of structure, especially if you are mainly interested in the number of stars rated alongside each entry. I've implemented this here:

http://www.searchferret.co.uk/?qry=claims

Click one of the featured sites and you get the opportunity to rate the page in the pop-up window. As long as you are happy with ASP database coding, you need a single table to store the ratings. You add the rating whenever each star is clicked and then get the AVG() when you display the line of stars. Hope this helps

Hello,

This is not exactally what I am looking for...but can work. I would like to have the same type of listing but when the user clicks on the "featured site", they will be directed to a page that will give them more information about the site. From that same page (below the more info section) will be a form where the user can rate the site and only limit the user to "vote" once.

My main problem is actually user feedback/reviews. I would like to have users not only rate but review the sites and post their comments (after they are approved by the admin)...another thing I want to plug into that...is that the admin (me) would get an email notifying them that they need to approve a review/comment.

If you are willing to share your source and sample DB..please let me know I would be interested in taking a look at it.

Thank You

Ok - the source is a bit tricky. There are some bits that would make it more difficult to understand. However, I'm sure we can build something up. Do you need the user to be registered or can anybody post a review and/or rating?

umm....I was thinking about that...

I know when I go to a site that I don't want to register to vote or put up a review.

Can we not rack the user by the IP?

The IP address is shared depending on how you connect to the Internet. I'm NTL in the UK and therefore could share the same IP address as 100s or 1,000s of other people

Are you speaking of a type of corp. network?
If not, then you are referring that your ISP using a DHCP to allow its customers to connect to the internet.

I guess this could cause a problem...but its a small possibility that it would i think. I have seen other sites that use the same method of tracking for votes. I guess the other option could be a combination of 'security' checks. We could send them a cookie that lasts for 30 days and track the IP.

If the your has a cookie then they can't vote, if a user has a cookie and same IP...then they definately can't vote. If the user has the same IP ...then they can vote.


After thinking about this...firewalls and spyware software will block all these types of "security" checks. I think we should just go with a login/register process for review and voting....and we check if the user signs up for multiple accounts by cookies and IP (same as above). If anyone wants to sign up for multiple accounts, they would have to go though a lengthy process to clear the cookie and get a renewed IP.

So...ya....I think the register/login to review and vote is a good idea now.

I'd agree. Just keep the registration really simple to encourage people to rate & review

No you don't. your IP will be 80.XXX.XXX.XXX. NTL proxy all of their internet traffic, so recorded ip will also be 80.XXX.XXX.XXX. All of this ip information is rubish because UK NTL customers address range is registered in Amsterdam, and the proxy is spanish.

Ok, well that shouldn't be a problem anyway...we will be going to a registration process.

Ok...so now I have another problem...how do I setup a registration system
I would like to start small and use a MS Access DB.

Store the new user

1. Collect an email address and password from the user
2. Check if the email address/password combination already exists in the database
2a. If it does exist, tell the user to try again as the email address has already been used
2b. If it does not exist, insert it into the database

Allow the user to login

1. Accept the email address and password
2. If the email address/password combination is found, set a Session() to tell the system that the user is logged in

Allow the user to vote

1. Check that the logged in session is Ok
1a. If it is Ok proceed to the rating script
1b. If it is not Ok proceed to the login script