Rating Column
Common Use Cases
- Knowledge bases: surfacing the most useful articles by rating
- Resource libraries: letting people like helpful templates and files
- Feedback: gathering quick sentiment without a survey
- Curation: sorting top-rated items to the top of a view
- Engagement: inviting readers to react to content
- Prioritization: using likes to gauge interest in ideas
Benefits
- Built in: enabled from settings, no custom column needed
- Two styles: choose star ratings or a simpler likes count
- Real metadata: ratings are values that views can sort and filter
- Low friction: one click to rate, no form to fill
- Average score: stars show a running average across raters
- Social signal: popular content rises to the surface
How It Works
- Enabled per list: a rating setting added to the list or library
- Star or likes style: pick the rating experience when you turn it on
- Average for stars: the star value reflects the average rating
- Count for likes: the likes style shows how many people liked it
- Adds columns: enabling ratings adds the rating columns to the list
- Sortable: views can order items by their rating
Limits and Nuances
- One style per list: a list uses either stars or likes, not both
- Enable, do not create: ratings are a setting, not a manual column
- Identity of raters: individual votes are not exposed in the view
- Best for content: most useful on documents and knowledge items
- Average can mislead: a few votes can skew a star average
- Not for strict data: ratings are sentiment, not authoritative values
Common Questions About the Rating Column
What is a rating column in SharePoint?
A rating column lets users rate items in a list or library, either with a five-star control or a simpler likes count. It is enabled from the list settings rather than created like an ordinary column, and turning it on adds the rating fields automatically. Because the ratings are stored as metadata, views can sort the highest-rated items to the top.
What is the difference between star ratings and likes?
Star ratings let people give a score from one to five, and the column shows the running average across everyone who rated the item. Likes is a simpler thumbs-up style that just counts how many people liked the item. You choose one experience per list when you enable ratings, based on whether you want a nuanced score or a quick popularity signal.
How is the average rating calculated?
With the star style, SharePoint averages all the individual ratings for an item and displays that average on the star control. As more people rate, the average adjusts. With only a handful of votes the average can swing easily, so a star score is most meaningful once an item has been rated by a reasonable number of people.
How do I add ratings to a list or library?
Open the list or library settings, find the rating settings, and switch on the option to allow items to be rated, then choose Likes or Star Ratings. SharePoint adds the necessary columns for you. To show the rating in a view, add the rating column to that view, and people can rate items directly from there.
Can I see who rated an item?
The view shows the overall rating or like count rather than a breakdown of who voted. Ratings are designed as a lightweight, low-friction signal about content, not as an attributed survey. If you need to know exactly who responded and what they chose, a form or a list with a person column is a better fit than the rating feature.
When should I use a rating column?
Ratings shine on knowledge bases, resource libraries, and idea lists, where the crowd can highlight what is useful. Greg Zelfond, the consultant behind LookBook 365, reaches for ratings when the goal is gentle engagement and curation rather than precise data, since a star average or a like count is sentiment. For authoritative numbers, a standard column with validation is the better tool.