Vendor Reputation & Review Moderation

Overview

Vendor reputation is built through verified reviews from completed orders. This guide explains how reputation is calculated, displayed, and managed through the review moderation system.

Key Topics:

How reputation scores are calculated
Rating impact on vendor visibility
Review moderation settings
Admin review management

Reputation Calculation

How Vendor Ratings Work

Vendor ratings are calculated as a simple average of all approved reviews across all of the vendor’s services.

Formula:

Vendor Rating = Sum of all review ratings ÷ Total review count

Example:
Review 1: 5 stars
Review 2: 4 stars
Review 3: 5 stars
Review 4: 4 stars
Review 5: 5 stars

Vendor Rating = (5+4+5+4+5) ÷ 5 = 4.6 stars

Important: The old documentation described complex weighted calculations with recent reviews weighted higher. This does NOT exist in the code. All approved reviews are weighted equally.

Service-Level Ratings

Each service has its own rating separate from the vendor’s overall rating.

Service Rating Formula:

Service Rating = Sum of service's reviews ÷ Service review count

Example Vendor with 3 Services:
├─ WordPress Plugin: 4.8 stars (20 reviews)
├─ Theme Setup: 4.5 stars (10 reviews)
└─ Site Migration: 4.9 stars (8 reviews)

Vendor Overall: (4.8×20 + 4.5×10 + 4.9×8) ÷ 38 = 4.71 stars

Display Locations:

Service cards show service-specific rating
Vendor profile shows overall rating
Each service page shows that service’s rating

Rating Components

Overall Rating Only

Each review has ONE primary rating from 1-5 stars.

Sub-Ratings Are Optional:

Communication (1-5 stars)
Quality (1-5 stars)
Value (1-5 stars)

Important: Sub-ratings do NOT affect the overall vendor or service rating. They are display-only for buyer information.

Calculation:

Service/Vendor Rating = Average of overall ratings only
Sub-ratings = Displayed separately, not included in average

Note: The old documentation described sub-ratings as weighted components of the overall score. This is incorrect – only the overall rating counts.

Review Count Requirements

Minimum Reviews for Display

Service Ratings:

Displayed immediately after first review
Shows “Based on 1 review” until more accumulate
No minimum required

Vendor Profile Rating:

Displays after first approved review
Combined from all services
Updates in real-time when reviews approved

Seller Level Requirements

Rating + Review Count Required:

Seller Level	Min Rating	Min Reviews	Additional Requirements
New Seller	None	None	Account verified
Level 1	4.0+	10+	90% completion rate
Level 2	4.5+	50+	95% completion rate
Top Seller	4.8+	100+	<2% cancellation rate

Note: Exact thresholds may vary by marketplace configuration.

Review Moderation System

Moderation Setting

Location: WP Admin → Settings → General → “Moderate Reviews”

Options:

Disabled (Default) – Reviews publish immediately
Enabled – Reviews require admin approval

When to Enable Moderation:

New marketplace (quality control)
History of spam reviews
Legal/compliance requirements
Manual quality assurance needed

When to Disable:

Established marketplace
Trust your user base
Want instant feedback
Faster review velocity

Important: The old documentation described automated keyword detection, flagging systems, and complex moderation rules. These do NOT exist. Moderation is a simple boolean on/off setting.

How Moderation Works

With Moderation Disabled (Default):

Buyer submits review
Status: approved
Review appears immediately
Vendor notified instantly
Ratings update in real-time

With Moderation Enabled:

Buyer submits review
Status: pending
Review hidden from public
Admin notified of pending review
Admin approves/rejects manually
If approved → Status: approved, visible publicly
If rejected → Status: rejected, hidden permanently

Admin Review Management

Viewing Reviews

Navigate to: WP Admin → WP Sell Services → Reviews

Filter Options:

All reviews
Pending (awaiting approval)
Approved (publicly visible)
Rejected (hidden)

Sort Options:

Date (newest/oldest)
Rating (high/low)
Service
Vendor

Approving Reviews

Steps:

Go to Reviews page
Find pending review
Read review content
Click Approve
Review published instantly
Vendor notified
Rating updates applied

Bulk Approve:

Check multiple reviews
Select Bulk Actions → Approve
Click Apply

Rejecting Reviews

When to Reject:

Spam or meaningless content
Personal attacks or harassment
Contains prohibited content
Violates marketplace policies
Not related to the actual service

Steps:

Find the review
Click Reject
Optional: Add admin note (visible to admins only)
Review status: rejected
Review hidden from all public views

Customer Notification:

Customers are NOT automatically notified of rejection
Send manual email if explanation needed
Rejection is permanent (customer cannot resubmit)

Editing Reviews

Admins can edit review content if needed.

Editable Fields:

Rating (1-5 stars)
Review text
Status (pending/approved/rejected)

Cannot Edit:

Order ID
Reviewer
Vendor
Submission date

When to Edit:

Fix typos in constructive reviews
Remove personally identifiable info
Clean up formatting issues
Rarely – editing should be exceptional

Note: The code allows editing via API. Frontend admin UI may vary by theme.

Rating Impact

On Search Visibility

Service Search Ranking Factors:

Higher ratings rank higher
Review count matters
Recency of reviews considered

Visibility Thresholds:

4.7+ – Excellent visibility, featured placement
4.0-4.6 – Normal search visibility
3.5-3.9 – Reduced visibility
Below 3.5 – May be hidden from default search

On Vendor Status

Automatic Actions Based on Rating:

4.8+ – Eligible for Top Seller badge
4.0-4.7 – Good standing
3.5-3.9 – Warning email sent
Below 3.5 – Account review triggered

Admin Review Process:

System flags vendors below threshold
Admin reviews recent orders
Vendor contacted for improvement plan
Account suspended if no improvement

Note: Specific thresholds are configurable by admin.

Reputation Dashboard

Vendor View

Dashboard → My Reputation

Vendors see:

Overall rating (all services)
Total review count
Rating breakdown by service
Recent reviews (last 10)
Unanswered reviews count

Available Actions:

Reply to reviews
View detailed review history
Filter by service
Export review data

Service-Specific Stats

Dashboard → Services → [Service Name] → Reviews

For each service:

Service rating
Review count for this service
Star breakdown (5★, 4★, 3★, 2★, 1★)
Individual reviews
Reply to reviews option

Character Limits

Review Content

No Server-Side Character Limits Enforced

The code does NOT enforce any character limits on review text. HTML form may include client-side limits, but these can be bypassed.

Best Practices (Recommended):

Minimum: 10-20 characters (meaningful feedback)
Maximum: 2000 characters (readability)
These are suggestions, not enforced

Note: The old documentation claimed strict 50-character minimum and 2000-character maximum. These limits do NOT exist in the ReviewService code.

Vendor Replies

No Character Limits

Vendor replies also have no enforced character limits.

Best Practices:

Keep replies concise (200-300 characters)
Address specific points raised
Professional tone

Reputation Recovery

Improving Low Ratings

Steps to Recover:

Identify issues from negative reviews
Contact affected customers
Offer solutions or refunds
Deliver exceptional service on new orders
Accumulate positive reviews over time

How Long It Takes:

Example: Vendor at 3.8 stars (20 reviews)
Goal: Reach 4.5 stars

Needed: ~30 consecutive 5-star reviews
Timeline: 3-6 months of consistent excellent service

Rating Math:

Current: 3.8 × 20 = 76 total stars
Add 30 reviews at 5.0: 76 + 150 = 226
New average: 226 ÷ 50 = 4.52 stars ✓

Cannot Remove Old Reviews

Important:

Past reviews remain permanently
Cannot delete negative reviews (except policy violations)
Only option: Dilute with new positive reviews
Focus on improvement, not removal

Review Guidelines

What Reviews Should Include

Constructive Reviews:

Specific examples of quality
Timeliness feedback
Communication experience
Value assessment
Honest pros and cons

Example Good Review:

The WordPress plugin works perfectly. John delivered 2 days
early and responded to questions within hours. Code is clean
and well-documented. Price was fair for the quality. Would
hire again for similar projects.

Rating: 5 stars

Prohibited Review Content

Reviews violating these are rejected:

Not Allowed:

Personal attacks or harassment
Profanity or hate speech
Spam or promotional content
Unrelated to the service delivered
Extortion attempts
False statements
Contact information or external links
Competitor promotion

Admin Action:

Review rejected immediately
Buyer warned if severe
Repeat violations = account review

REST API Access

Get Vendor Rating Summary

GET /wp-json/wpss/v1/vendors/{vendor_id}/reviews/summary

Response:

{
  "vendor_id": 123,
  "total_reviews": 45,
  "average_rating": 4.7,
  "completed_orders": 50,
  "response_rate": 90,
  "breakdown": {
    "5": 30,
    "4": 10,
    "3": 3,
    "2": 1,
    "1": 1
  }
}

Moderate Reviews via API

Update Review Status:

PATCH /wp-json/wpss/v1/reviews/{review_id}

Admin can set:

{
  "status": "approved" // or "pending" or "rejected"
}

Permissions: Requires manage_options capability

Notifications

Vendor Notifications

New Review:

Email: “You received a new review”
In-app notification
Includes rating and first 100 characters

Review Approved (if moderation enabled):

Email: “Your review was approved”
Sent to reviewer, not vendor

Admin Notifications

Pending Review (if moderation enabled):

Dashboard badge count
Optional email digest (daily)
Shows review content preview

Best Practices

For Admins

Moderation:

Review pending reviews within 24 hours
Be consistent with approval criteria
Document rejection reasons internally
Don’t reject just because rating is negative

Monitoring:

Check vendor reputation weekly
Watch for sudden rating drops
Investigate review patterns
Address vendor concerns promptly

For Vendors

Maintaining High Ratings:

Deliver quality work consistently
Communicate proactively
Meet deadlines
Reply to all reviews professionally
Use negative feedback to improve

Responding to Negative Reviews:

Reply within 48 hours
Acknowledge the issue
Explain what happened
Offer solutions
Stay professional and calm

Troubleshooting

Q: Why isn’t a review showing after approval?

Check review status is approved
Clear site cache
Check if service/vendor is still active
Verify review wasn’t accidentally deleted

Q: Can I change a review’s rating after it’s published?

Yes, admins can edit ratings via API
Customers can edit their own reviews
Changes update vendor/service averages immediately

Q: How do I enable review moderation?

Go to Settings → General
Find “Moderate Reviews” checkbox
Enable it
All new reviews will be pending

Q: Why do some reviews have sub-ratings and others don’t?

Sub-ratings (communication, quality, value) are optional
Buyers can skip them
They don’t affect the overall vendor rating
They’re informational only

Q: Can I weight recent reviews higher?

No, this feature doesn’t exist in the current code
All reviews weighted equally
Contact developer if you need custom weighting

Q: How do I disable reviews entirely?

This requires custom development
Reviews are core to the marketplace
Consider disabling public display instead
Not recommended for trust/transparency