How to add a star rating in Astra (3 ways)

Search “add star rating Astra” and the advice splits three ways, because there are three different kinds of stars.

Some people want a star graphic they place on a page by hand. Some want stars that come from customer ratings. Some want gold stars under their listing in Google.

Each one uses a different tool. Below are three methods, one per tool, with the full click-by-click setup for each. Pick the one that matches your goal.

Which method fits your goal

The three methods aren’t interchangeable, so picking wrong means redoing the work. Match your goal to a method before you start.

Method 1: Add a star graphic with the Spectra block

Astra comes from Brainstorm Force, the team that also makes Spectra, their free block builder. Spectra adds a Star Rating block to the editor, which is the fastest way to show stars next to a quote or a feature.

Worth saying plainly: this block is for looks. You set the stars by hand, it reads nothing from customers, and it earns no place in search. For visual polish, it works well. For Google stars, skip to Method 3.

1. Install Spectra: In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins, then Add New. Type “Spectra” in the search box, click Install Now on “Spectra, WordPress Gutenberg Blocks,” then click Activate.
2. Open your page: Go to Pages or Posts, and open the one where you want the stars in the block editor.
3. Add the block: Click the plus icon at the spot you want the stars, type “Star Rating” in the search field, and select the Spectra Star Rating block from the results.
4. Set the rating: In the block toolbar or the right-hand panel, set the value from 0 to 5. Click a star once for a full star, again for a half, so 4.5 is allowed.
5. Style it: Open the block settings on the right. Under the Style tab you can change the star color, size, gap between stars, and alignment so they sit right inside your Astra layout.
6. Publish and check: Click Update or Publish, then open the live page in a new tab to confirm the stars land where you want them.

That covers it. No code, no setup beyond the block. If a visual rating on a landing page was the whole job, you’re finished here.

Method 2: Turn on product stars in WooCommerce

If you run a store, WooCommerce already has a review and rating system, and Astra displays it cleanly. Switch it on and stars appear on product pages and shop archives as customers rate your products.

1. Open WooCommerce settings: In your WordPress dashboard, hover over WooCommerce in the left menu, click Settings, then open the Products tab along the top.

2. Go to the Reviews sub-tab: Under the Products tab, click the Reviews link in the row of sub-tabs.

3. Enable reviews: Tick the box for “Enable product reviews.” This turns on the review form under each product.

4. Enable the stars: Tick “Enable star ratings on reviews.” If you want every reviewer to leave a rating, also tick “Star ratings should be required, not optional.”
5. Save: Scroll down and click Save changes. The stars now render on product pages automatically.

Each product page now shows a review form, and the average rating appears as stars by the product title once customers start leaving feedback. For the full picture of how WooCommerce reviews work, see our guide on WooCommerce product reviews.

One point that trips people up: a product shows stars only after it has at least one approved review. A new product with zero reviews displays no stars yet, which is normal, not a setup error.

The limitation: WooCommerce waits for customers to review on their own, and most won’t unless you ask.

It also won’t gather reviews for you, work on non-store pages, or add the schema that gets stars into Google. A review plugin covers those gaps.

Add customer stars to your Astra site

WiserReview collects ratings by email, SMS, and WhatsApp, then shows them as star widgets anywhere on your Astra theme. Free plan, no code.

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Method 3: Add product rating stars with WiserReview

Use this when you want star ratings pulled from real customer reviews, on a WooCommerce store or any Astra site, with the schema that also gets stars into Google.

Full disclosure: WiserReview is our product, so weigh that as you read.

It collects ratings by email, SMS, and WhatsApp, then shows the rating count below your product titles. Here’s the WooCommerce setup, straight from our docs.

Step 1: Install and activate the plugin

In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins, then Add New. Search “WiserReview” in the plugin search box, or use Upload Plugin if you have the file. Install “WiserReview Product Reviews for WooCommerce,” then click Activate.

Once activated, WiserReview appears in your left-hand admin menu. Click it to open the settings.

Step 2: Connect your account with the API key

Sign up first at app.wiserreview.com/signup if you haven’t. The free plan covers the widgets and up to 100 review requests a month.

1. Log in to your WiserReview account and open Workspace Settings.
2. Copy your API key.

1. Paste the API key into the WiserReview plugin settings in WordPress.
2. The plugin validates the key on its own. Once it’s valid, the widget toggles and display settings turn active.
3. Toggle Live Mode to Enabled to switch the widgets on for your live store.

Step 3: Turn on the star rating widgets

This is the part that puts stars on your products. In the plugin’s Review Widgets panel, switch on the rating widgets you want.

1. Turn on “Rating count below product title on product detail page (PDP)” to show stars on each product page.
2. Turn on “Rating count on collection or listing pages (PLP)” to show stars on shop and category pages.
3. Turn on “Generate Product Review Rich Snippet” so the ratings also feed Google search.
4. Click Save Changes.

With the toggles on, the stars show in their default spots automatically. If your Astra layout is custom, or you want the stars in a different place, use the shortcode instead.

Step 4: Copy the WiserReview shortcode

Each widget in the panel has its own shortcode with a copy icon next to it. For star ratings, the shortcode is [wiserrw_rating_count].

In the WiserReview plugin panel, find the Star Rating row and click the copy icon next to [wiserrw_rating_count].

For a single product, copy the per-product version instead: [wiserrw_rating_count id="123"], swapping 123 for your real product ID.

Step 5: Add the shortcode to your Astra product page

To show the stars in a set spot on every product, use the Astra Pro Site Builder. It places your shortcode through a hook, so you never edit a theme file. This part needs Astra Pro.

1. In the Astra dashboard, scroll to the modules and toggle on Site Builder.

2. Go to Site Builder, then click Hooks to create a new Hooks layout.
3. The editor opens on the Block Editor by default. Click the plus icon.

4. Search “Shortcode,” add the Shortcode block, and paste [wiserrw_rating_count].
5. Click the Astra icon in the top right to open the Astra settings.

6. Under Layout, make sure Hooks is selected.
7. In Action, pick where the stars show, like after the product title.
8. Click Display Rules, then choose “All Products” to apply it everywhere.

9. Publish the layout, then open a product page to see the stars.

Step 6: Clear cache and check your store

1. Clear your server cache, browser cache, and any cache plugin.
2. Visit a product page to confirm the stars show near the product titles.

The stars only display once that product has reviews in WiserReview, so add or collect at least one first.

One note from the docs: if you use WiserReview’s rating widget, turn off the native WooCommerce reviews from Method 2 so the two don’t clash.

If you’d rather weigh this against other tools first, our roundup of WordPress review plugins lays out the honest pros and cons, free options included.

Getting star ratings into Google search

The gold stars under a search listing come from review schema, structured data that tells Google your page has ratings. Get it right and Google can show your stars in results, which lifts click-through rates.

The Spectra block from Method 1 can’t do this. It has no aggregateRating schema, so five gold stars on the page still earn nothing in search.

You need real ratings plus schema, and a review plugin handles both. With WiserReview, the rich snippet toggle from Step 3 adds the JSON-LD for you.

Two things have to be true for the stars to show: the page needs at least one approved review, and the schema has to be valid.

Check it in Google’s Rich Results Test, then expect stars within a couple of weeks once Google re-crawls.

Want the full detail? See our guides on WooCommerce rich snippets and the Google review widget.

Turn reviews into gold stars on Google

WiserReview adds review schema automatically so your Astra pages can show star ratings in search results. Set it up in minutes, free to start.

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Fix: my Astra star ratings aren’t showing

This question fills the Astra support forum. If your stars have vanished, check these in order.

• No reviews yet. WooCommerce stars and Google snippets both need one real review to display. An empty product shows nothing. Add a test review and look again.
• Ratings are switched off. Revisit the WooCommerce setting from Method 2. If “Enable star ratings on reviews” is unticked, the stars won’t render even with reviews present.
• A caching or optimization plugin is hiding them. Aggressive CSS or JavaScript optimization can strip the styles that draw the stars. Clear your cache, then switch off optimization plugins to test.
• A plugin conflict. Two tools writing review schema can clash. Run one source of schema, not two, or Google may ignore both.
• Invalid schema. For missing Google stars, paste the page into Google’s Rich Results Test. It points to exactly what’s broken.

Which method should you use

A quick recap so you leave with one clear next step.

Want a visual rating you set by hand? Use the Spectra block. Two minutes, no ratings required.

Run a WooCommerce store and want stars from real customer feedback? Turn on WooCommerce reviews.

Want stars on a non-store site, automatic review collection, or gold stars in Google? Use WiserReview or another review plugin that outputs schema. That’s the only route to the rich snippet.

Match the tool to the goal and you skip the trial and error that sends most people back to search a second time.