September 2024: Star Ratings Added to Pool Listings
On September 6, 2024 we added star ratings to the review section of every listing. This special edition explains how to rate a pool from zero to five stars, how reviews are approved and which reviews count.
This special edition of our September 2024 pool listings update covers scored reviews. On September 6 we added star ratings, and each listing now shows an average rating at the top, based on reviews that users score from zero to five stars.
Scored reviews
In our August month-end report we said we were working on a way for users to give a facility a score in the review section and to show the average score at the top of the listing. We put the rating system in place on September 6.
You can rate a facility from zero to five stars in increments of one-half star, so a facility can have 0, ½, 1, 1½, 2, 2½ stars and so on up to 5. The listing shows the average number of stars across all starred reviews, together with the number of starred reviews behind that average. Each individual review appears in the Reviews section of the listing with the number of stars its writer gave.
Once enough scored reviews have accumulated, we plan to add the number of stars to the List view on the home page, which will give you another way to choose a pool.
How it works
At the top of each detailed pool listing you will see five stars. If nobody has posted a review of that facility yet, the stars are outlines. Once someone has posted a scored review, the stars fill with color up to the average score so far, and the number of reviews the score is based on appears right after the stars.
To submit a review yourself, click any one of the stars. That opens the Add Review form for the listing you are viewing. Choose the number of stars you want to give, then write a brief review in the field titled "New Review". The asterisk shows that the field is required.
The written review matters as much as the stars, because a rating means little without the reviewer's point of view. Someone who went to train for a swimming event, someone who took the family out for the day and someone who swims for physical therapy will each judge a pool differently. Without that perspective, a star rating is not very helpful.
Review approval and what counts
As with every user addition and suggested change, we read each review and approve, edit or reject it before it is posted to the listing. That usually happens within 24 hours, though it sometimes takes longer. When a review has been posted, the person who submitted it receives an email saying it was approved.
We discard without notice any review written with a clear intent to mislead, to denigrate an individual or to reduce the usefulness of the site. If an acknowledgement email is returned to us undeliverable, that review is likely to be removed from the listing.