Let your visitors tell you (and each other) which reviews are the most useful.
—
What It Does
Helpful voting adds a simple “Was this review helpful?” prompt below each review, with Yes and No buttons. When visitors vote, the count updates in real time — “12 people found this helpful” — giving future shoppers a quick signal about which reviews are worth reading.
It’s a small feature that makes a big difference. On a product with dozens of reviews, helpful votes help the best ones rise to the top — so visitors don’t have to wade through everything to find the feedback that matters.
—
Enabling Helpful Voting
Helpful voting is on by default. To check or toggle it:
- Go to Trustie > Settings > Reviews
- Find Helpful Votes
- Toggle it on or off
- Save
Once enabled, the voting buttons appear automatically on all review cards — both product reviews and site reviews.
—
How It Looks to Visitors
Below each review, visitors see:
> Was this review helpful?
> [ Yes ] [ No ]
After voting, the button they clicked is highlighted and the count updates:
> 12 people found this helpful
The interaction is quick, lightweight, and doesn’t require the visitor to be logged in.
—
How Voting Is Tracked
Trustie uses a combination of cookies and IP address to prevent duplicate voting:
- When a visitor votes, a cookie is set in their browser recording which reviews they’ve voted on
- The visitor’s IP address is also recorded alongside the vote
- If someone tries to vote on the same review twice, the button is already highlighted and no duplicate vote is registered
This isn’t bulletproof (clearing cookies or switching networks would allow a repeat vote), but it’s a practical balance between preventing casual abuse and not requiring visitors to create an account just to click “helpful.”
What Gets Stored
Each review tracks two counts:
| Field | What It Is |
|---|---|
| Helpful count | Number of “Yes” votes |
| Unhelpful count | Number of “No” votes |
These counts are stored directly on the review record. No personal data from voters is stored long-term — the IP check is used only at the moment of voting to detect duplicates.
—
How It Affects Review Ordering
Helpful vote counts can influence how reviews are sorted. When visitors use the sort controls on your review display, the most-helpful reviews can be surfaced first.
This means reviews that your customers find genuinely useful get more visibility over time, while less helpful reviews naturally sink lower. It’s a self-improving system — the more people vote, the better the review ordering gets.
—
Where Voting Appears
Helpful voting buttons show on review cards everywhere reviews are displayed:
- Product pages — below each product review
- Reviews page — on the dedicated reviews page (
- Site reviews — on store-level review displays
- Shortcode displays — anywhere you use
or[trustie_store_reviews]
The buttons do not appear in the floating widget (the widget shows a compact view of reviews without interactive elements).
—
Common Questions
Can I see vote counts in the admin?
Yes — when viewing individual reviews in the admin panel, you can see the helpful and unhelpful vote counts for each review.
Does voting work on mobile?
Yes. The buttons are touch-friendly and work on all devices.
Can I disable voting for specific reviews?
Voting is a global setting — it’s either on for all reviews or off for all reviews. You can’t toggle it per-review.
Do Google Reviews show helpful voting?
No — Google Reviews displayed via the Google Places integration are read-only. Helpful voting only applies to reviews submitted through Trustie.
—
If Something’s Not Working
Voting buttons not appearing:
- Check that Helpful Votes is enabled in Trustie > Settings > Reviews
- Clear any page cache — cached pages may not reflect the setting change immediately
- Check for JavaScript errors in your browser console
Vote count not updating:
- The count updates via AJAX — check your browser console for errors
- Disable caching plugins temporarily to rule out stale page content
- Verify the AJAX endpoint is accessible (some security plugins block certain AJAX requests)
Still stuck? Drop us a line at support@tracksies.com and we’ll help you sort it out.