wp_star_rating() - Adding a 5 star rating system to theme

Question

My goal is to add a 5 star rating system to my theme. I read that there's a function wp_star_rating in wp-admin/includes/template.php on line 2121, that I've been trying to use for the ratings. I am using WP 4.0. Just using wp_star_rating() in my theme's content.php alone returns: Fatal error: Call to undefined function wp_star_rating() in [LOCALHOST URI]\content.php on line 12

In my theme's content.php, I'm trying to use wp_star_rating(). If I redeclare wp_star_rating() in my theme's functions.php the content works but when I go to my admin panel I get the error (obviously) that I can't redeclare the function.

Besides redeclaring the function I also tried (in my theme's functions.php): if( !function_exists('wp_star_rating') ){ require admin_url() . 'includes/template.php'; } I'm aware this doesn't work because it doesn't like the full url.

The only thing I tried that partially worked (displayed on front end but threw error on backend): include '/wp-admin/includes/template.php';

So the question is: How can I use wp_star_rating() in my theme's content.php file? Or how do I include it in my theme?

I already have everything else enqueI'm sure there's a simple solution I'm missing but after a few days of searching I have not found much help. I really can't afford spending all of my time on this issue.

Answer 1

Instead of redefining wp_star_rating() for the front end, you should be able to just use the built-in function.

From the Codex page for wp_star_rating():

In order to use this function on the front end, your template must include the wp-admin/includes/template.php file and enqueue the appropriate dashicons CSS font information.

(emphasis mine)

A code sample is also provided in the Notes section of the Codex page.

Edit

If you're getting Fatal error: Call to undefined function wp_star_rating() messages, that means that you have not included wp-admin/includes/template.php in your file. Try adding this snippet somewhere prior to your call to wp_star_rating():

require_once( ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/includes/template.php' );

That should allow you to use wp_star_rating() in your front-end code.