How to add a rating popup to a WordPress site without a developer

By Andrey Davydov · updated September 29, 2026

A step-by-step guide to a rating popup on WordPress: install one line, choose the scale and the threshold in the Clew editor, add the link to your public review page and decide when to ask — without touching the site’s code again.

Time: ● 15 minutes
Price: 14-day free trial, no card
Who does it: WordPress administrator

Example: a rating popup on WordPress

An online course on WordPress (LearnDash) wants to know how students feel halfway through, and to collect public reviews on Trustpilot. On lesson pages under /courses, from the student’s 3rd visit, a card in the corner asks “How do you like the course so far?” with five stars. Four or five stars — a thank-you and a “Write a review” button to the school’s Trustpilot page. One to three — “What should we improve?”; the course author reads the answers in the stats every Monday. The Trustpilot link is shown to unhappy students too, as a small link under the box.

Ask everyone, not only happy customers. Trustpilot’s and Google’s review rules and, in the US, the FTC rule on consumer reviews forbid inviting only satisfied customers to leave a public review (“review gating”). By default Clew shows the review link on both branches — to an unhappy visitor as a smaller link after the feedback box. You can switch that off only explicitly, and the editor warns that selective invitations break those rules and may be illegal in some countries. Use step 2 to hear the problem, not to hide it.

This format is part of the Pro plan. Every new account starts with a 14-day free trial with all formats and audience rules, no card required. When the trial ends nothing is deleted and published items keep showing; the Free plan keeps tours and tooltips free.

How to add the rating popup on WordPress, step by step

Step 01
Copy your Clew snippet
Create a free account (or sign in), add your site and open Admin → Overview. Click the line in the “No signal from the widget yet.” card to copy it — it carries your real site key instead of the placeholder.
```

<script src="https://tryclew.io/widget/PASTE_YOUR_SITE_KEY.js" async></script>
```
Step 1 · schematic illustration
Step 02
Install a header code plugin
In Plugins → Add New install and activate the free WPCode plugin (or use your theme’s own “header scripts” option). Don’t edit header.php: theme updates overwrite it.
Step 2 · schematic illustration
Step 03
Paste the line into the Header box
Open Code Snippets → Header & Footer, paste the Clew line into Header and press Save Changes.
Step 3 · schematic illustration
Step 04
Purge the cache
If you use WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache, W3 Total Cache or a CDN, purge the cache. In “delay JavaScript” settings, exclude tryclew.io/widget.
Step 4 · schematic illustration
Step 05
Set up the rating in Clew
In Clew open Flows and either press + New flow and set Format to Rating (2 steps), or use Templates → Two-step service rating. Write the question, choose Scale and Satisfied from, and paste your review page into Public review page. Leave Show the public review link to unsatisfied visitors too on — that is what review platforms require.
Step 5 · schematic illustration
Step 06
Choose where, when and for whom it shows
In the same editor, set Where to show (page URL), When to show, Audience targeting and Frequency. These are the settings of the example above:
Setting Value
Format Rating (2 steps)
Where to show (page URL) Section by prefix /courses
When to show On the Nth visit: 3
Audience targeting No rules — everyone who opens the page
Frequency Once per visitor
Step 6 · schematic illustration
Step 07
Publish and check it on the live site
Set Status to Published and save. Open the page in a private window — Clew remembers who has already seen a “once” item, so your usual browser may skip it. Views, completions and drop-offs appear in the tour stats.
Step 7 · schematic illustration

Setting	Value
Format	Rating (2 steps)
Where to show (page URL)	Section by prefix `/courses`
When to show	On the Nth visit: 3
Audience targeting	No rules — everyone who opens the page
Frequency	Once per visitor

Pitfalls: rating popup on WordPress

“Delay JavaScript” hides the rating popup until interaction

WP Rocket, LiteSpeed and Perfmatters can postpone scripts until the first scroll or click. The widget then starts late and a Right on page load item looks broken. Add tryclew.io/widget to the exclusions.

Don’t ask on the first page view

A score from someone who hasn’t used anything yet tells you nothing and costs goodwill. Use On the Nth visit (3rd visit) or After N seconds on a page where a task is done.

Use your real review page URL

Copy the address of your company’s page on the platform (Trustpilot, G2, Capterra, Google Maps) — the page where the “Write a review” button is. A link to the platform’s homepage makes people search for you and most give up.

Questions and answers

Do I need a WordPress survey plugin?

Not for this. Clew replaces a rating or NPS plugin for the popup itself; the answers live in Clew’s stats with a CSV export, not in the WordPress database.

Will it show to logged-out visitors too?

Yes, unless you add a rule. Pass Clew.identify({ student: true }) from your theme for logged-in students and add the rule in Audience targeting.

Does it work on WordPress.com?

Plugins such as WPCode need a WordPress.com Business plan or higher. Self-hosted WordPress works on any hosting.

Can I ask only customers who bought something?

Yes: point Where to show (page URL) at the order confirmation or account pages, or pass a property with Clew.identify() and add a rule in Audience targeting.

Can I use it for an app store rating?

The review button opens any https page — an App Store or Google Play listing works. The popup itself runs on your website, not inside a native app.

What else you can add on WordPress

Rating popup on other platforms

ShopifyHow to add a rating popup to a Shopify store without a developer

How to add a rating popup to a WordPress site without a developer

Example: a rating popup on WordPress

How to add the rating popup on WordPress, step by step

Copy your Clew snippet

Install a header code plugin

Paste the line into the Header box

Purge the cache

Set up the rating in Clew

Choose where, when and for whom it shows

Publish and check it on the live site