Commander Rating: An Innovative Platform for Military Leadership Feedback

Military leadership deserves constructive feedback. Inspired by review sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Rate My Professor, Commander Rating is a custom WordPress platform that allows military personnel to evaluate commanders and supervisors anonymously while ensuring the process remains professional and respectful. This article explains the features, technologies, and code customizations behind the platform.

Platform Overview

Commander Rating is built on WordPress and leverages custom post types, custom taxonomies, and specialized plugins to create a dedicated review platform for military leadership. The system not only offers a robust rating mechanism but also includes filtering and moderation tools to maintain quality and veracity of reviews.

Key Features:

• Custom Post Types: Each commander is represented as a custom post.
  
• Custom Taxonomies: Organize data by service branch, units, base, and rank.
  
• Anonymous Rating System: Convert comment sections into rating sections.
  
• User-Submitted Commanders: Accommodate new commander profiles via front-end forms.
  
• Dynamic Leaderboard: Showcase top and bottom performers.
  
• Badges: Automatically assign badges like “Certified Great Leader” or “Toxic Leader Alert.”
  
• Contact Form: Allow users to report changes in commander information.
  

Commanders: Custom Post Type and Taxonomies

Custom Post Type: Commanders

The heart of the platform is the custom post type for Commanders. Each post includes detailed information such as:

• Name
  
• Years of Experience
  
• Service Branch
  
• Units
  
• Base
  
• Rank
  

These details are managed via Advanced Custom Fields Pro (ACF Pro), which offers an intuitive backend for adding and editing commander profiles.

Resource:

• Advanced Custom Fields Pro
  Use this plugin to manage custom fields seamlessly across your WordPress site.
  

Custom Taxonomies

To enhance filtering and categorization, we created custom taxonomies that include:

• Service Branch
  
• Units
  
• Base
  
• Rank
  

These taxonomies enable users to filter commanders based on their affiliation or military background, adding a layer of organization similar to what is seen on platforms like Rotten Tomatoes.

Enhancing User Experience: Filtering and Navigation

Filtering functionalities have been custom coded to allow filtering of commanders based on the first letter of their names. This improves navigation, particularly when dealing with a large dataset of commanders.

Key Points:

• Efficient Search: Users can quickly find commanders whose names start with a particular letter.
  
• Dynamic Filtering: The feature is built into the archive page for commanders, ensuring a smooth browsing experience.
  

Rating Commanders: Transforming Comments into Ratings

The platform reimagines the standard WordPress comment section by turning it into a tailored rating system. Key functionalities include:

• Detailed Review Questions: Reviewers are prompted with questions to confirm legitimacy, ensuring they are genuine military personnel.
  
• Anonymity Option: Users can choose to remain anonymous while providing their feedback.
  
• Moderation Tools: Admins can approve, disapprove, or mark reviews as spam directly from the dashboard.
  

This functionality is built as a custom WordPress plugin to encapsulate the complexity of ratings while maintaining site performance and security.

Resource:

• WordPress Plugin Handbook
  A helpful guide if you need to extend or customize your plugin functionality.
  

Adding New Commanders: Front-End Submission with ACF Forms

The platform is designed to be interactive. Users have the ability to add new commander profiles via a front-end form powered by ACF Forms. This feature ensures that the database remains current and reflective of the evolving military landscape.

Highlights:

• User-Generated Content: Allows for community contribution while maintaining quality control.
  
• Flexible Assignment: New commanders can be assigned to existing branches, units, or ranks; users can even create new taxonomy entries when necessary.
  

Resource:

• ACF Forms Documentation
  Leverage ACF Forms to allow smooth front-end submissions.
  

Leaderboard: Ranking Commanders Based on Reviews

To create a competitive and transparent ranking system, custom code calculates points from user reviews. A dynamic leaderboard displays commanders ordered by their performance scores, providing a quick glance at the best and worst performing leaders.

Key Details:

• Custom Code Implementation: Leaderboard generation is fully custom coded.
  
• Point-Based System: Reviews contribute points that determine the ranking of each commander.
  

Badges: Recognizing Leadership Excellence and Warning Signs

In addition to ratings, commanders receive badges based on their review scores:

• Certified Great Leader: Awarded to high-performing commanders.
  
• Toxic Leader Alert: Identifies commanders with consistently low ratings.
  

This badge system is achieved through custom coding and provides an instant visual cue regarding leadership quality.

Contact and Updates: Keeping the Platform Current

To maintain the accuracy of commander profiles, a Contact Form is integrated using the Contact Form 7 plugin. This allows users to submit information about updates or corrections regarding commander data.

Features:

• User-Driven Updates: Encourages community participation in keeping commander profiles accurate.
  
• Easy Integration: Contact Form 7 is well-supported and customizable.
  

Conclusion

Commander Rating represents a forward-thinking approach to evaluating military leadership with transparency, integrity, and constructive feedback. By leveraging WordPress’s extensibility, advanced plugins like ACF Pro and Contact Form 7, and custom code for filtering, rating, and ranking, this platform provides a professional environment for military personnel to share their experiences.

Whether you are a developer looking to implement similar functionality or a military professional interested in a fresh perspective on leadership evaluation, this platform sets a robust foundation for future enhancements and community engagement.

Additional Resources

• WordPress Documentation: WordPress Developer Resources
  
• ACF Pro Tutorials: Advanced Custom Fields Blog
  
• Community Support: WordPress.org Forums