Are there any best practices to follow when implementing a star rating system in PHP?

When implementing a star rating system in PHP, it is important to validate user input to ensure that only valid ratings (usually between 1 and 5) are accepted. Additionally, consider using a database to store and retrieve ratings for each item or entity being rated. Finally, display the average rating for each item to provide users with a quick overview of its popularity.

// Validate user input for star rating
$rating = $_POST['rating'];
if ($rating < 1 || $rating > 5) {
    echo "Invalid rating. Please select a rating between 1 and 5.";
    exit;
}

// Store rating in database
$item_id = 123; // Example item ID
$user_id = 456; // Example user ID
// Insert rating into database table
// Update average rating for the item in the database

// Retrieve average rating for the item
$query = "SELECT AVG(rating) AS avg_rating FROM ratings WHERE item_id = :item_id";
// Execute query and display average rating