Ratings Shorttags 1.5
Extremely simple plugin which adds a ratings shorttag ([rating=5]) for inserting book and movie ratings. This is an example of a plugin which does one thing, and does it pretty well. This plugin lets you place a rating (shown in terms of stars) in any post or page.

The rating at the end of this post is an example. Ratings Shorttag lets you change the character — for example from a star (★) to a heart (♥). You can also, change the color of the rating symbol and can change the number of possible rating stars and color/shade of background rating symbols (★★★★★). In my opinion, this is something that could and should be included in the standard WordPress editor. But it’s not. My only suggestion for a huge improvement would be to let the poster change the options on each post. Instead the aforesaid options can only be changed on a system-wide basis.

Author: Joen Asmussen
Plugin Website: http://noscope.com/n/8

My rating (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★

ColorBoxes 1.1

This plugin allows users to easily add colored information boxes to the top of any post or page. You can insert a blue, yellow, red, or green text box between the title and body of any post or page. Accepts embedded HTML code. Simple. Great way to call attention to critical information. Easy to install and easy to use.

Author: Alison Barrett
Plugin site: http://alisothegeek.com/wordpress-plugins/colorboxes/

Here’s a cool undocumented feature[1. “Undocumented, means a function or use that the author did not intend, or does not feel sufficiently confident to advertise. If you or I use an undocumented feature, things could break. Your system could lock up, or be horribly disfigured with random characters, at the next upgrade. Use at your own risk!] I discovered, which I like almost as well as the intended, documented, purpose of the plugin. That is, you can create a colored box anywhere in the text of the post or page, by using the following code.

My rating (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★

FOOTNOTE:

Click the CONTACT tab on the top of each page… Feature rating (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★