Issue with star rating css

Question

I want to implement star rating I'm working on the following star rating code. It is working but the issue is if I have given 1 rating then I cannot deselect that one star that I have previously selected. It is happening only on the first star, because it doesn't have any star attached to it so that user can select it to deselect the previously selected star.

@import url(//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/3.2.1/css/font-awesome.css);
fieldset,
label {
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

body {
  margin: 20px;
}

h1 {
  font-size: 1.5em;
  margin: 10px;
}


/****** Style Star Rating Widget *****/

.rating {
  border: none;
  float: left;
}

.rating>input {
  display: none;
}

.rating>label:before {
  margin: 5px;
  font-size: 1.25em;
  font-family: FontAwesome;
  display: inline-block;
  content: "\f005";
}

.rating>.half:before {
  content: "\f089";
  position: absolute;
}

.rating>label {
  color: #ddd;
  float: right;
}


/***** CSS Magic to Highlight Stars on Hover *****/

.rating>input:checked~label,

/* show gold star when clicked */

.rating:not(:checked)>label:hover,

/* hover current star */

.rating:not(:checked)>label:hover~label {
  color: #FFD700;
}


/* hover previous stars in list */

.rating>input:checked+label:hover,

/* hover current star when changing rating */

.rating>input:checked~label:hover,
.rating>label:hover~input:checked~label,

/* lighten current selection */

.rating>input:checked~label:hover~label {
  color: #FFED85;
}

<fieldset class="rating">
  <input type="radio" id="star5" name="rating" value="5" /><label class="full" for="star5" title="Awesome - 5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star4half" name="rating" value="4 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star4half" title="Pretty good - 4.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star4" name="rating" value="4" /><label class="full" for="star4" title="Pretty good - 4 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star3half" name="rating" value="3 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star3half" title="Meh - 3.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star3" name="rating" value="3" /><label class="full" for="star3" title="Meh - 3 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star2half" name="rating" value="2 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star2half" title="Kinda bad - 2.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star2" name="rating" value="2" /><label class="full" for="star2" title="Kinda bad - 2 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star1half" name="rating" value="1 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star1half" title="Meh - 1.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star1" name="rating" value="1" /><label class="full" for="star1" title="Sucks big time - 1 star"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="starhalf" name="rating" value="half" /><label class="half" for="starhalf" title="Sucks big time - 0.5 stars"></label>
</fieldset>

Answer 1

If you have a series of visible radio buttons and you want to uncheck all of them, you must have another radio button (visible or invisible) which you can check instead.

This enables the check-focus to move off whichever visible radio button was checked previously.

In the example below I have added an invisible radio option (called .reset-option) and a <button> (called .reset-button) which, when clicked, moves the check-focus from whichever radio button is currently checked to the invisible radio option.

Working Example:

const resetOption = document.getElementsByClassName('reset-option')[0];
const resetButton = document.getElementsByClassName('reset-button')[0];

const resetRating = () => resetOption.checked = true;

resetButton.addEventListener('click', resetRating, false);

@import url(//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/3.2.1/css/font-awesome.css);

fieldset, label { margin: 0; padding: 0; }
body{ margin: 20px; }
h1 { font-size: 1.5em; margin: 10px; }

/****** Style Star Rating Widget *****/

.rating { 
  border: none;
  float: left;
}

.rating > [id^="star"] { display: none; } 
.rating > label:before { 
  margin: 5px;
  font-size: 1.25em;
  font-family: FontAwesome;
  display: inline-block;
  content: "\f005";
}

.rating > .half:before { 
  content: "\f089";
  position: absolute;
}

.rating > label { 
  color: #ddd; 
 float: right; 
}

/***** CSS Magic to Highlight Stars on Hover *****/

.rating > [id^="star"]:checked ~ label, /* show gold star when clicked */
.rating:not(:checked) > label:hover, /* hover current star */
.rating:not(:checked) > label:hover ~ label { color: #FFD700;  } /* hover previous stars in list */

.rating > [id^="star"]:checked + label:hover, /* hover current star when changing rating */
.rating > [id^="star"]:checked ~ label:hover,
.rating > label:hover ~ [id^="star"]:checked ~ label, /* lighten current selection */
.rating > [id^="star"]:checked ~ label:hover ~ label { color: #FFED85;  }

.reset-option {
display: none;
}

.reset-button {
margin: 6px 12px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);
text-transform: uppercase;
}

<fieldset class="rating">
    <input type="radio" id="star5" name="rating" value="5" /><label class = "full" for="star5" title="Awesome - 5 stars"></label>
    <input type="radio" id="star4half" name="rating" value="4 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star4half" title="Pretty good - 4.5 stars"></label>
    <input type="radio" id="star4" name="rating" value="4" /><label class = "full" for="star4" title="Pretty good - 4 stars"></label>
    <input type="radio" id="star3half" name="rating" value="3 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star3half" title="Meh - 3.5 stars"></label>
    <input type="radio" id="star3" name="rating" value="3" /><label class = "full" for="star3" title="Meh - 3 stars"></label>
    <input type="radio" id="star2half" name="rating" value="2 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star2half" title="Kinda bad - 2.5 stars"></label>
    <input type="radio" id="star2" name="rating" value="2" /><label class = "full" for="star2" title="Kinda bad - 2 stars"></label>
    <input type="radio" id="star1half" name="rating" value="1 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star1half" title="Meh - 1.5 stars"></label>
    <input type="radio" id="star1" name="rating" value="1" /><label class = "full" for="star1" title="Sucks big time - 1 star"></label>
    <input type="radio" id="starhalf" name="rating" value="half" /><label class="half" for="starhalf" title="Sucks big time - 0.5 stars"></label>
    <input type="radio" class="reset-option" name="rating" value="reset" />
</fieldset>

<button type="button" class="reset-button">Reset</button>

Answer 2

Edit: An even better solution suggested by @ElChiniNet:

const allStarLabels = document.querySelectorAll('.rating label');

allStarLabels.forEach(thisLabel =>
    thisLabel.addEventListener('click', e => {
        e.preventDefault();
        let radioElement = e.target.previousElementSibling;
        radioElement.checked = !radioElement.checked;
    })
)

const allStarLabels = document.querySelectorAll('.rating label');

allStarLabels.forEach(thisLabel =>
    thisLabel.addEventListener('click', e => {
    		e.preventDefault();
        let radioElement = e.target.previousElementSibling;
        radioElement.checked = !radioElement.checked;
    })
)

@import url(//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/3.2.1/css/font-awesome.css);
fieldset,
label {
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

body {
  margin: 20px;
}

h1 {
  font-size: 1.5em;
  margin: 10px;
}


/****** Style Star Rating Widget *****/

.rating {
  border: none;
  float: left;
}

.rating>input {
  display: none;
}

.rating>label:before {
  margin: 5px;
  font-size: 1.25em;
  font-family: FontAwesome;
  display: inline-block;
  content: "\f005";
}

.rating>.half:before {
  content: "\f089";
  position: absolute;
}

.rating>label {
  color: #ddd;
  float: right;
}


/***** CSS Magic to Highlight Stars on Hover *****/

.rating>input:checked~label,

/* show gold star when clicked */

.rating:not(:checked)>label:hover,

/* hover current star */

.rating:not(:checked)>label:hover~label {
  color: #FFD700;
}


/* hover previous stars in list */

.rating>input:checked+label:hover,

/* hover current star when changing rating */

.rating>input:checked~label:hover,
.rating>label:hover~input:checked~label,

/* lighten current selection */

.rating>input:checked~label:hover~label {
  color: #FFED85;
}

<fieldset class="rating">
  <input type="radio" id="star5" name="rating" value="5" /><label class="full" for="star5" title="Awesome - 5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star4half" name="rating" value="4 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star4half" title="Pretty good - 4.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star4" name="rating" value="4" /><label class="full" for="star4" title="Pretty good - 4 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star3half" name="rating" value="3 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star3half" title="Meh - 3.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star3" name="rating" value="3" /><label class="full" for="star3" title="Meh - 3 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star2half" name="rating" value="2 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star2half" title="Kinda bad - 2.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star2" name="rating" value="2" /><label class="full" for="star2" title="Kinda bad - 2 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star1half" name="rating" value="1 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star1half" title="Meh - 1.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star1" name="rating" value="1" /><label class="full" for="star1" title="Sucks big time - 1 star"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="starhalf" name="rating" value="half" /><label class="half" for="starhalf" title="Sucks big time - 0.5 stars"></label>
</fieldset>

---

My original suggestion:

This can be done using a bit of javascript. Listen to events on each <label> (the visual part of the stars). If the corresponding <input type="radio"> is already checked when a <label> is clicked, the radio will be deselected.

// Get all the <label> elements
const allStarLabels = document.querySelectorAll('.rating label');

// Prepare a function to reset the radio
const resetRadio = radioElement => {
    // Has to be done inside a timeout to make sure the click event has finished
    setTimeout(() => {
        radioElement.checked = false;
    }, 5);
}

// Add an event listener to each label
allStarLabels.forEach(thisLabel =>
    thisLabel.addEventListener('click', e => {
    // Get the corresponding input[type=radio] element
    let radioElement = thisLabel.previousElementSibling;
    if(radioElement.checked) {
        resetRadio(radioElement);
        }
    })
)

See the full version here:

const allStarLabels = document.querySelectorAll('.rating label');

const resetRadio = radioElement => {
    setTimeout(() => {
        radioElement.checked = false;
    }, 5);
}

allStarLabels.forEach(thisLabel =>
    thisLabel.addEventListener('click', e => {
        let radioElement = e.target.previousElementSibling;
        if(radioElement.checked) {
    	    resetRadio(radioElement);
        }
    })
)

@import url(//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/3.2.1/css/font-awesome.css);
fieldset,
label {
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

body {
  margin: 20px;
}

h1 {
  font-size: 1.5em;
  margin: 10px;
}


/****** Style Star Rating Widget *****/

.rating {
  border: none;
  float: left;
}

.rating>input {
  display: none;
}

.rating>label:before {
  margin: 5px;
  font-size: 1.25em;
  font-family: FontAwesome;
  display: inline-block;
  content: "\f005";
}

.rating>.half:before {
  content: "\f089";
  position: absolute;
}

.rating>label {
  color: #ddd;
  float: right;
}


/***** CSS Magic to Highlight Stars on Hover *****/

.rating>input:checked~label,

/* show gold star when clicked */

.rating:not(:checked)>label:hover,

/* hover current star */

.rating:not(:checked)>label:hover~label {
  color: #FFD700;
}


/* hover previous stars in list */

.rating>input:checked+label:hover,

/* hover current star when changing rating */

.rating>input:checked~label:hover,
.rating>label:hover~input:checked~label,

/* lighten current selection */

.rating>input:checked~label:hover~label {
  color: #FFED85;
}

<fieldset class="rating">
  <input type="radio" id="star5" name="rating" value="5" /><label class="full" for="star5" title="Awesome - 5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star4half" name="rating" value="4 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star4half" title="Pretty good - 4.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star4" name="rating" value="4" /><label class="full" for="star4" title="Pretty good - 4 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star3half" name="rating" value="3 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star3half" title="Meh - 3.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star3" name="rating" value="3" /><label class="full" for="star3" title="Meh - 3 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star2half" name="rating" value="2 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star2half" title="Kinda bad - 2.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star2" name="rating" value="2" /><label class="full" for="star2" title="Kinda bad - 2 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star1half" name="rating" value="1 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star1half" title="Meh - 1.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star1" name="rating" value="1" /><label class="full" for="star1" title="Sucks big time - 1 star"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="starhalf" name="rating" value="half" /><label class="half" for="starhalf" title="Sucks big time - 0.5 stars"></label>
</fieldset>

Answer 3

Note: Both solutions that I'm giving here are not good solutions in terms of UX (There is no way to know in advance what one should do to unselect all the stars). If you want to follow a UX-friendly solution, @Rounin's answer is the correct way to go.

Adding a small piece of javaScript you can add an event to the first half input and check it or uncheck it after clicking on it depending on its previous value:

const label = document.querySelector('[for="starhalf"]');
const input = document.getElementById('starhalf');

label.addEventListener('click', (evt) => {
  evt.preventDefault();
  input.checked = !input.checked;
});

@import url(//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/3.2.1/css/font-awesome.css);
fieldset,
label {
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

body {
  margin: 20px;
}

h1 {
  font-size: 1.5em;
  margin: 10px;
}


/****** Style Star Rating Widget *****/

.rating {
  border: none;
  float: left;
}

.rating>input {
  display: none;
}

.rating>label:before {
  margin: 5px;
  font-size: 1.25em;
  font-family: FontAwesome;
  display: inline-block;
  content: "\f005";
}

.rating>.half:before {
  content: "\f089";
  position: absolute;
}

.rating>label {
  color: #ddd;
  float: right;
}


/***** CSS Magic to Highlight Stars on Hover *****/

.rating>input:checked~label,

/* show gold star when clicked */

.rating:not(:checked)>label:hover,

/* hover current star */

.rating:not(:checked)>label:hover~label {
  color: #FFD700;
}


/* hover previous stars in list */

.rating>input:checked+label:hover,

/* hover current star when changing rating */

.rating>input:checked~label:hover,
.rating>label:hover~input:checked~label,

/* lighten current selection */

.rating>input:checked~label:hover~label {
  color: #FFED85;
}

<fieldset class="rating">
  <input type="radio" id="star5" name="rating" value="5" /><label class="full" for="star5" title="Awesome - 5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star4half" name="rating" value="4 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star4half" title="Pretty good - 4.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star4" name="rating" value="4" /><label class="full" for="star4" title="Pretty good - 4 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star3half" name="rating" value="3 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star3half" title="Meh - 3.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star3" name="rating" value="3" /><label class="full" for="star3" title="Meh - 3 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star2half" name="rating" value="2 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star2half" title="Kinda bad - 2.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star2" name="rating" value="2" /><label class="full" for="star2" title="Kinda bad - 2 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star1half" name="rating" value="1 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star1half" title="Meh - 1.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star1" name="rating" value="1" /><label class="full" for="star1" title="Sucks big time - 1 star"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="starhalf" name="rating" value="half" /><label class="half" for="starhalf" title="Sucks big time - 0.5 stars"></label>
</fieldset>

Edit: Reading your comment I understand that you want to deselect the first half-start if it is selected when the user clicks outside the stars (I didn't get this from your question). This is an alternative code to achieve that:

const fieldset = document.querySelector('fieldset.rating');
const halfstar = fieldset.querySelector('#starhalf');

document.addEventListener('click', (evt) => {
  const element = evt.target;
  if((!element.parentNode || element.parentNode !== fieldset) && halfstar.checked) {
    halfstar.checked = false;
  }
});

@import url(//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/3.2.1/css/font-awesome.css);
fieldset,
label {
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

body {
  margin: 20px;
}

h1 {
  font-size: 1.5em;
  margin: 10px;
}


/****** Style Star Rating Widget *****/

.rating {
  border: none;
  float: left;
}

.rating>input {
  display: none;
}

.rating>label:before {
  margin: 5px;
  font-size: 1.25em;
  font-family: FontAwesome;
  display: inline-block;
  content: "\f005";
}

.rating>.half:before {
  content: "\f089";
  position: absolute;
}

.rating>label {
  color: #ddd;
  float: right;
}


/***** CSS Magic to Highlight Stars on Hover *****/

.rating>input:checked~label,

/* show gold star when clicked */

.rating:not(:checked)>label:hover,

/* hover current star */

.rating:not(:checked)>label:hover~label {
  color: #FFD700;
}


/* hover previous stars in list */

.rating>input:checked+label:hover,

/* hover current star when changing rating */

.rating>input:checked~label:hover,
.rating>label:hover~input:checked~label,

/* lighten current selection */

.rating>input:checked~label:hover~label {
  color: #FFED85;
}

<fieldset class="rating">
  <input type="radio" id="star5" name="rating" value="5" /><label class="full" for="star5" title="Awesome - 5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star4half" name="rating" value="4 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star4half" title="Pretty good - 4.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star4" name="rating" value="4" /><label class="full" for="star4" title="Pretty good - 4 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star3half" name="rating" value="3 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star3half" title="Meh - 3.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star3" name="rating" value="3" /><label class="full" for="star3" title="Meh - 3 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star2half" name="rating" value="2 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star2half" title="Kinda bad - 2.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star2" name="rating" value="2" /><label class="full" for="star2" title="Kinda bad - 2 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star1half" name="rating" value="1 and a half" /><label class="half" for="star1half" title="Meh - 1.5 stars"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="star1" name="rating" value="1" /><label class="full" for="star1" title="Sucks big time - 1 star"></label>
  <input type="radio" id="starhalf" name="rating" value="half" /><label class="half" for="starhalf" title="Sucks big time - 0.5 stars"></label>
</fieldset>