Polls: Introduction

Polls are a simple way for a community to survey the member base. It can be used to gauge honest opinions by collecting anonymous votes or to assist in the organization of a group (displays which members voted for which option).

Opinion polls always take the form of a question with multiple possible answers. Members are only permitted to vote once per poll. Polls can support up to 25 answers for each question and multiple polls can be active at the same time. A poll can restrict votes to a single selection or allow multiple selections (this and other options are determined by members during the creation of the poll).

Community founders and administrators can at times place polls on the What's New Page. However, all polls can be found in the complete Polls section accessible from the left-hand navigation bar. In this section, polls are divided into four categories: Open, Voted, Closed and Future Polls.

Open Polls

Open polls are those whose date range (between start and close date) is active at the time of your visit AND still require your vote.

To cast your vote, select the radio-button or checkbox next to your selected answer. Check boxes allow you to select more than one choice. The question will indicate if there is a maximum number of choices for one vote. When you are done selecting your answer(s), press "Cast Vote".

Polls in which you have already cast a vote will appear in the Voted polls section (see below).

Voted Polls

Voted polls are those whose date range (between start and close date) is active at the time of your visit AND have already been voted on by you.

If configured by the poll creator, the poll results will be shown immediately. Some polls will only display the results after the closing date (the closing date is displayed to the right of the poll's answers).

Polls that have collected the voter's identity will be marked in red as "Not Anonymous". After completing such a poll, you will be shown the names of members who previously participated in the poll.  While visiting the Voted poll section, click the poll question to view its details.

Closed Polls

A poll that has a closing date that has passed will appear in the Closed section. Only in this area will all poll results and final tallies be shown.

For polls that have collected the voter's identity, select "More Results" to view the names of members who participated in the poll.

Future Polls

Future polls are those that have not yet become active. The start and close date of the poll will be indicated.