Polling has now been enabled for this forum. Thanks to Invisible Wombat for setting up this thread when polls were enabled in IMHO.
RULES FOR POLLS
We’re not really changing any rules here. We’ve always had “polling,” but you had to post a response; now, you can just vote with or without posting. The poll is a feature attached to a regular thread. You can still discuss the results using normal posts. There is no need to post to the thread in order to vote, though.
CREATING A POLL
To create a poll, just do your usual “Post New Thread” process. The OP you type will appear below the poll.
Step 1: After you’ve entered the title and typed the OP, scroll down to the “additional options” box and look for “post a poll.”
Step 2: Check the box “Yes, post a poll with this thread,” and fill in the number of options you’ll have available.
Step 3: Click “Submit New Thread” and you’ll be taken to a new screen, where you can create the poll itself.
Under “Poll question,” fill in the text you want people to see above the poll (remember, your OP will show up below the poll.)
Under “Poll options,” fill in one answer per box. If you goofed on the number of answers, go to the “number of poll options” box, change the number, and click “Update Options.”
The “Poll timeout” allows you to create polls that only stay open for a specified number of days. If you leave that option blank, the poll will stay open indefinitely.
There are two new options under “Miscellaneous options”:
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“Allow multiple choice” presents viewers with checkboxes instead of radio buttons, so they can choose more than one option. This is for the “check all that apply” polls, as opposed to the “pick the one best answer” polls.
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“Make votes public” means that everybody will be able to see how everybody else voted. This is handy when you want to make a poll like “Who wants me to send them $100”? You don’t just find out how many people said “yes,” you get to see their names so you can send them the $100 (just assume I voted yes on that poll, okay?).
VOTING IN A POLL
It’s really quite straightforward. View the thread, and you’ll see the poll at the top. Click on your choice (or choices, if “allow multiple choice” is turned on), and then click on “vote now.”
If this is a public poll, the words “Be advised that this is a public poll: other users can see the choice(s) you selected.” will appear above the poll options.
You may only vote one time. The SDMB will remember how you voted, and won’t give you a chance to do it again.
READING THE RESULTS
After you’ve voted, you’ll automatically be taken to a results screen that has the responses displayed above the OP. Note that you can see the responses without having voted yourself, just by clicking the “View Results” button.
If you’re looking at a public poll, the number of votes received by each answer will be a link. Click on the link, and you’ll get a list of which members voted for which answer.
EDITING POLLS
Once your poll is finalized, you can no longer make changes. Mods are able to edit polls just as we can edit posts; however, the same guidelines apply. Mods prefer not to interfere. Fixing minor spelling or grammar, OK. But adding or changing the options after a poll has begun would make the overall results even less meaningful. If there is a significant problem, we can either close the thread so you can start over, or make minor changes before the voting starts.
STATISTICAL DISCLAIMER
Obviously, any poll here has a limited utility. First, the sample base is driven by SDMB people. Second, the poll is voluntary, so only the sample will be further limited to those who (a) see the poll and (b) are interested and © bother to respond. Hence, as y’all know, be careful how you apply results.