# Discourse losing poll results
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624
**Category:** Site Feedback
**Created:** [July 5, 2023, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624 "2023-07-05T05:33:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2023, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/1 "2023-07-05T05:33:26Z")
I posted a poll in the [Poll only, no discussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polls-only-no-discussion) titled [Craft I’ve piloted](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polls-only-no-discussion/953642/3171), April 22, 2023
It included a bunch of likely and unlikely things someone might have piloted/ridden/driven. The top choice was a **bicycle** , which was piloted by 96% of respondents. I remember this specifically because I was surprised that 4% of the board had never ridden a bicycle. Weird.
Today that number of non-bicyclers is 99%. Only 1% of respondents have ridden a bicycle. This is bullshit: Discourse lost the poll results. What’s going on?
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### Author:  [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2023, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/2 "2023-07-05T07:12:41Z")
To add more specifics, it’s telling me that the only response I entered in that poll was “rowboat”, but I know I also entered “bicycle” and “kite”.
And 2 of my answers in another poll, Which languages do you speak fluently? are gone. It’s telling me that I responded with just French, but I know that I also answered English and Spanish. [Polls only: No discussion - #3173 by markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polls-only-no-discussion/953642/3173)
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### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2023, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/3 "2023-07-05T08:49:04Z")
> ****
>
> **Stop the steal !**
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### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2023, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/4 "2023-07-05T14:32:52Z")
It’s telling me in the “Craft I’ve Piloted” poll that the only thing I voted for is RV. I know I voted for half a dozen or more things in that poll.
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### Author:  [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2023, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/5 "2023-07-05T23:54:13Z")
Yeah, something went sideways with the polls. The recent monthly photo competition thread set-up by @TwoCarrotSnowman got messed-up and left us all scratching our heads. The poll is to vote for your favorite submitted photos, and you can pick three, but somewhere last week it seems everyone who voted got two of their votes deleted, so we tried to re-vote.
It was sorta odd that TwoCarrotSnowman was in the lead after the poll was messed-up. Nah, can’t be. Can it? 😀
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### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/6 "2023-11-26T20:52:35Z")
So now poll results default to public. Started a day or two ago. Easily fixed if you know to so, but lots of people won’t know.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2023, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/7 "2023-12-01T03:37:34Z")
That’ll be the end of most of my poll participation, sadly.
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### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2023, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/8 "2023-12-01T03:55:32Z")
Well, it’s kind of an education process: the poll writer can easily make the poll private if they know to do so. It’s like _right there_ when you create a poll, but a lot of folk won’t notice.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2023, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/9 "2023-12-01T03:59:43Z")
True.
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### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2023, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/10 "2023-12-01T04:02:13Z")
I just wish it was obvious before voting that the poll is public. But it’s ez to remove a vote.
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### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2023, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/11 "2023-12-01T11:50:30Z")
Apparently this was changed because people were asking for it on the Discourse
website, saying that most of their members want public polls as default (Weirdos !)
It seems there is a theme component which would allow this to be changed
(available from [here](https://meta.discourse.org/t/poll-defaults/268399))
I clicked on the “Install this theme component” button - and it asked for the
domain name of my Discourse site !
I did not continue just in case it let me do it !!!
But it looks like it could be changed. How do we petition the PTB ?
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### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2023, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/12 "2023-12-01T12:28:59Z")
… on further investigation, it appears that that theme component may
be obsolete. I’ve asked them how to set the default to private.
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### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/13 "2023-12-01T23:50:33Z")
And answer came there as follows :-
> To change the default back to private, forum administrators can toggle the ‘poll default public’ site setting.
Piece of cake.
🥮
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### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2023, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/14 "2023-12-01T23:53:45Z")
🎉 Awesome! 🎉
Thanks so much!
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### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/15 "2023-12-02T00:03:41Z")
Now we just need to find a forum administrator … !
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### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2023, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/16 "2023-12-02T00:15:54Z")
Shit, I think that’s just Lil’ Ed. 😕
@engineer_comp_geek is there (or are you) an admin that can make this change that @pjd identified?
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/17 "2023-12-02T20:13:35Z")
Try it now and tell me if it is fixed.
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### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/18 "2023-12-02T20:42:36Z")
_Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/18))_
🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉
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### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/19 "2023-12-02T20:43:11Z")
It worked! Thank you so much!
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2023, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discourse-losing-poll-results/986624/20 "2023-12-02T23:46:07Z")
Thank you!