# "REAL" polls **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 25, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147 "2007-07-25T21:10:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147/21 "2007-07-27T17:50:07Z")
[QUOTE=TubaDiva] Polls take moderator oversight to set up and run. [/QUOTE] Nah. You just check a box that you want to do a poll and then fill out a form (html form). No need for a mod. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147/22 "2007-07-27T17:59:23Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] You’re assuming the extra icon was the only overhead for that feature. [/QUOTE] Obviously, I assumed the opposite — hence the suggestion of something else, like a bug, being coincidentally introduced. > [@](#): > > This is not a post hoc ergo propter hoc, this is a classic controlled experiment. _Cum_ hoc. But — again — if there was a problem, it had nothing to do with the miniscule size of the gifs, but rather with something that locked down MySQL or executed runaway code. Consider the “classic controlled experiment” of the man who mixed water with whiskey and got drunk. Then, he mixed water with gin and got drunk. Finally, he mixed water with vodka and got drunk. The man concluded that since water was the common ingredient in each case, it was the water that made him drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147/23 "2007-07-27T18:59:17Z")
> [@](#): > > But — again — if there was a problem, it had nothing to do with the miniscule size of the gifs, but rather with something that locked down MySQL or executed runaway code. The point is that _any_ new feature could, in principle, include such a bug or pessimal implimentation. So there’s a reluctance to introduce any new feature, until and unless it’s determined it won’t kill the hampsters. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147/24 "2007-07-27T19:37:23Z")
I agree with that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147/25 "2007-07-27T19:37:28Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Nah. You just check a box that you want to do a poll and then fill out a form (html form). No need for a mod. [/QUOTE] Like you fill in a HTML form to make a post? They still need Mods right? I think Tuba’s point is that it’s one more thing for the Mods to watch, discuss, draw up a set of rules on and finally Moderate. I’m sure it could be argued “What’s the difference between that and what they do now?” and that would be a fair question. I’m not a mod so I can’t answer it. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147/26 "2007-07-27T19:41:47Z")
Does the VB polling feature keep track of which users have posted to a particular poll, so that a particular user cannot bury the poll with multiple votes? If so, I would imagine that there could be significant overhead in looking up the list of voting users each time the poll is accessed. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147/27 "2007-07-27T19:59:01Z")
[QUOTE=Billdo] Does the VB polling feature keep track of which users have posted to a particular poll [/QUOTE] The ones I’ve seen do. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147/28 "2007-07-27T20:53:50Z")
[QUOTE=essell] I think Tuba’s point is that it’s one more thing for the Mods to watch, discuss, draw up a set of rules on and finally Moderate. [/QUOTE] I suppose. Although historically, they’ve insisted that that is specifically what they _don’t_ try to do. They prefer the vagaries of “Don’t be a jerk” to a list of things you can and can’t do. And I agree. A single guiding principle is always superior to a labyrinth of (often conflicting) regulations. But as to the substance — that which they would moderate — the only difference between real polls and what we do now is the format of it. What I see most people do is post an OP in such a manner that others may conveniently copy, paste, revise, and submit. And then usually they will manually tabulate either on the fly or when everyone has posted. The real poll does this for you automatically, making it easy for participants to select their answers. It tabulates them for you, usually giving totals and percentages. And it displays the results with formatted rows and columns with headers. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147/29 "2007-07-28T05:45:32Z")
[QUOTE=Billdo] Does the VB polling feature keep track of which users have posted to a particular poll, so that a particular user cannot bury the poll with multiple votes? If so, I would imagine that there could be significant overhead in looking up the list of voting users each time the poll is accessed. [/QUOTE] I personally would imagine that it would be very minor overhead and only required when someone actually tried to vote. All you need to keep is a list of member ids of who’ve voted. Even if say 200 people had cast a vote, that’s a pretty short list for a computer to check against new voters. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147/30 "2007-07-28T16:51:33Z")
[QUOTE=Billdo] Does the VB polling feature keep track of which users have posted to a particular poll, so that a particular user cannot bury the poll with multiple votes? If so, I would imagine that there could be significant overhead in looking up the list of voting users each time the poll is accessed. [/QUOTE] Yes, it does. Not only that, but on some of the vB boards where i hang out, you can make a poll “Private” or “Public.” A Private poll’s bar graph shows only how many responses each option has received. A Public poll shows which posters checked which option. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147/31 "2007-07-28T20:20:49Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] The point is that _any_ new feature could, in principle, include such a bug or pessimal implimentation. So there’s a reluctance to introduce any new feature, until and unless it’s determined it won’t kill the hampsters. [/QUOTE] Well, maybe if they _didn’t_ spend so much time [dancing](http://www.hampsterdance.com/), we wouldn’t have these problems! The name of the rodent you’re thinking of is spelled H-A-M-S-T-E-R. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147/32 "2007-07-30T17:09:56Z")
> [@](#): > > The name of the rodent you’re thinking of is spelled H-A-M-S-T-E-R. No, that’s the name of the rodent _you_ were thinking of. The rodents I’m thinking of are purchased in bulk from hampsterdance, since they’ve already demonstrated a level of activity and stamina necessary for the operation of this board. I mean, a non-dancing-hamster would poop out after about five minutes of spinning the wheels here (as opposed to the 6 or 7 minutes hampsters with dance experience can usually manage). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-polls/413147.md?page=1)