In this article
A poll replaces the twenty messages it takes a group to agree on anything. Up to ten options, live counts, and a result everyone can see without scrolling back.
Three switches decide what kind of poll it is, and two of them cannot be changed after you post. Getting those right beforehand is most of what there is to learn.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Post a poll in a group or channel and read the result correctly.
- check_circle Choose between one answer and several, for the question you are actually asking.
- check_circle Decide about anonymity knowing it is permanent for that poll.
- check_circle Use forwarding to collect votes from several places into one tally.
The three switches sit under the options list, and two of them are permanent once the poll is sent.
checklist The three switches
Anonymous voting is on by default and decides whether anyone can see who chose what. Multiple answers lets a voter pick several options rather than one. Quiz mode turns the poll into a question with a correct answer and disables multiple answers.
Anonymity and quiz mode are fixed once the poll is posted. Multiple answers is fixed too. In other words, all three are decisions rather than settings — there is no editing a poll into a different kind of poll after the first vote.
Everything else is flexible. You can stop a poll at any time, which freezes the result and shows it as final, and you can delete it like any other message.
Which poll are you actually running
Four common questions and four different sets of switches. The mismatch between them is why most polls produce an answer nobody can act on.
| Set it like this | What you get back | The usual mistake | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Which evenings work for you" | Multiple answers on, anonymity off | A list of who can make which evening — the only shape of this answer anybody can book a table from | Single choice, which produces a winning evening that half the group cannot attend |
| "Which of these should we do" | Single choice, anonymous | A decision, taken without anyone's vote being visible to whoever spoke loudest just before it | Ten options, splitting the group into ten small minorities that settle nothing |
| "What do you think of this" | Anonymous, always | What people think rather than what they will say in front of the room; in a channel, the only interaction most subscribers ever have | Leaving names on, which quietly turns an opinion poll into a loyalty test |
| "Who is coming" | Anonymity off, single choice, two options | Names. Tapping the count shows who voted for what, and that list is the output — the bar chart is decoration | Reading the totals as attendance. Anybody who never voted is invisible either way; a poll counts answers, not members |
The question to ask before posting: do I need a number, or do I need a list of names?
settings Posting one
- Open the composer The paperclip in a group or channel, then Poll.
- Write the question Specific enough that the options are exhaustive. Vague questions get vague results.
- Add up to ten options Fewer is better. Include the obvious escape option — none of these, or not sure — or people simply do not vote.
- Set the three switches Anonymity, multiple answers, quiz mode. Permanent, so decide now.
- Send and pin it In a group with any traffic, an unpinned poll is missed by most of the people you asked.
- Stop it when you are done The menu on the message. Stopping freezes the result, which is the honest way to close a vote.
This page is the one-message way to ask a community something. The curriculum step is the larger version: linking a channel to a discussion group, where conversation happens, and how to get responses from an audience that mostly reads.
At a glance
- 1Create a poll
Ask a question and read the result in total votes, not just percentages.
- 2One or several answers
Allow multiple answers when choices overlap.
- 3Anonymity is permanent
Choose public or anonymous voting before sending.
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