Together HowTo: polling in together

asked 2014-01-18 15:12:47 +0300

This post is a wiki. Anyone with karma >75 is welcome to improve it.

updated 2014-02-13 01:28:38 +0300

jgr
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There are multiple attempts from users to create polls on together. It somehow defies the initial purpose of single questions being answered and/or commented where users vote up/down to signify the relevancy. Should we accommodate a more classic polling feature module in Askbot where karma has no effect? Is there really a need for polling or do we just lack proper guidance?

Let's discuss and find ways to clarify/improve...

Comments

Great to have this conversation. IMO, we should be able to make polls in e.g. situations where an idea includes several alternative features and each could be voted as separate - leading the final solution to include at least the most voted features. Another need for poll-type-questions might be a simple yes/no polling (people voting on two answers, and vote the question itself just for the importance of the issue). About karma, personally I have no need for any :) Is there any chance to just exclude karma calculation totally from certain questions/answers?

simo ( 2014-01-18 15:20:49 +0300 )

@simo: IMHO, in order to properly offer a yes/no polling solution we'd actually need a separate module where karma calculation is completely ignored. I think it's important to keep in mind we intend to have a broken down structure per feature so we can track/plan and eventually implement no matter if it belongs to a broader set. If we look at a specific application, we'd typically add the relevant tag which allows to view all the features under it, in priority order based on votes, all nicely listed (30 items per page)...

eric ( 2014-01-18 15:29:25 +0300 )

There is really need for some proper polling system in Together. As there will be many different solutions available to solve things, people must have an opportunity to say which solution they prefer most. Also agree on that karma should be ignored since it's not that important.

TimTTK ( 2014-01-18 15:56:03 +0300 )

the question is what you want... one question per feature turns out to be source of duplicating as someone who does not understand one question properly or does not see fit to his, fires up a new question which gets closed for duplication or will have the same outcome.

chemist ( 2014-01-18 15:58:55 +0300 )

Here's a suggestion about tagging questions that include polling. Should there be a tag like "Poll" used when question includes polling or should the "Poll" rather be used in front of the question like "Poll: (your question)" This would make it easier to spot question that include polling.

TimTTK ( 2014-01-18 17:10:14 +0300 )

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5 Answers

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answered 2014-01-18 16:11:01 +0300

This post is a wiki. Anyone with karma >75 is welcome to improve it.

updated 2015-02-06 14:46:54 +0300

simo

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http://reviewjolla.blogsp...

When creating a poll, please do the following:

Always check that the question as well as all the answers are ticked with community wiki (checkbox on the right side of the Post Your ... button).
If another user creates additional answer omitting the community wiki type, please adjust.
Limit the amount of possible selections to maximise efficiency and they appear on a single page. (from 2 to 6 is a good range)
Remember to use the poll tag so your contribution is easily found on together.
Remember to stick with a single topic, application, idea ;)
EDIT: Please don't vote down any answers in polls. If missing, add an opposite answer to vote up instead.

Please note that community wiki type questions or answers are not affecting karma points when voted.

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Comments

@simo: Well done! You just demonstrated how to organise sane polls on together :) Congratulations and thank you! So as long as the answers are also marked as community wiki, your proposal seems to work nicely... Now, we should actually see if the same applies (no karma affected) when converting from originally non community wiki marked question/answer...

eric ( 2014-01-18 16:25:12 +0300 )

so wiki answers give no more karma? that is actually a good solution. will do wiki answers then on those multi-questions... does downvoting anything?

chemist ( 2014-01-18 16:30:08 +0300 )

@eric Tested to work - question originally my own was changed as wiki type, voted once and I didn't receive any karma from that. Everything seems to be fine. That test question is already removed. Ok to change this to a list of wiki answers now?

simo ( 2014-01-18 17:03:13 +0300 )

@chemist: answers have to be community wiki marked as well (or moderators can change later). Downvoting doesn't affect karma either for the answer originator nor for the voter. So all in all, it seems this option actually works decently well when the amount of answers to vote upon remains limited (we should try to avoid multiple pages)...

eric ( 2014-01-19 16:45:46 +0300 )

I find it a bit problematic that comments can be added under different available polling options when each option is considered as a separate answer. If many comments are posted under same option, poll gets confusing. It would be better if comments could be temporarily disabled under poll options.

TimTTK ( 2014-01-20 18:11:44 +0300 )

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answered 2014-01-18 16:06:59 +0300

This post is a wiki. Anyone with karma >75 is welcome to improve it.

updated 2014-01-18 17:04:02 +0300

simo

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http://reviewjolla.blogsp...

Poll-option:

YES, Karma points should be kept in use, as they fullfill at least one of the following purposes:

they encourage some users to write better questions / answers
they are useful as they tell about the activity of other users
they are just nice/fun to have as a part of this portal

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answered 2014-01-18 16:56:55 +0300

This post is a wiki. Anyone with karma >75 is welcome to improve it.

updated 2014-01-19 17:10:39 +0300

eric

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https://twitter.com/erkki...

Poll-option:

NO, Karma points shouldn't be given at all, as they reduce the usability of this portal e.g. in one of these ways:

they enable Karma harvesting in poll-type questions (several answers to vote, added by the same person)
they make some users to concentrate on gathering karma, instead of working for our common goals
they just doesn't have any importance among us

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Comments

While the general idea works, I see one problem: You can't see all the options (in the form of answers) grouped together. As comments are added to options, options lower down the list slide down off the screen, and are less likely to be seen and voted for (basic human nature).

FlyingSheep ( 2014-01-18 18:44:21 +0300 )

@FlyingSheep Surely a list of answers can be added to the question part, mentioning there that all these answers can be voted below

simo ( 2014-01-18 18:49:16 +0300 )

@simo, yes listing the polling options in the original question should work well. Likewise it would be wise to explain "how to poll" in the original question.

FlyingSheep ( 2014-01-18 19:09:48 +0300 )

@simo: IMHO, we need to limit the amount of selection in the poll so it sticks on 1 page only, else, it may defeats the purpose as it's cumbersome to see all entries and vote on them. https://together.jolla.com/question/6946/ demonstrates clearly this pitfall. So polling should remain contained to poll items only Do you want xxx? YES/NO or choose between 5 items max.

eric ( 2014-01-19 14:36:47 +0300 )

@eric If limited, I suggest that 8 would be the max. We could also see if there's any negative feedback coming from too many poll options in the question which started this discussion. There are now 21 poll options, and 20 of them have already been voted at least twice. One has "droppen behind" our discussion there, which (imo) could be removed as off-topic or copied here, if needed at all.

simo ( 2014-01-19 17:50:36 +0300 )

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answered 2014-11-25 01:25:39 +0300

This post is a wiki. Anyone with karma >75 is welcome to improve it.

updated 2014-11-25 08:54:10 +0300

eric

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https://twitter.com/erkki...

Why does the question have to be a wiki? It seems to me it is better to reward useful polls and punish useless ones.

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Comments

@pulsar: exactly to get away from this logic of rewarding and punishing as it's fairly easy to get high amount of votes with polls, particularly when you already set the selection of answers one can cast a vote on. It's a fair practice to avoid harvesting karma with polls and our Community has agreed on this...

eric ( 2014-11-25 08:53:56 +0300 )

I understand the answers have to be a wiki, I was asking about the question itself.

pulsar ( 2014-11-25 09:58:13 +0300 )

@pulsar: all equals... That's what was decided and put in practice.

eric ( 2014-11-25 10:03:51 +0300 )

I see, not giving more value to an obvious good question than to an original answer added by someone else. Thanks.

pulsar ( 2014-11-25 10:42:47 +0300 )

vote quantity is enough to get in idea the good thing in picture i think...

cemoi71 ( 2015-02-12 22:08:21 +0300 )

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answered 2015-09-13 19:16:11 +0300

This post is a wiki. Anyone with karma >75 is welcome to improve it.

updated 2015-09-13 19:16:11 +0300

simo

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http://reviewjolla.blogsp...

The Guideline project:

Planning improvements to the new guide, topic "Creating a poll". Great comments here, and the correct answer already includes one type of poll detailed. Later I've tested also a comment poll, which was easy and efficient, so adding instructions for one like that as well. New content could be:

Creating a poll

There are two kind of polling options, both having their benefits. The latter, unfortunately, includes both up and down voting options, but down voting shouldn't be used in polls by anyone

Comment poll:

Easy solution when there's no need for discussion
Very user friendly with max 5 options, but can handle several more options
No down voting option!

Submit a new question including nice topic and your poll question

Instruct your readers to vote one or several of the comments (soon written by you), and ask them to not comment themselves (unless you leave them free to add more poll options)

Tag your question with poll and other tags related to your poll question

Mark your question as community wiki (polls may not be used for karma hunting)

Post your question. Add the poll options as comments

5 options are visible by default, as 6th comment is hidden from the default view. If you have more than 5, you can advice your readers to click "See more comments" before voting

After the poll is complete, you can copypaste the results to one answer, accept it and close the poll

Question / Answer poll:

Use especially when discussion might add value to your poll
Suggested max 10 options
Both up & down voting is possible

Submit a new question including nice topic and your poll question

Instruct your readers to vote one or several of the answers (soon written by you), and ask them to not answer themselves (unless you leave them free to add more poll options). Instruct them that each option can be further discussed under the answer, and the poll itself can be discussed under the question.

Tag your question with poll and other tags related to your poll question

Mark your question as community wiki (polls may not be used for karma hunting)

Post your question. Add the poll options as answers, each marked as community wiki

Note: Don't add too many answers. 10 options fits into the first page, and it's not very user friendly to have options in several pages. When having more than ten, advice your readers to check the other pages as well.

The guideline project discusses on these old guideline posts until September 20th, updating and gathering information from here to a new post The Guideline. You're welcome to join the project, for example by editing and commenting this answer.

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