Polls are a post type in Higher Logic Vanilla (Vanilla) that let users respond to a question by selecting from a set of answer options, making them a simple way to gather quick feedback from your community.
They are useful for gauging member opinion, encouraging participation, and starting discussion because users can vote on the question and then continue the conversation in comments.
In this article, you'll learn how to:
- enable the required layout settings,
- configure the Poll Post Type,
- create poll-ready layouts, and
- publish polls that your users can vote on in your community.
IMPORTANT: This article is meant for communities that use Custom Post Page and Custom Create Post Page Layout Editor layouts.
If you leverage Vanilla's legacy page layouts, check out our Polls article.
If you're moving from legacy layouts to Layout Editor, you're existing polls will transfer seamlessly, with no impact to functionality or data.
Before you begin…
If the Polls addon is not already enabled in your community, follow these steps:
- Access the Dashboard.
- Navigate to Settings > Addons > Addons.
- Click the Polls toggle to enable it.
Now, let's walk through the multi-step process to create polls for your custom layouts.
Step 1 - Enable custom Create Post Page layouts
- Access the Dashboard.
- Navigate to Appearance > Layouts > Create Post Pages > Create Post Layout Settings.
- Select Custom Create Post Layouts.
- Click Save.
Once this setting is enabled, Post Types become available on the Settings > Posts > Post Types page.
Step 2 - Verify the Poll Post Type is available
Now that Post Types are enabled, verify the Poll Post Type is available.
- In the Dashboard, navigate to Settings > Posts > Post Types.
- Confirm that the Poll Post Type is listed. If it's not active, toggle it on.
- Click the pencil icon to edit the Poll Post Type. This allows you to:
- add any additional Post Fields you want to collect with your polls;
- update the label displayed in the dropdown to create a new post of this type;
- optionally limit the Categories Polls can be created in and the Roles that can create Polls (more on this below).
Step 3 - Control where polls can be used
You can control where polls can be created, and who can create them, by limiting the Poll Post Type to specific Categories and/or Roles.
While editing the Poll Post Type, choose your desired Category(ies) and Role(s) in their respective dropdowns.
NOTE: If you don't set limits, Polls can be created in all Categories and by all Roles.
Step 4 - Apply your Create Post Page layout
- Navigate to Appearance > Layouts > Create Post Pages.
- Edit an existing custom layout or click Add Custom Layout if you need to create one.
- Save the layout after making your updates.
- Apply your custom Create Post Page layout so it can be used to create polls.
Create Post Pages are not type-specific. In other words, you do not build a separate create page just for polls. Instead, this step ensures your community has a custom Create Post Page layout in place and applied so that, when a user selects Poll as the Post Type, Vanilla can display the poll-specific controls required to create a poll.
These poll-specific controls include the:
- Poll Title field, which is where you enter your poll's question.
- Add Description box, which you can check to add an optional description for your poll. This is a great way to explain the purpose of your poll to your users.
- Poll Options, with a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 10. These are the poll responses you provide that users will be able to select from.
- Make this poll anonymous box. When checked, users can vote anonymously. This means that user avatars are not shown in the poll results and vote metadata is not shown in comments.
Step 5 - (Optional) Update your Poll Page layout
NOTE: A Poll Template layout is automatically applied to all Poll Pages, by default. If you don't want to make any customizations to your poll pages, or create custom Poll Page layouts for specific Categories/Subcommunities, you can skip to Step 6.
- Navigate to Appearance > Layouts > Post Pages.
- Expand the Poll Pages section.
- Create a new custom layout or edit an existing one.
- Make your desired changes.
- Apply the layout at the global, Category, or subcommunity level, as needed.
There is nothing else you need to do: Poll Page layouts automatically provide users with the ability to respond to a poll and view their results.
Step 6 - Create a poll
Once the Poll Post Type and layouts are in place, users can create a poll from your community's New Post menu.
When creating the poll:
- Select the Category.
- Enter the poll question in the Poll Title field.
- (Optional) If you'd like to provide a description of your poll, check the Add Description box and enter a description.
- In the Poll Options area, enter at least 2 poll options (the maximum allowed is 10). Click the Add option button to add more.
- (Optional) If you'd like to make your poll anonymous, meaning user information is not shown in the vote results, check the Make this poll anonymous box.
- At the bottom of the page, click Post to publish the poll.
Can I edit a poll?
You can edit all aspects of a poll: its question, description, and options.