Polls

Sometimes the event is real, but a choice is still up to the group: which evening works for the picnic, pizza or tacos, which Saturday for the volunteer day. A poll lets you propose a few options on the same event, share one link, collect votes, and then lock in a winner. Options can be dates and times, labeled choices, or both in one poll.

You can attach a poll to a sign-up sheet, or run a poll-only page with no signup form. Guests use the public page at /e/your-slug. After you lock a date winner, that page can show normal date and time pills.

In the event builder, start with What are you making?:

• Collect signups keeps a sign-up sheet. You can still add a date poll, custom choices, or both on the same page.
• Run a poll builds a poll-only page. Guests vote; there is no signup form until you convert it later, if you want to.

On a sign-up sheet, choose Poll the group under When is this event? instead of a fixed date or several dates and times, and/or Add custom choices for labeled options. A poll can ask up to five questions. Date and time options look like this:

• Date and time, for example Sat, Jun 22 at 6:00 PM
• Date only, for example Sat, Jun 22
• Time only, for example 6:00 PM, when the day is already known

Each question needs at least two options and can propose up to eight. All date options use the event's timezone (detected automatically, same as fixed dates). Time-only rows still need a date somewhere: on the event, or on another option.

Per question you can turn on Pick one only (voters choose a single option instead of every one that works) and Hide results from voters (only you see the tally). An optional closing time stops new votes automatically; you can extend it later.

Save and publish the event so the public link works. Until someone votes, you can still edit questions and options from the poll panel on your event dashboard. After the first vote, options stay put, and Pick one / Hide results stay frozen so the ballot does not change mid-vote.

Already created with a fixed date? On the event dashboard you can Poll on dates (clears the fixed date until you lock a winner) or Poll on choices (keeps the date and adds a labeled ballot). A live sign-up sheet can become poll-only with Make this poll only, as long as voting is still open. You cannot switch to poll-only after a winner is locked.

Guests open your event link, no account required. A date poll shows a Help pick a time card instead of fixed date and time pills. A choice poll (or a mix of dates and choices) shows Cast your vote and never adds a clock or calendar until a date winner is locked. They:

1. Pick one option, or mark every option that works, depending on how you set each question
2. Enter name and email
3. Submit their vote

Signup Bubble emails a private link so they can change their answers until you lock a winner. Live tallies show vote counts unless you hide results or use private mode. Voter names on the public page follow the same show names setting as signups.

On your event dashboard, the poll panel lists each question with vote counts, a leading badge on the top choice, and the name and email of everyone who voted for it. You can close voting, reopen it, or extend the deadline after votes come in. When you are ready:

1. Click Lock in on the option you want (it does not have to be the leader)
2. Confirm that the public page will update and voters will be emailed

Locking is per question. Other questions stay open until you lock them too. A date winner writes the final date and/or time onto the event, and the public page switches to normal schedule pills. A choice winner is recorded on the poll page and does not change the event date. If reminders are enabled, the 24-hour reminder is scheduled from a locked datetime.

Changed your mind? Unlock that question, pick again, or reopen voting. Unlocking a date winner clears the date the poll had set until you lock a new one.

Polls use the same delivery path as other event mail. Guests receive:

• Vote saved: confirmation with the options they picked, a reminder that a vote is not an RSVP (on a sign-up sheet), and a Change vote button
• Winner picked (or Time locked in on a date poll): sent when you lock a winner, to everyone who voted and to confirmed signups who may not have voted. It also asks people to RSVP if they have not already, unless the event is poll-only.
• If you hid results, that lock email says Voting has closed and does not name the winner.

For the full list of transactional mail, see Emails and reminders.

• Keep options short and distinct. Three solid choices beat eight near-duplicates.
• Prefer full date and time options when you can. Date-only and time-only are there for flexible cases.
• Use custom choices for decisions that are not a schedule: food, location, theme. Use custom questions instead when you need a separate answer from each person, not a group tally.
• Publish before you share the link. Drafts have no public page.
• Use the poll for consensus, then rely on slots for real commitments (who brings what, who covers which shift).