Poll types
A poll's type decides who sees what, and when. It covers the vote counts, the total number of votes, who took part and who voted for which answer, both while the poll is running and after it closes.
EasyPoll offers five ready-made poll types. If none of them fits, you can build your own with custom visibility.
Quick Comparison
| Poll type | While the poll is running | After it closes |
|---|---|---|
| Public | Everyone sees the results and who voted for what | Same as while running |
| Anonymous | Everyone sees the results, nobody sees who voted | Same as while running |
| Secret Winner | Everyone sees how many voted and who took part | Everything is revealed |
| Reveal at End | Only the answers are shown | Everything is revealed |
| Blind Voting | Only the answers are shown | The results are revealed, the voters stay secret |
Public
The default and most transparent poll type. Everyone sees the current results and who voted for which answer at any time.
- Vote counts are shown on each answer while the poll is running
- The participants list shows who voted for what
- Best for casual polls, community preferences and anything where social proof helps
Anonymous
The results are public, the voters are not. Everyone can follow the vote counts live, but nobody can find out who voted, let alone for what.
- Vote counts are shown while the poll is running
- There is no participants list, not even for administrators
- Best for feedback and opinion polls where the result may be public but individual votes must stay private
Secret Winner
Shows how many people took part and who, but keeps the result secret until the poll closes. Instead of per-answer counts, the poll message shows a line like "12 votes from 9 users".
- Vote counts and ranking are hidden while the poll is running
- The participants list shows who took part, but not what they picked
- After closing, the full result and who voted for what become visible
- Best for tracking turnout without influencing the outcome
Reveal at End
Keeps everything hidden until the poll closes, then reveals everything at once, including who voted for what.
- Only the answers are shown while the poll is running
- After closing, results, turnout and the participants list become visible
- Best for surprise results and votes where early numbers would sway people
Blind Voting
The most private poll type. The result stays hidden while the poll is running, and nobody ever sees who voted.
- Only the answers are shown while the poll is running
- After closing, the result becomes visible
- There is no participants list at any time, not even for administrators
- Best for sensitive topics, elections and formal votes
Custom visibility
When none of the poll types fits, you can build your own. There are five parts, and each has its own setting for while running and after close.
| Part | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Vote counts & bars | The number of votes on each answer and the result bars |
| Answer ranking | Which answer is leading (#1, #2, ...), shown when vote counts are hidden |
| Total vote count | The total number of votes |
| Participant list | Who took part, without their choice |
| Who voted for what | The individual votes |
Each setting can be Everyone, Admins only or Hidden (nobody).
Who voted for what names the voters too, so it can never be shown to more people than the participant list. Hiding the participant list hides who voted for what along with it.
You can set up a custom visibility in the poll editor (/editpoll, then Type → Custom) or in the Dashboard when creating or editing a poll. The poll commands only offer the ready-made types.
Buttons or select menu
Every poll type comes in two voting styles, for example Public (Buttons) and Public (Select Menu). Buttons show one button per answer, while a Select Menu shows a dropdown that keeps long answer lists compact.
A poll with more than 20 answers always uses a select menu.
Legacy poll types
Polls created before the new poll types keep working exactly as before. Their types are still available and marked (Legacy).
| Legacy type | Behaves like |
|---|---|
| Normal (Legacy) | Public |
| Anonymous (Legacy) | Blind Voting |
| Hidden (Legacy) | The results stay hidden until the poll closes, and only administrators can see who voted for what, at any time |
For new polls, prefer the new types. Hidden (Legacy) is the only one without a new equivalent, but you can recreate it with custom visibility.
What administrators see
Moderators with the required permissions can check the current results of any poll at any time with /showpoll or the Details message action, whatever its type. This overview is only visible to them.
Who voted is a different matter, because the participants list follows the poll type. For Anonymous and Blind Voting polls, nobody can see who voted, administrators included.
Changing the type of a running poll
You can change the type with /editpoll or in the Dashboard. Once a poll has votes, the type can only become more private, and changes that would show voters to more people than before are not offered. People voted under the old settings, and that promise is kept.
Recognising the type on a poll
The settings section of a poll message names its type.
| Poll type | Shown as |
|---|---|
| Public, Normal (Legacy) | nothing |
| Anonymous | Anonymous Poll |
| Blind Voting | Blind Voting |
| Anonymous (Legacy) | Anonymous Poll, or Blind Voting for polls created since the new poll types were introduced |
| Secret Winner | Secret Winner |
| Reveal at End | Reveal at End |
| Hidden (Legacy) | Hidden Poll |
| Custom | A short summary, e.g. "Results at the end • Choices hidden" |