Posted by: Chris Paterra
9/3/2007 

As I was waiting for the forum module to go through the release process, I found a need to add polling. Since the module barely made it thorugh the release tracker, I decided I might as well re-submit the latest package as it also included several minor bug fixes that were reported by beta testers. It didn't stop there, I also found that I could add the "No replies" option in threads view so that users can easily identify those posts with no replies rather easily.

To explain how users will be able to do this, I have provided a short walk through. Please note, this is only available in the 04.04.03 release of the module which is currently in the DNN Release Tracker. Another note, polls are enabled at the forum level and are only availble to registered users. Assuming that you meet the requirements, here is how users add a poll.

 Creating a Poll:

Create a new thread in a forum where polling is available. You will be asked to do the normal posting things, so name your thread subject accordingly and put the details of your poll in the post body. Your poll options should be brief, since there is not much space allocated in the database for lengthy questions or thank you messages, you can use the post body to handle this if necessary. Once you have handled that, simply add answers and move them around in to be in the order you wish them to appear to end users.  If you wish for the poll to end on a specific date, just set the end date. If you would like users to be able to view results after voting, enable this here. Once you are satisifed, you can submit the post and the poll is active.

Poll Submissions:

Users who are logged in and have view access to a forum are able to vote in a poll. Regardless of the number of posts per thread, the poll option will always sit at the top of each page view within a single thread. This allows users to participate without having to find the specific page the poll is on. Because of this, there can only be a single poll per thread and it must be the original post in the thread.

Users can select their answer and click the "Vote" button to submit their vote.

View Poll Results:

Once a logged in user has voted in a poll, and results are available, they can be seen in the exact same spot where the voting took place.

As the module progresses through the release tracker over the course of the next week or so, I will attempt to keep writing walk throughs here so users and developers can become adjusted to the module prior to its release.

*NOTE - These images were taken in a testing environment and the final result looks much more professional then shown here.

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