Polling is a very useful function of YG groups. Polls are easy to set up, but do require a little thought to include just the right number of options. You may have noticed that the EVO Training session used Polls to find out when to hold live chats. You may also want to use them to help specify topics throughout the 6 weeks of your session. Be sure to write down/edit your question and give some thought to the kind of choices you want before you put the poll up in your YG. But remember, you can always delete the poll and start over before you send it out.
To set up a poll:
1. Click on Polls under the header image of your YG (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Select Polls tab under the header image.
2. Click on +New Poll on the right side of your Polls page (Figure 2.)
Figure 2. On the Polls page, select +New Poll on right.
3. Type your question into the Ask Question box on the Create Poll page (Figure 3.1). Be sure to include the answer possibilities--answer all applicable, or select just one, for example (see Figure 5 below).
Figure 3. Entering information on the Create Poll page.
4. Type in your question choices. You can have more than 50 options, adding them 1 at a time, but 5 is really about right (Figure 3.2).
5. Decide beforehand if participants will be allowed to have one choice or more, and whether it is important to show the identity of voters, and to show the results during the polling period (see the Close poll option, Figure 3.3). Select the date for poll closure and select how the poll will be displayed (Figure 3.4). You will usually send results to the entire group (Figure 3.4).
6. Don't forget to click the purple 
button before you leave the page (Figure 3.5)!
7. Don't forget to inform your participants that a poll is up and ready for them. You might want to send your message from the YG Web site and mark the box for Special Notice.
After you have clicked on the blue button, you will be returned to the Polls page, and your new poll will show at the top (Figure 4).
Figure 4. New poll shows at the top of the page.
Be sure the instructions you write indicate what kind of options participants have in answering. For instance, in Figure 5.1, participants are to select all the dates and times that apply for them. In Figure 5.2, participants should be limited to just one answer.
Figure 5. Be sure to include answer possibilites as needed in your question box.
If you would like to create a more complex survey, SurveyMonkey offers free 10-question surveys with many different types of answer possibilities.
Be sure to see the Yahoo Polls Help page if you need further assistance with polls, or contact your mentor.
Created by E. Hanson-Smith, 10 December 2009