Use Live Polls to have session attendees respond to questions in real-time on mobile or Guidebook Web.
Please keep in mind that a Poll Administrator must run the poll via Builder on a computer. This can be the session presenter, a moderator, or some other supporting colleague with whom you collaborate.
Make sure that you have added sessions to your schedule prior to setting up your poll.
Interested in gathering feedback from your attendees? Check out our documentation on our forms tools.
This feature is only available on an Engage (previously Premium) plan.
Below this brief video demonstrating live polls, there are detailed instructions about creating and running a live poll.
Creating a Live Poll
In Builder, open the guide you're working on. In the guide dashboard, click on the Polls & Forms box.
Click Create new... in the top-right corner, and then select Live Poll. Give the poll a name, and then select the session to which you will link this Poll.
Each Live Poll must be linked to a session in your schedule. Each session can only be linked to one live poll.
If you would like to add colleagues to help administer the poll, click Add admin and provide the email address(es). Only users listed here will be able to access or edit this poll.
If you want to change the name of the poll or which session the poll is available from, click Edit name or link. Once you have made a change on the next screen, click Save.
Be sure to Publish Updates in Builder, so your changes are visible to users in the app once you have created your poll and when you make any edits.
Adding or Editing Poll Questions
Click Edit poll to open the Poll Administrator portal.
From this page, you can add questions, edit questions, present or activate the poll and you can download the responses once the poll is complete. Click Add New to add a poll question.
Poll questions are Multiple Choice, with up to 10 response choices. There is no limit to the number of questions you can have in a live poll.
When adding a new question, you’ll also see the option to “Allow users to view poll results after they vote?” If you check this option on, users on Guidebook Web will see the results come in after they submit a response. This is not yet available on mobile.
Click the “Show results” checkbox to allow the results to show for end users on Guidebook Web after they’ve submitted a response. You can click on the edit icon to change the question or the possible answers. Clicking on the trash can will delete the question. Click and drag to reorder your poll questions.
As soon as an audience member votes for a poll question, the Delete button will be replaced with a Reset button. In order to delete a question that has answers recorded, please first reset the question to remove all responses. You will then be able to delete the question.
Running a Live Poll
After adding at least one question to your poll, the option to Start Presenting will become available.
Click Allow Voting to allow your users to participate in the poll.
Click Disable Voting when you are ready to move on.
If you have another poll question, use the arrow buttons to proceed to the next question. The question will appear on users' devices when you click the arrow button.
Repeat the process above: Allow Voting, then Disable Voting. Continue to proceed to the next question and so on. Click Stop Presenting to conclude the Poll.
The option to edit or delete the question while presenting is available via the Edit or Delete buttons below the Allow Voting button. If you have run this poll before you can reset the responses before allowing attendees to cast their vote.
The End-User Experience
Participating in a Live Poll
When the Poll Administrator clicks Start Presenting the first question of the poll will become visible in the Poll Admin portal view and to the audience members on their devices, whether the user is on a mobile device or on the Guidebook Web page.
Before the Poll Administrator clicks Start Presenting, the Live Poll link will be visible in the schedule session on mobile, and will be visible in the engagement panel of the session on Guidebook Web. However, the screen will say “Poll Inactive” until the Poll Administrator starts the poll, at which point the first question will appear.
The question and response choices will be visible for the user to read. When the Poll Administrator allows voting for this question, the user can then make a selection. The below GIF is from a live poll Guidebook Web.
When the user submits a choice, that choice is locked in. The user may not change their choice after confirming their selection.
If you’ve toggled the “Show results” setting on, after a user submits their response on Guidebook Web, they will see the results as they come in, as shown in the GIF above. The results are not viewable on mobile at this time.
The Poll Administrator will repeat this process (show next question, open voting, close voting) for each question in the Poll until the Poll is concluded.
If you would like to make your live poll available from the menu bar of your guide, you can add this URL to a web view for quick and easy access.
Viewing Responses
If you’ve toggled the “Show results” setting on, after a user submits their response on Guidebook Web, they will see the results as they come in once they've submitted a response, as shown above.
On mobile, the results will not show. If you’d like to show them, you can use the Presentation link from Other Pages to show the results as they come in on a separate screen. This screen would need to be part of your virtual presentation or in-person event.
You can access the Presentation website from the Edit Poll page by selecting Other Pages.
FAQ
What is required to run a live poll?
Ensure that your venue has a fast and reliable internet connection so that the presenter can control the poll and the attendees can vote.
Can I access my live poll from within a presentation?
You can add a link to your Live Poll within your presentation so it’s easily accessible. First, access the Poll within Builder. Then, right-click on the Edit Your Poll button.
Please select Copy Link Address. You can then paste this URL into your presentation.
Make sure you do not copy & paste any other URL. The process above is the only way to open your Poll in a presentation.
Can I download the data I gathered from my live poll?
Yes, a poll admin can download the poll data by clicking on the Download Poll button on the right-hand side of your Poll Edit Page. This will generate a downloadable .XLS file of the poll results.