Polls
Drop a poll into a post to ask your readers what they think. Most people who would never write a comment will still answer a question, so it's the cheapest way to hear from the quiet majority of your audience.
Adding a poll
In the editor, type /poll. Write your question, then your answers, two at least and six at most. Insert it, and it sits in your article like any other block.
You can edit the question and the answers later: hover the poll and click the pencil.
What your readers see
On your blog, the poll shows the question and the answers to choose from, with a Vote button underneath and the number of answers already given next to it. Picking a line doesn't send anything yet, so nobody answers by accident: the vote leaves on the button.
Once a reader votes, the choices are replaced by the results: a percentage per answer, the total number of votes, and a check mark on their own answer. Coming back to the article later, they go straight to the results.
Anyone can answer, whether or not they have an account. One answer per reader, and no changing your mind afterwards.
A poll only opens when the post is published. Looking at a draft, you'll see the answers and a note saying so, so don't be surprised if you can't try it out before you publish.
Polls in your newsletter
The poll goes out with the article. Each answer is a link, so a reader can pick one straight from their inbox: the link opens your article and records their answer on the way.
This is where most of your answers will come from, so a poll is worth adding to a post you send as a newsletter.
The email shows the question and the answers, never the results. An email is frozen the moment it's sent, and a percentage printed in it would be out of date by the next morning.
Where else it shows up
If you cross-post your article elsewhere, the poll travels with it as the question, the answers, and a link back to your article, which is the only place the vote is counted.
Editing a poll that already has answers
Rewording the question changes nothing: the answers already given stay where they are.
Removing an answer is different. It disappears from the poll and its votes stop counting, which shifts the percentages of the answers that remain. Put it back and its votes come back with it.
Tips
Keep it to a real question with two or three answers. A poll is a nudge, not a survey: the longer the list, the fewer people bother.
A poll at the end of an article works well as a hand-off, "here's what I think, now what about you", and what comes back is often the subject of your next post.
If you run into issues or have questions, reach out at /contact.