---
title: "Using the poll feature in Talkspirit"
description: "With the poll feature, you can collect structured feedback from group members directly within a post, with support for multiple answer types and Excel export."
category: communication
section: news-feed-and-posts
type: Tutorial
lastUpdated: 2026-08-06
locale: en
canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/communication/the-poll
---

# Using the poll feature in Talkspirit


## Using the poll feature in Talkspirit
With the poll feature, you can collect structured feedback directly within a post. You can choose from four answer types, make polls anonymous, close and reopen votes, and export results to Excel. Any member who can see the post can vote, and all members with posting permissions in a group can create polls.

## How do I create a poll?

You can create a poll two ways:

- In the news feed or in a group, click **New** and select **Create a poll**.
- Create a post and click the **Poll** button in the publication options.

Fill in the required fields: **recipient**, **title**, and the **poll question** with its answer choices. The text of the post itself is optional when it carries a poll.

![The post editor with a poll attached: an answer-type dropdown set to Multiple answers, an Anonymous poll tickbox, the question field and two choice fields with an Add choice button](/images/communication/the-poll/01-poll-editor-in-composer.png)

## What answer types are available?

When creating a poll, you choose from four answer types:

- **Unique answer**: participants select one answer only.
- **Multiple answers**: participants select several options.
- **Choice of pictures**: participants choose between images (several pictures can be selected).
- **Free text answer**: participants write their own response.

There is no limit on the number of polls within a single post: click **New poll** under the last poll to add another.

> **Note:** once a vote has been cast, the answer type can no longer be changed.

## How do I make a poll anonymous?

Tick the **Anonymous poll** box when creating or editing the poll. Once anonymised, neither you nor group members can see who voted.

You can only enable the anonymous option before any member has voted. Once a vote is cast, this setting is locked.

## How do I manage votes?

Members vote by selecting one or more answers and clicking **Vote**. They can change their selection using the **Change my vote** option. If a member has not joined the group yet, a message asks them to join it before voting.

A percentage bar shows which answer is receiving the most votes.

On a non-anonymous poll, hover over the voter count to see who has voted, and hover over an answer's result bar to see who voted for that answer. These lists are visible to everyone who can see the post.

![A published poll showing one answer at 100% with a filled bar and the other two at 0%, next to a "1 voter" count whose hover tooltip names the voter, plus Close votes and Excel export controls](/images/communication/the-poll/02-poll-results-voter-list.png)

## How do I close or reopen a poll?

The poll author can close and reopen votes. Click **Close votes** to stop accepting new responses. Click **Reopen votes** to allow voting again.

On posts published with the **Allow all recipients to edit this post** option, every recipient sees these controls too.

## How do I export poll data to Excel?

Click **Excel Export** to the right of the **Close votes** option. This option appears once at least one member has voted.

If the post contains multiple polls, you can export **All polls** at once or choose **This poll only**. Each poll appears on a separate tab in the Excel file.

The export includes each voter's identifier, display name, first name, and last name, followed by one column per answer. For anonymous polls, user identifiers are replaced with "anonymous".

## Who can manage a poll?

The poll author can close and reopen votes, make the poll anonymous before the first vote, and export results to Excel. On posts published with the **Allow all recipients to edit this post** option, all recipients get the same controls.

## What's Next?

- [How do I publish, edit, share, and delete a post?](/en/communication/publishing-editing-or-deleting-a-post)
- [How do I create a photo gallery?](/en/communication/the-photo-gallery)
- [How do I use the checklist feature?](/en/communication/checklist)