Polls and the ladder game
Ask a chat a question with a poll, or draw lots with the ladder game, for example to decide who picks the restaurant. Polls work on every platform, and the ladder game works on iPhone, Android and the web app.
Create a poll
Section titled “Create a poll”Polls go in a chat’s main conversation, not in threads or feed chats.
- In a chat, select + (Add attachment) > Poll. In the desktop app, click Attachments > Poll.
- Enter a Question and at least 2 options. Select Add for more options (desktop: Add option).
- Turn on any settings you want:
- Multiple choice (desktop: Allow multiple answers) lets people pick more than one option.
- Anonymous (desktop: Anonymous votes) hides who voted for each option.
- Show results before voting lets people see the results before they vote. It’s on by default.
- Choose how long the poll stays open: 1 hour, 6 hours, 12 hours, 1 day, 3 days or 7 days. The default is 1 day.
- Select Create poll.
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Options | 2 to 10, each different |
| Question | Up to 300 characters |
| Each option | Up to 100 characters |
| Open for | Up to 7 days |
You can’t edit a poll after you post it.
Vote and see results
Section titled “Vote and see results”Select an option to vote, and select it again to take your vote back. In a multiple-choice poll, select each option you want. In the desktop app, choose your options and click Vote; use Update vote to change your answer or Remove my votes to withdraw.
Results show the number and percentage of votes for each option. You see them after you vote, before you vote if the poll allows it, and once the poll closes. On iPhone, Android and the web app, select View Voters, then an option, to see who voted for it. Voters aren’t shown for anonymous polls.
To find a chat’s polls later, select Chat info > Shared content > Polls. The desktop app doesn’t have a list of a chat’s polls.
Close a poll
Section titled “Close a poll”The person who created a poll, and a group’s owner and managers, can close it early with Close poll (desktop: Close poll…, then Confirm close). A poll that’s closed early shows Closed, and one that runs out of time shows Ended. When a poll is over, DonutChat posts a Poll Ended message in the chat with the final results.
The ladder game
Section titled “The ladder game”The ladder game draws lots. You list 2 to 12 participants and one outcome per person, such as “Pays the bill” or “Picks the movie”. When the game’s creator runs it, DonutChat randomly gives every participant exactly one outcome and posts the results in the chat. Everyone in the chat can open the game and watch the animated ladder.
You can play in the main conversation of direct chats, groups and My Memo. The ladder game isn’t available in threads or feed chats, and the desktop app can’t create, run or open games.
Set up and run a game
Section titled “Set up and run a game”- In a chat, tap + > Ladder game.
- Under Chat members, tap the members who take part. Tap More to see more members.
- To add someone who doesn’t have a DonutChat account, type a name in Guest name and tap Add guest.
- Enter an outcome for each participant in Result 1, Result 2 and so on.
- Tap Create Game to post the game to the chat.
- When everyone’s ready, open the game and tap Run & Share Result. Only the game’s creator sees this button.
On the results screen, tap Replay to animate every path, Show All to show all paths at once, or the play button next to a name to animate one path. Open Original Game goes back to the game. If Reduce Motion is on, the paths appear without animation.
- In a chat, tap + > Ladder game.
- Under Chat members, tap the members who take part. Tap Load members to see more members.
- To add someone who doesn’t have a DonutChat account, type a name in Guest name and tap Add guest.
- Enter an outcome for each participant in Outcome 1, Outcome 2 and so on.
- Tap Post game to chat.
- When everyone’s ready, open the game and tap Run & share results. Only the game’s creator sees this button.
On the results screen, tap Animate everyone to animate every path, Show all results to show all paths at once, or Animate participant next to a name to animate one path. View original game message goes back to the game.
- In a chat, click + > Ladder game.
- Under Chat members, click the members who take part. Click Load members to see more members.
- To add someone who doesn’t have a DonutChat account, type a name in Guest name and click Add guest.
- Enter an outcome for each participant in Outcome 1, Outcome 2 and so on.
- Click Post game to chat.
- When everyone’s ready, open the game and click Run & share results. Only the game’s creator sees this button.
On the results screen, click Animate everyone to animate every path, Show all results to show all paths at once, or Animate participant next to a name to animate one path. View original game message goes back to the game.
Anyone in the chat can open a game or its results with Open game. If the creator runs the game while you have it open, refresh it (Refresh on iPhone, Refresh game on Android and the web app) to see the result.
Rules and limits
Section titled “Rules and limits”- 2 to 12 participants, each with exactly one outcome.
- Names and outcomes can be 1 to 40 characters. A member can be added only once; guest names and outcomes can repeat.
- Only active members of the chat can post or run a game, and only its creator can run it.
- A game can’t be edited after it’s posted.
- Results are final: replaying or running the game again never changes them. If the results message is deleted, start a new game.