This topic I will be working on Posting Documentation “how-to”
I will see about creating a table of Content. This topic will eventually have Posts moved and organized properly at some point in the future.
Creating and managing polls
This guide explains how to create polls on Xrtropolis.one to gather votes from users on any topic.
Required user level: All users
By default, polls are enabled for Users of trust level 1 or above are allowed to create them.
Creating a poll from the toolbar
The easiest way to create a poll is to use the poll builder. The poll builder can be accessed from the 
menu in the composer, and allows you to make a poll without needing to know the exact syntax.
To show advanced options press the icon. This will show you different poll options such as if the poll auto closes, set groups allowed to vote, choose bar or pie, etc.
Poll options
Poll type:
- Single Choice: Default poll type. Users can select a single choice from the poll
- Multiple Choice: Users can select multiple choices from the poll.
- The poll creator must also define the minimum and maximum number of choices a user can make. By default the minimum will be 1, and the maximum will be the number of poll choices.
- Number Rating: Users can select a single number.
- The poll creator must also define the min, max and step for the number rating. For example, if the min is
2, the max is10, and the step is2, the options will be 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10.
- The poll creator must also define the min, max and step for the number rating. For example, if the min is
Results:
- Always visible: Default poll results. Users can always see the results of the poll, regardless of if they’ve voted.
- Only after voting: Users must vote before they can see the results of the poll.
- When the poll is closed: Poll results will only be revealed once the poll is closed.
- Staff only: Only site staff will be able to see the poll results.
Allowed groups:
Allows the poll creator to limit which groups can participate in the poll. Users not in the listed groups will be able to view the poll, but not vote. Default is all users can participate, no group limitation.
Chart type:
For Single or Multiple Choice polls, choose whether to display the result in a bar graph or pie chart.
Show who voted:
Enabled by default, this allows those who can view poll results to also view the specific choices of each poll user. (Bar Chart type only)
Automatically close poll:
Allows the poll creator to set a date/time for the poll to close automatically. Unlike manually closed polls, auto-closed polls cannot be re-opened.
Including images
Polls can even include images! After using the poll builder to insert the poll, images can be uploaded to the post and manually added to the poll. Uploaded images should be small, or adjusted to display at a lower percentage:
[poll type=regular]
* 
*
* :
[/poll]
[poll type=regular]
* Cat: a small domesticated carnivorous mammal with soft fur, a short snout, and retractile claws.
* Dog: a domesticated carnivorous mammal that typically has a long snout, an acute sense of smell, and a barking, howling, or whining voice.
* Fish: a limbless cold-blooded vertebrate animal with gills and fins and living wholly in water.
[/poll]
- Cat: a small domesticated carnivorous mammal with soft fur, a short snout, and retractile claws.
- Dog: a domesticated carnivorous mammal that typically has a long snout, an acute sense of smell, and a barking, howling, or whining voice.
- Fish: a limbless cold-blooded vertebrate animal with gills and fins and living wholly in water.
0
voters
Including relative dates
Polls can also include relative dates! In a similar way to adding images, after using the poll builder to insert the poll you can insert dates into the poll options via the “Insert date / time” composer button:
[poll type=regular]
* [date=2019-10-13 timezone="Europe/Paris"]
* [date=2019-10-12 timezone="Europe/Paris"]
* [date=2019-10-11 timezone="Europe/Paris"]
[/poll]
- 2019-10-12T22:00:00Z
- 2019-10-11T22:00:00Z
- 2019-10-10T22:00:00Z
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voters
Multiple polls in a post
If multiple polls are used in a single post (like this one!) each poll will need a unique name or they will not work. When using the poll builder each extra poll will be numbered sequentially, but you can also do this manually by adding name="poll_name" as a parameter:
[poll name="poll_1"]
1. option one
2. option two
3. option three
[/poll]
[poll name="poll_3" type=multiple min=2 max=3]
- option one
- option two
- option three
- option four
[/poll]
[poll name="dave" type=number min=2 max=10 step=2]
[/poll]
Manually creating a poll
While the poll builder is the easiest option, it is also possible to manually create and edit polls within the composer itself.
To create a simple poll, surround a markdown list with [poll] and [/poll]:
[poll]
* option one
* option two
* option three
[/poll]
-or numbers instead of asterisks*.
This will create the following result:
- option one
- option two
- option three
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voters
To manually create more complex polls, additional parameters can be added to the poll tag. For instance:
[poll type=multiple results=on_vote min=1 max=2 public=true chartType=pie groups=trust_level_1 close=3024-12-31T00:00:00.000Z]
# Do you like polls?
* Yes
* No
* Maybe
[/poll]
Do you like polls?
- Yes
- No
- Maybe
0
voters
(Though not all options will make sense for all polls 
)
Using the poll builder is a great way to find out the format of these additional parameters for later use.
FAQs
Can anyone vote in a poll?
Even with no group voting restrictions on the poll itself, users must be able to reply to the topic where the poll is created in order to participate. Users with see only permissions will not be able to vote.
Can polls be edited?
All votes are cleared when a poll is edited, to ensure the poll creator can’t change the choices a user voted for. As such, by default polls can only be edited for a grace period of 5 minutes after being created.
Votes cannot be recovered once a poll is edited and the votes are cleared
Can I export poll data for further analysis?
Staff can use the Discourse Data Explorer - Plugin - Discourse Meta to export poll data as a csv, which can be imported into the data analysis program of their choice.
1 Like
Printing a topic as a PDF
Xrtropolis.one allows you to generate a PDF of a topic by using the Print topic keyboard shortcut. The shortcut for your system is noted in the keyboard shortcut reference modal that pops up when you press the ? key while browsing a Discourse site.
- Most operating systems: ctrl+p
- MacOS: ⌘+p
Using the shortcut will open a new browser window where you can optionally choose to print the topic as a PDF. The interface will vary by browser, but it will look something like the example below:
Additional Information
-
Xrtropolis.one intercepts the keyboard shortcut and renders the print view server-side to ensure the entire topic is printed.
-
The same functionality can be triggered by appending
/printto the end of a topic’s URL. -
You can technically select the print option in your browser’s File menu as well, but you will likely need to scroll from the first post to the last post of the topic to ensure all of the posts have loaded into view.
-
There is a
max prints per hour per usersite setting that allows an admin to set a maximum number of/printpage impressions per hour per user. It defaults to 5 and can be set to 0 to disable Xrtropolis.one’s topic printing functionality (printing from the browser menu still works).
Flagging a post for moderator attention
Flagging is an important moderation tool. It helps maintain a civil and productive discussion environment by allowing users to report inappropriate content without derailing the conversation.
When to flag a post
Flag a post when you encounter content that:
- Is off-topic or derails the conversation
- Violates the community guidelines
- Contains spam or promotional material
- Is inappropriate or offensive
How to flag a post
- Locate the post you want to flag
- Click the flag icon (
) at the bottom of the post - Choose one of the following options:
- Send a personal message to the user
- Flag as Off-Topic
- Flag as Inappropriate
- Flag as Spam
- Flag as Illegal
- Flag as Something Else
*Note that your specific forum may have some different options in this screen - flagging options are customizable by forum admins.
What happens after flagging
- Moderators are notified and can review the flagged post in their flag queue
- If no action is taken within 48 hours, all moderators receive an automatic private message
- Posts with 3 flags are automatically hidden, but users can still view them by clicking
- A staff member can use the “Take Action” button to hide a post immediately
- Users whose posts are hidden due to flags receive a private message notification
- After 10 minutes, the user can edit their hidden post to unhide it
- If the post receives 3 more flags after editing, it will be hidden again and cannot be unhidden by editing
Consequences of receiving flags
- New (Trust Level 0) users who have a post flagged as spam 3 times by 3 different users will have all their posts hidden
- Users with 5 or more flags on their posts cannot reach Trust Level 3
- Only flags from the last 100 days count towards the Trust Level 3 restriction
- Staff-approved flags are the only ones that count towards these limits
Automatic topic closure
A topic with 12 unresolved flags from at least 5 different users will be automatically closed until moderators can review it.
Adding a featured link to your topic
Featured links allow you to paste a URL in the title box when creating a topic and the link is then included in the topic information on both the topic header and in topic lists. This can be useful when creating a topic about a particular news article or product.
Adding a featured link to a topic
When creating a new topic:
- Start composing a new topic
- In the topic title field, you’ll see “… or paste a link”
- Paste a URL directly into the title field as the first thing you type
- Discourse will automatically set this as the featured link
- Edit the title and body of your topic as usual
The featured link will appear below the topic title once posted.
Adding a featured link after creating a topic
Adding a featured link to a topic is much easier (and recommended) using the method above, however, it is possible to add one afterwards if you need to:
- Edit your topic
- Copy and save your content somewhere else temporarily
- Delete all content from the topic (including the title)
- Paste the desired link into the title field
- Enter a new title or paste your previous one
- Paste your original content back into the topic body
- Save your changes
Be cautious when using this method as it involves temporarily deleting your content. Always ensure you have made a copy of the content before trying it out.
Removing a featured link
To remove a featured link:
- Click the edit icon next to the topic’s title
- In the title editing interface, you’ll see the featured link displayed separately
- Click on the featured link to remove it
- Save your changes
This action is often referred to as “unlinking” the featured link in Discourse terminology.
Best practices and considerations
- Use featured links for valuable, relevant content such as reference materials, source documents or related discussions
- Ensure links are directly relevant to your topic and comply with community guidelines
- Avoid promotional links that don’t add value to the discussion
Limitations
- The ability to use featured links depends on the site’s settings. If you don’t see the option, it may not be enabled for your community
- You cannot use a link from the same Discourse instance as a featured link
- Editing an existing featured link is not directly supported through the user interface. However, users can edit the topic, remove the existing link and add a new one following the steps in “Adding a featured link after posting”
Emoji Fluff
Emoji Fluff allows users to put mirrored or animated emojis in their posts.
It allows users to post fancy emoji work such as:
You can choose these decorations from the emoji autocompletion pop-up, from the emoji picker, or by appending keywords directly after the emoji shortcode:
Examples: :bike:f-slide , :smile:f-bounce
Horizontal and vertical flips can be combined with other decorations.
Examples:
:horse:f-slide,flip::spider:f-float,flip_v:
Screenshots
Available emoji fluff
How to add fluff to an emoji
From the emoji autocompletion pop-up
From the emoji picker
By typing manually the fluff suffix
