This post is one of those test posts I make hoping for some feedback from readers. As Erik had rightly pointed out, I don’t have a description about what the survey is about. It is basically a one question survey where the reader is asked to write an answer to the question.
The question is: How health-conscious are women?
Please take the survey and come back to share how you feel about the site.
Thanks in advance!
ALL of these sites provide you with the url of the survey/poll, which you can link to from your blog. Please bear in mind that none of the surveys/polls can be pasted in your wordpress.com blog directly – as that would require us to paste iframes or javascript or form tags, all of which are stripped off by wordpress.com for security reasons.
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It is now possible to embed a workable poll in a wordpress.com blog. I mean, a poll can now actually work right inside a wordpress.com blog. Just follow the link right below to learn all about it.
How to embed a poll from Polldaddy in a wordpress.com blog post
Includes how-to tips, available features, common limitations and how o overcome them.
Updated on May 25
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SurveyMonkey.com
Powerful tool for creating web surveys. Online …SurveyMonkey.com is a revolutionary tool to create and publish custom surveys in minutes, and then view results graphically and in real time.(excerpt from google search)
I like this site, because it offers many options like colour customization and types of questions. If I ever need a free full-fledged survey, I will definitely go for this one!
Get a sneak peek at the Types of questions available at Surveymonkey!
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Polldaddy was initially a polling service, but for quite some time now, they have a survey creation tool as well.
It’s fairly easy to use. You can customize the look of the survey (choose a default template or create one if you know CSS). You can create the survey by simple drag-and drop options. To have a sneak peek at the survey elements you can use, click here!
When you are done, they give you a survey url. I created a very simple survey for you to test – click here!
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SimpleSample
An Online Survey Engine
SimpleSample is a free survey tool for creating, editing, and distributing surveys online. You can distribute surveys, view responses, and view overall statistics in an intuitively easy to use administrative panel. If you have spent hours searching the internet for a free survey tool, this site is for you.
(excerpt from site)
I am already using it. It is quite pleasing – simple, to-the-point.
Here is a tip if you don’t want Google ads to show up when the reader takes the poll. Don’t link to the url they give you! Here is the plan…….
Paste the poll code they give you in a new window. Now click “next”. You now have the actual poll itself. Copy THIS url from the address bar and paste it in your blog to link to the poll!
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Create an Online Satisfaction Survey, Customer Survey employee survey etc. FREE – Easy to use Survey Builder.
freeonlinesurveys.com/
(excerpt from google)
I have tested this one as well. And it’s fairly basic and easy to use. It also has some customization options.
But I really hate the the look of the homepage. After the user submits the answer s-he is taken directly to the homepage, with no “Thank you” message!
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Free polls and surveys for you web site, myspace, xanga, live journal, livejournal and more.
luckypolls.com/(excerpt from google search)
Here is an example of a Luckypolls poll:
Poll: Do you like this polling service by Luckypolls?
Creating a luckypolls is easy. First click sign up. You will immediately be able to create a poll, the info of which will be sent to your email. You can choose the codes provided on the right if you want the poll choices appear in your blog. However, do keep in mind that the poll won’t work right in your blog, but rather take the user to the poll url when clicked. Also note that once the user takes the poll, s/he is given a choice to submit name. The poll doesn’t work if the user doesn’t submit the name.
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Here is an example of a Pollcode poll:
Do you like this polling service by Pollcode?
Fairly basic. No sign-up needed. You can change font colour and background colour. But the end result is rather ugly, as the result page displays Google ads in a grotesque manner.Once you finish the poll, you will be given codes for the poll. Don’t choose the one that includes “form” tags, as they are not wordpress.com compatible. Choose the HTML link instead.
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PollDaddy is an online tool, which allows you to create free polls and place them on your website, blog, MySpace, hi5, Friendster or Xanga account or …
(excerpt from google search)
Here is an example of a Polldaddy poll:
Do you like this polling service by Polldaddy?
Customizable poll and even includes options to design the look with your own CSS. I must say I like the look of it! Very tidy indeed!
You can choose to have a number of codes. of course you know by now that you will have to choose the HTML link code!
One thing I loooooooooooooove about this polling service is it is completely ad-free!
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99polls
Here is an example of a 99polls poll
Do you like this polling service from 99polls?
You need to register. 99polls have a lot of themes to choose from – big and small. You can also include an image in the question. After you finish creating a poll, you are given the link and the “Flash embed” code. We wordpress.commers will choose the direct link, of course! You can categorize the poll, so that others can find it easily. The reader can also write comments after taking the poll. The poll page also offers multiple social bookmarking options – great for your poll’s publicity!
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Micropoll
Here is an example of a Micropoll poll:
Do you like this poll from Micropoll?
Don’t worry, the poll page looks more beautiful than the screenshot. honest! 
After you register, you can directly create your poll. You can choose a theme. You can even customize the poll colour, title colour, Font colour/size/type and corners. You can set the answers to be single choice, multiple choice or drop-down menu. You can even customize the text of the “Vote” button.
Click here to have a sneak peek of further customization options and Advanced result settings.
You can post the poll directly or bookmark it also.
As if all these options are not enough, there is more!
Micropoll also offers SMS voting options.
How It Works?
Step 1 : Register a “Short Name” — this is a unique name for your poll.
Step 2 : Ask your users to send your “Short Name” to 77136
When someone sends a message to 77136, your poll will be sent to them. Users can then reply back with the option they choose and MicroPoll will automatically collect and tabulate the results. Please read the SMS FAQ for more information.
From the site
It’s not too easy to find the direct link of the poll, though. After your poll is created, look at the bottom of the window – you will find the poll url there!
The poll url leads to a page that includes the poll and some additional links. If you want to have just the poll and nothing else, like in the polldaddy poll page, it is possible to do so! Just click here and see how neat it is! So how did I figure out the url? Well, I will tell you if you like it. But ask for it in a comment first! 
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Here is an example of a quimble poll
Do you like this polling service from Quimble?
What I like most about Quimble is simplicity. The look is fairly neat and easy on the eye and the Google Ads are right at the bottom. Furthermore, they have two extra features like poll RSS and poll discussion. However, to help fight spam, they allow discussions only if the user is registered at Quimble.
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Here is an example poll from Nexodyne:
As you can see, the code they give you provides an image of the poll in progress! If you use a Facebook badge in your blog, then you are probably familiar with the concept of constantly updated images. Very useful for wordpress.com bloggers who want a poll, since this is the only polling service that enables us to see public reactions first-hand in our OWN blogs.
I can’t help wishing the image was small enough to fit in a sidebar. Technically speaking, we can resize the image just by adding image dimension attributes in the image code – but that however causes the text to shrink too.
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The thing with Nexodyne is, the size and look of the image is not customizable. Hmmph! Well, sulk no more. Here is an image type poll service that has more options concerning the look of the “image” of the poll.
GFXpoll – the website for graphical polls
The name seems to hint at graphics. That’s the thing. This polling service has only graphical polls for your website/blog.
Poll creation is a snap. No registration is needed. You have to enter a poll title. You can even add a small poll description. Now you have to choose the language of the poll, what kind of poll it’s going to be and also the look of the poll. As far as looks are concerned, you have many many options to choose from! And if that doesn’t satisfy you, you can contact support and learn how you can upload your own image! And before I forget, you must also choose a closing date for the poll.
You can enter your email address and they will supply you with details of the poll you create. Choose HTML code for your wordpress.com blog. And oh, this polling service also allows poll participants to write a comment.
Poll: Is the GFXPoll system ok?
Observe the image below carefully! After you take the poll (click “Yes” or “No” from above, please check the image below – remember to refresh the page first. You will see an updated image!
So. Let’s make it official. GFX poll rocks. This is the only poll that is visual and has styles that fit in the side bar of a wordpress.com blog!
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Here is an example of a Misterpoll poll
Do you like this polling service from misterpoll?
An added extra from misterpoll is a message board. Every poll comes with a free message board. Useful in order to enable continued discussions if the issue is a hot one.
Here is the message area for the poll I created.
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Here is an example of an Opinionpower poll
Do you like this polling service from Opinion power?
You can create three types of polls here - either or, several selections and one of ten.
There are three steps to building your new survey. You will enter the text for each element of your survey in the sections below. This survey is set to accept only one vote per computer. (If you need to change this setting, go to the “Multiple Questions or Form to Email” page to create your survey.)
- 1. Survey Title & Author
- 2. Question, Answers, & Button
- 3. Thank You Page & Final Information
- (excerpt from opinionpower)
You are also given a code for the graphed result of the created poll. Here is the poll review of the poll I created.
Please note that polls created at Opinionpower are available for one month only.
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Quibblo
Quibblo is a site where you can create polls, quizzes and surveys. Fun is the deciding factor of this site. So if your site demands a fun poll, then Quibblo is definitely a good choice!
Here is an example of a Quibblo poll
Do you like this polling service from Quibblo?
the poll participator has the option to share the poll via Del.icio.us, Myspace, Digg, Facebook, AIM and Stumble upon. Not only that, they can even email the poll to a friend and rate the poll! Not only that, interested polltakers can paste the poll widget in their own blog (provided they are allowed to use the <form> tags), link to it or make a trackback via a trackback url. Hmmm, not bad for exposing a poll to a larger audience!
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Here is an example of a vizu poll
Do you like this polling service from vizu?
The poll can be created either as “Multiple Choice” or “Number Range”. As many as ten options can be provided. Poll creator can also add a brief poll description, tags and list the poll under a suitable category. The answer can be configured to be displayed as random or fixed. The poll creator can publish the poll under the username or anonymously. Poll results can be configured to be displayed either as a graph or a pie chart.
Quite interestingly, an image can be included with the question and each answer! Very useful indeed for polls that need visuals for better interactivity.
Vizu has more extra features. The participant can add a comment after voting. Morever, there are several options with which to promote the poll – email to friends, IM, export to blog/site, RSS feed and submitting it to three social bookmarking sites (digg, del.icio.us and stumble upon). And it doesn’t end there! The polling service is designed to show the location of the recent 500 poll takers in an integrated map.
Last but not the least, the poll creator can add a number of relevant url’s.
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Here is an example of a pollgenius poll
Do you like this polling service from pollgenius?
What I don’t like about the poll is the fact that the poll taker has to log in, in order to vote! Now, that’s not very convenient, is it?
If you are OK with this deal, then carry on. The poll creator can include a brief poll description, configure the poll to allow someone else include choices and set a poll schedule(both a beginning and ending time).
Among other extras are the ability to include an image for the header and for each of the answers, tag the poll for better accessibility and also add some “Did you know” type facts to offer extra information regarding the poll topic.
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Here is an example of an htmlpoll poll
Do you like this polling service from htmlpoll?
Poll creation is fairly simple. You can even customise the colour of your poll to some extent. You can provide textareas for the user to put additional feedback if you want!
After creating a poll click “My polls”. You will have the option to view the poll. Hover your mouse over the word “View” and copy link location. This is the url of your poll.
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Create a free online poll for your website by using our easy poll generator.
(excerpt from google search)
Here is an example from Snappoll:
Do you like this polling service by Snappoll?
This is very very easy. No theme customization is allowed. Also it’s just a one-question poll, the reader can choose an option out of twenty answers. You don’t need to log in to create a poll and right after you finish creating a poll, you can get the needed url. Also since you can change the text of the result button, you can make it look like a one-question survey, if you change the text “Vote” to “Submit”. Please bear in mind that if an answer is too long it will be cut off!
Please bear in mind that not having any logging/sign-up info also means you won’t be able to edit the poll once you finish making it. So better be careful there!
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This list is done keeping wordpress .commers in mind. And so polls that offer no url are excluded, as the only way for us to have polls or surveys is by linking to them from our blogs. Also only the free features of sites have been discussed. (Psst: I have had recurring formatting issues in this post. If you visited the post before and found out that it looks awkward, please accept my heartfelt apologies)
An earnest request to you all
Please participate in as many sample polls as possible. Also I’d appreciate it if you took some moments to comment here and share why you liked or did not like the polls you took. I intend to do a follow-up post based on the results and readers’ feedback in the comments. Help me help everybody who is looking for a good polling service.
Thanks in advance!
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Tell a friend!
