How to embed a poll from Polldaddy in a wordpress.com blog post

FINALLY here is a way to have a poll in a wordpress.com blog that actually works in a wordpress.com blog!
Polldaddy is a rocking polling service that now provides codes for wordpress.com blogs.

Available Features

* Unlimited free polls with unlimited votes per poll.
* 14 PollDaddy skins to choose from or create your own in CSS.
* View poll results online, as XML, CSV, or subscribe to them via RSS!
* Polls provided in HTML or Flash depending on your needs.
* Full foreign language support.
* Block repeat voters by IP address or cookies.
* Create single choice or multiple choice polls.
* Close polls after a certain date, randomize answers, allow text entry ‘other’ field, show or hide results from voters and much more.
* New: Track individual votes, get voter location and detect fraudulent votes. (Pro Account only)

From the site

To have a poll, first sign up for an account.
Creating a poll is very easy.
First write your poll question.
Then you are asked to enter the answers in multiple fields. Just use as many “Answer” fields as you need.

You can set the poll to randomize answers, to allow poll takers to choose multiple answers or write their own answers.

You can choose a language for the poll. If your language is not listed, just ask them and they say they will add it to the list! Well, now they are really talking my language!

Now you are all set to set a style for your poll. . Choose an available theme or if you know CSS, then roll up your sleeves and create your own theme!

Here are the available themes. I have painstaking created these screenshot so that you can have a sneak peek even before you sign up!

After you are done creating a poll, they will give you the poll code. Choose the code for wordpress.com. Paste the code in a post/post in your blog and the poll will appear there! And it actually works in your wordpress.com blog! This is the first time a poll works right inside a wordpress.com blog, so here is a big yippeeeeeeee!

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I like Polldaddy a lot. But um..

Problems
I have some grievances.

1. If I set the poll to allow users to write comments, then the user is taken to a separate Polldaddy page where they can write a comment.

2. The poll can be created to let the readers enter an answer on their own. The problem is, when the “Results” button is clicked, the actual answers are not seen in “Other”, it just shows the result bar.

3. Another thing is, you can’t paste the poll in the side bar of your wordpress.com blog.

4. Some polling services allow the poll creator to use images in answers. You can’t do that at Polldaddy.

Solutions (but not all)
1. There’s no way to overcome the first problem. No, wait! Maybe there is! Don’t set the poll to allow users to post comments at all. Instead, urge people to write comments in your post. That way you keep the readers in your blog.

2. I don’t know how to get over this problem. Any idea?

3. About the second problem, well, why not link to your poll in your side bar using some text or some image?

4. I have no idea how to bypass this problem, other than to use a different service from the list found in the link under this post.

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Important Update

It is now possible to embed a workable poll in the sidebar of a wordpress.com blog. So I have one less grievance about Polldaddy!
This is such a good news indeed! I know that many users of wordpress.com almost left the platform because they couldn’t embed a workable poll right in their blogs. Now we have it all! WordPress rocks!

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A friendly suggestion

If comments about a poll are important to you, then I suggest that you embed the poll in a post or page and not in the sidebar. Provide a link to your poll post in your sidebar. That way, your poll will get full exposure in your blog at all time.
If you think that polls really belong to the side bar, rather than in a page or post, then you might want to put a text link under the poll, which will lead the reader to a post where they can write their opinions to encourage discussions.

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Further readings
Create free polls and free surveys for your wordpress.com blog
This post lists features of a lot of good survey and polling services that are wordpress.com compatible. You can even check out sample surveys and polls before you actually sign up for one!