it's the rules

[Ausaudriel]

How to post ~yummiliciously~ in Other Voting Polls
With the recent influx of low-quality polls in here, I thought it'd be a good idea to touch up on the rules and post some guidelines on what makes a good poll (and what makes BAD ones). The biggest addition is at the bottom, regarding randomness/quality, but you should read over this entire thread even if you've read the rules before. :D

FOLLOW ALL OVP RULES. IF SEEN BREAKING ANY OF THEM THEN FOREVER SHALL TRANQUILLIZE YOU.

An important note is that there are no exceptions to the PokeCommunity rules, which cover the entire forum. If you haven't already read those (by now you should've), you absolutely must go read through them before continuing. You can go directly to them by [url-inline="showthread.php?t=91723"]clicking here[/url-inline].Put polls in the RIGHT placeThis happens a lot, and it's probably the single MOST broken / ignored rule here. Polls only go in this forum if they don't fit in any other forum on PokéCommunity. The title is "Other" Voting Polls for a reason-- we're basically a landfill for polls that go nowhere else. This means:

Polls about Pokémon games go in the General Pokémon Gaming Discussions category (http://www.pokecommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=10), depending on which game it is (D/P polls go in the D/P forum (http://www.pokecommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=136), misc. game polls go in other forum, etc.)
Polls about Pokémon in general go in the Alternative Pokémon category (http://www.pokecommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=154), again depending on what the poll is about (general polls about Pokémon go in the Pokémon General forum (http://www.pokecommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=17), polls about the Pokémon TV show go in the Pokémon Anime forum (http://www.pokecommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=15), etc.)
Polls about TV shows/movies (and characters/actors in them), music, books, sports, and other lovely cultural topics all go in the Culture & Media forum (http://www.pokecommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29).
Polls about video games or video game characters or video game consoles go in the Video Gaming forum (http://www.pokecommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=27).
Polls about non-Pokémon anime, manga, and other deliciousities from the Land of the Rising Sun (a.k.a. Japan) go in the Japanese Entertainment forum (http://www.pokecommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=26).
Polls about computers, technology, and things of that nature go in the Computers & Technology forum (http://www.pokecommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=57).

Quizzes and surveys don't belong here!Quizzes and surveys (examples being this thread (http://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=117127) and this thread (http://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=116304)) belong in the Other Trivia forum, unless of course it's Pokémon related, then it goes in the Pokémon Trivia forum (http://www.pokecommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=116).

Name your threads relevantlyThread titles (the name of your poll :P) should give a good idea of what the poll is about, and what's in the thread. If you're starting a thread about favorite foods, you wouldn't want to name it "OLD PEOPLE SMELL LIKE COTTAGE CHEESE ON THE SIXTH OF MAY!" (thanks Dz).. you get the idea. Thread titles that aren't accurate will be changed.

Keep your polls appropriate"Appropriate" as in, bodily functions are out. Quoth the Sammi, "We do not want to know how many times you fart in a day, what color your toenails are, or how many pieces of toilet paper you use. Keep it to yourself." That's that. Just don't post it.

Avoid targeting a specific group of peopleWhen making your polls, try to include as many people as possible. For example, a poll such as "what do you think of the new park they put in on 3rd street? (ONLY FOR PEOPLE IN SIOUX CITY!)" wouldn't be wide enough (since only people in one specific city would be able to answer), and wouldn't be right for OVP. Another example would be "staff members, do you like working on PC?", since that would target only about 30 people or so, it wouldn't be a good poll to post.

Keep extensive discussions in Other ChatOther Voting Polls is, as the name suggests, for POLLS. This means that threads that are more discussion-oriented should go in the Other Chat forum (http://www.pokecommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=39). It's a very fine line that even I'm not certain about at times, some threads fall into the mysterious gray area between OC and OVP, where rayrayrayrayray loses socks and my peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches always seem to end up... moving on, if you're not sure where your thread belongs, send me a personal message and I'll help you with it.

Don't post ''random'' polls, put thought into itWhen you're making your poll, ask yourself "do I actually care what these answers are, or am I just posting this to boost my post count?" If it's the latter, step away and think about it a bit. You can have the best of both worlds, you can post a good poll that spurs good and interesting replies, and you can also get some posts racked up behind you at the same time. I'm not going to name names, but there've been some pretty low quality threads around here lately, in order to change that, keep the following in mind when you make your polls:


Polls that ask already accessible information shouldn't be posted. Things like age, gender, and so on aren't necessary and shouldn't be posted. Things like that have a place in your forum profile, and if someone WANTS you to know that information, they'll have it listed (so the "but not everyone fills out that information in the profile!!!" argument is irrelevant :P)
Polls that require one-sentences answers shouldn't be posted. The general idea behind this is that there should be at at least SOME room to explain WHY the person answered how they did. Asking something like, again, "what color is your toenail?" totally omits that possibility, and therefore it shouldn't be posted (though it shouldn't be posted anyway XD).
Polls that focus on personal opinions about anybody on the forum are strictly prohibited. Threads such as "Do you like this member?" or the likes are not to be made whatsoever, it is a rule to respect everybody at all times, and that does include their own privacy and freedom. Thread topics such as said example can easily hurt the feelings of others and can cause needless banter. So please, be sensible and drift away from making threads of this nature.
Polls that require nothing more than a number as an answer shouldn't be posted. How many pets do you have, how many rooms are there in your house, etc., shouldn't be posted. It leaves very little room for anything beyond a single number answer and is generally a low-quality poll. (There are, of course, exceptions to this. If you were to ask "how many countries have you been to?" there would be opportunity to talk a bit about the countries, which would improve the overall quality of the poll.)
Polls that ask "this, this, or that" questions can be EXPANDED upon. Instead of posting "sunshine or rain?", expand your poll to include more open-ended options. Asking "what's your favorite type of weather?" serves the same purpose as a sunshine-or-rain poll, but it's much freer and gives the replier much more to work with (and gets rid of "none!" and "neither" answers, which are useless.)


That's basically it! If you've got any questions at all (EVEN STUPID ONES), don't hesitate to send me a personal message. If you're unsure about your poll before you post it and want my opinion, PM. If you have a suggestion or question about the rules or definitions, PM. ANYTHING to do with OVP, send a message my way.

[ Immeasurable credit to those that made OVP what it is today, Sammi (http://www.pokecommunity.com/member.php?u=9144) and Chairman Kaga (http://www.pokecommunity.com/member.php?u=2384). ]

PS: Don't be afraid to send me (http://www.pokecommunity.com/member.php?u=9144) a PM if you need anything, either. - sammi-san

[Patchisou Yutohru]

Permitted Other Voting Poll Thread Types


There's a lot of confusion between that "mysterious gray area" between OC and OVP - where the "lost socks and peanut-butter sandwiches" always seem to end up. To help reduce the amount of confusion, I thought it would be a good idea to bring over this post from Other Entertainment so you guys know what types of threads belong here and which threads belong over in Other Chat. So, below is a list of permitted thread types in OVP. If the thread you are looking to post belongs in Off-Topic Discussions, but does not fall into one of these categories, such as chat threads, discussion threads, debate threads, etc., please post them in Other Chat. Of course, if you have any questions, please don't be afraid to ask.



Question ThreadsQuestion threads are obviously regarding questions. This goes without say. Typically, in Other Voting Polls, question threads are usually based on a specific topic with a various list regarding that topic. For example, if the main topic was school subjects, the poster may ask if you like school, what type of school you go to, your classes, your teachers, what time you get out of school, what time you start, etc. These are the main types of threads that are encouraged in Other Voting Polls. They're similar to Opinionated Threads, but offer more than just one simple question and your answer to it since they offer more than one question.

Official ThreadsThis one is short, simple, and to the point. Anything that's pinned to the top of the forum, divided by the sticky divider, are official threads. These generally refer to informative threads, such as this. In Other Voting Polls, whether Poll of the Week is offered at the time, there may or may not be an "official" poll for Other Voting Polls for a week, or sometimes more. But apart from that, usually the only threads that are posted here are threads that deal with OVP directly.

Poll ThreadsThis one is rather obvious, hints the name of the forum. Poll threads offer discussion based on a limited option of choices and a specific topic at hand. I don't think it needs much explanation.

Conditional ThreadsThese types of threads are usually hypothetical situations the original poster puts all the readers and repliers in. They set up a scenario for you with conditions of replying and then you reply with whatever the final question is. It's very much like question threads, other than the spark of other questions that come out of it are gone. These are more of the creative, brain scratching threads that require actual thinking. Unfortunately, while these are usually the more interesting types of threads in OVP, these are also the more inactive threads.

Opinionated ThreadsThese are what I call "Post and Go" threads. These should be considered poll threads... without the poll due to a wide variety of options available to choose. These threads include threads based on what your favorite of something is. An example of this type of thread would include threads asking what your favorite of something is, such as "What's your favorite ice cream flavor?" or "What type of architecture is your favorite and why?"