New Poll Guidelines

Due to the large numbers of polls running at the same time it was decided to set some rules for polls. Since there has been a very minimal response to the questions on polls that I asked late last week, Anthony and I have agreed upon some guidelines.

Accordingly, we ask that everyone please review the following poll guidelines before starting a new poll:

1. We will pin all new polls at the top of the forum.

2. There will be a maximum of 5 polls pinned per forum. Please do not start a new poll unless there are less than 5 polls pinned at the top of the forum.

3. Each member will be allowed a maximum of 1 pinned poll per forum at a time, as long as starting a new poll does not exceed the maximum of 5.

4. Polls will remain pinned at the top of the forum for a 2-week period.

5. The day before a polls 2-week period is up, a reminder that the polls run is ending will be posted.

6. Once a poll has reached the end of the 2-week period it will be unpinned and allowed to drop into date order based upon the date of its last post.

7. Once a poll has been un-pinned, it no longer counts against the limits above.

Anthony and I would like to thank everyone for their cooperation in this matter. Should anyone have any questions about the above, please feel free to contact me and/or post your question(s) in this topic.

Pinning it for two weeks seems a little too long... one week would seem more reasonable since most of us visit this forum regularly. Just my 2 cents

Perhaps we should have a poll to see how long we should keep polls posted!



Sorry, I couldn't resist...

:lol:

I think these guidelines are pretty good. While jccollins has a good point about most of us being regular enough to vote within one week, I would like to see them at two weeks to start with. If that seems to be long enough or even two long, then maybe it could be cut down to one week. Test it and find out.

My two cents, too.

seajay

I understand jccollins poinit about most of us visiting regularly---but then there are vacations or other long periods of not having access.....so....considering that. two weeks is about right. Few of us are away for two weeks at a time, but we easily could be away one week.

Bill Haithcoat said:

I understand jccollins poinit about most of us visiting  regularly---but then there  are vacations or other long periods of not having access.....so....considering that. two weeks is about right.  Few of us are away for two weeks at a time, but we easily could be away one week.

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But, then again, if I could be riding the rails for a week (or two!), I guess I wouldn't mind missing a poll.



seajay

How about a compromise of 10 Days, its a little more than a week, but not as long as two weeks. These seem like good guidelines.

I was wondering if there was going to be something about our large amount of polls right now. I'm with Viewliner here, 2 weeks is too long, 1 week is too short, 10 days sounds good to me.

I agree with you, 10 days is perfect.

Alan, does this apply to Commuter Rail Forums?

In Terms of:

-Could I post 1 Poll in these forums (if under 5 as current), and 1 in the Commuter Rail at the same time?

-Could I post Multiple Polls in the Commuter Rail Forum (i.e. is there a limit even though its not as active a Disscussion)?

I think those are definitely important questions, that people should be aware of the answers.

Viewliner said:

Alan, does this apply to Commuter Rail Forums?

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Yes it does.

Viewliner said:

Could I post 1 Poll in these forums (if under 5 as current), and 1 in the Commuter Rail at the same time?

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Yes, that's why I said "Each member will be allowed a maximum of 1 pinned poll per forum at a time,"

Viewliner said:

Could I post Multiple Polls in the Commuter Rail Forum (i.e. is there a limit even though its not as active a Disscussion)?

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No, you can only post 1 poll at a time in the Commuter Rail Forum.

Additionally the polls in the Commuter forum must be Commuter or transit related, you cannot post an Amtrak poll in the Commuter Forum.

You could have a separate forum for pulls, just like you created a separte forum for trip reports or commuter trains.

Personally, I dont really use the polls that much.

Some of these polls seem to be up for too long. What if there is no activity in a poll after five days of the last activity, it is dropped?

Amfleet said:

Some of these polls seem to be up for too long. What if there is no activity in a poll after five days of the last activity, it is dropped?

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Sadly there is no easy way for me to monitor poll activity. If someone just votes, without posting a message, then the date field is not updated. Therefore I have no way of knowing when they cast that vote. The only time that the date field is updated is when someone actually posts a comment.

So I have to do this manually and based upon the date that a poll was started.

AlanB said:

So I have to do this manually and based upon the date that a poll was started.

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....which is kind of hard to do while you're taking an overnight swim on the Federal .

Superliner Diner said:

AlanB said:

So I have to do this manually and based upon the date that a poll was started.

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....which is kind of hard to do while you're taking an overnight swim on the Federal .

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Hope he remembered to pack his snorkel :lol:

I think Scuba gear may be more appropriate, it was a Viewliner after all.

I two or three times, I rode in a slumber coach with a plastic grabage bage on the floor. That was one thing I did not like about those cars.

Steve 4031, I don't think that was peculiar to slumbercoaches. I think for awhile Amtrak had those hideous contraptions in all cars....you just happened to be in slumbercoach during the time they did that. I am sure I have seen them in other cars as well.