Making Web Polls

A begginer wants to put polls on their site

[vinnybop]

I want to be able to whip out "fun and exciting" web polls for my users and since I have no idea how, Of course I come straight to WebmasterWorld for advice.....

[korkus2000]

What do you have to work with, PHP, ASP, Flash? Do you have the code written you just want a GUI?

[vinnybop]

I use dreamweaver. I don't know what GUI is..... I don't use flash and I don't know the difference between PHP and ASP.

[korkus2000]

GUI is Graphical User Interface. Do you know what operating system your host uses, Unix, Linux, Windows?

[vinnybop]

Unix (took me a while to figure that one out).

[jatar_k]

no offence vinnybop but you have some learning to do my friend, but hey, that's what we are here for.

Unix, 2 proper choices then, php or perl. Which one does your host have installed?

[syd1975]

As someone who's had a couple of years experience with perl and flatfile databases, but just started php/mysql, I would recommend php, if you have access to it. Much easier to learn and work with, and easier to use with html, I think. Good luck!

[kyr01]

Vinnybop, you will need to learn how to install a script on your server (whatever language you'll adopt...). It is going to be a nice period of learning, and the first step should be to find and study a script that makes what you want. You should be able to find many free scripts on hotscript.com, for example, looking under Perl or Php. Read how to install them, and start learning. As I said it is a nice process, at least if you are not dealing with a mission critical site...

[vinnybop]

thanks guys. Luckilly I have a friend who can translate all of your usefull input.

[DLadybug]

Vinnie, while you're learning, there are also places that have polls set up and free to use, then all you do is fill out a form. There are usually options for how you want results displayed,ie, pie chart, bar graph, count percentages.

The poll script is processed on their website, you just link to it. Easy.

Some are free because they sell ADs, so watch for those if you have issues with that. Some are free because the person who coded/ developed them is trying to get his/ her name out there, so the polls come no-strings-attached other than crediting the producer. Just be sure to DO that, because when you start producing shareable scripts, you'll want credit too! lol.

Search for things like Hosted CGI scripts..

(Not partnered or affiliated with anyone providing these polls, I just use them because I can't run CGI on my current host and I have no clue how to if I could!)

~Dian