Polls

Polls is mizuiro’s group decision and response tool. The core mechanic is always the same: someone poses a question, people respond, results are tallied. The poll type determines the form that takes.

• Who can use it: configurable. By default, managers and supervisors can create polls; all tiers can respond to polls they’re invited to.
• Where: Sidebar → Polls.
• Default: off. Enable it at Settings → Modules.

mizuiro includes eight poll types. You choose the type when creating a poll, and the form adjusts to match.

The general-purpose type. A question with two or more options, and respondents pick one (or multiple, if you allow it). Good for decisions like “which charity should we support this quarter?” or “what colour should the new office walls be?”

Sign-up for a group meal. Respondents pick a category (appetizer, main, side dish, dessert, drinks, plates and utensils, or other) and describe what they’re bringing. Results are grouped by category so you can see at a glance who’s covering mains, who’s doubling up on dessert, and where the gaps are. If Kikubari is enabled, allergy and dietary information for the group is surfaced on the poll page so nothing gets missed when people are deciding what to bring.

Vote on where to eat. You add the restaurant options; respondents vote for one or more. Results show as a ranked list with vote counts, and you can mark a winner once the decision’s made. If Kikubari is enabled, dietary and allergy information for the group appears on the poll page so the choice can take everyone’s needs into account.

Collect individual orders for a group meal from a specific restaurant. Respondents type their order as free text. The result is a clean name-and-order list, ready to hand off to whoever’s placing the order - no chasing people down or trying to remember who wanted what. If Kikubari is enabled, allergy information is surfaced so the person ordering can double-check before confirming.

Find a time that works for everyone. You set a range of dates (with optional time slots), and respondents mark each one as available, maybe, or unavailable. A colour-coded grid shows overlap at a glance, with a “best options” summary highlighting the slots with the most availability.

A simple attendance check for events. Respondents pick Yes, No, or Maybe. If your event involves food, tick the Includes food checkbox when creating the poll - this surfaces Kikubari allergy and dietary information for attendees on the poll page. You can also add a plus-one option and a free-text field for notes - useful for things like “I’ll be a few minutes late” or “I’m bringing my dog.” Results show who’s coming and who isn’t, by name, because you need to know who’s actually coming.

Prioritize multiple options. Respondents rank their top choices in order of preference rather than picking just one. Results are weighted scores - first place gets the most points, second gets fewer, and so on - with ties broken by most first-place votes. Useful when “pick one” is too blunt and you want to understand the shape of the group’s preferences, not just the winner.

Collect preferences and personal details directly from employees - allergies, dietary restrictions, food preferences, coffee order, shirt size, and more. Unlike a regular poll, responses here write directly to each person’s Kikubari profile automatically, so you’re building a useful record of your team’s preferences without any manual data entry. It’s also the only way employees can contribute to their own Kikubari profile, since profile editing is otherwise a manager and supervisor action.

1. Go to Sidebar → Polls.
2. Click New poll.
3. Select a poll type. The form adjusts to that type.
4. Fill in the title and options (or questions, depending on the type).
5. Set the audience: company-wide, specific teams, or specific people.
6. Optionally set a response deadline. When the deadline passes, the poll closes automatically and you get a notification.
7. Configure the notification options - whether to email invitees, send a reminder before the deadline, and whether to email results when the poll closes.
8. Click Save.

Respondents get a bell notification immediately. If email invitations are turned on, they also get an email.

For potluck, restaurant, team lunch, and food-related RSVP polls, mizuiro automatically shows a food safety panel at the top of the poll page when Kikubari is also enabled. This panel surfaces any allergies and dietary restrictions on file for the people in the poll audience, so you don’t have to remember to check separately.

Warning

The food safety panel doesn’t replace asking. Kikubari profiles are only as current as the last time someone updated them. If you’re planning an event with food and allergies are a concern, the panel is a good starting point, but a quick check with your team is always worthwhile.

By default, respondents can see tallied results. You can turn this off on a per-poll basis when you want only the creator and managers to see responses.

A few types override this setting:

• Potluck and team lunch: responses are always visible, because the whole point is knowing who’s bringing what and who ordered what.
• RSVP: responses are always visible, because you need to know who’s coming.
• Get to know you: results are never visible to other respondents, because the answers are personal data.

You can close a poll manually at any time from the poll page. When a poll closes (manually or via deadline), you and all respondents with results visibility turned on get a notification. If “send results on close” is enabled, everyone gets an email summary.

Closed polls move to an archived state after 90 days. They’re still accessible on the Archived tab; they just stay out of the main list.

Settings → Polls

Who can create polls

Choose whether only managers, managers and supervisors, or everyone can create new polls. Defaults to managers and supervisors.

Default email settings

Pre-fills the email notification toggles (invite, reminder, results on close) when creating a new poll. These are per-poll settings that creators can still override; the defaults just save a few clicks.

Widget colour

Sets the accent colour for the Polls dashboard widget.

Can I add options to a poll after it’s been created?

Yes, as long as the poll is still open. Click Edit on the poll page and add the new options. Existing votes aren’t affected.

Can I remove an option that already has votes?

No. Once someone has voted on an option you can’t remove it, since that would lose their response. You can add new options, but existing ones with votes stay.

What happens when a deadline passes?

The poll closes automatically. You get a bell notification with the results summary. If you enabled “send results on close,” all respondents get an email. Late respondents see “this poll has closed” when they open it.

Can employees see each other’s responses to a get to know you poll?

No. Get to know you poll responses are never visible to other respondents. Only the poll creator and managers can see individual answers.

Does the get to know you poll replace what’s already in someone’s Kikubari profile?

New responses add to existing profile data - they don’t wipe it. If someone already has “vegetarian” in their dietary restrictions and responds to a new poll confirming it, the data stays consistent. If they update their response to remove something, the old value is replaced with the new one.