Scheduling a Poll

Set a launch and close time and let your poll run itself — it opens for voting and closes with the winner on schedule, even if you're away from your computer. Scheduling is a Pro feature.

Setting a schedule

When you launch a poll from the Create page, open the Schedule section in the launch dialog and tick the checkbox. Two optional fields appear:

• Launch at — when the poll should open for voting. Leave it empty to launch immediately.
• Close at — when voting should automatically close and a winner is declared. Leave it empty to close the poll manually later.

Times are entered in your local time zone, and the dialog echoes back the exact moment ("Opens Sat, Jun 3, 7:00 PM") so there's no guesswork. If you set a launch time, the button changes to Schedule Poll.

What a scheduled poll looks like

A poll scheduled to launch later is held until its launch time. Anyone who opens its link early sees a Coming soon page with a live countdown, and it flips to voting automatically when the time arrives. You'll see it marked Scheduled in My Polls.

Automatic close

When the close time arrives, voting ends and the winner is picked from the tally. If two or more movies tie for the lead, they're all declared co-winners — the same way a manual close handles ties. Owner and subscriber close notifications go out just as they would for a manual close.

Changing or removing a time

You can edit a poll's close time from its edit page — set a new time or clear the field to switch back to closing manually. A scheduled draft can be edited like any other draft before it launches.

Timing precision

Scheduled transitions are checked about once a minute, so a poll opens or closes within roughly a minute of the time you set — close enough for movie night, but not second-exact. Plan around the minute, not the second.