Open question: free-text answers and a word cloud
Not every question has options. Ask an open question and everyone answers in their own words. PollIt collects the answers in one place and draws a word cloud of the words people use most.
How it works
- Write the question, and a description if it needs some context.
- Choose whether answers carry names, or whether the poll is anonymous.
- Share the link, or show the poll on a screen in presentation mode, with a QR code and a six-digit code to join.
- Read the answers as they arrive, and watch the word cloud grow.
The word cloud
The word cloud shows the most frequent words across all answers: the more often a word appears, the larger it is. Common little words such as "the" or "and" are left out, and a word counts once per answer, so one person repeating it does not skew the picture.
Anonymous feedback
With the Anonymous feedback template, the poll asks for no names and takes one answer per browser, so the answers carry no names, not even for you. The results can stay hidden until the poll closes, so early answers don't steer later ones.
A word cloud in a meeting
The Word cloud template asks each person for one word or a short phrase, and people may answer as often as they like. Put it on the projector in presentation mode at the start of a workshop ("What do you expect from today?") or at the end ("One word for this session"), and the cloud grows as people type on their phones.
Settings you can use
- Short or long answers: up to 5,000 characters.
- One answer per browser, per internet address, per account or per personal invitation, or no limit.
- Results visible to everyone, after answering, after the poll closes, or only to you.
- A deadline, a password, and an export of all answers to a spreadsheet (CSV) or JSON.
Good for
Retrospectives, feedback on a course or an event, collecting questions before a talk, brainstorming, an icebreaker, or a suggestion box. If people should add ideas and vote on each other's, use an online poll where participants can add options.
Start from a template
Create an open question
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Create an open question