Creating Polls
As a presenter, you can create and launch polls during a BigBlueButton meeting to gather feedback, check understanding, or make group decisions. Participants respond in real time, and you can publish the results instantly for everyone to see.
Starting a Poll
Click the + button in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
Select Start a poll from the menu that appears.
The poll panel opens above the participant list, temporarily replacing the chat area.
Choose a question type and configure the answer options (see below).
Click the start button to launch the poll. It will appear on all participants' screens immediately.
Question Types
BigBlueButton offers several built-in question types for quick poll creation:
| Type | Options |
|---|---|
| True / False | Two options: True or False. |
| A / B / C / D | Up to four answer options labelled A through D. |
| Yes / No / Abstention | Three options for agreement, disagreement, or abstention. |
| Open response | Participants type a free-text answer (maximum ~50 characters). |
Custom Poll Options
If the built-in question types do not fit your needs, you can create a custom poll with your own answer options:
Select Custom poll when creating a new poll.
Enter your own answer options. You can add or remove options as needed.
Optionally, enable multiple choice mode to allow participants to select more than one answer.
Anonymous Polls
When you enable the anonymous option before starting a poll, the responses are collected without linking them to specific participants. The results show only the total counts for each answer — not who selected what.
Anonymous polls are available in BigBlueButton 2.4 and later. If you are running an older version, this option will not appear in the poll settings.
Quiz Mode
In quiz mode, you designate one answer as the correct response before starting the poll. After participants submit their answers, the results indicate who answered correctly and who did not. This is useful for knowledge checks and interactive quizzes during training sessions.
Use quiz mode to test comprehension at regular intervals — for example, every 10 to 15 minutes — to keep participants engaged and verify understanding.
Quick Polls from Prepared Slides
If your uploaded presentation slides contain pre-formatted answer options, BigBlueButton can detect them automatically. This allows you to launch a poll directly from the slide without manually entering the options — a significant time saver for planned quizzes and surveys.
Managing Poll Results
While a poll is active, you can see the incoming responses in real time. Once you are satisfied with the number of responses, you have the following options:
- Publish results — makes the results visible to all participants. They appear on the current presentation slide and in the public chat.
- Copy results — copies the poll results to your clipboard for pasting into other applications.
When you publish the results, they are automatically posted in the public chat as well, so participants can refer back to them later in the session.
Practical Tips
- Check understanding — use polls to verify that key concepts have been understood.
- Gather opinions — collect quick feedback or take a vote on decisions.
- Keep participants engaged — launching a poll every 10 to 15 minutes helps maintain attention.
- Prepare slides in advance — include answer options on your slides for faster poll creation.