PollMaker 9.0 Product FAQ

PollMaker 9.0 Product FAQ

These Frequently Asked Questions address general questions about the features and functionality of PollMaker. If you are looking for answers to more specific questions about PollMaker technology, or if you are looking for a solution to a problem that you are currently experiencing with PollMaker, check out the PollMaker 9.0 Technical FAQ.

Section 1: General Questions Regarding PollMaker 9.0

1.1 What is PollMaker 9.0?
PollMaker 9.0 is the latest version of Poll Development Software created by Survey America, Inc. PollMaker allows you to create and publish electronic surveys that will run on virtually any computer running Windows 95 or later. The appliation also allows you to manage surveys and report poll data on each PC.

1.2 What is the difference between PollMaker 9.0 and Poll-In-One?
The main difference between PollMaker and Poll-In-One is that PollMaker runs under Windows XP or 7 and previous versions (eg. Poll-In-One) run in DOS. Because PollMaker runs in Windows it has greater capabilities when it comes to graphics, sounds, colors, and text formats. PollMaker also has a built in report generator that can quickly generate reports that incorporate color and 3D graphs.

1.3 What can I do with PollMaker 9.0?
PollMaker consists of three applications: Poll Designer, Poller and Poll Manager. Using Poll Designer you can create and edit polls. Poller is used to run the poll, which will allow a survey respondent to respond to a series of questions displayed on screens that were created in Poll Designer. Poll Manager is used to manage the data collected from the poll when it is run with Poller. It will allow you to run reports and backup polls.

1.4 Can I use polls that I created with previous versions in PollMaker 9.0?
No. PollMaker can only edit, run and generate reports on polls that were created with PollMaker 9.0.

1.5 Is PollMaker 9.0 a "visual" development tool?
Yes. In this version, you can actually "draw" buttons and hotspots on screens, as well as modify screen properties in a much more intuitive way.

1.6 What is the difference between the PollMaker screen saver and my Windows XP/7 screen saver?
Each poll can be configured to have its own PollMaker screen saver. When you copy a poll onto a kiosk, that poll’s screen saver is automatically copied too. If a poll has its own screen saver, you should disable the Windows screen saver because the Windows screen saver will run over the PollMaker one.

1.7 What kind of security does PollMaker 9.0 have?
Within PollMaker 5 different passwords can be set, to allow for 5 different levels of access. You can set all the passwords, just one password or none of the passwords. All of PollMaker’s files are encrypted using 54-bit encryption.

1.8 How big can I make a poll?
A poll can have up to 999 screens in it. However it is suggested that polls with more than 50 screens be broken up into sub-polls.

Section 2: Installation and Licensing

2.1 What are the system requirements for PollMaker?
PollMaker can be used in two ways. You can create and run polls on the same system, or you can create polls on one powerful PC, and then distrubted and run these polls on less powerful (and perhaps less expensive) PC's, which are referred to as kiosks. The hardware and software requirements for creating and running polls are as follows:

To RUN Polls (kiosk requirements):

1 GHz or faster. (2 GHz or faster is recommended).
256 megabytes (MB) of RAM. (512 MB or greater is recommended).
VGA or higher resolution monitor; any VGA-compliant video-card.
55 MB free hard disk space. (Non-removable drives only.)
Laser, ink-jet, or bubble-jet printer (for report generation only).
Windows XP® or later.
MicroTouch® drivers.

To DESIGN and MANAGE Polls:

1 GHz or faster. (2 GHz or faster is recommended).
256 megabytes (MB) of RAM. (512 MB or greater is recommended).
VGA or higher resolution monitor; any VGA-compliant video-card.
75 MB free hard disk space. (Non-removable drives only.)
Laser, ink-jet, or bubble-jet printer (for report generation only).

2.2 How is PollMaker licensed?
You can use a demonstration copy of PollMaker for 10 days. During this ten-day period, you will prompted to register the product each time you start any PollMaker component. Also, you will not be able to gather polling information on more than 20 actual respondents, although you can preview your polls by running them in demo mode as many times as you like.

At the end of the 10-day trial period, you must contact your vendor (probably SAI) for an authorization code.

Section 3: Designing Polls

3.1 Can I use sound in my poll?
Yes. You can use Windows audio (.wav) files to play sounds. A sound can be configured to play when a screen appears by setting the IntroSound property. Sounds can also be configured to play when a button or hotspot is selected by setting the SelectSound property of the button.

3.2 What kind of graphics files can I use in my polls?
You can use graphic files with the following extensions: .bmp .jpg .gif. and .ico. Bitmaps (.bmp) are the simplest Windows graphic type and most desktop backgrounds that come with Windows are .bmp files. GIF (.gif) files are the most commonly used graphic file format on the World Wide Web and the Internet. JPEG (.jpg) files usually take up the least amount of hard disk space. Windows Icon (.ico) files are used for all Windows icons.

3.3 Where can I find graphics files to use in my polls?
You can create them yourself using any paint or drawing application such as Microsoft Paint™, CorelDraw!™, or Adobe Illustrator™ etc. Look on your own computer for any graphics that may come with Windows. You can also look on the Internet for graphics; just be sure that any graphic you obtain is used with permission from its owner.

3.4 What is a template?
In Poll Designer you can create a new template by choosing Templates from the Poll Menu. You edit the template the same way you would a screen. When you create a screen you are asked which template to create the screen with. When you choose a template, all the default values, colors and properties for that screen are set to the values you specified when you created the template. If you go back and change a value in the template, the default value for all screens created with that template will also change.

3.5 What do you mean by a "sub poll"?
A sub-poll is a poll that is launched by another poll. Any poll can be a sub-poll. Sub-polls allow for easier organization of large surveys with various branching paths. For example, you could have a poll that branches English-speaking respondents to one sub-poll, and Spanish-speaking respondents to a second sub-poll. The two polls could be -- but do not have to be -- structurally and cosmetically identical except for the language used on the screens.

3.6 What is a block-out time?
A block-out time is a time period during which the poll should not run. During a block-out time period, the Polling Engine will dispaly a message reading, "This Kiosk is Temporarily Unavailable". This feature could be useful if you had a kiosk in a resort lobby and the resort had a teen party in the lobby on Friday nights. You could set a block out time for Friday night during the party so that the teenagers attending the party would not be able to take your poll numerous times and give unusual answers. Note that the use of block-out times in your poll does not mean that a genuine respondent may be "cut off" in the middle of a polling session; no block-out times will take effect until the current responent is finished.

3.7 What is a "hotspot screen"?
A hotspot screen uses a graphic file that may already have areas of it that look like buttons. It allows you to outline areas of the graphic that the respondent will be able to select. These areas are called hotspots. The hotspots act just like buttons. The difference is that buttons can be seen individually and hotspots can only be seen if they are outlining an area of the graphic that is visible.

3.8 What is a "lead input screen"?
A Lead Input Screen allows the respondent to enter information without having to choose from a list of choices. For example, the respondent could type in their zip code or their name. This screen provides an onscreen keyboard and lead input fields that the respondent can type in.

3.9 What is the difference between an "info screen" and a "question screen"?
An info screen is primarily used to communicate something to the respondent. The first screen in the poll is usually an info screen because all it does is welcome the respondent and tell them what the poll is about. No data is collected from info screens for reporting. Question screens usually contain a question and some answer choices. Data is collected from question screens to be used in reporting.

3.10 What is branching logic?
Branching logic enables you to show different respondents different screens or poll based on their answers to other screens. For example, if you have a few questions about the kind of car the respondent drives, you don’t need to ask these questions to an 8 year old. So you set the branching logic to skip the car questions if the respondent indicates that he/she is younger than 16 on a screen that asks for age. Branching logic can also launch sub polls. Maybe you want a respondent younger than 16 to answer an entirely different set of questions. You could put these questions in a poll and launch that poll when a respondent indicates he/she is younger than 16.

3.11 Can I make it so that the respondent can choose more than one answer button or hotspot?
Yes. If you set the AllowMuliGridSelect property to true, the respondent will be able to select more than one answer choice.

Section 4: Running Polls

4.1 How do I stop a poll that is running?
There is a special touch code that will bring up the Operators Console. On the Operators Console is an option for shutting down the poll. The screen is broken up into 4 quadrants or parts, each with a number associated with them. The top/left is 1, top/right is 2, bottom/left is 3, and bottom/right is 4. The default touch code (you can change it) is 1-2-3-4 to bring up the Operators Console.

4.2 How can I test my poll?
In Poll Designer you can select the Preview option from the Poll Menu. This will launch the poll in demo mode in Poller. In demo mode the poll will not collect response data. The MinResponseTime and MaxResponseTime will not be enforced and the Screen Saver will be disabled.

4.3 Is there a way to print a poll?
Not at this time. The only way to print poll screens is to capture the screen as a bitmap and print it using a graphics program such as Windows Paint. The easiest way to do this is to press Print Screen while a poll is running. This will capture the current screen. Then launch Windows Paint and paste the image of the screen into it.

Section 5: Managing Polls

5.1 Once I have created a poll, how can I put it on other computers (kiosks) so it can be run?
You need to use the Backup/Restore Utility provided in Poll Manager. On the computer where you created the poll, click on the Backup/Restore button in Poll Manager and then choose Backup a Poll. When it asks you what part of the poll to back up, choose the poll definition file. You probably want to back it up to a flash drive so you can bring it to the kiosk(s). Once this is finished you can bring the disk(s) to the kiosk(s) and restore the poll. Choose Restore a Poll and then choose the directory where you backed up the poll (probably A:/). The restore process will begin and if you have multiple disks it will tell you when to insert each one. Once you are done, the poll is ready to run.

5.2 If I run a poll on multiple kiosks, how do I get the response data all together on one computer so I can run reports?
On all the kiosks where the poll ran you need to use the Backup/Restore Utility in Poll Manager to backup just the result files. Then you can restore all the result data onto one central computer using the Backup/Restore Utility in Poll Manager. Make sure that you choose "Merge result data" when you are restoring the results.

5.3 How do I run a report?
In order to run a report you must have run the poll and gathered some results. Then you can go into Poll Manager, highlight the poll you want to run a report on and choose Generate Report. You can choose the dates that you want the report to show results from. You can also choose which question screens to appear on the report. You can have the report appear on the screen, saved as a rich text file or printed out.