How to develop an online polling system in Bubble.io: Step-by-Step Guide

Go to the Data tab and create these Data Types. Poll: title (text), description (text), creator (User), is_active (yes/no default yes), allow_anonymous (yes/no), end_date (date), share_code (text). PollOption: poll (Poll), option_text (text), vote_count (number default 0), display_order (number). Vote: poll (Poll), poll_option (PollOption), voter (User), voter_ip (text), voted_at (date). The Vote type tracks who voted for what, enabling duplicate prevention and result analysis.

Create a page called create-poll. Add Inputs for the poll title and description, a Checkbox for allow anonymous voting, a Date Picker for end date, and a section for adding options. For the options section, use a Repeating Group bound to a Custom State called options_list (list of texts). Add an Input and Add Option button that appends the input value to the list. Show each option with a remove button. When the Create Poll button is clicked, create the Poll record first, then loop through the options list and create a PollOption for each one using Schedule API Workflow on a List.

Create a page called vote with a URL parameter for the poll share_code. On page load, fetch the Poll using Do a search for Polls where share_code = Get share_code from page URL. Display the poll title and description. Add a Repeating Group showing all PollOptions for this poll sorted by display_order. In each cell, show the option text and a radio-button-style circle (an Icon or Shape element). When the user clicks an option, set a Custom State selected_option to the clicked PollOption. Style the selected option differently. Add a Submit Vote button at the bottom.

Create a workflow for When Button Submit Vote is clicked. First, check for duplicate votes: add an Only when condition that Do a search for Votes where poll = this poll AND voter = Current User is empty (for logged-in users). For anonymous polls, check by voter_ip instead. If the condition passes, create a new Vote record and increment the selected PollOption's vote_count by 1 using Make changes to PollOption (vote_count = vote_count + 1). Show a confirmation and navigate to the results page. If the user already voted, show a message saying You have already voted on this poll.

Create a page or section called results. Display the poll title and total vote count. Add a Repeating Group showing all PollOptions sorted by vote_count descending. In each cell, display the option text, vote count, and a percentage bar. For the percentage bar, add a Group with a dynamic width: Current cell's PollOption's vote_count / Parent group's Poll's PollOptions:each item's vote_count:sum * 100. Set the background color to a brand color. Display the percentage as text. For a more polished look, install a charting plugin and create a bar or pie chart bound to the PollOption data.

On the results page, add a Share section with the poll URL displayed in a read-only Input for easy copying. Add a Copy Link button that uses the Copy to clipboard action (via a plugin or JavaScript). On the creator's dashboard, show all their polls in a Repeating Group with status indicators (active/closed), total votes, and action buttons for Close Poll (sets is_active to no) and Delete Poll. Add an Only when condition to the voting page that checks is_active = yes and end_date has not passed. For advanced analytics and multi-question polls, RapidDev can help build comprehensive survey tools.