Choosing a widget type

Start from what fans should do. Your account has the widget types agreed with you; any other type answers 403.

At a glance

If fans should…	Use	Sport example	Non-sport example
Pick one answer from a short list, where the crowd’s answer is the point	Poll	”Who was your player of the match?"	"Which ending should the writers choose?”
Pick their own favourite, quickly, through head-to-head rounds	Picker	”Who’s been your best player tonight?"	"Pick your favourite of tonight’s finalists”
Give every option a score	Rating	Rate each starter out of 10	Rate each finalist’s dish out of 10
Guess a match’s final score	Predictor	”Predict tonight’s score”	None: use a poll
Build a team: a player for each position, and a formation	Line-up	”Pick your starting XI”	None: use a poll, a picker or a rating
Say something in their own words	Fan Zone	”Send us your matchday thoughts"	"Ask the panel a question”
Nothing: just see something	Sponsor	The matchday partner at half time	A “How to vote” screen between sessions

Is there anything to collect from fans? If not, use a sponsor widget.
Should fans answer in their own words? Use the Fan Zone.
Is it a match score, known later? Use a predictor. Is it about positions in a team? Use a line-up.
Should every option get a score? Use a rating. Otherwise, if it’s the fan’s own favourite and speed matters, use a picker, and for anything else, a poll.

Poll or picker. A poll asks for the crowd’s view: “Who was the player of the match?” A picker asks for the fan’s own favourite, with a timer: “Who’s your best player tonight?” A picker’s options are people; for anything else, such as goals or album covers, use a poll.
Poll or rating. If one crowd answer is enough, a poll is quicker for fans. Use a rating when a score for every option is what you want back.
Poll or predictor. “Will there be a goal in the first 10 minutes?” is a poll. An exact final score is a predictor.
The Fan Zone isn’t a public wall. Fans never see each other’s messages. Approved messages go to your team and, with the fan’s consent, on air.

Type	Options	Timer	Results
Poll	1 to 10	No	Votes and the percentage for each option
Picker	2 to 16 people	5 or 10 seconds per round	Final picks for each option
Rating	1 to 16 people, scored 1 to 5 or 1 to 10	No	Average, count and spread of scores for each option
Predictor	Two teams, scores up to `max_score` (1 to 99)	No	Every predicted score line; the final score on the widget once settled
Line-up	Up to 4 teams’ players; formations of up to 11 positions	No	The top three picks for each position, and each formation’s share
Fan Zone	None	No	None: messages go to your team for review
Sponsor	1 to 10 slides	No	None: display only