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How to create a poll in Sferum: class and parent chats
Since the 2025/26 school year Sferum has worked inside the MAX messenger, and polls are created right in a learning chat: a teacher asks the class or parents, and members vote with a tap. Below: how to create a poll, what settings it has and who sees the answers. At the end: when a school is better off with its own bot.
Where a poll is created
A poll is posted in a Sferum learning chat — a class chat, a chat with parents or a teachers' work chat. Learning chats are created by an administrator, a teacher or a staff member of the school. Sferum's help center does not say which chat members may create polls: if your chat has no “Poll” item, ask the school administrator.
How to create a poll
- Open the learning chat you need.
- Tap the plus or paperclip next to the message field.
- Choose “Poll”.
- Enter the topic and the answer options.
- Choose the settings and post the poll in the chat.
The steps are the same on a computer and in the mobile app.
Poll settings
- Anonymity. In an anonymous poll members' choices are hidden. In an open one the creator sees who voted for what.
- Multiple answers. You can allow choosing more than one option.
- No vote changes. A member who has voted cannot change the answer.
- Time limit. Voting closes at the set time.
Results are visible after voting: in an open poll you can see who chose each option.
Polls a class and parents need
- Meeting. “When is a good time for the parent meeting?” — several time options and multiple answers allowed.
- Event. “Who is going on the trip on November 14?” — an open poll, so the teacher sees the list right away.
- Class opinion. “Which topic should we cover in homeroom?” — an anonymous poll so students answer honestly.
- Urgent question. A time limit helps: “answer by Friday, 6 pm”.
The shorter the question and the clearer the options, the more answers you get: one question, three to five options.
What a chat poll doesn't do
- One question: the next question doesn't depend on the answer.
- Answers don't go into a spreadsheet or a profile card — you check the list of voters in the poll itself.
- The poll doesn't remind those who haven't answered and doesn't answer parents' questions.
- It lives inside the chat: a parent who isn't in the class chat yet won't see it.
When a school needs its own bot
For voting within a class, the built-in poll is enough. A school's own bot in MAX is for something else: taking certificate requests, answering the same questions about the schedule and admission, collecting questionnaires whose answers need to be stored and exported. The bot works in a private chat with a parent, not in the class chat: there are no public rules on adding third-party bots to Sferum chats. More in the article Sferum in MAX and a bot for your school.
CHBT has templates for this: “School certificates and timetable” and “Customer questionnaire”: in the questionnaire each answer is saved to its own field, the summary is in Survey answers, and all answers are in the CSV export. A bot in MAX doesn't message first — a parent opens it via a link the school shares in the chat or on its website. If the questionnaire asks for a child's name or a phone number, separate consent to personal data processing comes first — the “Kids’ club and sports class sign-up” template shows how to set it up.
Sferum in MAX and a bot for your schoolHow to make a poll in MAXSchool chatbotSurvey bot“School certificates and timetable” template