FAQ: Why don't you use Patreon's built-in polls? (Patreon)

I've gotten this question a few times so I'm going to make a little faq post about it! The answer is surprisingly long lol

Patreon doesn't offer image additions to polls.

I have accumulated... a lot of characters over the years. Needless to say, I don't expect all my patrons to memorize them. Originally, I would link to my character lineups if people needed a reminder of who's who. With the method I use now, it's much easier to post an image with all the options so everyone can see at a glance which characters are being voted on and don't have to click back and forth between character lineups anymore :)

No way to hide poll results.

Doodle offers a feature where voters can't see the poll's results. This is surprisingly invaluable; before using this feature, I found that polls followed a very predictable pattern. Whichever two characters were in the lead within the first half hour of the poll, those two would stay in the lead for the remainder as all other voters applied their vote strategically (even if they preferred the 3rd or 4th place characters). With hidden polls, I've noticed a more even distribution of votes and characters rising and falling in the poll over the course of the week.

If these features get added to patreon's polls, I'll happily use their built in ones. For now though, this is the simplest and most convenient option I can find! Thanks for reading and I hope the doodle method so far isn't too inconvenient (or at least trades one larger inconvenience for a lesser one lol!).