Voting added to the girls WebApp

I have finally added a feature to allow the girls to semi-anonymously vote on how this site is run.

I’ve always tried to get the girls to vote on things. This site is for them and about them. I don’t really make money at this. Any little extra that comes in goes to the server bill ($300 a month) or saved up so I can update my equipment every few years. I’ve also been able to save a little to create a fund to help the girls with emergency loans at 0% interest so they don’t have to borrow from loan shops which charge outrageous interest fees.

As such, I want their say about how things here operate. This site is to help them, not to benefit me.

The problem I noticed is that most of the girls would either not vote on topic or would vote how they felt others they knew wanted them to vote. Most didn’t seem to care to have an opinion of their own. Whatever I wanted was usually fine, but I really wanted them to have a say in things. It also was difficult for me to make all the girls aware of the topics and collect votes each time.

All that is solved now! Inside their WebApp, they have a page for voting. The tab for the page will display a green dot when there is a topic for voting. Upon accessing the page, the topic is listed at the top. Under that are 2 large buttons side by side—thumbs up and thumbs down.

Below that it will list the names of any of the girls who have voted. These are stored in a separate file in alphabetical order so that the order has no meaning.

Below that are 2 lines which contain the count totals of YES and then NO. These votes totals are stored in a separate file from the names file. Just the totals of each are displayed so the girls can’t try to assume anything from the order YESs and NOs since there will be only counts.

There is also a line bar graph which displays behind the votes which changes length depending upon the percentage of votes Yes vs No.

Issues: It’ll be obvious how the first person voted. Also if everyone is voting the same then it’s obvious to see all those listed voted the same. But I wanted to list the names and the count totals so the girls could see their vote being recorded in real-time. They will see both their name being added to the list, and the vote count increase for what they voted. Also, if you were to just sit on that page all day and night, you could figure out how everyone voted while you were watching, but that’d take a lot of patience to sit there watching so I doubt any will do that.

Seeing the names displayed will encourage them to encourage their friends to vote if they don’t see that they voted and if it’s a topic they care about. Those who refer others in probably have a bit more power at influencing their friends and I think that’s how it should be. Their friends can still vote as they wish, but those referring others can and should try to influence how the people they referred in vote.

Basic security is in place to prevent double voting. It simply checks to see if the girl’s name has been recorded already and won’t write the vote if it’s already present. A few other minor security features are in place to try to assure it’s a valid vote from the girl.

News Date: Saturday 11th of March 2023