Frequently asked questions

Open Your maps. It remembers up to 20 polls and collections in the browser you used. You can remove entries without deleting the maps. The list stays on that device and does not restore creator controls if your session cookie is cleared.

Yes. In the browser that created the map, open Manage poll or Manage collection, then Edit details. You can change the title, description and public listing while the map is open. Poll creators can also change or remove a future voting deadline. The link, places and existing votes stay the same.

No. Creating a poll or joining one mints an anonymous session stored in a browser cookie. There are no usernames, passwords, or emails.

You lose creator controls and your voting identity for that poll. There is no account recovery or cross-device identity transfer — the session lives in that one browser.

Private means unlisted, not access-controlled. A private poll is left off the public Discover page, but anyone who has its URL can still join and vote — the long, random poll ID makes casual guessing impractical, but treat the link like you would any shareable link.

Yes. Creators can switch a poll to aggregate-only mode: each participant then sees only their own row plus the overall totals, instead of everyone's names and individual votes.

Optionally. When creating a poll you can use a one-day, one-week, or one-month preset, choose an exact date and time, or leave it open indefinitely. Exact input uses your browser's local time; the poll displays the deadline in each reader’s timezone. An expired poll stays viewable by its URL but becomes read-only — no new joins or votes.

Yes. The creator can either close voting without choosing, or finalize one candidate as the chosen destination and close voting at the same time. A closed poll is read-only.

While a poll is open, its creator can choose any current candidate as the final destination. ChattyMaps records that choice, closes voting, and shows the chosen destination instead of a changing leader.

Yes. You can create and share a poll before adding any places. Anyone who joins with a name can add places while it is open. The creator can remove any place; participants can remove their own suggestions. Voting is available once there are at least two places. Collections need at least one place and only their creator can add places.

Yes, the creator can delete a poll at any time. This permanently removes the poll along with its locations, participants, and votes.

The poll page automatically refreshes every 12 seconds while it's open, so you generally don't need to reload to see new votes. It's short-interval polling, not instant push delivery.

Place search is powered by OpenStreetMap's Nominatim service, queried through ChattyMaps' own server so your searches aren't sent to a third party directly from your browser.

Yes, there's no cost to create or join polls.