The Internet Roller Coaster Poll Illustrated Instructions

Save the ballot file from the website to your computer as a text file e.g. wdblt05.txt and open it
using a plain text editor (such as notepad, which is included in Microsoft Windows).

Or you may copy and paste the ballot from the website, e-mail, or newsgroup into Notepad.


Change the e-mail, location, and name fields accordingly. (location field is not shown in these old screenshots)
Highlight and copy (CTRL-C) your ballot...  


...and paste (CTRL-V)  into a spreadsheet (e.g. Microsoft Works).
Adjust spreadsheet column widths for easier viewing.
Rank the six ride sensations 1-6 (1 = favorite).  Change the left 'n' to 'y' for each coaster you have ridden.  


Highlight just the rows containing rollercoasters, use the spreadsheet's sort tool to sort by whether you have 
ridden or not (column B) and then delete (CTRL-X) the rows containing coasters you have not ridden.

Change the 'n' in column C to a 'y' for all coasters you rode THIS YEAR, then rank all the coasters you have ridden.  
Rank any "Favorite" line as if it were your favorite coaster of that type but DO NOT change the name.

You may give more than one coaster the same rank.  

Tip: If you have ridden many coasters, ranking may be easier in groups first, e.g. give all your coasters a 1,10,20,30,
...or 90 then sort by rank and then rerank within those groups (i.e. rerank all you gave 1's as 1-9, 10's as 11-19, etc).

Any ridden coasters that are left as '0' will be assumed to be less favored than any that are numbered.

When done ranking, highlight your ballot as shown and copy (CTRL-C) it back to...




...the text editor.  Save as a plain text file (*.txt).  It is OK that tabs have now taken the place of the commas. 


Send as an e-mail attachment to wcoasterpoll@yahoo.com  Subject:2005 Wood Poll Ballot (or 2005 Steel Poll Ballot)



You are done.  Pour yourself a glass of your favorite beverage and relax.