How voting works

Votes are how visitors tell you which items they want most. Each item has a vote button. Anyone who can see the item can click the button to add or remove their vote. This page explains the rules: who can vote, how the plugin counts votes, and where the data lives.

One vote per visitor, per item

The rule is simple: each visitor can vote once on each item. Clicking the vote button a second time removes the vote. The plugin treats voting as a toggle, not a counter.

This applies to both logged-in users and guests. There is no way for one person to add more than one vote to the same item.

Logged-in users vs. guests

The plugin can tell two kinds of visitor apart.

Logged-in users

A visitor who is logged in to WordPress is tracked by their user ID. Their vote stays with their account. If they vote on item #42, then log out and log back in on a different device, their vote on item #42 is still there. They cannot vote again from the new device.

Guests (not logged in)

A visitor who is not logged in is tracked by a first-party cookie. The first time someone loads the board, the plugin writes a cookie named sbir_uid in the visitor's browser. The cookie holds a random ID. From then on, that random ID stands in for the visitor.

This means:

  • A guest can vote, and the vote sticks for that browser.
  • If the guest opens the board in a different browser or on a different device, the plugin sees them as a new visitor. They could vote again from that second browser.
  • If the guest clears their cookies, the plugin sees them as a new visitor next time. They could vote again.
  • The cookie lasts for one year, unless the visitor clears it sooner.

The plugin does this on purpose. Forcing every visitor to log in just to vote is a high cost. The cookie is the standard middle ground: it stops casual double-voting from the same browser, and it does not block real interest.

What happens when someone votes

  1. The visitor clicks the vote button on a card.
  2. The plugin sends the click to your WordPress site.
  3. If the visitor has not voted yet, the plugin adds their vote and increases the vote count by 1.
  4. If the visitor has already voted, the plugin removes their vote and decreases the vote count by 1.
  5. The number on the button updates without reloading the page.

The add and the count update happen together. If anything fails, the plugin rolls back so the count does not drift.

Where votes live in the database

Votes are stored in two custom tables that SimpleBoards adds to your WordPress database:

  • wp_sbir_votes keeps one row per vote, with the item, the voter identifier (user ID or cookie ID), and the time of the vote.
  • wp_sbir_vote_counts keeps the current total per item, so that showing a number on a card is one quick read instead of a count of every row.

(wp_ is the default WordPress table prefix. Your prefix may be different.)

These tables are managed by the plugin. You do not need to look at them. They are listed here so site owners who back up their database know what to back up.

What vote counts mean

The vote count is the number of people who liked the item enough to click the button. That is all it is. SimpleBoards does not:

  • Weight votes (a vote from a paying customer counts the same as a vote from a guest).
  • Hide vote counts from visitors.
  • Allow negative votes or downvotes.
  • Award badges or points.

If you want a more advanced setup (for example, only counting votes from logged-in users), see the developer docs on hooks and the access filter (planned for the Reference section).

What can stop a vote

A vote can be blocked when:

  • The item is inside the moderation queue and not yet published. The item is not shown to the public, so no one can vote on it.
  • The board is private (Pro) and the visitor does not have access.
  • The item itself is private (Pro) and the visitor cannot edit it.
  • The visitor's browser is blocking cookies entirely. In that case the vote button works during the session, but the vote is treated as belonging to "no one in particular" and may be counted differently on a return visit.

Last updated

2026-05-23 · SimpleBoards 1.0.4