Friday, June 30, 2006

The Great Donut Debate? (and Embedded Polls)

Morning folks -- in a strange coincidence (or is it conspiracy?), two of my cow-orkers independently brought donuts this morning -- Krispy Kremes and Dunkin' Donuts:

Krispy Kremes and Dunkin' Donuts

Which do my AOL cow-orkers prefer? Let's see:

Krispy Kremes and Dunkin' Donuts boxes, open

However, this picture here doesn't tell the whole story -- in fact, it tells a completely wrong story, since cow-orker Chris brought three boxes of Krispy Kremes (I guess that makes him "Krispy Kreme cow-orker Chris"), and that's the second box you see there (which is mostly gone at this point, from what I hear).

I like both kinds of donuts, having grown up with Dunkin Donuts (good coffee, too), and being introduced to Krispy Kreme in college, so of course, I had one of each. Though I might have another Krispy Kreme to see what a few seconds in the microwave will do (Chris says they were hot, right off the line, when he bought them).

[Update: 11:53am: I forgot to mention that AOL Money & Finance blogger Hilary Kramer blogged about Krispy Kreme's stock back in May -- Krispy Kreme had gone public with a hot stock offering back in 2000, but they've hit a few bumps since then, so she marked it as one of her "Stocks to Sell."

Also, I have a stomachache right now. -- Joe]

Anyway, here's your chance to weigh in on yet another round of the Great Donut Debate; cast your vote in the poll and leave a comment with your rationale:

The ability to embed user-created polls in AOL Journals entries is a feature that's still in beta. You can play with it right now, though there isn't a clean, easy-to-use interface around it, so you are warned:
  1. Go to your Journal in beta (add "beta." to the front of your Journal's address -- for example, http://beta.journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke )

  2. Create or edit a Journal Entry. You'll see a link that says "Add a Poll." A poll creation window will pop up -- give your poll a title, ask a question, and provide poll choices. When you're done, click create, and it will generate a poll URL (like http://my.polls.aol.com:80/ui/showPoll.do?pollID=2_898&style=blue)

    Copy that poll URL
    -- this is the URL that you will be including in your Journal entry, using an IFRAME (which is like a window you cut into a Web page that shows content from another Web page.

  3. In your Journal entry, switch to HTML editing view (that is, make sure the pulldown menu on the left side of the formatting toolbar that says "View as" reads "HTML", not "Text")

  4. Add an IFRAME, using the IFRAME HTML tags -- for example, here's what I used, which is kind of the bare minimum:
    <iframe src="http://my.polls.aol.com:80/ui/showPoll.do?pollID=2_898&amp;style=blue" height="280"></iframe>

As I said, we don't have an easy-to-use interface for this yet, which
is why it's a beta, so you will need to play around with the IFRAME
tags to make your poll (and poll results) display properly. Here are
the AOL
Search results for "iframe tag"
that pull up resources
& tutorials on how to use IFRAMES.

Thanks -- Joe


20 comments:

Anonymous said...

h

Anonymous said...

I have only known Krispy Kremes for a few years (was introduced while I was in AZ )...I say Krispy Kreme all the way!  However, I would not turn down a Dunkin' Donut, if a Krispy Kreme was not available!  Jae

Anonymous said...

Step away from the donuts! Ever seen the krispy Kreme calendar?  http://www.octanecreative.com/Parodyville/as_seen/images/KrispyKreme2002Calendar.jpg

Anonymous said...

I voted for Krispy Kreme but there is a little more to my vote than just this one or that one.  Here is why I voted Krispy Kreme...  if you are able to get one hot (Glazed) right off the conveyor belt there is NOTHING like it. Melts in your mouth..so good it slides down and you have to have more cause you hardly got to enjoy that one.  I rarely select anything other than the glaze donut from KK and I prefer to eat it there while they are hot.

I too grew up on Dunkin Donuts. Saturday morning would roll around and Dad would wake us up saying " Who wants donuts!" And our usual jont to DD would begin.  There I would select a donut filled with creme, fruit or covered in sprinkles.  Something to make me feel like a kid again...and while we are at it a ice cold glass of milk too.  Actually as an adult I would take coffee.

Back then smoking was allowed in DD as it was in most coffee shops.  I am glad they don't smoke in there anymore...I like my donuts smoke free.

Man I am hungry...got any left?   I haven't found either chain here where we live now...Yuba CIty California...may have to look in Sacramento!

Anonymous said...

krispy kreme was "born" here in the great state of north carolina.  there is no contest between KK and DD!  

Thanks for telling how to do polls.

kathy

Anonymous said...

Fun poll, I voted for Krispy Kreme. Nice comparison photo! You mind if I submit this to Netscape?

Anonymous said...

Can't see that this is a particularly compelling story, but sure, submit all you like. Thanks -- Joe

Anonymous said...

Done :-) Netscape is shaping up to be a place of varied interests. The great donut debate is perfect. Have a great 4th!

Anonymous said...

KK all the way!!  Of course, I dunno if my opinion counts, being that I used to work there (and eat hot ones ALL THE TIME).  Hence, the screen name...lol.  People would flock there for the hot ones.  If you don't get them fast enough, all it takes is 8 seconds in the microwave.  It's almost as good.

Annie =)

Anonymous said...

I like this poll thing , and copied your "code' and made my own, using a "test" journal.  Only for some reason, I can't go and delete entries in my test journal. What do I need to change on it? It is a private journal called

http://journals.aol.com/candynkiss/CandysTesting/

Thanks Joe

Oh, and I love them both!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, Joe, I have another question. Can you create the Poll and then use it in an email?

Candy... is finds this fascinating...

Anonymous said...

Makes sense, as you're in the south.

If you did that in Boston, you'd have three full boxes of KK, and they'd be sending you out to Dunkin' to get more real donuts. KK can't even keep a store open up here.

I'm not into coffee, but I'm pretty sure that coffee drives DD's sales more than donuts do. Lots of people up here won't drink coffee from other places, even Starbucks.

Anonymous said...

Just coffee thank you...from either place! lol  Love the poll idea!  Very cool.  GBU, Shelly

Anonymous said...

Neither DD or KK. Its Shipleys for sure. Uhhh... but they maybe only in TX. Yummy I want some donuts now!!!
Rhianna

Anonymous said...

Candy -- scroll over to the right of your Journal check to see if the edit buttons are on the far right side.

If that's not it, let me know and I will ask the tech folks to take a look.

Regarding polls in e-mails -- you can't embed the iframe HTML in e-mails (there's no end to the abuse that spammers would do with it). Try creating the poll in your journal, then sending people a link to the entry.

Thanks -- Joe (posted & mailed)

Anonymous said...

Dunkin Donuts is the best donuts in the amercia and I think is the right way to choes this best donuts.

Anonymous said...

h

Anonymous said...

oh my gosh, throw me a bone in here please. IFRAME,,,? Is there an icon for that,lol...I want to add two polls to my blog, so Joe dont leave yet,,,lol....any links could help. I spent a hour browsing, hit yahoo, searched in your blog and this is the only one I could find. I think Einstein would get it but hes not around to help out. -Raven is wiggin(smile)

Anonymous said...

Hi Raven -- if you modify the IFRAME code I use in my entry, that should get you what you need (you pretty much just change the URL of the poll you've created, then tweak the height of the IFRAME window -- the number of pixels [there are 72 pixels in an inch] -- so that the results show up:

It's not the easiest thing in the world, which is why it's still a beta.

Thanks -- Joe (posted & mailed)

Anonymous said...

I want to add a poll, I have a MAC & am using firefox, can I still add a poll?
I cannot find a link on the entry window.
Please email me on this.