Find a date that works for everyone

How to find a date that works for everyone

Most group chats try to agree a date by asking “who’s free when?” and then losing the answers in forty messages. A poll is quicker: offer a handful of dates, let everyone answer each one, and count. This one works without sign-ups or a server.

1. Pick the dates. Add them one by one, or add every Friday and Saturday in a month in one tap. Five to eight dates is plenty.
2. Send the invitation link in your group chat, by email or by text. The dates and the name of the event are inside the link itself.
3. Friends answer. Each one opens the link, ticks yes, maybe or no for every date, adds a name and taps “Make my answer code”. They send you the code, a line such as FF1-B8Y9-2005-BS05-0WK9-F5GY-QR0.
4. Paste the codes into step 3, even whole chat messages. The dates are ranked as you paste.

How the dates are ranked

The best date has the most yes answers. A tie goes to the date with more maybes, then to the one with fewer nos, and finally to the earlier date. The plate shows a bar for each date and who can’t make it, and “Everyone’s answers” shows the full grid.

What’s in an answer code

A code holds the poll ID, the friend’s name, an edit number and one answer per date, packed into letters and digits from Douglas Crockford’s Base32 alphabet. It leaves out I, L, O and U, ignores capitals and hyphens, and reads a mistyped O as zero and I or L as one, so codes survive being read aloud or retyped.

• A checksum catches damage. The last part of each code is a 16-bit cyclic redundancy check (CRC-16/IBM-3740, also called CCITT-FALSE). It catches any single wrong character and any two neighbouring characters swapped; other damage slips through only about once in 65,536 tries. A code cut short by a chat app is refused with a clear message.
• The poll ID stops mix-ups. A code made for another poll, or for this poll before its dates changed, is set aside with a note.
• Duplicates count once. Paste the same code twice and it is counted once.
• Edits replace earlier answers. When a friend changes their answers on the same device, the new code carries a higher edit number and wins, whatever order you paste them in. Two different codes with the same name and edit number: the one pasted later counts, with a note, because it may be two people with the same name.

Codes are not secret: anyone with the code and this page can read the name and answers in it, just as they could read a chat message. Don’t put anything private in the event name.

Choosing dates around the holidays

In the US, Thanksgiving Day falls on Thursday 26 November 2026, Christmas Day on Friday 25 December 2026 and New Year’s Day on Friday 1 January 2027, according to the US Office of Personnel Management’s federal holiday list. Offer dates on both sides of a holiday weekend, because many people travel to family, and add a weekday evening or two for friends who work weekends.

Common mistakes

• Too many dates. Twenty options get half-hearted answers. Pick your best five to eight.
• Changing dates after sending the link. The page makes a new poll when the dates change, so send the new link and ask for fresh codes.
• Treating maybe as yes. Before you book, check with the people who said maybe on the winning date.
• Copying half a code. Long-press or select the whole line. If a code is refused, ask for it again.