When a user posts a topic, I would like them to automatically vote for it.
Right now, it seems a lot of users don’t realize they need to vote on their own topics.
Is there anyway to enable this auto-vote behavior?
AI-generated summary
The discussion explores the feature request to automatically vote for a user’s own topic upon posting. scottf initiates the thread, noting that many users fail to vote on their own ideas, and asks if auto-voting can be enabled. sam confirms this is not currently possible but supports it as a reasonable default-off feature. Redmega argues it should be the default, assuming posters support their own ideas. However, zogstrip questions the psychological impact, suggesting the vote count difference between zero and one is negligible. Falco raises concerns about users exhausting their vote limits, while FlyingMongoose compares the expectation to Reddit’s default behavior. Stephen counters that self-voting is often frowned upon and could render votes meaningless if mandatory. FlyingMongoose later clarifies that the utility depends on the forum type; for feature requests, seeing a vote indicates interest, and they advocate for an administrator-configurable option to enable or disable this behavior. Discoursenaut seeks clarity on whether the vote counts toward the total if it is automatic. Finally, putty announces a published theme component that enables this functionality, providing a link to the solution.
No way to do so at the moment, but seems like a reasonable feature request for a default off feature.
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This should be the default! One can assume if a user is posting an idea, they support their own idea…
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I wonder if it’s a psychology trick? Are people more likely to visit/vote for a topic if it already has 1 vote rather than no votes?
Because, ultimately, auto-vote on your own topic is not really changing anything in the overall votes count. Either everything starts at 0 or 1.
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Also having to deal with what to do when the OP has no votes left. There is nothing to gain here.
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A vote for your own idea shouldn’t count against you, I know you’re not trying to be “another reddit” but this is basically the expected behavior thanks to reddit nowadays.
Not really, liking your own content on other social media is still frowned upon. Reddit upvotes by default so that every submission starts at 100% upvotes. Discourse doesn’t have a downvote mechanic where this would matter.
It might be worse to be the only person to have voted for your own contribution, and if everyone is automatically forced to vote for their own submissions, then those votes are by definition meaningless.
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I think that’s dependent on platform. It may also be dependent on what the particular forum/discourse installation is for.
For example: A software feature request function (a common usage), a developer sees the feature with 0 votes, that is effectively 0 interest if they’re using pure data metrics (not the fact that the person who posted it is interested).
Devs: “Alright ,lets sort these feature requests by votes”
In some cases, from a development standpoint a not voted for item may actually wind up being higher priority than voted for too, but seeing that there’s actual interest is usually more useful.
Now if you’re talking about opinion polls and stuff, you’re absolutely right. I’d frown upon it.
The first time I used it (in a software development forum a few years back) my immediate thought was; “Why didn’t I vote for my own feature suggestion? Am I not interested in what I just posted?”
So, ultimately I think this leans into the following:
Provide the option.
Allow the discourse administrator to turn it on or off based on their own decisions. And even allow them to decide if the vote counts against the total or not.
From an administrator standpoint, more options (when well organized) are always good.
I’m aware the same argument could be made that 0 vote is basically the same as 1 vote when everyone votes automatically anyway, it just was something that confused my brain when first used in feature suggestion. Hell perhaps even allow it configurable on a per-forum basis.
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If a user vote doesn’t count, then why let them do it at all? 
Or do you just mean that 1 vote is negligible in the big picture?
Just looking for clarity on this one as there are threads through out the community of when they realize they can vote on their own topic or others mention it etc.. could help to reduce unnecessary chatter and keep focus on feature request voting.
PSA, I just published a theme component that enables this:
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