# Voting vs Likes for feature requests
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/voting-vs-likes-for-feature-requests/101146
**Category:** Community Building
**Created:** [November 2, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/voting-vs-likes-for-feature-requests/101146 "2018-11-02T15:13:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mtan](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mtan)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/voting-vs-likes-for-feature-requests/101146/1 "2018-11-02T15:13:37Z")
We have a feature request category and I would like to hear personal experiences in using voting vs likes. Here’s what I have:
Voting
- controlled
- can be more accurate
- but can add friction, no sort by, less visible
Likes
- more flexible
- more common UX
- built in sort and column view
- but not accurate and true voting representation
Did you find that going with the more strict voting feature worked especially if you are doing roadmaps?
---
### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/voting-vs-likes-for-feature-requests/101146/2 "2018-11-02T15:18:42Z")
> [@mtan](#):
>
> no sort by, less visible
Our voting plugin has sort by votes, eg: [https://community.infinite-flight.com/c/features/l/votes](https://community.infinite-flight.com/c/features/l/votes)
Also, we do have a good write up on this subject:
> **[Discourse as an ideation platform](https://blog.discourse.org/2018/10/discourse-as-an-ideation-platform/)**
>
> People sometimes ask how Discourse compares to the likes of UserVoice and other ideation platforms, where ideas get voted on and the best ideas rise to the top.
---
### Author:  [@mtan](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mtan)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2018, 3:31pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/voting-vs-likes-for-feature-requests/101146/3 "2018-11-02T15:31:21Z")
This is nice. Did you have this from the beginning or did you switch at some point? What do you think of switching at some point? This design is not built in and will take time.
Also - I tried looking for this functionality to sort by votes but I can’t find it. What’s the best way to integrate this?
---
### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/voting-vs-likes-for-feature-requests/101146/4 "2018-11-02T16:50:42Z")
That is the [Discourse Topic Voting](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-voting/40121) plugin.
We can get it installed for you, just say the word.
---
### Author:  [@mtan](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mtan)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/voting-vs-likes-for-feature-requests/101146/7 "2018-11-02T18:05:53Z")
Please do. Thanks!
The Inflight Community example is spot on, exactly what we had in mind. My assumptions, please correct me if I’m wrong
- This can be configured at the category level
- This can be sorted by vote or the other fields (recency, views, etc.)
- Tags can still be used and will appear beside the total number of votes (“development”, “research”)
- Likes will be disabled based on what I’ve seen. Can we enable or disable this along with Voting?
---
### Author:  [@jomaxro](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jomaxro)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2018, 8:26pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/voting-vs-likes-for-feature-requests/101146/8 "2018-11-02T20:26:59Z")
> [@mtan](#):
>
> This can be configured at the category level
Correct.
> [@mtan](#):
>
> This can be sorted by vote or the other fields (recency, views, etc.)
Incorrect. Sorting has not yet been implemented. See [Topic List Sort By Votes in voting plugin](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-list-sort-by-votes-in-voting-plugin/63281)
> [@mtan](#):
>
> Tags can still be used and will appear beside the total number of votes (“development”, “research”)
Correct. Looks like this by default:
> [@mtan](#):
>
> Likes will be disabled based on what I’ve seen. Can we enable or disable this along with Voting?
Incorrect, likes should be unaffected by the voting plugin.
---
### Author:  [@mtan](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mtan)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2018, 9:51pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/voting-vs-likes-for-feature-requests/101146/9 "2018-11-02T21:51:02Z")
@Falco / @jomaxro So the example about [Infinite Inflight](https://community.infinite-flight.com/c/features/l/votes) which is sorted by votes required additional work and doesn’t come with the plugin. I thought this is the one which can be installed.
> [@jomaxro](#):
>
> Incorrect, likes should be unaffected by the voting plugin.
I just tried to enable voting and the Likes got removed, see screenshot. Is there a different setting to enable both features?
---
### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/voting-vs-likes-for-feature-requests/101146/10 "2018-11-02T23:50:52Z")
> [@mtan](#):
>
> @Falco / @jomaxro So the example about [Infinite Inflight](https://community.infinite-flight.com/c/features/l/votes) which is sorted by votes required additional work and doesn’t come with the plugin. I thought this is the one which can be installed.
There is a bit of miscommunication here.
Yes, you can sort by votes. Just check the top of the categories page:
Clicking on **Votes** will sort this category by votes.
What is not implemented **yet** is sorting the category by votes **by default**. But it’s just 1 click away 🖱.
> [@mtan](#):
>
> > [@jomaxro](#):
> >
> > Incorrect, likes should be unaffected by the voting plugin.
>
> I just tried to enable voting and the Likes got removed, see screenshot. Is there a different setting to enable both features?
The plugin will **hide** likes in the OP by default, so people don’t get confused.
It’s possible to re-enable the like button if you want it using CSS in the Customization panel. If you want it, just say the word.
---
### Author:  [@mtan](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mtan)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2018, 12:08am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/voting-vs-likes-for-feature-requests/101146/11 "2018-11-03T00:08:02Z")
> [@Falco](#):
>
> The plugin will **hide** likes in the OP by default, so people don’t get confused.
>
> It’s possible to re-enable the like button if you want it using CSS in the Customization panel. If you want it, just say the word.
This make sense. However, the likes column is still there so disabling this column as well whenever voting is enabled will make it clean (only when voting is enabled).
---
### Author:  [@Johani](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Johani)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2018, 1:03pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/voting-vs-likes-for-feature-requests/101146/12 "2018-11-04T13:03:51Z")
A post was split to a new topic: [Show like button on topics](https://meta.discourse.org/t/show-like-button-on-topics/101252)