Easy Quiz Builder Markup Language Tutorial

You can learn the entire markup language of the easy quiz builder in about five minutes. The markup language consists of properties that you set for your quiz (e.g., title, description, points per question, etc.) and question types (e.g., fill-in-the-blank, matching, etc.) that you will enter according to a specific format.

Properties

You can set a variety of properties for each quiz including title, description, point value, and others.

View properties...

The following properties are supported:

title:
Sets the title of the quiz. This should be the first line of your quiz. If it is not present, the generic title "My Quiz" will be provided.
desc:
Sets a description of the quiz. This property is optional.
pv:
Sets the point value of each question until the next pv: entry is found. If not explicitly set, defaults to 1 point per question. NOTE: This property affects QTI (e.g., Canvas) quizzes only.
sec:
Sets details about the next section of the quiz. Use the format sec:My Section Title|Instructions for this section (see example below). NOTE: For printable (DOCX) versions of the quiz, question numbering is reset for each new section. Optional.
inst:
Sets the instructions for the next set of questions. Optional.
bsz:
Sets the size of a blank in the printable version of the quiz. The default size is 15 underscore (_) characters. Has no effect on QTI quizzes. Optional.

IMPORTANT: You can only have 1 property per line. No property setting can span multiple lines.

Examples

The examples below demonstrate how to set properties in your quiz. NOTE: lines that begin with a # are comments and are ignored by the quiz maker.


# Set title of quiz to "Chapter 1 Quiz"
title:Chapter 1 Quiz

# Provide a description of the quiz
desc:This quiz tests you on all the material from Chapter 1.

# Set the point value of each question to 3 points each.
# If not set, each question defaults to 1 point each.
# NOTE: After a new point value is set, it remains in
# effect until the next 'pv:' tag is encountered.
pv:3

# [ Imagine a few questions are posted here. ]
# Now, reset point value to 1 point per question
pv:1

# Start a new section of the quiz titled "Key Terms"
# and provide the instructions for this section
sec:Key Terms|Fill in each blank with the appropriate term from Chapter 1.

# Provide instructions for the next set of questions
inst:Choose the word that best completes each sentence

# Set a larger blank size for the printed version
# of the quiz. In this case, we're making each blank 
# 25 underscore characters in length or:
# "_________________________"
bsz:25

Question Types

The Easy Quiz Builder supports several common question types.

View question types...

The question types supported are:

  • True or false
  • Fill-in-the-blank
  • Single answer multiple choice
  • Multiple answer multiple choice
  • Matching
  • Word bank

The sections below explain how to create each question type in the easy quiz builder. IMPORTANT: For all question types except matching and word bank questions, the entire question must be entered on a single line.

True or False Questions

The easiest type of question to write is a true or false question. Any line that ends in /t is a true question and any line that ends in /f is a false question. See the examples below.


The first US president was George Washington./t
The capital of the United States is Phoenix, AZ./f

Fill-in-the-blank Questions

Fill-in-the-blank questions are made by inserting correct answers within backticks (``). Each fill-in-the-blank question can have multiple blanks. If a blank can accept multiple correct answers, use semicolons (;) to separate correct answers. See the examples below.


# Question with 1 blank and 1 correct answer.
The colors of the U.S. flag are red, white, and `blue`.

# Question with 2 blanks.
George `Washington` was the first `president` of the United States.

# Question with multiple correct answers for 1 blank.
Name 1 and ONLY 1 US state that begins with O: `Ohio;Oklahoma;Oregon`.

Single Answer Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple choice questions use the vertical bar (|) character to separate the question text from the possible answers. Here is the format:

Question text|correct answer|incorrect answer 1|incorrect answer 2|incorrect answer N

You can have up to 26 possible answers (though such a number is obviously unreasonable). NOTE: Do not worry about scrambling the answers. The quiz generator will do that for you. Just be sure the correct answer is the one after the first vertical bar (|).

See the examples below.


A synonym of happy is...|joyful|angry|frustrated|annoyed
A golden retriever is a type of...|dog|cat|mouse|frog

Multiple-answer Multiple Choice Questions

To allow for multiple correct answers, simply place an asterisk before each correct answer. IMPORTANT: Unlike single-answer multiple choice questions, questions with multiple correct answers are NOT scrambled by the quiz maker and are left in the order you entered them.

See the examples below.


Which of the following are animals?|*cat|chair|*deer|pencil
Which of the following are numbers?|door|*seven|glass|*five

Matching Questions

Matching questions are one of two question types that span multiple lines. They begin with mat: on a line by itself (optionally followed by question text or instructions). Then, each matching pair is placed on a line by itself in the following format:

item=match

If you wish to include additional, unmatched items, simply place each one on a line by itself.

Important: The end of a matching question is indicated by :end appearing on a line by itself. See the example below.


mat:Match the number on the left with its correct spelling on the right.
7=seven
10=ten
14=fourteen
20=twenty
73=seventy-three
eighty
ninety
:end

Word Bank Questions

Word bank questions also span multiple lines and are formed by including each correct answer in backticks (``). Each word bank question must begin with wb: on a line by itself, optionally followed by instructions. The end of a word bank activity is indicated by :end on a line by itself. If you wish to include unused terms in the word bank, simply type each one on a line by itself prefaced with a colon (:). See the example below.


wb:Fill in each blank with the most logical color. Not all colors are used!
The sky is `blue`, the grass is `green`, and the snow is `white`.
Apples are `red`, bananas are `yellow`, and carrots are `orange`.
:black
:purple
:end

Sample Quizzes

The following short sample quizzes demonstrate some of the properties and question types above.

View sample quizzes...

You may copy and paste any of these sample quizzes directly into the Easy Quiz Builder to try them out! In fact, tweaking these sample quizzes is a great way to learn the quiz builder's markup langauge.

NOTE: While each sample quiz below only demonstrates one question type, you can combine all these question types freely in any quiz you make.

Sample Fill-in-the-blank Quiz


title:My Math Quiz
desc:This quiz tests you on the material from Unit 1.
inst:Fill in each blank with the correct solution.
10 + 10 = `20`
40 + 2 = `42`
5 + 5 = `10`
20 + 30 = `50`

# Example of a question with multiple acceptable answers
# Use the semicolon (;) to separate acceptable answers
# for any one blank.
The inventor of calculus was `Isaac Newton;Newton;Sir Isaac Newton`.

# Example of a question with multiple blanks to fill:
The square `root` of 9 is 3 and 9 squared is `81`.

Sample Multiple Choice Quiz


title:Famous Actors
desc:This quiz tests your knowledge about famous actors.
inst:Choose the correct answer.
The stars of "Pretty Woman" were Richard Gere and...|Julia Roberts|Meg Ryan|Goldie Hawn
The star of "War Games" was...|Matthew Broderick|Hugh Grant|Patrick Stewart
... played the role of Bruce Wayne in "Batman".|Michael Keaton|Chevy Chase|Christopher Lloyd
... was one of the stars of "Pulp Fiction".|John Travolta|Brad Pitt|Nicholas Cage|Matt Damon

# The following question demonstrates a multiple choice
# question with multiple correct answers.
Select all the actors who appeared in Jurassic Park.|*Jeff Goldblum|Brad Pitt|*Sam Neill|*Laura Dern

Sample True/False Quiz


title:Astronomy Quiz
desc:This quiz tests your knowledge about our solar system.
inst:Determine if each of the following statements are true or false.
Mars is seven times larger than Earth./f
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun./t
Jupiter is the biggest planet in the solar system./t
The coldest planet in the solar system is Venus./f

Sample Matching Quiz


title:Planets Quiz
desc:This quiz tests your knowledge of the planets.

# The instructions after "mat:" are optional. 
# Reminder: unmatched "extras" should be placed 
# on a line by themselves
mat:Match the planet on the left with its description on the right.
Earth=Our home planet
Mars=Often called the red planet
Mercury=Closest planet to the sun
Saturn=Giant planet famous for its rings
Venus=A very hot planet between Earth and Mercury
Uranus
Pluto
:end

Sample Word Bank Quiz


title:Fruits and Vegetables
desc:This quiz tests you on this module's food vocabulary.

# Reminder: Any unused term from the word bank should
# be prefaced with ":" and placed on a line by itself.
# See the example below.

wb:Choose the word that best completes each sentence. Not all words will be used!
An `apple` is a popular red fruit.
`Carrots` are orange vegetables.
`Broccoli` is a green vegetable loaded with nutrients.
`Bananas` are a popular yellow fruit.
:squash
:eggplant
:end