How to Create an Online Exam in WordPress (Step by Step)
Statistics show that almost 90% of corporations are now using online learning.
The Internet has substantially altered our perceptions about learning. Nowadays, saving time, money, and effort has become the number one priority. So, it is no surprise that online courses are increasingly widespread. But have you ever thought about the possible reasons for this? Before getting to the main topic, it would be interesting to know why this is the case.
Why Is Online Learning Becoming Common?
As long as there is a real threat to our health (COVID-19), online learning comes as an effective alternative. Let’s see what other motives most people have to prefer online education over offline. One of the main reasons can be the process of assessing the students is becoming easier, as the system is doing it for you.
1. Cost-effective: Once you have switched to online learning, you may start thinking about adding to your everyday savings! You no longer need to pay the transportation fare or for lunch during the break.
2. Time-saving: Being involved in online education, you need no special preparations before going out. Nor do you need to spend time on your way to university or college. There are numerious WordPress quiz plugins, which will help to make your online education more effective.
3. Content is available 24/7: There are open-source media with always-on content that students can access whenever needed.
4. Not restricted to a geographical area: Learning is no more limited to where you live. Thus, it’s much easier to take online exams and get certificates from the university of your dreams!
When Do We Need Online Examinations?
Let’s have a look at the most common occasions when online exams turn out to be a must-have solution.
- Universities, colleges, and schools switch to online learning.
- International organizations run online exams for huge audiences.
- To wrap up a workshop or training session, organizers often include online tests.
Today, we are excited to bring a powerful way of creating online exams to your attention. If you’ve faced one of the situations above, you’ll find this article to be a stepping stone to better performance. So, let’s start the journey!
How to Build Your Online Exam with the WordPress Quiz Maker Plugin
A WordPress quiz plugin is one of the best tools for running engaging online tests. Designed specifically for this purpose, Quiz Maker comes with a variety of free and premium features. Though a lot more is available in the Pro version, you can still make the best of the free one. As for themes, you should note Divi by Elegant Themes, which is perfect for educational purposes.
Now, let’s walk through the whole process of building your first exam with Quiz Maker.
1. Install the plugin on your WordPress website.
2. Go to the Questions page and hit Add New to create questions for your exam. Create as many questions as you need.
3. Come to the Quizzes page and click on the Add New button.
4. Fill out the necessary information and add the created questions to your exam.
5. Finally, copy the shortcode and paste it into the Divi editor in a post or page.
Quiz shortcode
[ays_quiz id=’quiz_id’]
For a quick, simple test, that is all you need. We believe that you need to learn more about what this WordPress quiz plugin has for you.
Advanced Functionality
If you need to provide certificates to your candidates, schedule your tests, or enable third-party integrations, the WordPress Quiz Maker plugin is here for you to create engaging quizzes.
Are you wondering what exactly you need for first-rate examinations? Let’s go one by one and see!
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Import your questions․
If you intend to create a large number of questions, you can still save time. Write them in excel by following the sample formats (you can download them from the Questions page). Afterwards, import the file into Quiz Maker. As soon as your excel file is ready, go to the Questions page, click on the Import button, choose the file, and hit Import Now.
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Activate the question bank.
If your exam questions are too many, the option will be helpful. You will find it right below the options mentioned above. Decide the number of questions that you need to take from your exam randomly. Give the value either for all the questions or by question categories.
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Turn on the copy protection.
Enable copy protection if you don’t want anyone to copy your questions. For this, check the corresponding box on the Settings tab.
Enabling timer is another widely-used feature while conducting examinations. Activate the option on the Settings tab and set the second value for the timer.
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Schedule the exam.
Make your exam available during a specified period. Scroll down the Settings tab, enable the option, and set start and end dates for your exam. You can write pre-start and expiration messages as well.
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Choose the method of calculation.
Move to the Results Settings tab to decide how to calculate the score. Choose between calculating it by correctness or by points you have assigned before.
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Set the passing score.
Set a minimum score for passing the exam on the Results Settings tab. Enter a percentage value in the given field.
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Manage access to your exam.
Control how many times one can take the exam. Go to the Limitation of Users tab and enable the option. Then, choose the way of detecting test-takers — either by their IP address or user ID. The latter refers to those who have an account on your WordPress website.
Next, specify the count of attempts. Consider the following example: if you set the attempt count as 1, test-takers can’t access the exam a second time.
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Set a password for taking your exam.
To set a password on your exam, enable the option on the Limitation of Users tab. You can either generate a password yourself or have them automatically generated. For instance, you can have separate passwords generated for every student in your class. Submit the number of passwords you want to have, and random passwords will appear. Later, you can send them out to those who should take the examination. Note that these passwords are for one-time use only.
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Enable the Information form.
An information form enables you to receive personal data from your test-takers. You can have their email addresses and send their results tables to them after the exam.
Go to the User Data tab to control the information form settings. You can enable it by choosing when it should appear — before the exam or after it. In the latter case, you can lock the results by making the information form required. Drag the necessary field from the Available Fields to the Active Fields, then tick the given box.
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Send automated emails to your test-takers.
To send automated emails to your test-takers, go to the E-mail and Certificate Settings tab and activate the option below. Write the message you want them to see by using message variables. Bear in mind that you need to enable the information form for this function to work. Besides, you can send out results tables if you activate the Send results to user suboption.
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Send customized certificates to your test-takers.
Send certificates to your succeeded users, in order to motivate them and make them strive for better results. If you want to email certifications to your candidates, enable the option on the E-mail and Certificate Settings tab. Set the minimum score in percentages for receiving a certificate. Go on with giving a title to your certificate and customizing its body text. If needed, you can also make use of message variables for both of them.
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Use integrations.
If you have too many students, you have probably had difficulty collecting and keeping their emails. To this end, Google Sheets or MailChimp integrations will come in useful. To turn on any integration, go to the Integrations tab, then follow the steps presented there.
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Export your results.
Be on top of all the results of your exams. Go to the Results page to view scores and export detailed reports on the results.
How to Copy the Quiz Shortcode into Divi
As your exam is ready, it’s time to make it available for others. For this purpose, let’s find out how to insert the quiz shortcode into Divi in a few simple steps. Here we go!
1. Open the Posts page on the dashboard and hit the Add New button.
2. Choose the Use Divi Builder option.
3. Select your preferred layout. We will go on with the first one.
4. Insert Row.
5. On the Insert Module window, choose New Module, then click on Code.
6. Place the copied code on the Code field and save the changes.
And here’s the final result of my quiz! What about yours?
Your Exam Hits the Spot!
Taking exams that spur interest is pure pleasure for students! In most cases, such exams take stress and anxiety away and get test-takers to achieve good results. It is causing the huge popularity of the LMS plugins as they are now big game changers in the teaching and learning process.
We hope you took a liking to this WordPress quiz plugin and found it suitable for your needs. Take your time to check out the Demo of the free version of Quiz Maker, and let us know what you think about it! If the article was helpful, please subscribe to our Youtube channel not to miss the upcoming content. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I enable question explanation in an online exam?
After installing and activating the WordPress Quiz Maker plugin, go to Questions > choose the question you want > Settings tab > type your Question explanation. To determine where to show question explanation, you need to go to Quizzes > choose the quiz you want > Settings tab > Show question explanation > choose where you want it to be displayed.
How do I add questions to the quiz?
In the WordPress Quiz Maker plugin go to Questions > Add New, then create your question. Or you can import questions into the quiz, to do that, go to Quizzes > Add New > Insert questions > choose the questions you want to add to the quiz.
Can I send an email to the users after the exam?
If you want to email your exam takers all you need is to install and activate the WordPress Quiz Maker plugin. Go to Quizzes > choose the quiz you want > Email and Certificate settings tab > Send email to user > and customize the message.
