Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Brian McGilligan -
Number of replies: 21

I have made up several tests using the hot potatoes progam in both jmt & jquiz format. I make sure that I save the question data ie;(jquiz/jmt file,jpeg file and the html to the same folder). I usually export them in a zipped folder and unzip it when its uploaded to moodle. The thing is when I try to add it as a resource eg; past paper exam, it wont display the picture content.

   Also when in moodle, when you have uploaded a hot potatoes folder containing a past paper, it wont allow you to choose the entire folder to use as a resource. You have to open it up and choose individual questions. Even then you have to put them in a zipped folder to ensure all the question content is there.

Any help would be much appreciated.

                                  Brian.

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In reply to Brian McGilligan

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Marius Pretorius -
Hello Brian

Welcome to Moodle smile

This is interesting. Are you saying that you don't want to use a Hot Potatoes quiz as an activity but as a resource? Furthermore are you saying that when you use them as activities they work as you expect but not when you are trying to set it up as a resource?

Do I assume correctly that you are attempting to use the "Link to a file or website" resource? How do you upload? Do you use the Files function that is found in the Administration block or some other way?

Greetings
Marius
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In reply to Marius Pretorius

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Mary Cooch -
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Hello Brian from me too! Are you uploading the images in the same folder as the hotpotatoes files? Do you have a reason for adding them as a resource and not via the hotpotatoes quiz in the add an activity drop down? They should still work fine as a resource but you won't then get the score. You can display whole folders in Moodle using the Display a directory option in add a resource, but then you would be displaying all your files including the images, which wouldn't be very neat. But you can set up the hotpotato quiz option in add an activity so that if the files are all in one folder then they will make a series of exercises that the students can work through - if that is what you are wanting.
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In reply to Mary Cooch

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Gordon Bateson -
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Hi Brian,
does "Hot Potatoes Quiz" appear in the "Add an activity .." drop down list in each section of your Moodle course page?

> a hot potatoes folder containing a past paper

Please explain what you mean by "a past paper".

> it wont allow you to choose the entire folder

If you are talking about the HotPot module, not the Resource module, then you can click the "Choose" link for any file within the folder, then remove the file name in the "File name" box leaving just the path to the folder. You will also need to set "Add quiz chain" to "Yes". (see attached screenshot)

Gordon
Attachment add.hotpot.folder.png
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In reply to Gordon Bateson

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Brian McGilligan -

Does this Adding a new Hot Potatoes window exist only on this Moodle website and if so can it be uploaded to this schools Moodle site.

                                                          Regards.

                                                                      Brian

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In reply to Brian McGilligan

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Mary Cooch -
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Brian - if you or your site admin go to Site admin on the front page and then Modules>activities>manage activities you will see HotPotatoes there but with its eye closed, ie hidden in the courses. If you open its eye then when you go to a course the option will appear in Add an activity drop down.
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In reply to Mary Cooch

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Gordon Bateson -
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Brian,

in case it helps, please find attached a screenshot of a Moodle site page, showing how you can enable the HotPot activity module.

Gordon
Attachment admin.modules.activities.png
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In reply to Gordon Bateson

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Brian McGilligan -

Hi Gordon I managed to bring up the Hot Potatoes in the Activity menu, but whatever I seem to be doing wrong, I cannot view the questions when I export them to the school Moodle site. Every question comprises of a jmt/jquiz file, a JPG file and a htm file. I would have thought that if the question was going to function correctly you would have to use all three files.

                Any input in the right direction would be appreciated.

                                                   Brian.

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In reply to Brian McGilligan

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Mary Cooch -
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Brian - you actually only need the htm file and the image file if you have your files in the same folder - although having the jmt project file shouldnt make any difference to it working or not - have you looked at the url the image makes in your quiz to check that it refers correctly to its location in your Moodle course files?

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In reply to Mary Cooch

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Gordon Bateson -
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Hi Brian,
glad to hear you have enabled the HotPot module approve

> Every question comprises of a jmt/jquiz file, a JPG file and a htm file.
> I would have thought that if the question was going to function correctly
> you would have to use all three files.

For the JMatch exercise, you need to upload the following files to "Files" are of your Moodle course:
  • either the jmt or the htm file
  • any images that are used in the JMatch
Similarly, for the JQuiz excercise, you will need to upload the following to Moodle:
  • either the jqz or the htm file
  • any images that are used in the JQuiz
As Mary said, you should make sure that all the images for each quiz are in the same folder as the Hot Potatoes quiz file (i.e. the jmt or jqz file) and the html file for the quiz.

Also, please check that the file names contain no spaces or non-ascii charaters (e.g. accented characters or characters from asian languages). To be safe, I suggest you use only the following characters in file names:
  • a-z (small letters of the English alphabet)
  • 0-9 (numbers)
  • . (period, full-stop)
  • - (dash, hyphen)
In other words, your file names should not contain the following characters, as these can cause problems as your files move around the internet:
  • A-Z (capital letters)
  • (spaces)
  • #, !, (, ), ⁰-⁹, ₀-₉ (symbols, punctuation, superscripts, subscripts)
  • é, Ê (accented characters)
  • 日本語 (asian fonts)
But the most frequent cause of problems is the humble space.

If you have not already done so, please check and confirm that the quiz's html looks and behaves OK when it is run on your PC (i.e. not via Moodle). Now upload the html file and the images to your Moodle course, add it as a HotPot activity, and check it works.

If the quiz still refuses to work on your Moodle site, please upload it to my Moodle site and we can check it together there:
regards
Gordon



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In reply to Gordon Bateson

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Brian McGilligan -

Gordon, the file I have attached is a past GCSE Physics paper that I made uising Hot Potatoes. This is a sample of a few questions in the exam. Would you see if you can determine why I cannot view it properly on the school Moodle site.

                        Regards. Brian.

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In reply to Brian McGilligan

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Gordon Bateson -
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Hi Brian,
thanks for making your quiz files available for testing.

From a technical point of view the quizzes seem to work OK. You can view the quizzes yourself by clicking on the following link:
From an aesthetic point of view, some of the quizzes don't look so great on my monitor because the "reading" in the right is a fixed width image, which is wider than 50% of my screen. If you want to fix that, you can use text in a table instead of the image.

Earlier you said "I cannot view the questions when I export them to the school Moodle site". Are you able to view them now on my site, by clicking on the above link?

Gordon
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In reply to Gordon Bateson

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Brian McGilligan -

Thanks for your reply Gordon. Yes I am able to view the questions. When I click on the htm file it displays the question as I would expect it to look. Not so when I click on the jtm file as it only displays part of the question.

              I want to load the entire exam on to the site, but I have to put it in a zipped folder to export it. When I unzip it on the Moodle site it wont give me the option to choose the whole exam, just individual questions. Is there any way around this. Also Gordon, how do I incorperate the Hot Pot module on the Moodle site with the questions? Thanks in advance.

                                 Regards Brian.

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In reply to Brian McGilligan

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Gordon Bateson -
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> when I click on the jtm file ...
> it only displays part of the question

OK, let's concentrate on this file. I think you are talking about a jmt file, right? Let's use the June08F1em.jmt file. I added that to my site and used it as the source file for a HotPot activity. It displays fine (see attached screen shot).

You can access the HotPot activity on my server for yourself by clicking on the following link:
  • Gordon Bateson server: June08Fem.jmt
  • Username: guestteacher
  • Password: quizportv09
Please access the above HotPot activity and confirm that you can view as per the screenshot. Then use the June08Fem.jmt file to create an identical HotPot activity on your Moodle site. Finally, please take a screenshot of how the HotPot activity on your site appears on your screen, and attach the screenshot to your next post to this forum.

thanks
Gordon
Attachment bm.jmatch.png
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In reply to Gordon Bateson

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Mary Cooch -
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But Gordon.. it doesn't display fine because there should be an image which gives hints as to those matching questions above - when you use the htm file you get the image as well and the question makes sense (see below) but when you use the jmt file as above - it doesn't make sense as there is no image.
Attachment brian.png
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In reply to Mary Cooch

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Gordon Bateson -
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Aha ! I see what you mean. Thanks Mary.

In that case let us change the "Output format" on this HotPot activity to "v6" (see attached screenshot), and then we will get the "reading" on the left and the drop down menus on right.

Brian, please access the activity again on my site and confirm that it looks OK to you now.

many thanks
Gordon
Attachment hotpot.outputformat.png
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In reply to Gordon Bateson

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Brian McGilligan -

Gordon I was able to view the question fine on your site. I then went on to the school Moodle site and uploaded the question as you had described using the the Hot Pot module. It came out fine and hopefully you will be able to view it. One question though, can I use the "Add quiz chain" command to upload the rest of the exam. Thanks again.

              Regards  Brian.

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In reply to Brian McGilligan

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Gordon Bateson -
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Hi Brian,
you can add several (many!) Hotpot activities to the same section of the course with a few clicks, if you put all the Hot Potatoes quizzes in a single folder and specify the folder name in the "File name" field on the "Add a new Hot Potatoes quiz" page and set "Add Quiz Chain" to "Yes".

These links may also help:
all the best
Gordon
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In reply to Gordon Bateson

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Brian McGilligan -

Hi Gordon, I took the exam to the school Moodle site and put it into another folder with a new name. I set the commands on the Hot Pot activity page as you explained and hit "Save and Return to Course". The quiz came up okay, but only the jquiz (multiple choice) questions would go forward to the next question when the previous one was answered. Unfortunately the quiz contains both jmatch and jquiz (multiple choice) questions. If you select a jmatch question and answer it, the chain stops there and you receive an error message. Any suggestions? Thanks

                                                     Regards.  Brian.

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In reply to Brian McGilligan

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Gordon Bateson -
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Hi Brian,
what was the error message?

Could you send me access details for your site and I will come and set up one chain so it works. You can then set up other chains in a similar manner. Please contact me by private email about this: gordon at-sign kanazawa hyphen gu dot ac dot jp

Gordon
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In reply to Gordon Bateson

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Gordon Bateson -
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Dear Brian,
thanks for letting me access your course - nice theme by the way cool

I see you have removed all spaces and non-ascii chars from the folder and file names and the error message for the first HotPot has now disappeared. Thanks for doing that.

I have four suggestions for how to improve what you have created so far:

  1. rename these files so they only have one file extension. I think it will make it easier for you and other teachers to see at a glance what a file contains.
    • June08F7A.jmt.htm (rename to June08F7A.htm)
    • June08F7A.jmt.jqz (rename to June08F7A.jqz)
    • June08F7B.jmt.htm
    • June08F7B.jmt.jqz
    • June08F7C.jmt.htm
    • June08F7C.jmt.jqz
    • June08F7D.jmt.htm
    • June08F7D.jmt.jqz
    • June08F8A.jmt.htm
    • June08F8A.jmt.htm.jqz
    • June08F8Aem.jmt.htm.htm
    • June08F8Aem.jmt.htm.jqz
    • June08F8Dem.htm.htm
    • June08F8Dem.htm.jqz
    • June08H6A-D.htm.jqz

  2. split the files into separate folders and ...
    • EITHER: put each folder's Hot Potatoes quizzes into a different section of the course
    • OR: split up the long list of HotPot activities on the course page with labels
    This will make it easier for students understand and keep track of what they are expected to do.

  3. change the navigation ...
    • EITHER: change the "Navigation" setting on the HotPot activities to "Moodle navigation bar" or "None"
    • OR: Use the Hot Potatoes Masher (on your PC) to set the "Next" buttons on the Hot Potatoes quizzes to point to a valid file - at the moment, all the "Next" buttons point to "nextquiz.htm" which doesn't exist

  4. using meaningful titles in the quizzes and then when you add the HotPot activities set the "Name" as "Get from source file". This will result in the quiz titles appearing on the course page, and will help the students understand what each activity is.
all the best
Gordon
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In reply to Gordon Bateson

Re: Hot potatoes questions both jmt & jquiz (multiple choice)

by Gordon Bateson -
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Brain,
a couple of other things that I would like to suggest ...

  • if you don't upload the htm files to Moodle, i.e. only upload the jcl, jcw, jmt, jmx, jqz files, then the HotPot module will not add two version of each quiz when you are adding all the files in a folder
  • keep the file extensions lowercase, e.g. use "image.jpg" not "image.JPG", because as your files move around the internet, some systems treat upper and lower file names as equivalent, but some see them as different, which can cause confusion

You will see I have made a copy of the "pp1" folder, which I have called "June08" and in which I have done the following:

  • renamed files to have only one extension
  • removed htm files
  • split into two sub folders, "F" and "G"

In order to keep your course page manageable, I suggest you put "F" folder quizzes into one section of the course, and the "H" folder quizzes into another section of the course. I have added the "F" quizzes for you as an example using the settings in the attached screenshot.

all the best
Gordon

Attachment hotpot.chain.settings.png
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