Note: You are currently viewing documentation for Moodle 3.6. Up-to-date documentation for the latest stable version of Moodle is likely available here: Questions FAQ.

Questions FAQ

From MoodleDocs


How can questions be shared between courses?

See How to let teachers share questions between courses.

If I change a question in the question bank, will it be changed in all the quizzes it appears?

Yes. See Tim Hunt's forum post https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=234011&parent=1016542#p1016558

Is there a way to set the default for essay questions on our site to allow uploading of one attachment?

The only way to change this at the moment is by editing the code.

In question/type/essay/edit_essay_form.php, find where it sets the default for 'attachments' to 0, and change that to 1.

Note that, after changing the data in the DB, you will need to go to admin -> plugins -> caching and purge the Question definitions cache. Or just purge all caches.

Why do some students correctly guess the answers for questions with images in them?

Example where top image gives the answer (amyloidosis), bottom image has non-descriptive title (img1)

When you insert an image in a question, make sure that the image title doesn't give away the answer, as it is displayed when mousing over the image.

Is there a way to more quickly and efficiently create quiz questions in Moodle?

You can try the Question Bank Quick Builder - a free Google Sheet Add-on created to reduce the labor for instructors creating digital course materials. The instructor can write their questions and answers in plain text, all visible and editable on a single page. (QB)² transforms this content to an XML document, which the instructor can easily import into the Moodle Question Bank.

How do I create system-wide question categories?

  1. As an administrator or user with system permissions, go to Question bank > Categories in any course.
  2. Using the "Add category form" at the bottom of the page, set the parent of the new category to be the system context.

How can students upload images to an Essay question?

When creating the question, in the section Response format, choose "HTML editor + uploaded files."

Is there a way to auto-grade answers to Essay questions?

Have a look at the following additional plugins:

Can I use questions (from the question bank) anywhere else besides a quiz?

Yes. See the Embed questions filter - A Moodle text filter plugin that displays questions from the question bank embedded in the page

Is it possible to make existing and future Third-party question types work in the Mobile app?

What is the purpose of the Save button when previewing a question?

The Save button is not very useful for a teacher previewing a question. What it does is to simulate what happens on a multi-page quiz, when the student moves to the next page, and then moves back. Any work-in-progress of the student should be automatically saved, which is why the button should appear to do nothing (unless you look very closely at the Response history table). However, for people developing a new question type, it is important that you can test that works, and that is why the save button was added here.

See also

Any further questions?

Please post in the Quiz forum on moodle.org.