Legacy Portal: Basic Steps to Create and Edit Questions – ExamSoft

Use this article to get an overview of the question creation process and the options that you can enable. Follow the links to see additional information for specific question types.

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Open the Questions page.
- From the home page: Select Create Questions.
- From any page: Select the Questions menu at the top of the screen.
Near the top of the screen, select the button for the type of question that you want to create.
- Create M/C (Multiple Choice): The exam-taker selects the answer(s) from a list of possible answers.
- Create T/F (True/False): The exam-taker answers the question by selecting either True or False.
- Create Essay: The exam-taker writes a long-form response to the question.
- Create FITB (Fill in the Blank): The exam-taker supplies the missing word(s) in a passage of text by typing or by selecting an option from a drop-down list.
- Create Hot Spot: The exam-taker answers the question by clicking on an image.
- Create Drag & Drop: The exam-taker answers the question by reviewing a list of possible answers and dragging the correct answer(s) to the answer box.
- Create Matching: The exam-taker answers questions by reviewing a list of prompts and matching them with the possible answer.
- Create Ordering (Limited release): The exam-taker answers questions by reviewing choices and placing those selections in the correct order.
- Create Matrix (Limited release): The Matrix item gives the opportunity to test multiple aspects of a clinical situation in a single question.
Enter and format the question (for all question types).
- The Question Title, at the left of the page, is optional. You might find it useful to enter a label that describes this question. If you leave this field blank, ExamSoft will create a title by using the first 40 characters of the Question stem.
- In the text boxes for the Question, you can use the text formatting toolbar (at the top of the Question text box).
- To insert an inline image: Select the image button in the formatting toolbar, and then select the image to insert. For information about the allowed file types and file sizes, see: Attachment Types and Requirements
- To insert a table: Select the table button in the formatting toolbar, and then enter the number of rows and columns.
- To enter a formula: Select the WIRIS editor button in the formatting toolbar. For help with the WIRIS formula editor, see: WIRIS Equation and Formulae Editor.
- For Fill in the Blank questions: There are special options for creating the blanks within the question. See: Legacy Portal: Tips for Fill in the Blank Questions
Set up the answer options (for all question types except Essay).
See the following articles for details about the selected type of question:
On the left side of the page, enable any additional options that you need.
- Categories: As a best practice, add one or more categories, which are an essential tool to get useful data about exam-taker performance in the post-assessment reports. To add a category, use the Add or Remove Category button. In the pop-up window, you can search or scroll to find a category. Select the green plus sign to assign a category to this question. After selecting all of the categories that you need, select Done. For more information, see: Legacy Portal: Assign Categories to Questions
- Options: These options vary, based on the question type.
  - Weight: Available for all question types. Keep the default weight, 1.0, or enter a value.
  - Select All That Apply: Available only for Multiple Choice. Select the checkbox if you want the exam-takers to be able to select multiple answer choices.
  - Randomize Choices: Available only for Multiple Choice. Select this checkbox if you want the answer choices to be listed in random order during the exam. This can be a useful feature to prevent cheating. Within the answer choice area of the question, there is a Lock option that allows you to fix the position of any particular answer choice (for example, if you lock answer choice A, it will always be listed first, even when Randomize Choices is selected).
  - Partial Credit: Available for Multiple Choice, Fill in the Blank, and Drag & Drop. If you set up this question with multiple correct answers, you can use this option to give partial credit for each correct choice that the exam-taker selects.
  - Enable Question Tools: Available for all question types. Select the checkboxes to allow the exam-takers to use a calculator or a spreadsheet to calculate an answer. For more information, see: Legacy Portal: Enable Question Tools
- Attachment or Patient Box:
  - Attachment: You can add a file such as a document, image, or video that you want exam-takers to view while answering this question. For more information, see: Attachment Types and Requirements
  - Patient Box: You can set up a patient box (also called a vignette), which is a common feature of questions on certain licensure exams. It provides a patient history and might include an image such as a photo or an x-ray. The exam-taker is required to evaluate the patient information to respond to the question. For more information, see: Legacy Portal: Add a Patient Box to a Question
- Rationale: You can write an explanation about this question. This information can be useful to exam-makers and/or exam-takers. Rationales can be included or excluded when the results are released to exam-takers.
- Internal Comments: These comments are only visible to exam-makers who are viewing the question within the ExamSoft Portal.
When you are finished preparing the question:
- Select the Save button to save this question for further revision or approval.
- Select the Approve button at the bottom of the page if you are ready to add the question to an assessment.

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