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Set Up a Multiple Choice Question / Answer

There are three types of multiple choice question that you can create:

  • A multiple choice question with one correct answer. The user is presented with a list of options and each one has a radio button.

    Multiple choice question. Each possible answer has a radio button. The user can only select one answer.

  • A multiple choice question with more than one correct answer. The user is presented with a list of options and each one has a check box.

    Multiple choice question. Each possible answer has a checkbox. The user can select multiple answers.

  • A trick multiple choice question. It presents the user with a list of options that have check boxes so it appears as if there are multiple correct answers. But there is only one correct answer.

    Multiple choice question. Each answer has a checkbox making it look like there is more than one correct answer. But it is a trick, there is only one correct answer.

The following instructions explain how to create all three types:

  1. Make sure your topic has the qandaset structure that is needed for a quiz (see Create a Quiz Topic). You also need to add the question structure for your numerical question (see Add More Questions to a Quiz).

  2. Enter the body text of the question inside the para that is inside the question element.

    Paligo topic for a quiz. It has a title and a qandaset element. In the element structure menu, it shows the content structure is section followed by qandaset, followed by qandaentry, followed by question, followed by para. The text for the question has been entered into the para.

  3. Enter the text for a possible answer inside the para element that is inside the answer element.

    Quiz topic in the Paligo editor. The Element Structure Menu shows section, qandaset, qandaentry, answer, para. This means the user has selected the para element inside an answer element.

  4. Position the cursor after the previous answer element but still inside the qandaentry element.

    Quiz topic in Paligo editor. The cursor is positioned after the previous qandaentry element.

  5. Press Alt + Enter ⏎ (Windows) or Command ⌘ + Enter ⏎ (Mac) to display the Element Context Menu.

    Element context menu shows a search field and a list of elements that are valid at the current position.

  6. Enter answer and select it from the menu.

    Element context menu showing a list of valid elements that can be added at the cursor position. Answer is one of the elements.

    Note

    If the answer element is not available in the list, then the cursor is in an incorrect position. Check that it is after the question but inside the qandaentry element. The correct structure should look like this in the XML tree:

    XML tree showing the valid structure for a multiple-choice question. It has structure at the top, then title, then qandaset, then qandaentry, then question and para, then answer and para, then another answer and para.

  7. Enter the text for a possible answer in the para inside the answer element that you have added.

    Quiz topic in Paligo editor. The element structure menu shows section, qandaset, qandaentry, answer, para. This means the user has selected the para element that is inside the answer element.

    Tip

    You can add extra para elements inside a question or answer to create multi-paragraph questions and answers. Add any extra para elements after the previous para element, inside the question or answer.

    If you have multiple para elements, the first one will be styled like a heading in the output. The other para elements will be styled as regular text.

    You can also insert other content structures inside a question or answer, such as mediaobject for an image and programlisting for code.

  8. Repeat steps 5 and 6 to add more possible answers, including the correct answer(s). The completed structure should look something like this in the XML tree:

    XML tree view of part of a quiz. It has qandaset at the top level. Inside that is qandaentry. Inside that there is question with a child para, answer with a child para, and another answer with a child para.

    Notice how the question and the potential answers are all inside the qandaentry element. Each question should have its own qandaentry element, with the question and potential answers inside it.

  9. Select the correct answer in the Editor.

  10. Select its answer element in the Element Structure Menu at the top and choose Go to element from the menu.

    Quiz topic in the Paligo editor. The element structure menu shows that the para element inside an answer element is selected. The context menu shows that the go to element option is being selected.

  11. Add the role attribute in the Element Attributes Panel and set the value to correct.

    Element attributes side panel. It shows the answer element has a role attribute. The value of the role attribute is set to correct.
    Quiz topic in the Paligo editor. There is a question with three possible answers. The correct answer has a green box around it and a green check icon.

    When you set an answer to correct, a green box and checkmark appear for that answer in the Paligo editor.

  12. If a question has multiple correct answers, repeat steps 9 and 10 for each correct answer.

  13. This step only applies if you want to make your multiple choice question a "trick" question. A trick question is where it looks like there is more than one correct answer but actually only one answer is correct.

    To turn a multiple choice question into a trick question:

    1. Select the question element for the trick question.

    2. Add the role attribute in the Element Attributes Panel and set the value to multi-choice.

      Element attributes side panel shows the question element has a role attribute. The value of the role attribute is set to multi-choice. This sets the question to be a trick question.

  14. Select Save. Save icon.

When you publish your eLearning, Paligo uses the role attributes to determine what type of multiple-choice questions you have added. It then creates those in the published output.