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Quizmaking Tips

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Life_Sucks

Posts: 2523

Posted: 11:01PM Jun 17, 2008

make sure to put a period at the end of just about everything ;]

the air is full of dust

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AndrewWalker

Posts: 2408

Posted: 10:08AM Jul 2, 2008

When you are done, preview your quiz, take it, and think of it as a quiz you have never seen before and you want to correct it, then read everything slowly, take your time, check simple things like capitials, periods, and commas. If there is a word with multiple spellings, use the more common known one, make sure if you need a "?" make sure it isn't a period. Check category and if the questions are on topic.

"Being a man is not measured in how much one can lift, but in how much one can love." - Andrew Walker[|] A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, curtious, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverant. I am an Eagle Scout.

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RGW4

Posts: 1084

Posted: 10:07PM Jul 31, 2008

Life_Sucks wrote:

make sure to put a period at the end of just about everything ;]

No, don't do that. I did and got it back. Periods should only be at the end of "complete" sentences, even in the answer section.

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. -Albert Einstein-

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grilledcheese

Posts: 6441

Posted: 08:46PM Nov 16, 2008

If the answer choices are complete sentences, yes, they do need periods. If they're just things like:

A balloon
Crabs
Dancing

Then no, they shouldn't have periods.

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dswilborn

Posts: 2120

Posted: 11:11PM Nov 16, 2008

Capitalize the multiple choice answers. I've had quiz makers argue with me that they aren't needed - they are!!

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pottercrazy

Posts: 243

Posted: 01:56AM Dec 15, 2008

When putting compass points

North
South
East
West

Do they have to be capitalized

https://www.facebook.com/pottercrazy add me if ya want to know me better man

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SEPTILLIONGOLDS

Posts: 1551

Posted: 12:22AM Mar 23, 2009

Good explanations tend quiz takers to have a quiz a higher rating. You could put more information about the answer at the explanation. Just remember that you didn't plagiarize it from other websites.

shutting up or down has the same meaning, why need the up and down? just keep it shut!

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dalfamnest

Posts: 34

Posted: 12:32AM Oct 21, 2009

grilledcheese wrote:

If the answer choices are complete sentences, yes, they do need periods. If they're just things like:

A balloon
Crabs
Dancing

Then no, they shouldn't have periods.

When i wrote my quiz, 'Where The Wild Things Are,' I was asked to add periods at the end of most of the M-C options. Now they have gone. I am a lot happier with this instruction - that we only use periods if the options are complete sentences.

* But what if the options are completing a sentence?
The capital city of New Zealand is ...
Do the options have periods because there would be one after them?

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dalfamnest

Posts: 34

Posted: 12:42AM Oct 21, 2009

I am more concerned about the use of quotations. Can someone please cite an authority for placing commas OUTside quotation marks? I have always taught and been taught inside. http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp is one reasonably respected site.

I did say, 'Please,' didn't I?

Maybe in USA it's an optional thing and Braingle has decided on one particular interpretation for consistency.

I am also surprised at the use of commas in short lists where there is no ambiguity.

I would use a NO comma for:
- My favourite vegetables include peas, spinach and potatoes. [Read: 'favorite'!]

However, a comma IS needed if there is ambiguity.
- My favourite meals are steak, pastas, fish, and chips. [Otherwise it could be misinterpreted as 'fish and chips.'

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Shadows

Posts: 4680

Posted: 05:24PM Oct 21, 2009

According to Wikipedia, "the British style places them inside or outside the quotation marks according to whether or not the punctuation is part of the quoted material." That's the rule that Braingle goes by. (Here's wiseGEEK if you don't trust Wikipedia.) It's more logical, in my opinion.

There should be a comma before the conjunction because it's logical. I like logical. There is a series of items, and it's logical to separate them with commas. Besides, when speaking, most people pause before the conjunction anyway.

"Time's rushing by me like the wind / Gotta grab each moment that I can / 'Cause I'm never gonna feel like this again"

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superleaf1

Posts: 1

Posted: 05:05PM Nov 9, 2010

Does any1 have any good topics for quizzes or how can I get some good ideas?

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Hrsemn4

Posts: 495

Posted: 05:32PM Nov 9, 2010

My advice for new quiz authors is first to write what you know, what you're passionate about. Maybe your favorite movies or actors, your favorite songs or TV shows.

When you find you've exhausted those resources, I advise you to do research on things YOU want to learn about. I've had a lot of fun making quizzes about things I initially only had a passing interest in. As I learned more about the topic, it became that much more interesting, and naturally easy to come up with creative questions and interesting info for my explanations.

The difference between poison and medicine is usually a matter of dosage.

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Hrsemn4

Posts: 495

Posted: 10:36AM Jan 15, 2011

I've been noticing some common problems recurring with quizzes and I wonder if I might post some general advice here in hopes that authors, new and old, will take a look and hopefully avoid some of these issues.

First, you REALLY need to read the Quiz Making Guidelines, if you obey those to the letter, you have a 99% chance of your quiz being approved on the first submission (which helps raise your creator grade). Just following general grammar practices may cause you some frustration since Braingle may opt for a certain practice where grammar rules state that more than one way is acceptable.

Know your topic. Sounds easy enough, but it's not uncommon for the QMs to find blatently erroneous facts within quizzes. Websites can contradict one another, so please do your research. If you are quoting a song lyric or someone's speech, it has to be exact. Also, be wary of "fax lore", these little tidbits of info that are often circulated via email and also appear as "strange but true" facts on websites, often these are completely false and take very little effort to disprove, a quiz consisting only of those may end up being rejected entirely or removed from the website.

Don't plagiarize. Plain and simple, if you "copy and paste" from a website, with VERY few exceptions, you are plagiarizing. All work must be entirely your own. When writing a quiz, you only have four chances to produce a quiz that can be published, plagiarizing is a quick way to lose one of those chances. In some cases, authors have had to completely rewrite quizzes which often produces more errors, so they've lost at least one chance at getting their quiz published.

Finally, I'd also like to talk about quiz summaries. As stated in the QMG, this is where you can provide more info to the audience about your quiz topic. This is also one of the few times you can inject a little of your own personality with little fear that it will require revision. Here's some tips about summaries:

1) Summaries MUST be complete sentences. - "Questions about cats." and "A quiz about cats." are NOT complete sentences, "This quiz contains questions about cats." and "This is a quiz about cats" ARE complete sentences...BUT, see #2.

2) Summaries cannot be "obvious". - If your quiz is titled "Cats", the quiz taker can safely assume the quiz will contain questions about cats. Likewise, "How much do you know about this song?", while not "obvious", by definition, is pretty bland. Something like: "This song is about a young man trying to figure out how to win the affections of the girl he loves. How much do you recall about this song by (artist name)?" is MUCH more preferable.

I really hope this helps some authors with their quizzes. As a QM, I love approving quizzes, I take no joy in having to return or reject them. I hope that the tips above will aid you in creating quizzes on your favorite topics, quizzes you can be proud of.

The difference between poison and medicine is usually a matter of dosage.

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klsowell

Posts: 2

Posted: 02:42PM May 15, 2012

HELLO!! I got a quiz approved and still don't have a positive karma! What's going on?

klsowell

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Hrsemn4

Posts: 495

Posted: 03:51PM May 15, 2012

The specific formula for positive Karma is known only to Jake, the site's creator. In general, being a positive contributing member of the Braingle community will earn you karma. The specific actions and the specific amount of karma earned for those actions is not made public. Please be patient and just continue to be a positive member of the community and you will earn your karma soon enough.

---This message was edited on 03:52PM May 15, 2012---

The difference between poison and medicine is usually a matter of dosage.

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wyse