I recently made what i think is a really good quiz on the book harry potter and the goblet of fire. i made some really hard fill in the blank questions that were directly from the book. all the quiztaker had to have was the book and they could have done the quiz, but the quiz editor wouldn't take it because the answers were too long. i put in some clues as where to find the answer in the book (the chapter the paragraph was in) and the editor still wouldn't take it. the reason for this was he thought that my fill in the blank answers were to long. he said that you should only have one or two words maybe three or four but as i recall i made a quiz with a fill in the blank answer with 7 words once and the quiz editor didn't care. i think that maybe the quiz editor should think about it before they ask the quizmakers to change their fill in the blank questions to multiple choice because some of the quizzes are really hard and really good but then the quiz editors make them easy by asking the quizmakers to make the questions multiple choice. just something to think about.
Casper

Casper the quiz editor, (who I am assuming is minch because she is the editor of Literature) is right. The maximum number of words IS four.
I can go on and on with why FITB's aren't liked. But I'll keep it short. People don't like complex fill in the blank questions. Hope this answers your question.

------------------
IndianPainter
The United States would be 10 times better if a woman was president.

i just wanted the quiz to be a challenge. and besides what about the quiz i posted that had 7 words for a fill in the blank? it was accepted.

Also, consider that the VAST majority of people here WON'T have the book sitting next to them! Thus, they won't like your quiz and will rate it badly.

------------------
Cris Waller
CrisW@ix.netcom.com

Casper,

If you believe that your two postings above are grammatically correct, perhaps I can see why your quizzes are having trouble being approved.

I see you're a student. Why not print out what you've written and ask your English teacher to critique it?

Contrary to (what I see is) popular belief, there is no real word limit on FITB answers in our software. The problem lies in the quiztaker's perception of what answer you expect. YOUR six- or seven-word (or more)answer may bear little relation to the six or seven or so words the quiztaker believes are correct. The auto-grader software has no way to 'read' an answer to see if it coincides with what you wrote. It can only match up words.

One- and two-word, unambiguous (i.e. no alternative) answers are best. Anything longer than that results in divergent perception by the reader, hence their answer will be marked 'incorrect'. They may actually have the correct answer, and know it to be correct, but because their words differed from yours in the presentation, they are graded as 'wrong.' This does NOT please the people taking the quiz. They will complain and downgrade your quiz for these reasons, thereby insuring that you are BOTH displeased without understanding exactly why or how you got that way.

It takes quite a bit of time to learn and understand how to create a proper FITB quiz. Our editors know this, and try to guide the quiz creators accordingly. Time, editors' guidance and experience will show you the way to creating proper FITB quizzes. Check out the 'Weekly Challenge' tournament questions on our game page as a comparison.

Meanwhile, it's best to create simple, multiple-choice quizzes. You can impart the same knowledge and testing thereof with both you and the quiztaker 'reading from the same sheet of music,' as it were.

Gunslinger
Universal Editor

------------------
Gunslinger
'I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace, where never lark or even eagle flew'

i have no problem with my english. i am an A+ student when it comes to english. that is not the problem. and why would people take a quiz on a harry potter book if they didn't own it or hadn't read it?

Well, Casper, you certainly have a problem with writing English. Specifically, capitalization and when it's to be used. Either you don't know or can't be bothered with it. Whichever it is, that is a problem.

Apparently you're also disregarding the rest of my message, concerning FITB questions.

While your quiz may be a good one, until the answers are such that it is playable, it's not going on line. When you make repairs, accoring to the guidelines you've been given, you may re-submit your quiz.

Ok I will try and change my quiz but first I need to know how I can get back into quizzyland. I accidentely made a typo when typing my quiz ID and now I can't fix it. Someone please help. Also, about the last message I sent. I was in a hurry and I just had to type not worrying about capitals and punctuation. Please help!

Hi; if i could just add a thought...
I know it's just one person's opinion, but i come to this site to have a fun, relaxing time. Occasionally I run across a quiz, (and coincidentally, the one that comes to mind is a Harry Potter quiz) where the questions are so obscure that it really isn't fun. If I have to sit with a reference book in front of me to answer the questions, it truly doesn't reflect my knowledge of the subject, just how well I can look up answers. When I encounter that kind of quiz, I abandon it - too much of a drag. Maybe that's the answer; if members think the questions are too difficult, they can opt not to play. What a lot of work to create something that no one is interested in! I don't think that creating a really tough quiz to maybe give the impression that you're really smart is a great motivation. The editors here certainly know what they're talking about - why not just go with their suggestions instead of argueing with them?

EVERYONE READ THIS CAREFULLY:
I will change the questions but first I need to fix it so that I can go into quizzyland because I can't fix the typo that I made when I typed my ID and now I can't get in. So please, I beg you, not to be rude, but please help me get into quizzyland and stop telling me about the FITB questions. Thank you,
CASPER

------------------
Edited. Rude text.

[This message has been edited by Gunslinger (edited 08-09-2000).]

Sorry about my signature on the last message. I meant to change it but i sent the message before i could.
CASPER
P.S. What happened to my other post on this message board? It wasn't there today. It is really important because I need help with the stuff that i included in the message.

------------------
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.

Hey sorry about that last message. My post was not deleted it was just moved down on the list. sorry i am just a bothersome teenager.
BYE,
CASPER

------------------
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.

Casper; although I can 'see' many things on the site, passwords isn't one of them. The webmaster keeps these to himself, for good reason. Everyone should expect tight security where these are concerned.

Send an e-mail to Terry at:

terry@funtrivia.com

The boss will mail you back with your proper password.

In the meantime, what is your quiz's ID (that's the thing in parentheses (ID:XXXXX). I'll give you some help with this.

------------------
Gunslinger
'Flying itself is not inherently dangerous, but it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.'

Or... if for some reason you cannot remember the quiz ID, what is the name you used for yourself in Quizzyland? We can also find the quiz with that info...

I know it's not casper_119... The system says there are no quizzes created by that name (online or under construction).

Valerie

My quiz ID is mrtwig. I typed it in mrtiwg. I tried to make a new ID but I was not able too. Do you think maybe you could make it so that I can get back into quizzyland? Thanks for your help
CASPER
P.S. sorry about that signature Gunslinger that you had to edit out. I accidently sent my message before I could change it. As you can see it is changed now.

------------------
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.

Sorry I am all mixed up. My quizzyland ID is mrtwig. I made an error when typing it in to get into quizzyland and now I can't even make a new ID. I don't need help editing a quiz I just need help getting back to quizzyland.
CASPER

------------------
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.

Hey everyone i fixed my problem and now i can enter quizzyland. thanks alot for your help. you can shut down this message if you want to.
CASPER

------------------
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.