  Contests & Activities
This week: Edited by: Melissa is fashionably late!  
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What fun would the world be if you didn't have Writing.Com? What fun would Writing.Com be if it didn't have interactives and contests?
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Featuring the Quiz Item Type
In last month's issue, I implored my readers to submit questions that could possibly become topics for future newsletters. I received such a plethora of responses, but I have to start somewhere.
terryjroo submitted this question:
How about these new quizzes? How do they work? How do you set one up?
I chose this question for more reasons than it being a good question with a lot of explaining to do. I've also seen quite a few people on scroll asking about how one goes about creating and using one. So, a merit badge goes to terryjroo for asking it, but I wouldn't have chosen it first if I hadn't seen others asking around.
So, what are the quiz items good for?
Well, I've seen some created solely for entertainment purposes, while others are actually testing our trivial knowledge. If you want to find out how well people know a particular subject, then a quiz item is just the thing you need!
How do I create a quiz item?
 Head up to the Writing link in the Writing.Com header. Select Quizzes under the interactive item section.
Give your quiz a title and brief description. Rate both your intro and content appropriately. Assign appropriate access restrictions and a passkey, if applicable. Select your genres, assign any relevant keywords, and write a catching description of your quiz in the item body text box.
Select your Quiz Scoring Type from the dropdown box.
- Correct Answers can either be right or wrong. If your quiz-taker answers a question correctly, it adds points to his score. If he answers it incorrectly, he gets no points.
- Weighted Answers have no right or wrong. Each answer has a set amount of points that apply to the final score.
Select whether you'd like to show correct or weighted choices.
- No, do not provide it will not show correct or weighted answers to your questions once the quiz-taker has completed your quiz and received his score.
- Yes, provide this option will show correct or weighted answers to your questions once the quiz has been completed.
Select whether or not to turn on the Quiz Scoreboard.
- Scoreboard off will not track the scores members who have taken your quiz received and will not display a public listing of quiz scores.
- Scoreboard on will track members' scores and create a public display of these scores.
Choose whether to allow multiple attempts.
- Yes, allow multiple attempts will allow members to take the quiz more than once.
- No, do not allow multiple attempts will only allow members to take the quiz once.
Choose your Log Quiz Completion preference.
- No, do not log completions will not save a log of participant answers and scores for owners or editors to view.
- Yes, log completions will save a log of participant answers and scores for editors and owners to view.
Select how many questions you would like to be viewed at a time in the Quiz Bank Setup.
- Show all will show all created questions for each participant to choose an answer to at the time he takes the quiz.
- Show 5 through Show 100 will show the selected amount of questions from the storage bank of questions created by the owners and editors of the quiz item.
Select whether to make the item rateable and the amount of Gift Points rewarded for a 250-character review of the item, if an auto-reward is desired. Save your item when desired changes have been completed.
OK. I've done all that, but where do I add the questions?
Locate the quiz item where you have saved it in your portfolio and click Manage.
To add a question, click Add Question.
Add a name/topic for the question in the first box, type in your actual question in the second box, and your answers in the answer choice boxes. If you are using a weighted quiz, give each question a number in order to weight it, or if you're using a correct answer quiz, choose the correct answer.
Click Store Question to store your inputted question.
 Enter up to 1,000 questions for your quiz!
Adding Responses
You have all of your questions input. Now what happens when someone takes the quiz?
Click Manage to access the question/response area of the quiz.
Click Add Response.
Input the response name and response text. Click Store Response.
Change the order of the responses by giving a percentage amount to each response in the manage screen.
Add up to 25 responses to your quiz!
Well, that's it, I think. The number of questions and responses you may enter could vary by your membership levels. All of the information I have provided is based off of my own Premium membership, so if you try to make a quiz with a regular upgrade and find that you aren't able to enter as many questions or responses, that is why.
If you have any questions about creating a quiz item type, or I've left something unclear, please feel free to let me know! I will try to help clarify any discrepancies or confusion.  |
Some quizzes to test your knowledge:
Some quizzes meant for your sole entertainment:
And if you're not interested in being quizzed, here are a few other items to check out:
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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Wow! I received a lot of responses from my last newsletter! So many of you will be receiving GPs in your inbox shortly! Thank you for so many questions. I hope to be able to answer more in future issues.
Ronis brain tumor is gone! :
How much time should be used to plan out a contest, auction, or a raffle?
If you plan part of it to go towards your upgrade and the other half to be divide into the charities, should you allow the winner to chose one and you choose the other 2?
For your first question, I would say that there is no limit to how long it should take to plan an event. As long as it takes for you to fill in all of the details is how long you should plan. Sometimes, I've been able to put a contest together in a matter of hours, while others, it has taken me a week or more to get all the details worked out.
As far as charity choice, I find that choosing a popular charity with a good reputation is a safer option than letting another member choose a charity that you know little-to-nothing about. Lack of trust in other members' charities could cause tensions between additional participants, which is why I tend to think that the popular and more well-known charities are a safer choice.
Hope that helps!
Robert Waltz  :
There seems to be at least two schools of thought on auctions. One school seems to require that you pack your auction item full of as many different (or similar) offerings as you can. The other (my own alma mater) suggests that you keep the number of offerings to a minimum, to increase the apparent value of the offerings. The question is, which approach seems to be more effective in raising funds?
I think it depends on the auction, its participants, and the donations received. But, auction organizers have to remember that the more items donated, the less bids will be received on each item, in general. Your auction, of 15 items, may draw 15 people, but its less likely that they're going to bid up several items. If you receive a lot of donations, I would consider running several rounds to spread the probability of each donation bringing in more Gift Points. So, I guess I would agree with you, in that a the more, the merrier stance isn't always the best where an auction is concerned.
Coffeebean  :
I'm new here. Well, came aboard on the 10th. I have a question. Does the activity on the writer's cramp forum pick up any once the weather turns, vacations are over, school starts, etc.?
Activity varies from month to month and week to week. Poetry weeks are usually pretty busy, while the other times you have a better chance of winning because less people write entries for it.
Lynn McKenzie :
What timing. I desperately want to start a contest. How much do I need to start one properly? How do I know what size prizes to give? Are there guides for determining the rules? How can I get donations? Is it a good or bad idea to consider pieces not specifically rated for the contest? HELP!
You can have any amount of Gift Points to host a contest properly. The best thing to remember in this avenue, though, is that the higher the payout, the more entries you're likely to receive. Prize sizes should vary by the amount of the total prize pool. For a contest with five prizes, I generally reserve about 1/4 - 1/3 of the total prize pool for first place, and decrease in value from there. Everyone does it differently, though, so go with what you feel is the best prize spread. One suggestion that I always offer, though, is that people like to be able to win an awardicon or a merit badge, as it gives them something to show for their hard work, or at least offer an awaricon/merit badge or the Gift Point equivalent.
The rules are really up to you, but you have to make sure that basic questions are answered: What are they writing about? How long do they have to enter? What item ratings are qualified? How long can the entry be? How much could they win? How many winners will there be? Is there an entry fee?
Donations are tricky, especially when holding your first contest. You haven't established that you follow through with a contest, yet, so any donations you might receive may be smaller when you first start out. One thing that I always put in my contest description, if I'm looking for donations to up the prize pool, though, is, "Donations are not required, but accepted with appreciation." It lets visitors to the contest know that you could use some help.
I'm not sure I understand your last question. If you mean pieces not specifically written for your contest, then no, it's not a bad idea to consider these types of items as well as items written specifically for your contest. You'll find you'll receive more entries if you allow that. If you mean items that do not fit the rating specified by your rules, then no, I would not consider them. I rarely take exception to entries that do not follow the rules specified in my contest.
That's all for now, as far as the questions and comments! I hope that you found my answers helpful.
As for the next issue, I'd love to hear what you think about raffles and lotteries. Valid questions/comments received will get 100 Gift Points each. If I use them in the newsletter, you'll receive an additional 1,000 Gift Points! So bring it on!
Till next month, keep interactive.
Melissa is fashionably late! |
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Contests & Activities: September 20, 2006 Issue [#1269]
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