Importing new questions
This function allows you to import questions from external text files, uploaded through a form.
A number of file formats are supported:
Missing Word
This format only supports multiple choice questions. Each answer is separated with a tilde (~), and the correct answer is prefixed with an equals sign (=). Here is an example:
As soon as we begin to explore our body parts as infants we become students of {=anatomy and physiology ~reflexology ~science ~experiment}, and in a sense we remain students for life.
AON
This is the same as Missing Word Format, except that after importing the questions all Short-Answer questions are converted four at a time into Matching Questions.
Additionally, the answers of multiple-choice questions are randomly shuffled during the import.
It's named after an organisation that sponsored the development of many quiz features
Blackboard
This module can import questions saved in Blackboard's export format. It relies on XML functions being compiled into your PHP.
Course Test Manager
This module can import questions saved in a Course Test Manager test bank. It relies on different ways of accessing the test bank, which is in a Microsoft Access database, depending on whether Moodle is running on a Windows or Linux web server.
On Windows it lets you upload the access database just like any other data import file.
On Linux, you must set up a windows machine on the same network with the Course Test Manager database and a piece of software called the ODBC Socket Server, which uses XML to transfer data to moodle on the Linux server.
Please read the full help file below before using this import class.
Custom
If you have your own format that you need to import, you can implement it yourself by editing mod/quiz/format/custom.php
The amount of new code needed is quite small - just enough to parse a single question from given text.
More formats are yet to come, including WebCT, IMS QTI and whatever else Moodle users can contribute!