The idea being that users would complete some form of online learning and then log into the intranet to take a multiple question test/quiz to make sure they had understood what they had learned. Subjects that would be included would be things like fire regulations, health and safety, GDPR procedures and the like.
After initial discussions it was agreed that it would be really useful if the website could automatically mark the tests and email the user with their results. This would be based on a pre agreed pass rate for each test.
First of all we needed to sort out permissions and access. Users would only be able to have access to tests that were relevant to their department. MODX’s flexible access management was utilised here to group users and assign resources/tests to each group giving each user limited access.
We built the solution in a flexible way within MODX which gave the client the ability to be able to add new tests themselves and add/edit and delete questions. Each quiz has a pass rate input which the admin can amend.
All questions were multiple choice with an option for up to four possible answers. This was a restriction that fitted the clients requirements, but actually could be extended to be able to do more here if required.
Once the test is completed and submitted the user gets instant results back. Any questions that were incorrectly answered get highlighted here. The results are also emailed to the user as well as the admin so they can record what has been completed.
Although a relatively simple piece of functionality, this online testing means that busy staff members can complete their training quickly and easily without having to email back and forth and/or filling in paper copies of test sheets.
There are of course a number of other ways that we could extend the functionality of this application in the future. Some ideas might be:
- Giving the user the ability to save a test half way through and coming back later.
- Storing test results in a database for later use/viewing
- Generating a pass certificate PDF for download
- Creating deadline dates for users to complete a test by with reminder emails
Adding custom functionality like this to a website is actually great fun and means that clients can start to get much more out of their online presence. It certainly is something that we enjoy doing.
