WirisQuizzes Moodle Plug-In
Moodle is a modular system, which means it was built to be able to include additional functionalities to its core platform. This flexibility makes Moodle collaborative and community-enhanced, and the Moodle Plug-In Database is where official plugins can be searched and downloaded.
On this page, you can find out how to install WirisQuizzes in Moodle and activate WirisQuizzes question types and Wiris filters. You can also find out an estimation of the resource consumption by the tool.
Finally, a detailed guide about the deactivation of WirisQuizzes question types and Wiris filters is also shown. If you want to completely uninstall WirisQuizzes, you can follow the steps below.
Demo with WirisQuizzes
You can request a demo and a free trial by filling out the corresponding form. Tell us a little about yourself, and we'll connect you with a WirisQuizzes expert who can share more about the product and answer any questions you have.
Install WirisQuizzes for Moodle
In this section, you will find the requirements and a complete guide about installing WirisQuizzes on Moodle platform.
Requirements
WirisQuizzes versions from 4.0 upwards are compatible with Moodle 3 and Moodle 4. Older versions of WirisQuizzes are also compatible with Moodle 2, and you only need to select your corresponding version on the download page.
Note
For the best experience, we strongly recommend using a Moodle version currently supported by Moodle.
To successfully download and install the WirisQuizzes Moodle plugin you will need to have administrator permissions.
Installation
To install the WirisQuizzes Moodle plugin, you will need to follow the instructions below:
Copy files: Unzip
local_wirisquizzes_moodle40_xxxx.xx.xx.xx.zipand copy the content of the file into the folder local under the root of Moodle.Install the plugin: Since WirisQuizzes is a Moodle plugin, it will automatically start the installation after the files are copied into the correct folder. If the installation doesn't start, go to the Moodle Home Page or Site administration > Notifications page.
Check that all is OK: The best way to check all is working as expected is just to make a question, save and display it. Additionally, there is an info page at
{MOODLE_URL}/question/type/wq/info.php. Please send a complete description and screenshots of the issue to support if there is an issue.
Additional settings
If the number of concurrent users using WirisQuizzes is higher than 20, we recommend you uncomment (removing the leading ";") and change the value of the variable quizzes.maxconnections to -1 in your WirisQuizzes configuration located at {MOODLE_URL}/question/type/wq/quizzes/configuration.ini.
Please note that the maximum number of concurrent connections is the maximum number of requests (i.e. generate random variables) that are sent from your Moodle to our servers exactly at the same time. It is important to note that the number of students that can simultaneously take a quiz is always higher than this value. Besides, take into account this value must be lower than Apache MaxRequestWorkers (or MaxClients) divided by 4.
Note
If {MOODLE_URL}/question/type/wq/quizzes/configuration.ini doesn't exist, create it by copying {MOODLE_URL}/question/type/wq/quizzes/configuration.ini.dist.
Activation of WirisQuizzes Question Types
To activate WirisQuizzes question types, you will need to follow the instructions below:
Log in as an admin
Log in as the admin user, and go to Site administration to the left of the screen.
Manage question types
Go to Plugins > Question types in the top bar and click Manage question types.
Enable WirisQuizzes
Find WirisQuizzes, which requires MathType by WIRIS and notice the eye on the right side. By default, it should be selected, so the questions are enabled. If it is not, just click on it.
Activation of Wiris Filters
To activate the Wiris filters, you will need to follow the instructions below:
Log in as an admin
Log in as the admin user, and go to Site administration to the left of the screen.
Manage filters
Go to Plugins > Filters in the top bar and click Manage filters.
Enable MathType by WIRIS
Find MathType by Wiris. From the drop-down list near the middle, select On and wait for the page to reload.
Finally, place the filter first in the list of available filters in Moodle.
Activate the filters
Click Settings in the same row (MathType by WIRIS). A page with several checkboxes will load. Select the filters you would like to enable, and save changes.
Resources and performance
The resource consumption of WirisQuizzes for Moodle depends on Moodle’s own resource consumption, and it depends powerfully on how WirisQuizzes for Moodle is used.
For example, in a time-based exam, where all students start simultaneously, many initial connections are expected at the beginning. The connections will slow down after some minutes, and there will be a peak by the end of the examination. Despite the high dependence on the type of usage, the following rule holds
4 core + 3GB RAM | 360 questions/minute |
Note
Calculations are done with a questionnaire of 10 WirisQuizzes questions (5 random, 5 non-random). Maximum CPU load: 80%. Average CPU load: 50%. WirisQuizzes and MathType services from our wiris.net servers
Typical scenario
We assume each questionnaire contains 10 questions (5 non-random and 5 random), and the student needs an average of 30 minutes to solve each questionnaire. Students can start the questionnaire whenever they want. We don't expect a peak at any time. As a result,
To summarize, 4 cores with 3GB RAM can deliver 1080 questionnaires simultaneously, under the given conditions. Now, following the above rule, we can make other estimates:
Concurrent Users | CPU cores | RAM (GB) |
|---|---|---|
540 | 2 | 2 |
1080 | 4 | 3 |
2160 | 8 | 6 |
Deactivation of Wiris Filters
To deactivate the Wiris filters, you will need to follow the instructions below:
Log in as an admin
Log in as the admin user, and go to Site administration to the left of the screen.
Manage filters
Go to Plugins > Filters in the top bar and click Manage filters.
Deactivate the filters
Click Settings in the MathType by WIRIS row. Unmark all checkboxes, and click Save changes.
Disable MathType by WIRIS
Finally, click Manage Filters in the sidebar again, and this time at MathType by WIRIS go to the drop-down list and choose Disabled.
Deactivation of WirisQuizzes Question Types
To deactivate WirisQuizzes, you will need to follow the instructions below:
Log in as an admin
Log in as the admin user, and go to Site administration to the left of the screen.
Manage question types
Go to Plugins > Question types in the top bar and click Manage question types.
Disable WirisQuizzes
Find WirisQuizzes, which requires MathType by WIRIS, and notice the eye on the right side. Click it to disable WirisQuizzes question types.
Uninstall WirisQuizzes for Moodle
If you choose to uninstall WirisQuizzes for Moodle, we recommend uninstalling it via the Moodle user interface. If you prefer, you can uninstall it manually by following these steps.
Moodle interface uninstall
You can uninstall WirisQuizzes question types like any Moodle question type. All WirisQuizzes question types require/depend on WirisQuizzes, so you need to uninstall the rest before uninstalling WirisQuizzes.
To do so, you just need to delete every question type using the Uninstall link next to the question type. Remember to delete all the questions of each type first, then uninstall the question type. Finally, remove the associated files from {MOODLE_URL}/question/type.
Manual uninstall
If you have written any questions of these types, you won't see the Uninstall link. However, you can remove the files related to that question type from {MOODLE_URL}/question/type, and any question you had will be moved to the Moodle Missing type question type. If you choose this option to uninstall, you must only delete {MOODLE_URL}/question/type/wq if you've deleted the rest of the WirisQuizzes question types. With this option, every WirisQuizzes question you had will stop working.
In order to preserve database coherence, the qtype_wq and qtype_essaywiris_backup tables must be deleted, and the following registers must be deleted from config_plugins table: qtype_essaywiris, qtype_matchwiris, qtype_multianswerwiris, qtype_multichoicewiris, qtype_shortanswerwiris, qtype_truefalsewiris.