Contents
Images in questions - Plugixa Exam
A question can carry an image in its stem, and a picture-choice question’s options are images. Both upload straight from the question editor.
Uploading
There is an upload control in the question editor, and on each option of a picture-choice question. The files become ordinary media library attachments, so your usual media tools still work on them.
What is accepted
PNG, JPG, GIF and WebP.
Files are checked by decoding them, not by trusting the name or the type the browser claimed. So a site that allows SVG uploads elsewhere still cannot put one in an exam, and a
.pngthat is not really a PNG is rejected.
That is deliberate: an exam is rendered to candidates you do not control, often on machines you do not control.
Alt text
Every image asks for a description, and a site can make that required.
This is not a formality on a picture question. If the options are images and one of them has no description, a candidate using a screen reader is being asked to choose between things they cannot perceive. Requiring it is the setting to use anywhere the exam counts.
Without JavaScript
Picture choice falls back to a labelled list, and hotspot questions fall back to a labelled grid. Both stay answerable.
The alt text is what those fallbacks are built from, which is the second reason to write it properly.
Files handed in by candidates
Different thing, and worth not confusing with this.
A file upload question PRO collects work from candidates, and those files are kept out of the media library, in a private directory under an unguessable name with a deny rule beside them, served only through a route that checks who is asking.
An attachment would have sat at a public URL that no permission check ever runs on. Coursework is not media.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Usual cause |
|---|---|
| The upload button is missing | The Images capability is off in the App Manager. Existing picture questions still render and mark. |
| An upload is refused | The file is not really the type its extension claims, or it is a format outside the four allowed. |
| A picture question cannot be saved | No option is marked as the correct picture. |
| Pictures did not come through an import | Expected. The import formats reference files the export does not carry. |
| A candidate cannot open an uploaded answer file | Those are permission-checked, not public. Check the role can reach the attempt. |
What to do next
- The types that use images: Question Types.
- Writing questions generally: Questions.
- What happens to candidate files: Privacy and GDPR.