How to "hack" Hot Potatoes to produce your own assessment for learning tool. A presentation made at the eSchools conference in Capetown

1. Hacking and Hosting Hot
Potatoes
How Potatoes can be
configured, hacked and hosted
Schools ICT Conference (2008)
Creative Commons Share Alike
Derek Moore http://www.weblearning.co.za
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidelong/2945717204/sizes/l/ Licence CC

2. Overview
• What is Hot Potatoes?
• You can hack their code
• Hosted and learned
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aksphotography/367363319 Licence CC

3. What is Hot Potatoes?

4. What do you mean by hacking?
– A quick job that produces what is needed, but not
well.
– To interact with a computer in a playful and
exploratory rather than goal-directed way
– An incredibly good, and perhaps very time-
consuming, piece of work that produces exactly
what is needed.
• http://hotpot.uvic.ca/howto/hacking_hotpot.htm

5. You can hack
• Starting Out
• 3 Minor Modifications
• Hack our code.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/epadillag/2026996431/ Licence CC

6. Enter data
Configure the output
Create the web page
STARTING OUT

7. Enter Data
• Enter questions, answers etc

8. Step 1
Enter Data
After opening Jquiz:
1. Type in the title in the title box.
2. Type in the question in the
question box.
3. Ensure sure that "Multiple-
choice" is selected
4. Type in the answers in the boxes
on the left, and the feedback on
the right.
5. Check the "Correct" checkbox
next to answer B.
Repeat this process for all your
questions

9. Configure Output
• Prepare the
buttons, captions, instructions, and other
features of your Web pages

10. Step 2
Configure Output
The configuration information is a
collection of pieces of text, including
•instructions for doing the exercise,
•button captions,
•and link URLs

11. Create the Web Page
• Compile your exercise into HTML pages.

12. • Step 3
Create the Webpage
The third step is to create a Web page
from your data.
•Click on the File Menu
•Select Create Web page / Web page
for v6 browsers from the menu
•Give your page a filename
The program will tell you that it has
produced a file, and let you view it in
your Web browser.

13. 1) Adjust the Look and Feel
2) Add Multimedia
3) Email the results
3 MINOR MODIFICATIONS

14. Adjust the Look and Feel
You may want to transform the look
and feel of the Web Test to match
other resources on your web site
• Modify the configuration
• Modify the CSS
• Modify the Source File

15. Modify the Configuration file
Adjust the Look and Feel
You could make modifications to the
test by going to the menu bar and
clicking
Options > Configure output

16. Modify the CSS
Adjust the Look and Feel
You could make modifications to one
particular test by making changes to
the CSS code.
Open a text editor or web
development programme and then
open the test file that you generated.
Find the css called
div.NavButtonBar
And add the four lines
background-image:
url(bg_header.gif);
background-position: center left;
background-repeat: repeat-x;
border:1px solid #369;
Save the work

17. Modify the Source File
Adjust the Look and Feel
You could make permanent
modifications to the CSS by making
changes to the CSS source file
Open a text editor or web
development programme. Go the
location where the programme is
c:Program
FilesHotPotatoes6source
Take the source file which contains the
CSS code
When you've found it, open the file
And add the lines
font-size: 100%;
background-color: #336699;
background-position: center left;
background-repeat: repeat-x;
border:1px solid #369;
Save it and every quiz that you create
will have that look and feel

18. Add Multimedia
• Add Sound
• Add Video

19. Email the results
Collecting scores can be made much
easier if you configure the Outputs file
in Hot Potatoes
• Configure Output
• Add URL
• Receive results via email

20. Configure Output
Email the Results
In the authoring environment
Choose Options > Configure Output
Choose the Tab CGI
URL of Formmail CGI script –
Email Address to submit
Message requesting students to enter
a name

21. •Add URL
Add
Email the Results
In the authoring environment
Choose Options > Configure Output
Choose the Tab CGI
1. Ensure that the checkbox is
clicked
2. Add the URL
http://www.webtests.co.za
3. Add your email Address
4. Add an instruction to the
student

22. Email the Results
Results will automatically be sent to
the email address supplied on the
configure output page

23. Hack their code.
• Introduction to Hacking HP
• Workshop on Hacking HP
• How to make your HP work server side
• 16 ways to customise Hot Potatoes
• Technical Details about the Source Files

24. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbum/436602164/ Licence CC

25. Hosting and Learning
• Hosting
• Feedback
• The future
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shimrit/295231285/ Licence CC

26. UKZN Law Web Tests
Hosting Hot Potatoes
Upload
Schedule
Report
View the Web Tests Site

27. Student Feedback
• Generally Positive
• Guess the web test assisted me in finding out that
I knew bugger all (crossed out) reasonably
nothing coz when you get things wrong you
realize you lack understanding
• Web tests were extremely useful. They helped to
determine the types of short questions or MCQ’s
that could be expected in the test. It definitely
helped me to learn more in depth than I would
have.

28. Technical Feedback
• Technical
– Server Issues
– Browser Issues
– The Suite
– The Tests

29. Staff Feedback
• Amongst Staff agree on
– aims and objectives
– number of questions
– level of question
• Amongst Students
– Clarrify Procedure
– Help Sheet

30. Where to?
This is an open source project
Get results e-mailed to you
Configure the management suite
for your server
Create an account and use the
management suite on
www.webtests.co.za • This is an open source
project
• Get results e-mailed to you
• Configure the management
suite for your server
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kapungo/420263662 Licence CC

31. I can assist
Contact me
• E-mail me at
derek@weblearning.co.za
• Follow my thoughts
www.twitter.com/weblearn
ing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30235101@N06/3344044448 Licence CC

32. http://www.flickr.com/photos/catatronic/1868720700/ / Licence CC

33. Credits
Sources Images
• Arneil, s. Holmes, M. Hacking in Hot Potatoes: A little knowledge Pressed Forefinger
brings a lot of power. Introduction to Hacking HP Available http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidelong/2945717204/
http://hotpot.uvic.ca/howto/hacking_hotpot.htm Open Palm
• Bateson, G Getting More Out of Hot Potatoes Available http://www.flickr.com/photos/aksphotography/367363319/
• http://www.kanazawa-gu.ac.jp/~gordon/research/hot- Dirty Thumb
• potatoes/index.html http://www.flickr.com/photos/epadillag/2026996431/
• 16 ways to customise Hot Potatoes Sparks Flying
• HotPotatoes Tutorials and How-to's Avaialable http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbum/436602164/
http://www.ewbooks.info/hotpot/tutorials/hotpotatoes- Curved Palm
tutorials.html http://www.flickr.com/photos/shimrit/295231285/
One Finger
http://www.flickr.com/photos/windelbo/2668770453/
Two Fingers
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10816399@N05/2575161811/
Three Fingers
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tep/404919416/
Helping Hand
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30235101@N06/3344044448/
Hack like a champion
http://www.flickr.com/photos/catatronic/1868720700/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidelong/2945717204/sizes/l/ Licence CC