Creating schemas

Organize and standardize your question bank

Schemas help ensure assessment consistency and efficiency, especially within larger teams or extensive question libraries.

Before diving into schemas, it's essential to understand the default behavior of your question bank.

Default behavior without schemas

TestInvite's question bank offers the flexibility to dynamically create folders and tags without pre-defining them. Whenever you type the name of a new folder or tag, the system instantly generates it, allowing immediate, unrestricted organization of questions. This real-time flexibility works great for smaller teams or simple setups where pre-planning might be unnecessary.

However, for larger teams or extensive question banks, this approach can lead to inconsistency and confusion. Here’s where implementing a schema becomes advantageous.

What are schemas?

Schemas are predefined schemas that regulate the organization and tagging of questions within your question bank. They help teams maintain a structured, error-free, and efficient workflow.

Creating and implementing schemas:

  • Navigate to your question bank and access the Schema editor.
    • Activate the schema functionality by turning the “Active” switch on.
      • Click the + ADD FOLDER button to create new folders.
        • Define specific tags that can be associated with each folder.
          • Configure your preferred settings, such as strictness and required tags.
            • Click the SAVE button to apply your schema.

              Using the three-dot menu next to each folder and tag, you can edit their details, including name and status (active, required, strict). Additionally, you can assign tags to folders, add values to tags, or delete folders and tags entirely.

              Benefits of implementing schemas:

              Maintain consistency in folder and tag usage.

              Avoid errors by enforcing specific rules for question categorization.

              Improve collaboration and efficiency, especially for larger teams.

              How do schemas work?

              Schemas enable you to define and enforce clear rules regarding folder usage and tag assignments within your question bank. Once activated, the system ensures that all question entries comply with your established guidelines.

              Available schemas options include:

              • Active folders: Specify whether the selected folder should be included in your current schema. This option will also provide ease during the question creation and banking process as it enables the test creator to move questions freely before locking them into a predefined schema.
                • Strict folders: When enabled, questions can only be assigned to folders that have been pre-defined in the schema.
                  • Strict tags: Only allows tags that have been predefined within the selected folder. Prevents users from introducing new tags spontaneously.
                    • Strict tag values: Tag values must strictly match the predefined options.
                      • Required tags: Marks specific tags as mandatory, ensuring users enter a value for these tags when creating or editing questions.

                        Utilizing these additional tools refines question design, ensuring adaptability to diverse assessment needs and maintaining consistent standards across your organization.

                        By applying schemas, you can significantly enhance the organization, consistency, and collaboration efficiency in managing your extensive question banks.

                        FAQ

                        When a strict schema is enabled, users must adhere to predefined folders, tags, and values, preventing inconsistencies in categorization.

                        Yes, you can update schemas at any time to refine organization and adapt to evolving assessment needs.

                        Existing questions remain unchanged, but new questions must comply with the active schema settings.

                        Yes, the question bank allows unrestricted organization by default. however, schemas are beneficial for larger teams and structured question management.

                        Created on 2025/03/17 Updated on 2025/09/24 Share
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