Manually marked question. Question that is intended for shorter text answers without formatting options.

The Text Area question type is intended for candidates to write shorter, plain text answers without formatting options. This means candidates cannot use bolding, bullet lists, tables, special characters, or formulas in their responses. 

This article explains the layout of Text Area questions, details their specific options including sizing controls, and covers other general question options.

Question layout

In the question's edit mode, you can do the following: 

1. Replace text with desired question text.
2. Add math (LaTex), files, tables, links, PDF, images and / or audio clips to the question text.
3. Insert more interaction elements by pressing +Insert. 
4. Set general options for the question type. Read more about General options for questions. 

Specific options

Clicking on the interaction element (the text area itself) provides access to specific options unique to the Text Area question type:

1. Write an explanation text for the question. The text will appear in the workspace above the text area. "Fill in your answer here" or "Enter text here" is set by default.
2. You can select the size of the text area (interaction element) where candidates will type their answer.
   1. Set initial number of text lines:  This defines how many lines the text area displays initially in the candidate's view.

   2. Expand automatically:  If enabled, the text area will automatically expand as the candidate writes more lines beyond the initial setting.

      If the candidate writes more lines than set in the initial number of text lines, and Expand automatically is not enabled, the candidate will need to scroll within the text area to read their entire response. Candidates can also expand the field by clicking and dragging on the marked bottom right corner of the text area.

      1. Example: 4 lines of body text, not expand automatically. 

         

      2. Example: 4 lines of body text, expand automatically. 

         

   3. Width: Width of the text area. Possibility to change value and unit (percent or pixels). 100 percent is set by default. 
3. An External Identifier is a unique string that helps link the question to external systems for data collection, without serving any internal purpose in Inspera Assessment.