Our versus series continues as we are going to compare yet another quiz plugin with WordPress Quiz Maker․ And the plugin is Watu. If you are new to these series make sure to read the key features that anyone should consider when choosing a WordPress Exam Plugin.
In this article, we will:
- Analyze the most valuable Free and Pro features that both Watu and Quiz Maker have
- Have a look at the capacity of the grading system of each plugin
- Look through the valuable knowledge base and materials that plugins offer to educate their users
- And finally, see which of the plugins is WP Mamba approved!
WordPress Quiz Maker Plugin: Online Exams, Assessment Tests, and More!
Quiz Maker rocks the WordPress quiz plugin scene over at wp.org, taking the number one spot with a whopping 20,000 active installations. It’s got an impressive 395 5-star reviews and just five 1-star ones, which is pretty amazing when you consider this plugin packs in over 200+ features. The company’s all about keeping things user-friendly for both beginners and WordPress pros.
But what makes Quiz Maker stand out? It’s their Support Team – they’re lightning-fast when it comes to sorting out any problems or questions. And here’s the cool part: I’ve been following their newsletter for a month, and they’re super proactive in asking for user feedback.
Before moving forward, make sure to read about Quiz Maker, their company value, and the unique points in my previous analysis.
Watu Quiz: WordPress Exam Plugin for Online Exams, Tests and Quizzes
Watu has been in the game for 10 years, which makes me have high hopes. The developers of the plugin claim to have the most powerful grading system in WordPress. The core of Watu’s development is Customer Feedback, which is an important point and a similarity between Quiz Maker and Watu. The main emphasis of the plugin is Online Education.
What I personally loved about Watu is that they showcase a large number of user cases based on all the quizzes that their client built with them over the years. The real examples of successful quizzes are more valuable than any feedback. It inspires trust and you can even find examples that match your own expectations and make the decision to use the plugin there and then.
Their rating and reviews on wp.org also prove their customer-centric approach. The plugin has 5000+ active installations and 115 positive reviews. There are also some 6-star reviews. So knowing this I went in to check. The reviews were mostly about the arrangement of the features and back from 5+ years ago. Given that the plugin is constantly improving there haven’t been any bad reviews in the last 2 years.
Watu Quizzes claims to have a superpower in building seamless and accurate Online exams and tests. Let’s compare the features that both plugins offer for exam making.
WordPress Quiz Maker Plugin: Free and Premium features for Online Exams and Tests
Quiz Maker is a well-developed plugin with over 100 features. This makes it clear that it has the capacity to create any Quiz. So I identified all the features that stand out to me as the most useful ones for creating online exams and tests.
Exam Timer: (FREE) This feature will help you to carry out online exams in a controlled environment. No need to set deadlines and demand your students to stick to it. It can be tricky, especially for online education. With a timer, you decide the most optimal time for completing the test and once the time is up, the answers are automatically submitted.
Randomizing Questions and Answers: (FREE) While the feature can seem quite simple. It is great for preventing cheating. You can make sure no one is going to copy from their peers in the crowded classrooms. Another interesting factor is that sometimes you can put the right answer under the same number every time or students can find some type of logic in the order and placement of the right answer. This can be misleading. Using this feature you no longer need to think twice about where to put the right answer because the system will randomize everything automatically.
Text for Right/Wrong Answer: (FREE) This is a tricky feature for me and should be used for specific cases. For important exams letting the students know if they answered right or wrong at the moment can be stressful. On the other hand, for a topic checkup, showing the right answer and explanation can improve the studying process.
Question Bank by Category: (PRO) Most exams for Professional Certifications display questions by certain order/category. For example language exams such as TOEFL, and IELTS. Here question banks can be categorized to evaluate several aspects such as reading, listening, writing, and speaking. Question banks are also a standardized approach for evaluating large amounts of study materials that students learn throughout the year or semester.
Leaderboard for Tests: (PRO) Leaderboards can add positive pressure. It is always good to have a positive sense of competition in the class. Another point is transparency, which again is important for exams. It makes students feel confident that the assessment process is fair and not based on any subjective factors.
WordPress Quiz Plugin Watu: Free and Premium features for Online Exams and Tests
In the Free/PRO Versions Watu also has a Randomizing Questions feature,
Question categories and subcategories, Setting timers, Basic leaderboard.
Pull random questions from a pool: (FREE) This can be a great feature for speaking exams or topic-based exams. This way each student can pull a random question without any chance of repeating topics. The feature can also be used for practice exams, this way there is no way students can memorize only specific questions for the exam.
Quiz categories based on user groups: (PRO) The feature is great for adaptive learning. This way teachers can carry out exams with several groups from different levels of proficiency and knowledge. This not only provides personalized feedback for each group but also fastens the process of grading.
Conditional re-taking of exam: (PRO) Well, if you don’t want to fail the class Watu has your back. With the conditional exam retaking feature, you can give chances to those who didn’t pass the exam. This can also be a new breath of motivation as not everyone has the spirit of the fighter and can be stressed over failing. This can also help you reduce your anxiety level, especially for checkup exams.
Question hints: (PRO) Many teachers prefer a positive assessment approach during exams over a competitive approach. Question hints are provided to develop critical thinking. Hints can give students new angles to think about the question, and the same hint can push different students to give answers based on their thinking.
Evaluating all these features I need to be fair and mention that both Watu and Quiz Maker offer a fair amount of features for creating online exams/tests. However, I would give Quiz Maker credits for including the basics in the Free Plan.
I would also like to mention that for more complex exams the feature “Quiz categories based on user groups” is quite interesting and helpful.
WordPress Quiz Plugin Quiz Maker and Watu Grading System
Before diving into the grading systems that each WordPress exam plugin offers, let’s see what systems are there in general.
I identified the most common 5 types:
- A-F system
- Pass/Fail System
- Percentage System
- Rubric-Based Grading
- Scoring Based on Categories
Quiz Maker Plugin Scoring Options
Let’s quickly go through all the scoring options that Quiz Maker Offers for building exams.
Calculating the score by correctness: In this case, the score of the student is calculated based on the number of correct answers that the student manages to get.
Calculating the score by weight/points: Here the score is calculated based on the weight/point assigned to each question or answer. This is a great way to accurately evaluate the score based on the level/category of the questions. For example, to evaluate the English proficiency level of your students you can assign points to questions from categories A1 to C2.
Pass or Fail based on Score: You can assign a Pass or Fail message based on the score that the student gets at the end of the exam/test. The feature is called “Intervals” and it’s for assigning different messages to your students based on their score. So the message can not only be Pass or Fail, but also Excellent, Good, Average, Poor.
Watu Quiz Scoring Options
Next in the line are scoring options that Watu Quiz offers to its users.
Points: This option grades based on the total points earned. For example to pass the test you need to collect 50 points and you fail if you earn points under 50.
Percent Correct Answer: In Watu you can set a criteria which is considered correct and grade the students by percentage. For example, let’s say that anyone getting under 20% of the answers correct should get the message “Poor”, and “Average” for answering correctly from 20-40%.
Weighted Grading: As we already learned from Quiz Maker’s example in the case of Weighted grading some questions can have higher point values than others. For example, a 20-question quiz can have a total of 100 points, all distributed between the questions unevenly.
For the grading in my opinion Quiz Maker’s “Interval” feature, includes 2 of the separate features that Watu offers and is more flexible in terms of being able to show any message for collecting certain points from the test.
Knowledge Base and Materials Offered to Clients: Quiz Maker vs Watu
It’s always important to see developers share all the necessary information that users need to know for quick, easy, and seamless․ That is the way to find Education solutions. Here is everything you should be looking for in terms of helpful information when choosing the right plugin:
- Knowledge Base
- How-to Tutorials
- Education Blog posts on the niche
- Video Tutorials
Let’s compare Quiz Maker and Watu:
| Quiz Maker | Watu |
| Knowledge Base | Knowledge Base |
| How-to Tutorials | x |
| Education Blog posts on the niche | Education Blog posts on the niche |
| Video Tutorials | x |
Do you want to start a YouTube Marketing Journey for your plugin?
Here Quiz Maker is my absolute winner, because not only does it offer all the necessary methods to educate its clients but also updates all of it constantly. Watu does have a channel but unfortunately, it was updated a year ago.
Wrapping Up
In my honest analysis and review of both plugins, I would like to mention that Watu does have most of the valuable and necessary features for building exams. However, most features included in the premium plan of Watu are in the free plan of Quiz Maker.
On the other hand in the pro version Quiz Maker offers solutions for more complex exams with more advanced scoring options. Another perk of Quiz Maker is its modern design and user-friendly and responsive dashboard. Lastly, it offers an extensive knowledge base and video tutorials to its users both free and pro.
Whether you want to start your online exams journey with Quiz Maker or Watu, depends on your own needs and expectations. So don’t hesitate and Choose Your Fighter!
