General issues

• What's new in version 7?
  Version 7.0 has some substantial changes: the source files (and therefore the exercises created from them) have been updated so that they produce compliant XHTML5 code. This has also required some changes to functionality inside the applications themselves; in particular, the dialog box which handles inserting media files has been updated to provide HTML5 audio and video elements, the table insertion code has been updated, and various other small changes have been made. The JMatch exercise functionality has also been considerably rewritten to allow the use of distractors and duplicate items (see JMatch output).
• Can I use Hot Potatoes for free? YES, you can.
• How do I link to this Website?
  
  If you want to add a link to this Website, please use this URL: http://hotpot.uvic.ca/. You'll find GIF and PNG graphics suitable for use on your Website here: http://hotpot.uvic.ca/.
  
  
• Where is the Mac version?
  
  The old Java version which used to run on MacOSX is no longer reliable, so it has been retired.
• How do I write good multiple-choice questions?
• How do I write good multiple-select questions?
• How do I make a multiple-choice exercise function like a traditional test?
• How do I play MP3 audio files in my exercises?
• How do I use math symbols in Hot Potatoes exercises?
• How do I store my students' results?
• How do I report a bug or request a feature?
  
  We no longer provide technical support for Hot Potatoes. You should report problems on the technical support group, so that other users can help you. You'll also find lots of discussion of common issues there, so your issue may already have been addressed. When you report a problem, please post an example exercise on the Web and include the URL in your report.
  
  
• How do I install Hot Potatoes on a network?
  
  HotPot can be installed on any networked computer without problems; the only issue might be the registration user name. This is stored in one of two locations in the system registry

  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER (for a normal registration)
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (if you register with the "Network administrator" option)

  To inherit a registration, the logged-on user will have to have access to a name in one of those locations -- ie their user profile will have to include the name, or they'll have to have read access to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. If they don't -- in other words, if the sysops have set the system up such that new users inherit a user profile that doesn't include the name, and they can't read from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -- Hot Potatoes will still work fine, but it will not be registered. If the user has a persistent profile, then they can simply register themselves and insert their name. If not, they'll be limited to the unregistered setup.
  
  
• How do I edit the source files?
• Documentation of source files and placeholders