Elementor is a massively popular WordPress page builder. WordPress powers over 42% of all websites, and 8.2% of them use Elementor. That is millions of websites!
This popularity is justified: you can build stunning, visually enticing websites with Elementor, and it’s fairly easy to do so thanks to its live editing and drag-and-drop capabilities.
Although there are several pros to using Elementor, in this article we are going to talk about one of its shortcomings, which is that it has limited functionality for creating quizzes, surveys, and polls by default. This is an important feature for some website users, such as educators that want to teach, or businesses that want to engage customers.
In this informative guide, we’ll highlight three solutions to this issue and provide simple, effective tips to help you create quizzes in WordPress while keeping Elementor as your page builder.
Can You Create Quizzes in Elementor by Default?
There are two versions of Elementor available to WordPress users. These include the free version and the premium version, known as Elementor Pro. Neither plan includes a dedicated quiz widget.
This is not ideal, as quizzes, surveys, and polls can help WordPress site owners encourage visitors to spend more time on their pages, generate leads, and enhance the overall user experience. We’ve written an article that talks about the full benefits of adding quizzes to your WordPress website, and the synopsis is that:
- If you’re a business owner, you can use quizzes to engage customers, teach them about your products, and collect their opinions about your business. Quizzes are a great way to capture contact details and information, such as email addresses, to generate leads through email marketing.
- If you’re an educator with an online teaching business, you can use quizzes to help students assess their progress, or collect their answers so you can assess their progress yourself. If you’re interested in the benefits of using quizzes in courses and lessons, take a look at this study which shows the impact of learner-centered strategies in eLearning.
There is a workaround included in Elementor Pro, which is the Form widget. This is the first method we’ll discuss, though we’ll later talk about why it’s actually better to use alternative methods like Elementor add-ons and WordPress quiz plugins.
Method 1: Use the Form widget in Elementor Pro
The first solution you can explore if you’re looking to create quizzes in Elementor Pro is to use the Form widget. As the name suggests, this feature is designed to build contact forms, but it can also be used to create simple, basic quizzes and surveys with a bit of imagination. Let’s take a closer look at how this method could help you get around the absence of a quiz widget if you’re using the Elementor website builder.
The Form Widget includes some relevant fields that would come in handy for quizzes, such as Radio, Checkbox, and TextArea, and there’s even a file upload feature. If you were an online educator with no other alternative, you could use these fields to create quizzes that allow students to submit answers about the lesson content.
However, there are some glaring downsides to using the Form widget as your only means for creating quizzes, especially for educational and entertainment-based quizzes:
- Educational quizzes: Using the Form widget means that you can’t provide automatic feedback for students or information based on responses and quiz answers. With this method, all you can do is collect answers, grade them manually, and then send your feedback to the individual via email.
- Entertainment quizzes: If you’re using quizzes to liven up your content and provide fun, interactive experiences for your readers (in the style of Buzzfeed or similar websites), using a contact form to create a very modest quiz or survey may leave your audience underwhelmed. This is because you have very limited design options and can’t provide conditional responses based on the user’s answers.
Ultimately, the Form widget is best suited for companies or individuals who want to collect feedback about specific products or services. It’s not an effective method for educators and site owners who want to take full advantage of the power, versatility, and benefits of interactive online quizzes and surveys.
Method 2: Use Third-Party Add-Ons for Elementor
There are many third-party plugins designed to extend Elementor’s functionality. What this essentially means is that when you integrate Elementor with one of these plugins, you’ll get an extra set of widgets that can be used while creating a page with Elementor. Popular examples include JetElements, and Essential Add-Ons.
There are a couple of obvious advantages to using third-party add-ons to create Elementor quizzes:
- If you find a suitable add-on pack, which you enjoy using, this may eliminate the need to use Elementor Pro. You could combine Elementor Free with your new add-on pack to access the features you need.
- Developers create add-on packs to plug gaps and enhance functionality in areas where Elementor falls short. This means you should be able to find widgets that add more functional forms and quiz functionality, in addition to other types of widgets that help you enhance your site in other ways.
On the other hand, there are a few caveats that are worth mentioning:
- If you purchase multiple add-on plugins, this can get expensive quickly.
- If you only want quiz functionality, then it might not justify the price of purchasing all the additional widgets.
- Additionally, because the quiz widget will be one of many other widgets included in the same plugin, it might still not have the advanced functionality that you’re looking for.
- The biggest issue is that we’ve done the research, and very, very few of these add-on plugins actually contain a quiz block. Most of them include integrations with popular form builders, like Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, and so on. This means you can create more advanced quiz-style forms compared to using the default Form widget in Elementor Pro, but it’s still not the optimal solution.
Method 3: Use a Dedicated WordPress Quiz Plugin
Dedicated WordPress quiz plugins offer advanced features (such as scoring, randomization, quiz timers, and question types), customization options, and integration capabilities that surpass the limitations of the previous methods. That’s why we recommend this as the best method for any WordPress user that wants to create advanced quizzes.
Most reputable quiz plugins are compatible with Elementor, so you’ll have a smooth experience creating quizzes and displaying them on your website.
There is a multitude of quiz plugins, and the right one for you depends on what kind of quizzes you are trying to create. If you’re an online course creator or educator, then what you really want is a Learning Management System (LMS) plugin that has extended functionality for creating lesson content, including advanced quiz functionality for assessing students
If that’s the case, then our top pick is Sensei LMS! Though this LMS plugin is aimed at course creators and educators first and foremost, you can create compelling quizzes with Sensei no matter what your website is about. There are two available plans that include some form of quiz functionality. Let’s compare them both so you can decide which plan is right for your needs:
Sensei Blocks
Sensei Blocks are a range of interactive blocks that includes the Question block, Interactive Video block, Image Hotspot block, Flashcard block, and Tasklist block. The Questions block includes multiple-choice, true/false, gap-fill, single-line, and ordering questions. You can display automatic feedback once the question has been answered.
The Questions block is designed for educational quizzes, but you could also use it for other applications such as product feedback and data collection. For example, you could use the single-line question type to collect email addresses and the multiple-choice question to allow customers to rate their opinion of a product. You can use the automated feedback feature to thank customers for their time and assure them that their reply has been received.
One of the significant advantages of Sensei Blocks is that you can display them anywhere on your website, so you don’t need to create online courses to use them.
Sensei Pro
Sensei Pro is a premium version of Sensei which is well and truly targeted at online course creators. It includes all Sensei Blocks, which means you’ll have access to the Questions block, but the main advantage for course creators who want to create quizzes is the Quiz block. Unlike the Questions block, the Quiz block can only be used in lesson pages but offers very advanced features, such as:
- 7 different types of questions (ordering, multiple-choice, single line, multi-line, fill-in-the-blank, true or false, and file upload)
- Manual or automatic grading
- Repeat attempts
- Assigning weights to questions so that more complex questions carry more marks
- Setting timers on quizzes
- Awarding certificates for passing tests
- Creating a bank or library of questions for repeat use
It’s important to note that Sensei uses the Gutenberg block editor as its interface. This means that you’ll need to use Gutenberg to create your questions, lesson or course content, and quizzes. Although you’ll be using the Gutenberg interface, the plugin is compatible with Elementor so the quizzes and content will be displayed seamlessly on your Elementor web pages.
Although using Gutenberg may seem like a trade-off, this is a very small price to pay for access to incredible features for creating quizzes and online courses. Sensei is a leading WordPress plugin for educators and course creators looking to engage with students and enhance the user experience.
Create Quizzes for Elementor Websites With Sensei LMS
Elementor is a powerful and impressive WordPress page builder, but it does have its limitations. One noteworthy shortfall is the lack of a dedicated widget for creating quizzes, online courses, and surveys.
If you use Elementor and want to add quizzes to your site or create course content and interactive lessons, there are ways to overcome this problem. We have explored three solutions: using the Form widget on Elementor Pro, using third-party add-ons with Elementor, and using a dedicated WordPress quiz plugin.
The first two methods may be suitable if you only need very basic quizzes or want to access a limited range of features, but we recommend opting for the third method. Using a dedicated quiz plugin will enable you to access advanced features that can increase engagement, generate leads, and help you create high-quality, sophisticated, and compelling interactive content.
If you are an educator or course creator, we recommend using Sensei LMS, a tool for course creators that includes advanced quiz functionality. If you are not into creating courses, then opt for the Sensei Blocks plan, which offers a range of interactive blocks, including the Questions block that can be used anywhere on your site, and is more than enough for creating compelling quiz content. If you are a course creator, though, you will want the Sensei Pro plan, which includes an advanced quiz block that is perfect for assessing student progress.
Compare both Sensei plans and start creating quizzes for your Elementor website.
