Installing and Configuring Community Quiz
This is the reference for installing Community Quiz, understanding what ships in the package, and configuring the component. For a guided first run, start with Getting Started.
Audience: Joomla administrators. No coding required.
What is in the package
The installable package (pkg_communityquiz.zip) installs everything in one step:
| Extension | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
com_communityquiz | Component | The main app: builder, courses, grading, certificates, commerce, reports. |
lib_shondalai_core | Library | Shared Shondalai library (email, storage, PDF, payments, integrations). |
plg_system_licensing | System plugin | Handles license activation across the Shondalai suite. |
plg_easycommerce_communityquiz | Plugin | Grants access when a quiz or course is purchased through EasyCommerce. |
plg_task_communityquiz | Plugin | Scheduled tasks (reminders, scheduled reports) via Joomla's task scheduler. |
plg_user_communityquiz | Plugin | Handles learner data when a Joomla user account is deleted. |
plg_content_communityquiz | Plugin | Embeds a quiz launch card in articles. See Display in Articles. |
plg_privacy_communityquiz | Plugin | GDPR export and removal of learner data. |
plg_finder_communityquiz | Plugin | Smart Search indexing of quizzes and courses. |
mod_communityquiz_featured | Module | A widget listing featured, popular, or recent quizzes. |
mod_communityquiz_leaderboard | Module | A leaderboard of top performers. |
mod_communityquiz_mylearning | Module | A learner's in-progress attempts and enrolled courses. |
The modules are documented in Modules.
System requirements
- Joomla: 6 (built for Joomla 6; the codebase also targets 4 and 5).
- PHP: 8.1 or later.
- Database: MySQL (UTF-8).
The PHP image library (GD) is recommended so certificate backgrounds render fully, but the component degrades gracefully without it.
Installation
- Download
pkg_communityquiz.zipfrom your account. - In the administrator, go to System → Install → Extensions.
- Drag the package onto the Upload Package File tab (or browse to it).
- Wait for the success message confirming the component, plugins, modules, and library installed.
- Open Components → Community Quiz to launch the dashboard.
Tip: the plugins ship disabled or with safe defaults. Enable the ones you need under System → Manage → Plugins (search for "communityquiz"). The EasyCommerce, content, finder, and privacy plugins only do their job once enabled.
Activating your license
Community Quiz uses the shared Shondalai licensing system. Open the License panel from the dashboard sidebar, enter your key (or sign in to your Shondalai account), and activate this site. An active license enables one-click updates. Licensing is handled by the shared plg_system_licensing plugin, so the same key activation works across the suite.
The admin dashboard
Open Components → Community Quiz and you are in the app. The left navigation is grouped by task:
| Group | Areas |
|---|---|
| Overview | Dashboard, Reports and analytics. |
| Author | Quizzes, Exam builder, Question banks. |
| Learn | Courses, Enrolments. |
| Deliver | Scheduling, Attempts, Grading, Certificates. |
| Organisation | Users and roles, Email templates, Commerce, Migration, Settings. |
Everything happens inside this app; you rarely return to Joomla's classic list views.
Settings
All component options live in the Settings area of the app (stored internally and edited through the SPA), not in Joomla's component Options button. The Options button holds only the access-control rules.
Settings are organised into groups:
| Group | What you control |
|---|---|
| General | Platform name, support email, default timezone and language, guest access to quizzes. |
| Appearance | Theme colour preset, light/dark/auto mode, soft or sharp style, density, and custom theme tokens. |
| Assessment | Default pass mark, time limit, attempts, negative marking, partial credit, navigation mode, integrity level, autosave, and answer-release timing applied to new quizzes. |
| Question bank | Approval workflow, second-reviewer requirement, lock-after-publish, and exposure control. |
| Certificates | Issue-on-pass, default validity period, the public verification page and its domain, and Open Badge support. See Certificates. |
| Courses | Enable courses, enrolment model, content drip, ratings, and default completion rule. See Courses & Enrollment. |
| Leaderboards | Enable leaderboards, how names are displayed, default period, and minimum participants. |
| Commerce | Show the store, enable selling, default currency, and the EasyCommerce store. See Selling Quizzes & Courses. |
| Privacy | Retention periods for attempts, audit logs, and proctoring media. |
| Emails | Sender addresses, branding (header, logo, colour, footer), the admin alert address, and a notification-preferences link. See Email Customization. |
| Storage | Where uploaded files live (local or S3), the upload size limit, and S3 credentials. |
| Developer | Developer mode and the dev server URL (for building the front-end). Leave off in production. |
Tip: the Assessment group sets the defaults for new quizzes. Changing a default does not alter quizzes you already built; each quiz keeps its own settings.
Permissions and roles
Community Quiz combines Joomla's standard access control with a set of specialised roles.
Standard permissions
Set these under the component Options → Permissions tab (per user group, and overridable per category):
| Permission | Allows |
|---|---|
| Configure ACL & Options | Full administrative control. |
| Access Administration Interface | Open the component in the administrator. |
| Create | Create quizzes, courses, and questions. |
| Delete | Delete items. |
| Edit / Edit Own | Edit any / only own items. |
| Edit State | Publish, unpublish, archive, and trash. |
Specialised roles
Beyond the standard actions, Community Quiz defines roles for assessment work, granted under Users and roles in the app:
| Role | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Author | Create and edit quizzes and questions. |
| Reviewer | Approve items in the review/approval workflow. |
| Grader | Mark essays, uploads, recordings, and assessor checklists. See Grading & Review. |
| Proctor | Monitor proctored exams. |
| Exam manager | Manage scheduling, attempts, and results release. |
| Course manager | Manage course structure and enrolments. |
| Commerce manager | Manage pricing, plans, and bundles. |
| Certificate issuer | Issue and revoke credentials. |
Tip: roles can be scoped, for example a grader for one set of exams only. Combine them with the assignment tools in Grading and Enrolments so each person sees just their work.
Categories
Community Quiz uses Joomla's own category system, so categories behave exactly as they do elsewhere in Joomla (nesting, access levels, language). There are separate category contexts for quizzes, courses, and questions. Manage them under Components → Categories, and assign a category when you build a quiz or course.
Site menu items
Create menu items so learners can reach your content. Under Menus → Add New Menu Item → Community Quiz, the available types are:
| Menu type | Shows |
|---|---|
| Community Quiz app | The default app home (the front-end SPA). |
| Quizzes | A list of available quizzes. |
| Courses | A list of courses. |
| Categories | A browsable list of categories. |
| Category | The contents of one category. |
| Store | The commerce catalog (plans and bundles). |
| Verify a credential | The public certificate verification page. |
Keeping it updated
With an active license, updates appear under System → Update → Extensions, the same as any Joomla extension. Always back up before a major update.
Getting help
- Documentation: the other guides in this section.
- Support: Get Support.
- Updates: System → Update → Extensions.
Related
- Getting Started - the guided first run.
- Quiz & Exam Builder - building assessments.
- Modules - the site widgets in the package.
- Email Customization - the notifications it sends.