Editing test settings

Last updated on February 16, 2024 • Disponible en Français

After creating a test and customizing test content, you can edit test specifics that are not concerned with setting up test questions and random blocks.

Set up email notifications

Set up email notifications to receive a notification when a candidate finishes the test.

Navigate to your account and click on Tests on the left navigation menu.

Then, click the gear wheel icon ⚙️ in the top right of the Timeline window.

Tests selection is highlighted in the left nav menu. A red arrow is pointing towards the setting button at the top right corner of the screen.

A pop up containing Timeline settings appears.

Tick the option Notified by email when a candidate has finished the assessment, then click Save.

A screen shot of the timeline settings with a list of them checked off and a red arrow pointing towards the "notified by email when a candidate has finished the assessment".

Now, when a candidate completes an assessment, you will receive a notification email.

Edit test name

You can change the test name by editing the Name your test field.

The test settings page is shown and the "name your test" field is highlighted.

Edit language settings

If you create a test in one language (English, French, or Spanish), it is possible to change the language later on.

Go to the test, click Test settings, and then select the relevant language.

An arrow pointing toward "Test settings" tab at the top. On the screen the "In which language should questions be asked to the candidate?" with the "english" option checked.

The test will be given in the language you selected.

Enable or disable copy/pasting

If you’re concerned about cheating with a particular test, you can turn of copying and pasting of code.

An arrow pointing toward "Test settings" tab at the top. On the screen the "do you want to prevent candidates from copying and pasting code?" question is highlighted.

Enable/disable AI-generated question follow-up

🅱️ This feature is currently in beta testing, and isn’t yet available to all customers. If you’d like to be a beta tester, please reach out to our customer support team at [email protected].

Another cheating prevention measure you can enable is an AI-generated and validated follow-up question.

An arrow pointing toward "Test settings" tab at the top. On the screen the "include AI-generated follow-up questions after coding exercises" question is highlighted.

When you enable this, our ChatGPT integration will generate a follow-up question asking a candidate to explain a piece of their code.

A test from a candidate perspective is shown. In the instructions it says "in your implementation of "findfilledcellscount", you created a "cell" class with properties for "id", "line", and "region". Can you explain why you chose to create this class and how it is used in your code?". Below that it says "this question was automatically generated based on your answer. it may contain errors." To the right is a place for a candidate to type in thier answer.

A few things to note about the follow-up question:

Screen does not generate follow-up questions for all the exercises in the test. It will be at least one, but there is a maximum.
The follow-up questions are more likely to appear for questions where suspicious activity was detected.
It’s only available for programming exercise -type questions and gamified questions.
You won’t be able to see them in the test preview because it’s based on how the candidate interacts with the test.

You can then view the follow-up question and their answer in the test report. ChatGPT will automatically validate their answer for code understanding, but you should review ChatGPT’s validation as it can make mistakes from time-to-time.

A test report is shown. In the "follow up on question" section it says "in your implementation of "findfilledcellscount", you created a "cell" class with properties for "id", "line", and "region". Can you explain why you chose to create this class and how it is used in your code?". Below that it says "chatgpt automatic validation" and has the question marked as incorrect. To the right is the candidate's answer.

Edit test expiration date

By default, a candidate has 30 days to take the test after receiving the email invitation.

You can change this time window in Test settings by adjusting the Number of days after which invitations expire.

An arrow pointing toward "Test settings" tab at the top. On the screen the "number of days after which invitations expire" field is surrounded by a red box and the number "30" is in the input field.

Enable/disable test reports for candidates

You can choose to send a simplified report to candidates at the end of their test, this report includes:

A comparative score
A score per technology or skill
Test duration

These simplified reports do NOT include rank or question details.

Edit question timer

There are two ways to manage a test’s duration.

How would you like to time the candidate? Timer per question (recommended) option and global timer option are displayed with the timer per question box highlighted.

1. Timer per question

The Screen default time settings depend on the kind of question; i.e. a few seconds for multiple choice and text questions, and several minutes for programming questions.

You can edit the time for each question by customizing your test.

Having a timer per question means that if your candidate leaves the test before finishing, they have 48 hours to return to it. When they resume the test, it starts on the question following the one they left on. This helps to prevent cheating.

2. Global timer

This timer sets a fixed duration for your candidates to take the test.

Candidates can manage their own time, switch from one question to another, and change their previous answers.

We only recommend this setting for candidates who have to pass practical questions such as programming exercises. If the candidate leaves the test, they will not be able to return and finish as the timer’s countdown doesn’t pause.

You can edit the global timer in Test settings.

Screenshot of the Screen dashboard with an arrow pointing towards test settings.

Scroll down to see the timer settings and select GLOBAL TIMER, inputing a desired total duration for the test.

How would you like to time the candidate? Timer per question (recommended) option and global timer option are displayed. Under the global timer box there is an input box labelled "allotted time for this test (minutes)".

To set your tests to have unlimited time, simply click the No time limit box under the Global Timer setting.

Global timer window is shown with the "no time limit" box checked at the bottom.

Test integrity options

This includes disabling copy/pasting, using AI-generated follow-up questions for suspicious answers, and web-proctoring. You can find more about these features in the Cheating prevention and detection page.

Edit historical JavaScript tests

Previously in Screen assessments, the JavaScript domain also included HTML and CSS questions.

For greater readability and better test management, there are now three separate domains: JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.

Creating a new test

When you create a new JavaScript, HTML, or CSS test, the three domains appear separately. This allows you to select a mix of questions for the test.

List of tests, on HTML, one CSS, and two Javascript. The difficulty level and time for each is on the right.

Managing a historical test

When you edit a JavaScript test created before the update, the questions appear grouped together under the JavaScript / HTML / CSS domain, rather than under separate domains.

A list of two tests which are both combined Javascript/HTML, and CSS tests as indicated by a green box with those labels.

You can continue to invite candidates to the test, or modify the test settings as before. However, if the test has the questions grouped under JavaScript / HTML / CSS, you cannot add JavaScript, HTML or CSS questions separately.

If you want to add more questions from one of these languages, delete the grouped block or create a new test.