menu Documentation menu

Importing questions

Last updated on

General import

You can import existing questions into Screen and use them in your tests. Three question types can be imported from CSV files: multiple-choice questions, free text questions, and video questions.

Use one CSV file per question type. Do not mix multiple-choice, free-text, and video questions in the same file. Start from the import template for the type of question you want to create, keep the header row, and add one question per row.

The import templates use semicolon-separated CSV files. Keep the same delimiter and the exact header names from the template. Optional fields can be left blank; when they are blank, Screen applies the default value described below.

Common fieldRequired?Data typeDescription
title✔️textTitle of the question.
statement✔️textThe question statement shown to the candidate.
domain✔️textThe knowledge domain or topic the question belongs to.
duration✔️integerThe number of seconds the candidate has to answer the question. Must be greater than 1.
difficultyintegerLevel of difficulty. Valid values are 1 for easy, 2 for medium, and 3 for hard. Default value is 2.
pointsintegerThe number of points awarded for solving the question. Must be greater than 0. If left blank, the value is computed automatically according to the question duration and difficulty.
languagetextLanguage the question is written in. Valid values are EN for English, FR for French, and ES for Spanish. Default is the language of the recruiter.
automatically_selectablebooleanAllows the question to be used in automatically generated tests. Default value is false.
shareablebooleanAllows the question to be shared with CoderPad for use in the public question library. Default value is false.
teamtextThe team that owns the question.

✅ Boolean fields accept three binary formats: 1/0, true/false, or yes/no.

Once your CSV file is ready, go to the Questions page and click Create question.

The Screen dashboard with the Questions tab selected and an arrow pointing to the Create question button.

Then click Import CSV, select the question type to import, and upload your file.

After the file is uploaded, Screen displays an Import summary with the questions that were successfully imported and the questions that could not be imported. Hover over the Failed icon to see why a question could not be imported.

An import summary showing successfully imported questions and failed questions with an error tooltip.

You can fix the failed rows and re-import the file, or continue only with the questions that were successfully imported by clicking Create [n] question. Imported questions are available under the Custom tab on the Questions page.

Multiple-choice questions

Use the multiple-choice question template to get started. The template includes the common fields above, plus the fields below.

FieldRequired?Data typeDescription
answer✔️textOne column per answer option. You must provide at least 2 answers and can provide up to 10. Use the exact header answer for each answer column. Prefix each correct answer with an asterisk, for example *Paris. At least one answer must be marked as correct.
skilltextThe skill being tested. Default value is Language knowledge.
randomizationbooleanIf set to true, the answer options are displayed in a random order. Default value is false.
multiple_selectionbooleanAllows the candidate to select more than one answer. Default value is false. If more than one answer is marked as correct in the answer columns, this setting can be disregarded.

⚠️ To set up multiple-choice answers correctly, add one answer header column for each choice. Do not rename the columns to answer_1, answer_2, and so on.

Example multiple-choice CSV header:

title;statement;answer;answer;answer;answer;answer;domain;duration;skill;difficulty;randomization;points;language;automatically_selectable;shareable;team;multiple_selection

Free text questions

Use the free text question template to get started. The template includes the common fields above, plus answer columns and an optional skill column.

FieldRequired?Data typeDescription
answertextOne column per accepted answer. Use the exact header answer for each answer column. Leave all answer cells blank to import a question that requires manual validation.
skilltextThe skill being tested for automatic validation. Default value is Language knowledge unless another skill is defined in the file. For manual validation, the skill is set to Language knowledge.

The answer columns determine how the question is validated:

Answer columnsValidation modeResult
At least one answer is provided.AutomaticThe candidate’s response is validated automatically against the provided answer or answers. The skill is Language knowledge by default, or the skill defined in the file.
No answer is provided.ManualThe imported validation label is Manual validation, and the skill is Language knowledge.

For automatic validation, you can define a regular expression answer with regex(XXX), where XXX is the regular expression pattern. For example, regex(^[Pp]aris$) accepts “Paris” or “paris”.

Example free-text CSV header:

title;statement;answer;answer;answer;answer;answer;domain;duration;skill;difficulty;points;language;automatically_selectable;shareable;team

Video questions

Use the video question template when candidates must record a video or audio response. The template includes the common fields above, plus recording and evaluation criterion fields.

FieldRequired?Data typePossible values and behavior
recording_formattextValid values are video and audio. Default value is video.
criterion_label or criterion_label_x✔️ at least onetextThe label of an evaluation criterion. You can use between 1 and 10 criterion label columns. When using numbered columns, x must be between 1 and 10.
criterion_skill or criterion_skill_xtextThe skill associated with the matching criterion. Default value is the question domain. This field must match an existing criterion_label_x column with the same suffix; otherwise, it is ignored.
criterion_weight or criterion_weight_xnumberThe criterion weight. Valid values are between 0 and 5, inclusive. Default value is 1. This field must match an existing criterion_label_x column with the same suffix; otherwise, it is ignored.

Use the same suffix for a criterion’s label, skill, and weight. For example, criterion_label_2, criterion_skill_2, and criterion_weight_2 belong to the same evaluation criterion. The video template includes three criteria, but you can use up to ten.

Example video CSV header:

title;statement;criterion_label_1;criterion_skill_1;criterion_weight_1;criterion_label_2;criterion_skill_2;criterion_weight_2;criterion_label_3;criterion_skill_3;criterion_weight_3;recording_format;domain;duration;difficulty;points;language;automatically_selectable;shareable;team