How to have both a time limit and a "Next" for an essay item

[fantacier]

Hi Awesome,

Do you happen to know a way I know if there is a way to put a time limit on an Essay item but participants are still able to move on (by clicking "Next" or some other buttons) once they think they've provided enough of a response? Currently, it seems that I can only do one of these two things, not both.

Thanks!

[jarvis24]

You can proceed before the fixed time is expired by pressing the Escape key. That function is intended for experimenters who want to review the session while they are developing it and don't want to sit there for five minutes waiting for the duration to expire!

So, normally, subjects would be unaware of the Escape key option, but you could tell them about it if you actually wanted to provide that as an option. I think the first (self-esteem questionnaire) sample that comes with MediaLab demonstrates this on its essay item.

Another option would be to create a custom HTML item--it would be more work, but then you could do it in pretty much any way you like.

[fantacier]

Yes, I'd really appreciate if you could teach me with the HTML stuff on this. Thanks!

[jarvis24]

OK, first off check out the section on custom items in the users guide or online here:

http://www.empirisoft.com/medialab/h...stom_items.htm

From the samples provided, you should be able to create a working essay item quite easily. From there, I can help you with the rest. Feel free to let me know if you run into any trouble with the basic item.