Using literal brackets in multiple fill in the blank questions

[mvarmstr]

I am creating a multiple fill in the blank question.  Is there a way to have literal brackets in the question without it being considered a placeholder for a possible answer?

[James · Accepted solution]

 @mvarmstr ​

If you put spaces between the brackets and the name, then it doesn't convert it to a placeholder.

• [ab]  is a placeholder
• [ ab ] is not

That comes from the text directly above the rich text editor:

In the box below, every place you want to show an answer box, type a reference word (no spaces) surrounded by brackets

(i.e. "Roses are [color1], violets are [color2]")

You can also put backslashes (escape the characters), but the backslashes show up, so it's kind of worthless

• \[ab\] isn't a placeholder but the \ is shown

If you absolutely cannot have spaces between the brackets and the content, then you can go into the html editor and put a span around the brackets.

• <span>[</span>ab]  isn't a placeholder, but it's a hack

If you want a bracket and still have a pull-down, you can do a double bracket

• [[ab]] shows a pull-down surrounded by brackets. Really ugly by the way.

Hope that helps.

[mvarmstr]

Thank you so much, James.  Perfect solution!

[James]

Glad it worked for you.

After I wrote it, I realized there's nothing special about the backslash, I've just been doing a lot of coding and having to escape characters and it came to mind. It will only become a placeholder if there is no spaces. Put anything else in there and it won't be. You could probably even put a space on one side but not the other (untested)