Step 1: Open Hot Potatoes and click on the JMatch potato.

The Main JMatch Window

This is the main window of JMatch:

Step 2: Enter the left (ordered) items

These are the items which will appear on the left of the web page in a fixed order. They may include pictures or links. If you include an item in the left with no matching item on the right, that item is ignored when the web page is created.

If you include two instances of the same item in the left column, each matches uniquely to the item in the right column across from it.

Use the up and down arrow buttons to move through the list of items. You can have an unlimited number of items in JMatch (although this is limited to 5 before you register), but remember the practical problems of scrolling up and down a page containing a very large number of items.

Save the file as lastname_jmt (for example, my file would be tyler_jmt) into your Exercises folder. The program will automatically add a .jmt extension to your file. Once again, save your file regularly throughout this lesson!

Step 3: Enter the right (jumbled) items

These are the items which will form the jumbled series on the web page. If you are exporting to plain HTML, then they may only consist of a single line of plain text. If you are exporting to DHTML, then you can include HTML tags and carriage returns.

You can include "distractors" (answers which appear on the right but have no match on the left). To create a distractor, just add an extra item on the right at the bottom of your item list, with nothing in the corresponding text box on the left.

If you include two instances of the same item in the right column, either will match with either of the corresponding items in the left column.

Step 4: Entering the default label (Optional)

The default label is only used if you are creating HTML (instead of DHTML) output, in which the items on the right will be turned into a drop-down list box. This is the piece of text that will appear at the top of each drop-down list of jumbled items when the page is first loaded. It can be any single line of plain text you like -- a space, "???", or even an instruction such as "Choose the matching word". Review the HTML demonstration again to see an example.

Step 5: Fixing items (Optional)

This checkbox enables you to "fix" some items in the matching exercise. Fixed items behave slightly differently in HTML output and DHTML output:

In HTML output, a "fixed" item does not become part of the jumbled drop-down list; both its left-hand and right-hand parts are displayed in the correct place on the Web page.

In DHTML output, the "fixed" items will all start off in the mixed-up list on the right, but as soon as the page has loaded, they will slide across to their correct matching positions on the left. Review the DHTML demonstration again to see an example - the text beans automatically went over to the image.

You might use fixed items in many ways. For example, if the exercise involves putting sentences into a correct sequence, you might "fix" the first sentence to give the student somewhere to start from. You can also use fixed items to demonstrate to the student how to do the exercise, especially in the case of the DHTML output.

Make sure your exercise has been saved. Next, depending on which example you liked better in the demonstration, select either File | Export/Import | Make HTML Page or File | Export/Import | Make DHTML Page. You may want to export it in both formats for comparison. Save the file as lastname_jmt. The program will automatically add the .htm extension to your file. When asked if you want to see the page in your browser, select no. View your web page by opening your browser and choosing File | Open. Note: You can use Make DHTML page when using the JMix and JMatch potatoes. These pages run only in newer (version 5 and 6 browsers). Make sure to double-check your web page in different browsers after it has been created.

Proceed to Lesson 7 - Creating a fill-in-the-blank exercise using the JCloze potato!