STACK Math Editor

STACK Math Editor is a Moodle local plugin that adds a visual MathQuill-based formula editor to STACK question answer inputs in quiz attempts, quiz review, and STACK question preview contexts.

The plugin injects a configurable toolbar for mathematical input, supports LaTeX-style entry, and converts the entered expressions into a form suitable for STACK / Maxima processing. It also provides instance-level defaults and per-question configuration for the available toolbar groups and variable handling.

Key features

Version 1.0

• Adds a visual MathQuill editor to STACK answer inputs in supported quiz and preview pages.


• Supports automatic LaTeX-to-Maxima conversion for common mathematical notation.


• Provides configurable toolbar groups such as fractions, powers, roots, trigonometry, logarithms, constants, comparison operators, parentheses, calculus symbols, Greek letters, and matrices.


• Supports configurable variable modes with instance defaults and question-specific overrides.


• Adds a dedicated configuration UI for individual STACK questions inside a quiz context.


• English and German language packs at the moment

Version 1.1

• support of small an mobile displays by automatic linebreaks of long blocks of buttons


• added plus/minus and minus/plus functionality

Requirements

• Moodle 4.5 or later


• recent qtype_stack installed


• a Moodle quiz context containing STACK questions for per-question configuration

Installation via uploaded ZIP file

1. Log in to your Moodle site as an admin and go to Site administration > Plugins > Install plugins.


2. Upload the ZIP file with the plugin code.


3. Confirm that Moodle detects the plugin as local_stackmatheditor.


4. Complete the installation.


5. Visit Site administration > Notifications if Moodle prompts you to finish the upgrade.

Installing manually

The plugin can also be installed by placing the contents of this directory into

{your/moodle/dirroot}/local/stackmatheditor

Afterwards, log in to your Moodle site as an admin and go to Site administration > Notifications to complete the installation.

Alternatively, you can run

$ php admin/cli/upgrade.php

to complete the installation from the command line.

Configuration

This plugin works with mod_quiz and mod_adaptivequiz.

Global settings

Global plugin settings are available at

Site administration > Plugins > Local plugins > STACK Math Editor

The plugin currently provides at least these site-wide settings:

• Enable / disable plugin


• Default variable mode


• Default enabled toolbar groups

Configuration

The plugin also supports question-specific configuration for STACK questions in a quiz context.

A dedicated configuration page is available at:

• the question page in a quiz (for STACK questions)


• at the attempt pages in the question info boxes (for STACK questions)


• additionally it may be manually retrieved by the following URL
  /local/stackmatheditor/configure.php?cmid=<CourseModuleID>&qbeid=<QuestinBankEntryID>

Depending on the calling context, the plugin resolves the question bank entry automatically and lets authorized users configure:

• the enabled toolbar groups for the question


• the variable mode for that question

The configuration form also shows the quiz name, question name including version, and a collapsible question preview.

Limitations

• Works with mod_quiz and mod_adaptivequiz only


• The plugin is specifically built around STACK and is not a general-purpose editor for arbitrary Moodle question types.


• Question-specific configuration is tied to quiz / question-bank entry resolution in the supported contexts.

Support

Please use your normal project support and issue-tracking workflow for bug reports, feature requests, and local adaptations.

License

2026 Ralf Erlebach

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
this program. If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.