CrosswordMaker

CrosswordMaker v1.0beta is definitely beta software. This means that there may be bugs to be found. Please let me know if you find any.

CrosswordMaker is a tool for creating web-based crossword puzzles. This can be a fun tool for students learning vocabulary, slang, or other word/meaning-related activities. The program leads the creator through a series of steps as follows:

1. First, you pick the number of squares you'd like to have in your crossword puzzle's "grid." I recommend using small numbers (6 or less) to start out with. This limits the size of your words, but is easier to work with until you get used to the interface. There is a 15 x 15 demo puzzle here. You can see that with a puzzle that large, one must scroll over on the screen to see the clues.
   
2. Next, the program asks you to fill in words in the grid in crossword puzzle format, so that they overlap each other. Check the demo puzzle if you're not sure what this means. When you've got your words, you will need to count the number of words across and the number of words down and enter those numbers into the appropriate slots. This tells the program how many slots to give you for writing the clues for the words.
   
3. Once you've done that, the program will show you a filled-in crossword puzzle with the words you've chosen, and give you the opportunity to fill in clues for those words. (This is a good time to hit the "back" button on your browser if you've misspelt something!) Just fill in the clues and click "Create Puzzle".
   
4. At this point, the program will create an HTML file containing the puzzle, and show you a link to that file. It will also show you what the finished puzzle will look like. You may then link the puzzle to an appropriate place on your website. If all has gone well, the puzzle that is created will be graded by the program.
   
5. The program is not very smart: it will tell the person who does the puzzle only if they have solved the entire puzzle correctly, or if they have not. It will not give any hints as to where they might have gone wrong, nor will it give a percentage score. For this reason, you should use the puzzles for practice, games, exercises, etc, but probably not for graded homework. :-)

You must be able to execute cgi programs on your web server. If you're not sure whether you have permission to do this, or are not sure how to configure the files, please ask your system administrator. (Usually "root@your.machine.name." For example, if your email address is 'bob@mysite.com' then you can often reach your system administrator at 'root@mysite.com'. AOL, CompuServe, and Prodigy users should look for "technical support" or "member services.")

The following files are required. You may download the package for Unix in a gzipped tar file. NOTE: if you have Netscape or Internet Explorer, and you want to download this, try holding down the "shift" key while you click on the link. This should give you the option to download the file.

Unix: Type "gunzip crosswordmaker.tar.gz" then type "tar -xvf crosswordmaker.tar" to uncompress and expand the package.



The following files should be included with this distribution.

crossword.cgi

the actual program that processes the data from the form, creates and grades the puzzles.

crossword.html:

the HTML form that you'll use to start the process of creating a crossword puzzle.

demopuzzle.html

A 15 x 15 demonstration of the puzzles you can create with this.

README.crosswordmaker

contains information on how to get started using the program. READ THIS before you get started!

index.html

This file

This page copyright © 1998, Kristina L. Pfaff-Harris. All rights reserved.