In August of 2008, I introduced the Time Quiz Generator for those who wanted to create their own timed quizzes for their site, similar to the ones you find at Sporcle. Sporcle has now released their own version, called the Sporcle Game Creation Center.

To create a game, you must first sign up for a free Sporcle account, and log in. Once you're in, you can simply click the create tab to begin.

The best way to start is to read the Game Creation FAQ and the Cheat Sheet (PDF).

Before I continue, I'd like to clarify a few differences between the Sporcle Game Creator (SGC) and the Timed Quiz Generator (TQG). The SGC quizzes can only be used and played on Sporcle, but may also be included by Sporcle on their official list of verified quizzes. The TQG, on the other hand, generates code you can use to place your own quiz on your own site. There's not that much conflict between them, so the TQG will remain available.

On the SGC, you edit the quiz itself in 3 tabs, Game Info, Data and Style. As you go through these steps, you can test the quiz at any time, using the most recently saved version of your quiz.

The Game Info tab is the one detailed in the cheatsheet, where you set up the topic and basic structure of the game. This includes things like the title, the URL, the time, the column names, and so on.

The Data tab, of course, is where you enter your answers. As long as you're not using the 3rd column for anything (it's often used for hints and such), you can enter ee into it to denote an easter egg-type answer.

Style simply lets you control the appearance of the quiz. It's easy to use, as clicking on any of the color entries will bring up a color selector that is very intuitive. If you know your HTML hex color codes, you can also enter them directly just by typing.

After you've created and tested your quiz to the point where you're satisfied with it, it's time to click on the Finish Up tab. Here is where you take the quiz live, so other Sporcle users can see your quizzes. As an option, you can also give Sporcle permission to use your quiz on the front page, and announce it on Twitter, as well.

This is a great tool to help you memorize various types of lists, and also to share and challenge others from a large community of puzzle-takers!