Reference resources: let learners open approved websites during a run

Reference resources are websites that learners can open during a run, such as PubMed or a clinical guideline. You set them once on the simulation's template, and they appear in a Resources menu in every run of that simulation. In a Safe Exam Browser activity, they are the only outside sites learners can reach.

Add reference resources to a template

1. Open the simulation from the Library in the template editor.
2. Go to the Simulation Chat tab and find Reference resources.
3. Click Add resource.
4. Fill in the three fields:
   • Title: the name learners see in the menu.
   • URL: the page that opens. It must start with https://.
   • Allowed host: the website learners may browse from that page, such as pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. It must match the URL's host or a parent domain of it.
5. Repeat for each resource, up to five.
6. Save the template.

To remove a resource, click the remove icon next to it.

Keep the allowed host narrow. If you enter a whole domain, such as google.com, Cesura warns: "This host allows a whole domain. Learners may reach search engines or AI assistants on it." In a Safe Exam Browser exam, that can open the door to outside help. Use the most specific host that works.

Rules and limits

• A template can have at most five resources.
• Each resource needs a title.
• Each URL must start with https://.
• The allowed host must be a registrable domain, such as example.com, not a public suffix such as co.uk.
• Cesura's own sites are always allowed, so you cannot add them as resources.

What learners see

During a run, learners open the Resources menu in the chat header and choose a resource.

• In a regular browser, the resource opens in a new tab.
• Inside Safe Exam Browser, each resource opens in its own window. Clicking it again brings that window back instead of opening another. Every other outside site stays blocked.

The Resources menu cannot be reached during voice runs.

Resources and Safe Exam Browser activities

A space activity delivered through Safe Exam Browser lists the template's resources under Resources learners can open, with an Edit in template link. You can't change them on the activity.

When you edit the resources of a template that Safe Exam Browser activities use, Cesura shows how many activities are affected: "Safe Exam Browser activities using this template: {number}. Learners inside Safe Exam Browser must reopen the activity link after you save."

For a closed-book exam, use a copy of the template with no resources. Every activity that uses a template shows its resources.

Set resources on an activity before? Resources used to be set on each space activity. They now belong to the template, and lists that were set on activities were not carried over. Add them again on the template's Simulation Chat tab.

Need a hand? Reach out through Contact support under Get help in the sidebar.