The word counters used by Moodle and editors such as TinyMCE are not consistent. (The values obtained are dependent on the regular expression rules used for each).

This can lead to confusion, particularly for exams that involve development questions.

To reproduce :

• As a teacher, Create a quiz
• Add 2 questions to the quiz :
  • Essay question set to use the TinyMCE Editor (Response Format), with min/max word count (3/6 for example)
  • question of any type
• Log in as a student : with Editor Preferences : TinyMCE
• Start an attempt, Fill the Essay question with wrong count of words (more than 6 with certain punctuation characters)
• Click on “Next page” then on “Previous page” to return to the same question with the words entered
• Check that a maximum limit message is displayed

Actual result : the two counters moodle core (error message) and tinyMCE do not give the same result.
Risk : The differences in TinyMCE and core counters for development questions can be a source of confusion for users (Exams).