The short version: every published question needs one defensible answer, plausible alternatives, a useful explanation, and direct supporting links. Automated checks catch structural mistakes; they do not replace judgment or make a guarantee of perfect accuracy.
The evergreen Library
The built-in Library contains 200 questions across 20 topics. Each card records its question, four answer choices, one canonical answer, an explanation, difficulty, review status, a source-check date, and two source links from distinct publishers.
Questions are reviewed against an editorial rubric for ambiguity, answer leakage, distractor quality, category fit, age appropriateness, duplicated facts, and whether the explanation actually adds context. The Library favors durable subjects; facts likely to change belong in Daily News instead.
What “source-backed” means here
A source link should lead to a direct HTTPS page—not a search-results page—and support the exact claim being tested. The preferred sources are primary institutions, public agencies, museums, universities, standards bodies, reference works, and other publishers with a clear reason to know the subject.
Two links are useful only when they are genuinely independent. If sources disagree, the wording must be narrowed or the card replaced. A live URL check can confirm that a page responds, but it cannot prove that the page supports a claim; that remains an editorial check.
Checks the publishing tools enforce
- Exactly four distinct choices and one answer that matches the stored canonical answer.
- Two distinct HTTPS source entries for every evergreen card.
- Stable deck membership, unique card identifiers, and an intentional difficulty curve.
- Balanced answer positions so a player cannot exploit a repeated answer pattern.
- Length, completeness, and integrity checks that fail the build instead of silently dropping data.
Those gates catch malformed content and common editorial mistakes. They cannot prove factual entailment, cultural fairness, or whether a question is delightful; those still require review and playtesting.
How Daily News is different
Daily News connects a current publisher headline to a durable fact worth knowing. Its automated pipeline verifies the live news page, drafts candidate questions from separately sourced core facts, runs a distinct review pass, and then applies deterministic quality and integrity checks before an edition can load.
The news article explains why a question is timely; it is not allowed to substitute for the independent source that supports the answer. The edition seal detects out-of-band changes, but it is an integrity checksum—not proof that an editorial claim is true. A bad or outdated edition can be explicitly retracted.
Corrections are part of the product
If a question is ambiguous, a source no longer supports it, or an explanation overstates the evidence, email support@trivolivia.com. Include the page or question, what appears wrong, and a supporting source if you have one.
A correction may narrow the wording, replace a source, revise the explanation, retire an evergreen card, or retract a dated Daily News edition. Material changes receive a new source-check or publication date rather than a cosmetic freshness update.
See the method in practice
Every public topic page lets you answer first, then open the explanation and both citations. Browse all 20 source-backed trivia topics, or read the product overview.