Talk:Installing Moodle

Moved the old stuff out of the way ;-) --Frank Ralf 12:50, 3 March 2009 (CST)

Page too long

It seems that Installing Moodle has become too long. Any suggestions for shortening it? --Helen Foster 03:39, 5 February 2009 (CST)

Since you asked. I noticed the LONG preamble(s) include stuff which could be condensed in several time tested MoodleDocs methods.

• planning for a Moodle Install
• requirements for a Moodle Install
• setup Apache files, MySQL files, and such. I am pretty sure I have seen alot of this elsewhere in MoodleDocs. Software is also about Setting up
• Structure of Moodle directory could be elsewhere (good to know)
• Create a new course is really "now test it" can be done with links elsewhere.

--Chris collman 15:12, 5 February 2009 (CST)

I asked for comments in several forums before making the switch. I created new pages and moved some materials. Still needs work but this is at least shorter. This page gets lots of hits, so any changes here impact lots of people. My usual statement, I am not easily offended so feel free to edit or reject what I have done. --Chris collman 06:46, 2 March 2009 (CST)

Just making room for new comments - and shortening this page even more ;-) --Frank Ralf 08:39, 2 March 2009 (CST)

Chris, many thanks for your help in reorganising our installation documentation. There's so much information, it's quite a task just to review it all! --Helen Foster 09:30, 3 March 2009 (CST)

Redundancy and other issues

As was the basis for the discussion over FAQ,s what we are seeing in part here is a reproduction of what is often to be found elsewhere. For example, the discussion of php.ini and htaccess should have their own page and should include materials that explain how these are used as I and others have posted to the forums (and obviously have neglected to add to the docs.....) such as the diffs between php4 and php5, order of sourcing for php.ini, the diffs between running php as an apache mod versus as cgi and why that makes a diff, etc.

Also, I think the first thing that the user should be offered is a URL back to experimental:Getting Help Installing and Managing Moodle and Finding and Selecting A Web Host. --Marc Grober 13:19, 3 March 2009 (CST)

That is to say that before we let anyone jump in, we should make sure they have some understanding of the landscape and the options available. (<- This is not by me, Marc's? --Frank Ralf 06:24, 4 March 2009 (CST))

Example: Drupal installation guide

For reference I just provide here the structure of the instructions for installing Drupal handbook page which might provide some guidelines for structuring our content:

• Getting started (Default scenario)
  • Before you start
    • Understanding Drupal concepts
    • Technology stack
    • Drupal version numbering
    • Terminology
    • Third party resources
    • Drupal in your language
  • Installation guide
    • System requirements
    • Download Drupal
    • Grant write permissions on the configuration file
    • Create the database
    • Run the install script
    • Set up cron
    • Advanced installation
• Troubleshooting FAQ (When things go wrong)
  • ...

I think this page should be as concise as possible and only provide guidelines for a standard installation of Moodle. Everything else (the more advanced stuff like using CVS and troubleshooting guidelines) should be moved elsewhere.

We could refactor the Installation FAQ as a 'landing page' which mirrors some of the structure given above. --Frank Ralf 13:35, 3 March 2009 (CST)

Hi Frank, not sure what refractor means, but if it mean creating headings (such as you describe above, and placing our current FAQ headings under them, I agree. Changing this FAQ page to something radically different than other FAQ pages, I do not agree.

Hi Chris, I agree with you (got second thoughts myself...) --Frank Ralf 10:06, 6 March 2009 (CST)

Changing this page into something like the "home page" for Administrator documentation instead of the current which is something like Getting started for teachers, I agree. After all the yellow in Development:Developer documentation the 1st 3 headings are "nice" IMO, then it gets to be categories of lists, Teacher documentation is more of the same. A context for the Newbie is important balanced against the experienced "I will recognize what I want, get rid of the fluff".

That's really kind of a dilemma. I think beginners need more of a "tutorial" style documentation (which we should provide here). For experienced users, kind of an annotated (or categorized) index might be useful. The Dynamic Page List extension for MediaWiki might be a useful tool to that end (http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=117361). --Frank Ralf 10:22, 6 March 2009 (CST)

The Installing Moodle Template obviously needs to be cleaned up.

I am going to transfer your outline to Installing Moodle/Draft1 for the next generation of changes. Good ideas. --Chris collman 06:24, 4 March 2009 (CST)