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Talk:Main page: Difference between revisions

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==Comments about format==


Gracias


Welcome to '''Moodle Docs''', the documentation for Moodle that accepts everyone's [[MoodleDocs:Guidelines for contributors|contributions]].
==no
 
:Wonder if we could give a clue about the language in the next sentence by
"In this English (British/Austrailian) version, officially launched on 26 January 2006,.."
--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 07:22, 28 October 2008 (CDT)
 
I think I am changing my mind again about the format of this page.  Admin and Developer documentation pages are very different than the teacher documentation page.  I don't like the index idea below.  I would like a complete overhaul of the teacher documentation page to match the other two formats. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 23:06, 23 August 2006 (CDT)
 
Here is what I (--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]]) would suggest on this page, my version looks ugly but :)
 
'''Documentation''' 
 
* About Moodle  - not sure where ? [[Special:Categories]] ?
* [https://docs.moodle.org/en/Catagory:Teacher| Teacher document index ]
* [https://docs.moodle.org/Catagory:Administrator | Administrator document index]
* [https://docs.moodle.org/Catagory:Developer |Developer document index]
 
'''Featured Pages for new and old '''
* Teachers - [[Teacher| Teacher page]], The Good Teacher and Groups FAQ  link etc
* Administrators -[[Administrator |Administrator page]], Upgrading to Moodle 1.6 and LDAP authentication, link
* Student - [https://docs.moodle.org/Catagory:Student | Student document index], [[Student_tutorials]], link
* Developers: 1.6 theme upgrade and the XML database schema
* Everyone: Guidelines for contributors
 
Just my two cents worth to make it a little bit more friendly to new user.
--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 00:34, 31 July 2006 (WST)
::This did not have a heading, my stuff and assume I failed to put one in. Sorry.--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 15:28, 30 July 2010 (UTC)
==Feedback==
 
You make it very difficult to get started with this thing!
Now you would think the Main Page would be a good place to start. So on the main page I click "About Moodle", which takes me to a page, which in turn talks about PHP and MySQL, but still nothing really about how to get started. So I try clicking on "moodle with us". Now I see a list of which, "Using Moodle" seems like the most obvious choice. This whisks me off to another page where I click on "WELCOME! Are you new? Confused? Please start here!" Finally, I think, we're getting somewhere. Oops, no! Yet another page that tells me nothing. Instead of a detailed introduction, I am pointed to "documentation for Moodle", which I dutifuly click. Where am I now? Right back at the same Home Page I started from; only more frustrated and none the wiser.
 
Very interesting wiki site!... Thanx! --[[User:HarryRens|HarryRens]] 15 October 2005 23:42 (WST)
 
"that everyone may contribute to." is bad English. Better to write "to which everyone may contribute."--[[User:N Hansen|N Hansen]] 20:16, 17 April 2006 (WST)
 
I have to agree with the first writer who finds Moodle difficult to get started with; I followed much the same sequence of links as they did.  It takes quite a bit of Moodling to find a simple description of what Moodle does and it philosophy.
It's great to find the docs as a wiki though and to be able to comment like this.
--[[User:Matthew Fairtlough|Matthew Fairtlough]] 07:58, 16 October 2006 (CDT)
 
As it is written, “It’s easy to edit pages”. Actually, from the relatively intelligent newbie perspective, the editing process, et al, can be quite confusing and  often intimidating. I suggest adding a disclaimer as, “once you get used to it” (it may be easy for some, and not so easy for others- for numerous reasons) or just saying “relatively easy” . One should not get discouraged by the long page that follows when one clicks on the “edit” link. Then, as the text continues with “have a play in our sandbox”, the sandbox link leads to a less intimidating exploration. Perhaps this also will address the issues presented by ”No Sandbox” here’ advocates. --[[LarryF-Lawrence Fish]] 06:09 29 July 2010 (EST)
:In 2006, I did not know anything about either a wiki or a Moodle.  "It is easy to change a page" is a more accurate statement.  You may notice by the 3 to 4 reverts that are done a week on these pages, that they are usually the results of people changing the page and not editing the page:)    Editing anything is not easy, whether it be Word, Excel or a MediaWiki, so you point is well taken. I like your more direct nudge to the sandbox.  A few of us have spent a little bit of time with the help pages, maybe that link should be changed to MoodleDoc help, because it looks like it is Moodle help.  The goal of this page is to keep it lean but perhaps we have over achieved the goal:) Thanks for comments, change is OK  --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 15:46, 30 July 2010 (UTC)
 
== Discussions ==
There is very little discussion about MoodleDocs that I can find. I know there used to be a whole course at moodle.org dedicated to discussions about documentation, but that appears to have vanished. Is there a substitute for it? Where can I ask questions about this wiki? For example: How do I change my username from Delius to Gustav? --[[User:Delius|Delius]] 09:41, 26 January 2006 (WST)
 
:Thanks for your comments. Please note that [[User:Martin|Martin]] will make an announcement about the documentation very soon. Re. changing your username, the easiest way to achieve this is to re-register with username Gustav then add a redirect <code><nowiki>#REDIRECT [[User:Gustav]]</nowiki></code> to your old user page. -- [[User:Helen|Helen]] 17:59, 26 January 2006 (WST)
 
::Thanks Helen. I have done that. My username looks more friendly now. --[[User:Gustav|Gustav]] 18:10, 26 January 2006 (WST)
 
Can we have a link to [https://docs.moodle.org/en/Student_tutorials Student Tutorials ] under About Moodle? It seems that the main page only offers help for teachers and administrators, not students..
 
 
I wonder if someone were to delete the negative comments / weaknesses or Moodle (by intent or by accident) would that not be a disadvantage to allow these Edits? Forums would serve the purpose better no? [User:vkermani]
 
 
Its all muddled up. As the first user mentioned..I went round and round looking for how to install...(so many ways but no proper info) waste of a precious day. [User:vkermani]
 
==Main page links==
I'd strongly recommend adding the panel of links from [[About Moodle]] to the [[Main Page]] as well - they're incredibly important. I'm talking about the "Introduction | Background | Philosophy | License | Features | Release Notes | Future | Credits" links. --Dan
 
:Hi Dan, thanks for your recommendation. The main page content definitely needs a re-think. -- [[User:Helen|Helen]] 02:31, 27 January 2006 (WST)
 
I would like to see a reference to the Moodle Community and the collaborative aspects of learning about both Moodle as a product and as a process.  I am not sure where would be the best place to anchor that page. --mburnet
 
Just a brief thought re: "featured pages" and "Teaching Don'ts" link--could we also add "Teaching Dos" so that the focus is balanced and a little more positive for newbies stumbling into this page for the first time? --[[User:Lesli Smith|Lesli Smith]]
 
:Hi Lesli, as requested, [[Teaching Do's]] is now a featured page. Apologies for the delay. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 04:31, 1 April 2006 (WST)
 
== Fantastic Stuff ==
 
Just wanted to pop in quickly and say a huge thankyou to Helen for this fantastic resource.
 
Your work here is looking fantastic. So much for adding your time and expertise to this community. I know what it is like to juggle many hats. If you ever need a hand you need only ask :)
 
Looking forward to seeing this integrated into 1.6.
 
Julian
 
: I second that. Great job, Helen! :-) --[[User:Art Lader|Art Lader]] 01:56, 23 February 2006 (WST)
 
:: Thanks guys, though it's everyone's contributions that will make Moodle Docs into a great resource! --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 03:57, 23 February 2006 (WST)
 
I'm a little late, but I also want to <b>thank you</b> so much for this wonderful resource.  :-D --[[User: Lesli Smith|Lesli]]
 
_____________________
 
== Add links to international versions (es,...) ==
 
Since https://docs.moodle.org is the main site for Moodle Documentation, there must be links to the different international versions, such as the Spanish one: https://docs.moodle.org/es . Maybe something similar to the Wikipedia home page: http://www.wikipedia.org . If not, just links to international versions in the main English page.
 
:Hi David, you're very welcome to add inter-language links - please check the [[MoodleDocs:Guidelines for contributors|guidelines for contributors]] for more details. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 05:54, 18 February 2006 (WST)
 
::As long as this page is locked I can not add link to Czech version. --[[User:David Mudrak|David Mudrak]] 04:20, 10 July 2006 (WST)
 
:::Thanks David, I've just updated the list and added a link to the [[:cs:Hlavní strana|Czech documentation]]. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 15:35, 10 July 2006 (WST)
--[[User:Jose A. Heredia|Jose A. Heredia]] 08:05, 14 August 2006 (WST)
 
Hi, Helen, please add link to Slovak version. Thanks. [[sk:User:Miroslav Fikar|Miroslav Fikar]]
 
:Hi Miroslav, I've added the link, thanks. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 02:18, 12 September 2006 (CDT)
 
 
Several more international versions of this page exist:
 
[[ar:الصفحة الرئيسية]]
[[be:Галоўная старонка]]
[[el:Αρχική σελίδα]]
[[eu:Azala]]
[[is:Forsíða]]
[[it:Pagina principale]]
[[ko:대문]]
[[no:Hovedside]]
 
[[User:Erik Pedersen|Erik Pedersen]] 05:30, 13 November 2007 (CST)
 
== Headline text ?? ==
Ver tambien la web donde podreis encontrar un Video tutorial en el cual se describe, se ve y se oye como instalar el PHP-NUKE, que aunque no es igual que el Moodle, si se instala y se configura de la misma manera, este video tutorial podeis encontrarlo en el siguiente vinculo [http://recursos.es.tt/adcesos.html]
 
Hi Jose, I don't think this belongs in the english page.  --[[User:chris collman|chris collman ]] 21:54, 23 August 2006 (CDT)
 
== Upload Flash ==
 
Is it possible to upload Flash files? I tried to do so via the same interface we use for uploading images, but had no luck. --[[User:Art Lader|Art Lader]] 19:10, 22 February 2006 (WST)
 
:Hi Art, sorry it's not possible to upload Flash files for security reasons. Please could you explain what you would like to do, and perhaps send me a sample file, then I'll investigate alternative options. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 03:53, 23 February 2006 (WST)
 
: That is not a probelm, Helen. I have upgraded to SnagIt 8.0 and can add tooltips to screen captures. Just wanted to see if that improved the documentation. No big deal, though. --[[User:Art Lader|Art Lader]] 06:28, 23 February 2006 (WST)
 
== Image on the front page ==
 
Can we have a nice image somewhere on the front page, something documenty like books maybe?  Just to make the home page stand out a little from the subpages.  [[User:Martin Dougiamas|Martin Dougiamas]] 22:26, 14 April 2006 (WST)
: How about some free stock photography? I tend to use http://www.sxc.hu/ --[[User:Darren Smith|Darren Smith]] 23:00, 14 April 2006 (WST)
::Hi, let's leave the choice of images to style expert [[User:Urs Hunkler|Urs]] --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 23:36, 17 April 2006 (WST)
 
== Amazing! ==
 
You guys never cease to amaze me.
 
==Disorienting==
When I first came to this page, I had no idea that I was looking at a wiki! It would be great to go ahead and put the word 'wiki' somewhere on the page, and maybe on pages linking to this one, so that people know what they're getting into. I expected this page to be the source for official documentation, and so I was very disappointed to click 'Teacher Documentation' and get little more than a quick-start guide. Inside the 'Teacher Documentation' page, though, there is a link to a page which has PDF's of what I would personally call documentation. I could be projecting, but I think others also expect 'documents' rather than 'wikis' when looking for 'documentation'.
 
:The above comment caused me to really look at the Teacher Documentation page, and edit it more than once.  I would like to see the Teacher link on the left of this page go to a page that looked similar to the Administrator or Developer link pages. This would help new and old users find things in MoodleDocs quicker.  I thank the above author for the quick start comment which encouraged me to make some changes in the Teacher Documentation page until we make a new task orientated page for teachers.
 
:I disagree about the wiki comment. The point is not that it is a wiki, the point is that the document did not meet above author's expectations. I am in mild agreement on that point.  With good humor I note: when I first looked at MoodleDocs, "wiki" would be an absolutely meaningless word to me and no help at all.  Hey, I've been a new user since C/PM days. :)--[[User:chris collman|chris collman ]] 22:58, 23 August 2006 (CDT)
 
==need faq link==
 
can we please have a link to the faq's from the main page? Makes no sense not to!
 
https://docs.moodle.org/en/FAQ
 
also would like to see a link for STUDENT as there is with teacher and admin and so on- after all what is all this about??[[User:D.I. von Briesen|D.I. von Briesen]] 14:51, 27 June 2007 (CDT)
 
== i see ==
 
Wow this completely takes down what I wanted to develope... Maybe I'll do it anyway for fun.
 
--[[User:Yogesh Kulkarni|Yogesh Kulkarni]] 00:29, 17 May 2007 (CDT)
 
----
 
Nice to see and find my name here.
 
Its gr8.
--[[User:Yogesh Kulkarni|Yogesh Kulkarni]] 07:17, 21 June 2007 (CDT)
 
----
 
----
 
== ending a sentence in "to" ==
 
There is absolutely nothing wrong with ending a sentence with a preposition, like "to." The idea that that is wrong came from some misguided grammarians in the beginning of the twentieth century. They felt that Latin was a perfect language, and so they artificially tried to adopt some of its rules; like don't end a sentence with a preposition, or don't split an infinitive. However, English is a Germanic language, not a Romance language. It's perfectly natural in English to ''casually'' insert an adverb in the middle of an infinitive, or to end a sentence with a preposition.
:Hi Eric, I appreciate your point. In matters of styles, I try not to say things are wrong. As you point out, it is a "casual" form. On the opening page that is read by many "non-native speakers" of an English dialect, I thought it would be better not to end the sentence in to. (attempt at akward humor there :) 
:Glad to find another person with strong opinions about those Romance logical perfectionists. My viewpoint on the use of "to" has not been accepted by the people who control the "Main page".  --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 04:50, 14 November 2007 (CST)
 
== Hooray 1.9 ==
I think "including the documentation of new features in Moodle 1.9" that jumps to the category index page is a bit much. Perhaps a link to the [[Release_Notes#Moodle_1.9]] section in the release notes. Or, placing a release notes section link at the top of the category index would be an alternative. A new page to chat up just 1.9 seems overkill. Just a thought--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 08:27, 6 March 2008 (CST)
 
== Underlined links? ==
 
Maybe this was discussed previously, but: in my opinion the text would be easier to read if the links were not underlined, but only "hover-underlined" as in Wikipedia. --[[User:Samuli Karevaara|Samuli Karevaara]] 00:23, 9 September 2008 (CDT)
 
::Either Eloy is really quick, or I am missing something?  I am using Firefox 3. and looked at the link I put in the section above this one.  It is in blue.  Then when my mouse goes over it it underlines and presents a title (alternative text).  Could be browser based, one of those CSS things.  Best --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 17:21, 10 September 2008 (CDT)
 
:::Now it's hover-underlined for me in Firefox too. Chrome still shows it as "always-underlined". But it's not just the browser issue, as Finnish Moodle Docs works as hover-underlined in Chrome too, plus I think I did try with several browsers. Anyhoo, probably the hover-based thing is the target, and most likely that setting will take place any hour now :-) i was also wondering if it's a user profile setting somewhere. --[[User:Samuli Karevaara|Samuli Karevaara]] 21:55, 10 September 2008 (CDT)
 
::::Well, I must confess I have done nothing. Working "hover-underlined" here under FF and Safari since ages ago. No user preference about that AFAIK. Ciao :-) [[User:Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)|Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)]] 15:42, 14 September 2008 (CDT)
 
:::::BTW, just noticed that it does change from hover to static underline when I log in. Not logged in = fine, logged in = the static underlining. Investigating... --[[User:Samuli Karevaara|Samuli Karevaara]] 04:42, 17 September 2008 (CDT)
 
::::::Ah, just found one new setting ("Underline links") under User preferences->Misc ! It allows "never", "always" and "browser default". Perhaps is it? --[[User:Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)|Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)]] 05:02, 17 September 2008 (CDT)
 
:::::::Sweet! Thanks! That was it. I wonder how come I didn't stumble upon it on my adventures in the preferencesland, thanks again! --[[User:Samuli Karevaara|Samuli Karevaara]] 23:38, 20 September 2008 (CDT)
 
==noinclude==
It looks to me like '''noinclude''' is not working on this wiki, e.g., for the [[Template:About Moodle]], there are some categories. These should not be shown on pages on which the template is substituted or transcluded. They are for categorising the template itself. But <noinclude> isn't working because the categories are being used on all pages which use the template (which then adds a lot of krud into the category listings). Beyond this, I'm not sure how to actually get <noinclude> working....ah, after a bit more reading ... it looks like this wiki is currently running v1.1 and noinclude is available for v1.6 onwards in the core code. [[Special:Version]] and http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Noinclude#Noinclude.2C_includeonly.2C_and_onlyinclude [[User:James Neill|James Neill]] 17:42, 17 September 2008 (CDT)
: Looking at the [[Template:About Moodle]] more closely it seems that the original intention was to categorise pages using this template. Hmmmm... that's a separate issue. I would suggest not a great idea for category organisation (there are better ways IMHO). But the point here is a technical one - the template does currently use '''noinclude''' and it is not working probably because of the MW version being used. [[User:James Neill|James Neill]] 17:49, 17 September 2008 (CDT)
:: Actually, I must have had crossed-eyes on several fronts here. noinclude is working OK and the version of MW running is very up to date. :). So, ignore this. [[User:James Neill|James Neill]] 05:04, 18 September 2008 (CDT)
 
==Timestamps==
Something is not right with timestamping. I have adjusted in my preferences (Date and Time - Fill in from browser) and should have an adjustment being applied, but that doesn't seem to be happening. [[User:James Neill|James Neill]] 17:44, 17 September 2008 (CDT)
 
==[[Community Portal]]==
 
Something like a community portal could possibly for beneficial for gathering together general discussion about MoodleDocs rather than using the main page talk which should really be about the main page itself IMHO. Admins? [[User:James Neill|James Neill]] 18:15, 17 September 2008 (CDT)
 
:Moodle has the advantage that, unlike Wikipedia, we don't just have a wiki to play with. We also have a full Moodle site, so for discussions, we can use a discussion forum: [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=5838 Moodle documentation forum].--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 21:01, 17 September 2008 (CDT)
 
:: Hi Tim, I didn't know about that forum (there so many on moodle.org !!!), but have added it now to my feed reader. The main problem I see with this as a solution, however, is that one has to login to see or participate e.g., most of my colleagues will not be creating accounts on moodle.org let alone subscribing to very busy forums. However, they may well be clicking on little help icons in their Moodle installation, and landing on this wiki. Some of them may want to offer general feedback or have questions, etc. about the documentation. What do you think? What do others think? [[User:James Neill|James Neill]] 22:48, 17 September 2008 (CDT)
 
::: Ah, that's right... [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=105268#p463676 I'm having problems reading Moodle.org forum RSS feeds using Thunderbird] - any ideas? [[User:James Neill|James Neill]] 03:33, 18 September 2008 (CDT)
 
== Revamping the front page ==
 
I'd really like to see this page split into a table with 4 cells, one each for About, Teacher, Administrator and Developer.  Each cell would have a heading, perhaps an image, and a few "top" links under each one.
 
Above all that, a big Moodle Docs. --[[User:Martin Dougiamas|Martin Dougiamas]] 00:48, 8 January 2009 (CST)
 
:For now see [[Main Page/draft1]] although I think Helen or Martin or somebodyelse should lay this out :-) --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 06:57, 8 January 2009 (CST)
 
::Martin and Chris, thanks for your suggestions. I've created a tracker issue for it - MDLSITE-665. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 03:30, 19 February 2009 (CST)
 
== No Sandbox! ==
 
At first sight, a sandbox seems to be a good idea for encouraging new contributors, but after reading http://www.wikipatterns.com/display/wikipatterns/Sandbox I can understand the reasoning why they consider it a '''Wiki Adoption Anti-Pattern''': First they tell you it's "easy" and then you have to play in the sandbox before they let you touch the real stuff... Therefore I would suggest dropping the sandbox.
--[[User:Frank Ralf|Frank Ralf]] 17:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
 
: I disagree. Where do we tell people they 'have to play in the sandbox'? Some people are nervous about this sort of thing, and like a safe place to experiment. That is the original rationale for sandboxes, and it still seems valid to me.--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 00:28, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
 
:: Thanks for the feedback, Tim. Perhaps we can have the cake and eat it? We could insert a statement like this: ''"Feel free to edit these pages if you can make the instructions more clear (or post your ideas on the discussion pages.) Changes are easily reverted on a wiki, so don't worry about getting something wrong. - If you would like to practice first, you can use our Sandbox."'' - Remember the Wikipedia motto [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Be_bold "Be bold!"] --[[User:Frank Ralf|Frank Ralf]] 07:39, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
 
::: Yes, but that is massively longer than what we have already, which is elegantly brief, without being overly brusque.--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 08:37, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
 
:::: I did some quick empirical research. If you follow the "contribute" links in the [https://docs.moodle.org/en/index.php?title=Sandbox&action=history Sandbox History] you will see that nearly none of the people who used the sandbox contributed anywhere else (I only checked the first page's 50). IMO that proves two things:
::::# People who use the sandbox contribute seldom to other pages
::::# People who contribute don't need the sandbox
:::: So the question remains, whether the sandbox prevents people from contributing to Moodle Docs? (I will move this discussion to the forum: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=120141) --[[User:Frank Ralf|Frank Ralf]] 09:20, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

Revision as of 16:04, 5 May 2011


==no