Projects for new developers
We often get asked to suggest Moodle development projects suitable for students to attempt. Here is a list of such projects that no-one is currently working on.
All of these projects are also suitable for the Google Summer of Code 2006, a Google project that Moodle is part of.
To apply for any of these projects please fill out the Google SOC Student Application form. When applying, please include as much evidence as possible of your previous coding experience, and also include a description of how you plan to tackle the project (beyond our description below).
Projects that no-one is working on yet
Global search
Background
Currently Moodle has forum searching, glossary searching and database searching, all independent. There is no way to search for everything else in a course, though, such as resources, wiki pages, activity info (eg assignments) and especially not to do it all in one search.
Overview
Design and construct a modular solution for global search in Moodle.
Details
- it should be fast and accurate
- it should allow modules to expose their data structures to the core search via the usual API (function in lib.php) allowing any module to include itself in the search
- it should allow the kinds of search parameters that the forum search does now (or better!)
- people should not be able to search things they couldn't normally see
- it should utilise the new tags system as much as possible
- (extra points) it should be able to rank results by relevance and combine results in different modules
Mentor: Martin Dougiamas
Presets for Database module
Background
The database module is a new module in Moodle 1.6 that allows teachers to create repositories for structured data entry by students. Something like Filemaker Pro, it allows a lot of flexibility in the types of data and formatting of input and output screens. Here is an example and another one.
Overview
Implement presets for the Database module using files similar to this example. This will allow people to quickly set up commonly-used applications.
Details
- Each directory of files will fully define the templates and fields for a particular application of the Database module.
- It should be easy to export current settings as a preset (in a zip file), or load new presets (uploaded as a zip file or from the moodledata folder)
- A "glossary" preset should replicate the old Glossary module as much as possible (this may require some extensions to the core Database module)
- The "Image gallery" preset should implement a really nice photo gallery application.
- (extra points) devise a way to publish these directly to another site (for example a database on moodle.org)
Mentor: Martin Dougiamas
Integrated Bug Tracker
Background
For the past few years we have tracked all bugs and issues in our current Moodle bug tracker which is a hacked version of PHP Bug tracker. However it is not fully integrated with the main Moodle.org site, which is where a lot of discussions happen, and it has a lot of annoying characteristics.
Overview
Create a fine new bug tracker for Moodle.org by writing a new "tracker" module from scratch to integrate it inside Moodle as an activity module, using normal Moodle authentication, text filters, mail subscriptions and so on. It may be possible to extend the current database module, but performance is important.
Details
- All the current bugs (with comments) should be migrated across to this new version.
- It should allow us to add flags/fields similar to those in the current tracker.
- Email subscription to individual bugs should work similar to Moodle forums.
- Bugs should be able to be referenced using a simple URL like http://moodle.org/mod/tracker/view.php?issue=3455
- Most importantly, the new module should be made generic, so that other sites beside moodle.org can use it to track whatever issues they wish.
Mentor: Martin Dougiamas
AJAX Course Format
Background
The current course formats are designed to work on lower browsers and older technologies. They are highly compatible with browsers but can really slow down the course creation process.
Overview
Design a clean, extensible method for implementing a course format using AJAX. This may require development of a web service to service the Javascript front end.
Details
- It should be optional and accessible, so that it can drop back to the current interface on browsers that are incapable of dealing with dynamic pages.
- Blocks can be dragged and dropped.
- Sections can be dragged and dropped, made hidden or visible.
- Activities and resources can be dragged and dropped, made hidden or visible, have the group status changed, etc.
Mentor: Martin Dougiamas and Urs Hunkler
Admin page cleanup
Background
Over the years more and more settings have been added to the admin page, and it is starting to outgrow the original simple design. In particular the Variables page is mess and it's hard to find settings.
Overview
Design a new clean, extensible method for implementing the administration page, which contains hundreds of variables and settings for all the many modules in Moodle.
Details
- Settings should be organised in a way that is obvious and uncluttered, perhaps using tabs or some other organising structure.
- New modules should have their settings appear automatically in the admin interface.
- Define a new plugin structure for arbitrary new admin features under admin/other or something. Moodle 1.6 already has something like this for reports (admin/report).
- AJAX can be used, it should be optional and accessible, so that it can drop back to the current interface on browsers that are incapable of dealing with dynamic pages.
- Add bookmarks to each page, so that often-used pages can be added to the admin block on the home page.
Mentor: Martin Dougiamas and Urs Hunkler
Projects under development
None
