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{{FAQ}}
{{About Moodle}}Frequently asked questions about '''Moodle''' asked by people who are deciding whether Moodle is right for them.
 
Frequently asked questions about '''Moodle''' asked by people who are deciding whether Moodle is right for them.


==What is Moodle?==
==What is Moodle?==
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==What do you need to run Moodle?==
==What do you need to run Moodle?==


If you want to try Moodle out, you can easily [[Windows installation | install it on a standard Windows computer]] on your desktop (or a Mac).
If you want to try Moodle out, you can easily [[Windows installation | install it on a standard Windows computer]] on your desktop or [[Installation Package for OS X|on a Mac]].


If you want to run a stable Moodle service for a school or college, you should really invest in a dedicated server (typically a Linux computer). Moodle runs on a variety of platforms, the most preferred being Linux, Apache, mySQL and PHP. Please see [[Installing Moodle]] for more specifics.
If you want to run a stable Moodle service for a school, college, business etc., you should really invest in a dedicated server with enough capacity for your users. Moodle runs on a variety of platforms - the most common being Linux/Windows, Apache, MySQL and PHP. Please see [[Installing Moodle]] for more specifics.


==I don't understand this technology... how can I use Moodle?==
==I don't understand this technology... how can I use Moodle?==


Any organization with more than a few computers likely has a technology person who understands this. If you are not running a large operation, many website providers include an optional Moodle install on their site. Usually this comes with a package called Fantastico. Contact them for more information.
Any organization with more than a few computers likely has a technology person who understands this.  
 
If you don't, then you'll probably be looking at purchasing hosting, where Moodle is installed for you on a server belonging to a commercial provider and you mostly just use the web interface to run your courses etc. (See below for more info on these)


==Is Moodle complicated?==
==Is Moodle complicated?==


Moodle is very powerful, and with power comes complexity. However, it is designed to be easy for teachers to use, and for technicians to install, and for administrators to manage. There are however a lot of options and settings, but getting started is easy if you're not afraid to explore on your own, or if you get some training from a moodle partner or someone who knows moodle well.  
It depends on your skills.  Moodle is very powerful, and with power comes complexity. It is intended to be easy as possible for teachers, tutors and trainers to use, for technicians to install, and for administrators to manage, however, there are a lot of options and settings and there is still some learning curve.  Getting started is easy if you're not afraid to explore on your own, or if you get some training from a Moodle Partner or someone who knows Moodle well.


==Is Moodle for teachers or administrators?==
==Is Moodle for teachers or administrators?==
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Moodle is a Learning/Course Management Systems (LMS/CMS) which helps individual, groups, schools, institutions, business, and even boards of education and school districts manage courses for anyone involved in teaching. Courses can be from 5 minutes to 5 years, from 1 person to 500 (or more!), and for everyone from first-graders to senior-citizens. The tools built into Moodle are appropriate for everything from social groups to professional development to traditional students in class.
Moodle is a Learning/Course Management Systems (LMS/CMS) which helps individual, groups, schools, institutions, business, and even boards of education and school districts manage courses for anyone involved in teaching. Courses can be from 5 minutes to 5 years, from 1 person to 500 (or more!), and for everyone from first-graders to senior-citizens. The tools built into Moodle are appropriate for everything from social groups to professional development to traditional students in class.


==Why would a school trust their enterprise work to a free software package?==
==Why would we trust our enterprise work to a free software package?==


Almost 70% of the world's websites run on Apache, which is a free webserver. Moodle is open-source, and while this FAQ is not the appropriate place to discuss open-source software, a quick google search on the viability of open-source products should provide ample material. Other great examples of widely-used open-source software include Linux, Sendmail, and numerous other packages that you probably use daily that you don't even know about.
Almost 70% of the world's websites run on Apache, which is a free webserver. Moodle is open-source, and while this FAQ is not the appropriate place to discuss open-source software, a quick Google search on the viability of open-source products should provide ample material. Other great examples of widely-used open-source software include Linux, OpenOffice, Firefox, Sendmail, and numerous other packages that you probably use daily without thinking about it.


==How can Moodle be free?==
==How can Moodle be free?==


[http://moodle.org/ Moodle.org] is supported by [http://moodle.org/donations/ donations], by consulting generated by clients who need specific enhancements and are willing to pay for them, and by dividends paid by [http://moodle.com/partners/ Moodle Partners].
In addition to community volunteers to put their time and effort into discussing, documenting, testing and developing on the [http://moodle.org/ Moodle.org sites], Moodle is led and supported by [http://moodle.com Moodle.com], who in turn are supported by royalties from [http://moodle.com/ Moodle Partners], through clients who are willing to pay for specific development, and some [http://moodle.org/donations/ donations].


==What is a Moodle Partner?==
==What is a Moodle Partner?==


Moodle Partners are companies around the world that have been certified to deliver high-quality Moodle services to customers. PLease see [http://moodle.com/ moodle.com] for further details.
The Moodle Partners are a group of service companies that contribute a proportion of their earnings directly to Moodle development.  They provide a range of optional commercial services for Moodle users, including fully-serviced Moodle hosting, training, certification, remote support contracts, custom code development and consulting. Please see [http://moodle.com/ moodle.com] for further details.


==How many people are using Moodle?==
==How many people are using Moodle?==


Because Moodle is free, there is no simple way to count its "customers" since anyone can use it any time with no record. However, please see [http://moodle.org/stats/ Moodle statistics]]. There are a number of [[Large installations | large installations]] of Moodle which cater for thousands of users each.
As Moodle is free to download and use, there is no simple way to count its "customers" since anyone can use it any time with no record. However we do keep some stats based on registered sites, see [http://moodle.org/stats/ Moodle statistics]. There are a number of [[Large installations | large installations]] of Moodle which cater for hundreds of thousands of users each.
 
==How do we know Moodle will still be around in the future?==
 
Moodle has a strong installed user base (the number of organizations and people using Moodle), so there are many individuals and organisations who have a vested interest in Moodle enduring long into the future.
 
Moodle has a number of key strengths which when combined make a powerful case for its continuing presence and success:
 
* A corporate structure which co-ordinates development, finances etc.: This entity (Moodle Pty Ltd) employs the core team including the Founder and Lead Developer Martin Dougiamas. Although the loss of any of the core team members would be a blow to Moodle this corporate body would remain intact and functional.
 
* Moodle Partners: The growing global network of Moodle Partners provide commercial support services which help sustain Moodle users. Crucially, Moodle Partners contribute financially to support Moodle development and the organisational aspects provided by Moodle Pty Ltd.
 
* Moodle community: Last in this list, but by no means least. The Moodle community, combined with the well funded and organisationally stable elements above is a powerful force in itself in maintaining the momentum and longevity of Moodle.
 
==How long is a particular version of Moodle supported for?==
 
Moodle HQ is committed to supporting the two most recent stable versions. That is, at any point in time:
 
* We work on the next version but don't provide production support
* We support the most recent stable version with constant bug fixes
* We support the previous recent stable version, but mostly only serious bugs and security issues
* We don't support any older versions
 
See [[:dev:Releases]] for expected times that each major release of Moodle will continue to receive core updates.
 
==Are there any LTS (Long Term Support) releases of Moodle?==
 
Moodle 2.7 is an [[New_features#A_long_term_support_release|LTS release]], meaning it will have an extended support of 3 years (until May 2017) for security and data-loss fixes, twice the time of other releases. This makes it an ideal, stable platform for long-term projects.
 
Moodle 3.1 to be released in May 2016 will be an LTS release too.


==How do we know Moodle will still be in business in the future?==
==See also==


If you note the installed base (the number of organizations and people using moodle), and note that all the software is open, you'll realize that even if the supporting organization were to drop off the earth, others would quickly network and step in to continue improvement of the product. There are already numerous partners around the world who make their living off helping clients with Moodle and improving the product and contributing to the community. One coming or going does not have a tremendous impact on the product as a whole, and it's openness assures that people will always be able to access, modify, and support the code - at least for as long as people are teaching with technology.
* [[:dev:Future]] for answers to the questions "What happens if Company X buys Moodle?" and "What happens if Martin gets eaten by a kangaroo?"


[[Category:Administrator]]
[[Category:FAQ]]
[[Category:FAQ]]
[[es:FAQ Decisión]]
[[fr:FAQ de décision]]
[[pt:FAQ Decissão]]
[[de:Entscheider FAQ]]

Latest revision as of 19:55, 17 November 2015

Frequently asked questions about Moodle asked by people who are deciding whether Moodle is right for them.

What is Moodle?

Please see About Moodle.

What do you need to run Moodle?

If you want to try Moodle out, you can easily install it on a standard Windows computer on your desktop or on a Mac.

If you want to run a stable Moodle service for a school, college, business etc., you should really invest in a dedicated server with enough capacity for your users. Moodle runs on a variety of platforms - the most common being Linux/Windows, Apache, MySQL and PHP. Please see Installing Moodle for more specifics.

I don't understand this technology... how can I use Moodle?

Any organization with more than a few computers likely has a technology person who understands this.

If you don't, then you'll probably be looking at purchasing hosting, where Moodle is installed for you on a server belonging to a commercial provider and you mostly just use the web interface to run your courses etc. (See below for more info on these)

Is Moodle complicated?

It depends on your skills. Moodle is very powerful, and with power comes complexity. It is intended to be easy as possible for teachers, tutors and trainers to use, for technicians to install, and for administrators to manage, however, there are a lot of options and settings and there is still some learning curve. Getting started is easy if you're not afraid to explore on your own, or if you get some training from a Moodle Partner or someone who knows Moodle well.

Is Moodle for teachers or administrators?

Moodle is a Learning/Course Management Systems (LMS/CMS) which helps individual, groups, schools, institutions, business, and even boards of education and school districts manage courses for anyone involved in teaching. Courses can be from 5 minutes to 5 years, from 1 person to 500 (or more!), and for everyone from first-graders to senior-citizens. The tools built into Moodle are appropriate for everything from social groups to professional development to traditional students in class.

Why would we trust our enterprise work to a free software package?

Almost 70% of the world's websites run on Apache, which is a free webserver. Moodle is open-source, and while this FAQ is not the appropriate place to discuss open-source software, a quick Google search on the viability of open-source products should provide ample material. Other great examples of widely-used open-source software include Linux, OpenOffice, Firefox, Sendmail, and numerous other packages that you probably use daily without thinking about it.

How can Moodle be free?

In addition to community volunteers to put their time and effort into discussing, documenting, testing and developing on the Moodle.org sites, Moodle is led and supported by Moodle.com, who in turn are supported by royalties from Moodle Partners, through clients who are willing to pay for specific development, and some donations.

What is a Moodle Partner?

The Moodle Partners are a group of service companies that contribute a proportion of their earnings directly to Moodle development. They provide a range of optional commercial services for Moodle users, including fully-serviced Moodle hosting, training, certification, remote support contracts, custom code development and consulting. Please see moodle.com for further details.

How many people are using Moodle?

As Moodle is free to download and use, there is no simple way to count its "customers" since anyone can use it any time with no record. However we do keep some stats based on registered sites, see Moodle statistics. There are a number of large installations of Moodle which cater for hundreds of thousands of users each.

How do we know Moodle will still be around in the future?

Moodle has a strong installed user base (the number of organizations and people using Moodle), so there are many individuals and organisations who have a vested interest in Moodle enduring long into the future.

Moodle has a number of key strengths which when combined make a powerful case for its continuing presence and success:

  • A corporate structure which co-ordinates development, finances etc.: This entity (Moodle Pty Ltd) employs the core team including the Founder and Lead Developer Martin Dougiamas. Although the loss of any of the core team members would be a blow to Moodle this corporate body would remain intact and functional.
  • Moodle Partners: The growing global network of Moodle Partners provide commercial support services which help sustain Moodle users. Crucially, Moodle Partners contribute financially to support Moodle development and the organisational aspects provided by Moodle Pty Ltd.
  • Moodle community: Last in this list, but by no means least. The Moodle community, combined with the well funded and organisationally stable elements above is a powerful force in itself in maintaining the momentum and longevity of Moodle.

How long is a particular version of Moodle supported for?

Moodle HQ is committed to supporting the two most recent stable versions. That is, at any point in time:

  • We work on the next version but don't provide production support
  • We support the most recent stable version with constant bug fixes
  • We support the previous recent stable version, but mostly only serious bugs and security issues
  • We don't support any older versions

See dev:Releases for expected times that each major release of Moodle will continue to receive core updates.

Are there any LTS (Long Term Support) releases of Moodle?

Moodle 2.7 is an LTS release, meaning it will have an extended support of 3 years (until May 2017) for security and data-loss fixes, twice the time of other releases. This makes it an ideal, stable platform for long-term projects.

Moodle 3.1 to be released in May 2016 will be an LTS release too.

See also

  • dev:Future for answers to the questions "What happens if Company X buys Moodle?" and "What happens if Martin gets eaten by a kangaroo?"