Chat settings: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:12, 28 August 2020

This page explores in more detail the settings for the Chat activity once you have added it to your course and also covers the Site administration settings.

Note that if you want to edit an existing chat, click the Edit link to its right and choose the action you wish to take, eg 'Edit settings'.

General

In the Description, provide instructions for students. Check the box if you want these instructions to display on the course page.

Chat sessions

Next chat time: The day and hour of the next chat session. This will appear in the calendar so students know the schedule but it doesn't stop them accessing the chatroom at any other time.; If you don't want them in the chatroom at other times, then hide it (with the eye icon) or use Restrict access.; If you don't wish to schedule chat times then ignore this and choose from the next settings.

'Note: For courses involving users across different time zones, the time set here will be adjusted to match the time zone of the user viewing it as long as they have set their local time in their profile.

Repeat/publish session times: There are four options for scheduling future chat sessions:

Don't publish any chat times- there are no set times and students are welcome to chat at any time.
No repeats - publish the specified time only- only the Next chat time will be published. This could be used to schedule special events or meetings or simply to help learners identify a common time in which they can expect to find other learners in the chat room.
At the same time every day- Daily chats are useful for scheduling daily office hours or work sessions with learners.
At the same time every week--This setting will schedule a chat for the same day and time every week, which could be useful for instance for meeting and reviewing key ideas and questions related to the week’s content/assessment.

Save past chat sessions

Choose from the dropdown how many days to save - or save everything by selecting Never delete messages

If you have any concerns about discussions that might take place in your chat room, you may want to keep transcripts to check the suitablility of what is discussed. If your learners are using the chatroom to collaborate on a group project, you won't want to delete the messages until the project is complete.

Everyone can view past sessions: Decide here whether or not allow everyone to view past chat sessions. (Teachers can always view past sessions)

Common module settings: See Common module settings

Restrict access/Activity completion==: These settings are visible if Restrict access and Activity completion have been enabled in the site and the course.

Other settings

Depending on what is enabled for your site and course, you may also need to explore Common module settings, Restrict access, Activity completion, Tags and Competencies

Chat capabilities

Role permissions for the activity can be changed from the gear icon Actions menu.

Site administration settings

The Chat activity has additional settings which may be changed by an administrator in Administration > Site administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Chat. They depend on the chat method which has been selected:

Ajax

This is the default method. It works everywhere but if many people are chatting it can put a large load on the server. Its particular settings are:
- Refresh user list - choose the number of seconds after which the user list is refreshed
- Disconnect timeout - choose the number of seconds after which we detect a user has disconnected.

Normal method

The particular settings for this method are:
- Refresh room - choose the number of seconds after which the room is refreshed
- Update method - choose how to update the chatroom - "Keep alive" or "Stream" strategy. Stream works better but your sever might not support it.

Chat server daemon

A daemon is a program that runs all the time in the background. In this case it's a PHP script, listening to a particular port on your server, accepting and giving out chat information.If you intend to use the chat activity a lot, then you should consider using a chat server daemon to reduce server load.Its particular settings are:
- Server name
- Server IP address
- Server port
- Max users

Then you need to start the chat daemon script from the command line:

cd moodle/mod/chat
php chatd.php --start &

How to stop the chat daemon script:

Moodle staff, please give details!

One option is to restart the server via the command line:

sudo reboot

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Chat}}
+This page explores in more detail the settings for the [[Chat activity]] once you have added it to your course and also covers the Site administration settings.
+Note that if you want to edit an existing chat, click the Edit link to its right and choose the action you wish to take, eg 'Edit settings'.
-==Adding a Chat to your course==
+==General==
+In the Description, provide instructions for students. Check the box if you want these instructions to display on the course page.
-*With the editing turned on,in the section you wish to add your chat, click the "Add an activity or resource" link (or, if not present, the "Add an activity" drop down menu )and choose ''Chat'' All settings may expanded by clicking the "Expand all" link top right.
-===General===
-{|
-|[[File:chatgeneral25.png|thumb|General settings expanded by default]]
-|}
-===Name of this chat room===
-*Whatever you type here will form the link learners click on to enter the chat so it is helpful to give it a name that suggests its purpose - for example "Student council discussion" or "Field trip planning meeting".
-===Description===
-Type the description of the chat here. Include precise instructions for students regarding the subject of the chat. Click "Show editing tools" to display the rich text editor, and drag the bottom right of the text box out to expand it.
-===Display description on course page===
-If this box is ticked, the description will appear on the course page just below the name of the Chat.
 ==Chat sessions==
-(These settings are collapsed by default.)
+;Next chat time
+:The day and hour of the next chat session. This will appear in the calendar so students know the schedule but it doesn't stop them accessing the chatroom at any other time.
+:If you don't want them in the chatroom at other times, then hide it (with the eye icon) or use [[Restrict access]].
+:If you don't wish to schedule chat times then ignore this and choose from the next settings.
-{|
+'''Note:''  For courses involving users across different time zones, the time  set here will be adjusted to match the time zone of the user viewing it as long as they have set their local time in their profile.
-|[[File:chatsessions25.png|thumb|Chat sessions settings expanded.]]
-|}
-===Next chat time===
-*The day and hour of the next chat session. This will appear in the calendar so students know the schedule but it doesn't stop them accessing the chatroom at any other time.
+;Repeat/publish session times
-*If you don't want them in the chatroom at other times, then hide it (with the eye icon) or use [[Conditional activities]] to restrict access.
+:There are  four options for scheduling  future chat sessions:
-*If you don't wish to schedule chat times then ignore this and choose from the next settings.
-'''Note:'''For courses involving users across different time zones, it is useful to know that the time you set here will be adjusted to match the time zone of the user viewing it.
+* '''Don't publish any chat times'''- there are no set times and students are welcome to chat at any time.
+* '''No repeats - publish the specified time only'''- only  the Next chat  time will be published.  This could be used to schedule special events or meetings or simply to help learners identify a common time in which they can expect to find other learners in the chat room.
+* '''At the same time every day'''- Daily chats are useful for scheduling daily office hours or work sessions with learners.
+*'''At the same time every week'''--This setting will  schedule a chat for the same day and time every week, which could be useful for instance for meeting and reviewing key ideas and questions related to the week’s content/assessment.
-===Repeat/publish sessions===
+;Save past chat sessions
-*There are  four options for scheduling  future chat sessions:
+:Choose from the dropdown how many days to save - or save everything by selecting ''Never delete messages''
+:If you have any concerns about discussions that might take place in your chat room, you may want to keep transcripts to check the suitablility of what is discussed. If your learners are using the chatroom to collaborate on a group project, you won't want to delete the messages until the project is complete.
-# '''Don't publish any chat times'''- there are no set times and students are welcome to chat at any time.
+;Everyone can view past sessions
-# '''No repeats - publish the specified time only'''- only  the Next chat  time will be published.  This could be used to schedule special events or meetings or simply to help learners identify a common time in which they can expect to find other learners in the chat room.
+:Decide here whether or not allow everyone to view past chat sessions. (Teachers can always view past sessions)
-# '''At the same time every day'''- Daily chats are useful for scheduling daily office hours or work sessions with learners.
-# '''At the same time every week'''--This setting will  schedule a chat for the same day and time every week, which could be useful for instance for meeting and reviewing key ideas and questions related to the week’s content/assessment.
-===Save past chat sessions===
+;Common module settings
+:See [[Common module settings]]
-*Choose from the dropdown how many days to save - or save everything by selecting ''Never delete messages''
+;Restrict access/Activity completion==
-*If you have any concerns about discussions that might take place in your chat room, you may want to keep transcripts to check the suitablility of what is discussed. If your learners are using the chatroom to collaborate on a group project you won't want to delete the messages until the project is complete.
+:These settings are visible if [[Restrict access]] and [[Activity completion]] have been enabled in the site and the course.
+==Other settings==
+Depending on what is enabled for your site and course, you may also need to explore [[Common  module settings]], [[Restrict access| Restrict access]],  [[Activity completion]], [[Tags]] and [[Competencies]]
-===Everyone can view past sessions===
+==Chat capabilities==
-*Decide here whether or not allow everyone to view past chat sessions. (Teachers can always view past sessions)
+*[[Capabilities/mod/chat:chat|Access a chat room]]
+*[[Capabilities/mod/chat:deletelog|Delete chat logs]]
-==Common module settings==
+*[[Capabilities/mod/chat:exportparticipatedsession|Export chat session which you took part in]]
-(These settings are collapsed by default.)
+*[[Capabilities/mod/chat:exportsession|Export any chat session]]
+*[[Capabilities/mod/chat:readlog|Read chat logs]]
-See [[Common module settings]]
+*[[Capabilities/mod/chat:addinstance|Add a new chat]]
-==Restrict access/Activity completion==
-(These settings are collapsed by default)
-These settings are visible if [[Conditional activities]] and [[Activity completion]] have been enabled in the site and the course.
-==Locally assigned roles==
-*In ''Administration > Chat administration > Locally assigned roles'' selected users can be given additional roles in the activity, such as the capability to delete chat logs.
-*Role permissions for the activity can be changed in ''Administration > Chat administration > Permissions''.
+Role permissions for the activity can be changed from the gear icon Actions menu.
 ==Site administration settings==
-The chat module has additional settings which may be changed by an administrator in ''Administration > Site administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Chat''. They depend on the chat method which has been selected:
+The Chat activity has additional settings which may be changed by an administrator in ''Administration > Site administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Chat''. They depend on the chat method which has been selected:
+;Ajax
-[[File:Chatmethod.png]]
-===Ajax===
 *This is the default method. It works everywhere but if many people are chatting it can put a large load on the server. Its particular settings are:
-**'''Refresh user list'''  - choose the number of seconds after which the user list is refreshed
+**Refresh user list  - choose the number of seconds after which the user list is refreshed
-**'''Disconnect timeout''' - choose the number of seconds after which we detect a user has disconnected.
+**Disconnect timeout - choose the number of seconds after which we detect a user has disconnected.
-===Normal method===
+;Normal method
 *The particular settings for this method are:
-**'''Refresh room''' - choose the number of seconds after which the room is refreshed
+**Refresh room - choose the number of seconds after which the room is refreshed
-**'''Update method''' - choose how to update the chatroom - "Keep alive" or "Stream" strategy. Stream works better but your sever might not support it.
+**Update method - choose how to update the chatroom - "Keep alive" or "Stream" strategy. Stream works better but your sever might not support it.
-===Chat server daemon===
+;Chat server daemon
 *A daemon is a program that runs all the time in the background. In this case it's a PHP script, listening to a particular port on your server, accepting and giving out chat information.If you intend to use the chat activity a lot, then you should consider using a chat server daemon to reduce server load.Its particular settings are:
 **Server name
@@ Line 96: / Line 75: @@
   php chatd.php --start &
-==Chat capabilities==
+How to stop the chat daemon script:
+ Moodle staff, please give details!
+One option is to restart the server via the command line:
+ sudo reboot
-*[[Capabilities/mod/chat:chat|Access a chat room]]
-*[[Capabilities/mod/chat:deletelog|Delete chat logs]]
-*[[Capabilities/mod/chat:exportparticipatedsession|Export chat session which you took part in]]
-*[[Capabilities/mod/chat:exportsession|Export any chat session]]
-*[[Capabilities/mod/chat:readlog|Read chat logs]]
-*[[Capabilities/mod/chat:addinstance|Add a new chat]]
 [[de:Chat konfigurieren]]
 [[fr:Ajouter/modifier un chat]]
+[[es:Configuraciones de chat]]

Documentation