MoodleDocs - User contributions [en]

Student tutorials

2006-05-11T12:02:45Z

Dbrighton:

=Student Tutorials=
The following student tutorials are being worked upon:

==Access and Navigation==
* Logging in
* Site Navigation
* Finding a course
* Enrolling and Unenrolling

==Settings==
===Your Profile===
The profile contains information about you. Other users on Moodle can see your profile if they click on your name. Profile information includes the description of yourself (if you have entered one) your name, location, email address (if you chose to make it accessible) and the list of courses you are enrolled on. When you view your profile you can edit it by clicking on the 'edit' tab. In your profile you can add a picture of yourself (or anything else you like). This image will appear next to your name in forum messages etc.
====Updating your Profile====
In your profile you can also update information such as your location or email address. Please update your profile if you change your email address, as this will enable you to receive updates or information sent out via Moodle. If you choose to automatically subscribe to forums, you will receive email copies of all new messages in forums you participate in. Forum tracking is useful to use as well, as it will let you quickly identify new messages in forums.

There are several settings that are accessible from your profile that will help make your use of Moodle more productive.

*'''Email format''': You can choose to have emails sent from Moodle in Plain text format or Pretty HTML format. HTML format will include images and the Moodle colour scheme in emails, but will be slightly larger in size.
*'''Forum auto-subscribe''': If you select yes for this it will mean that when you post a message to a forum, you will be subscribed to that forum and receive email copies of all messages for that forum. You may unsubscribe from forums if you wish as well.
*'''Email digest type''': You may choose to receive all emails from Moodle in one daily message. There is also the option to receive either the complete message or just the Subjects from forums you subscribe to.
*'''Forum tracking''': This is a useful option to enable. If it is enabled on your Moodle site it will highlight unread forum messages so you can easily see what is new.

===My Moodle===
===Gradebook===

==Course Content==

* Using the Participants block
* Using the Activities block
* Using messaging

===Activities===
* Assignments
* Chat
* Choice
* Glossary
* Forums
* Lesson
* Quiz
* Wiki
* Workshop

===Using text entry===
Creating a message or adding text to Moodle is usually through a text entry area.
[[image:editortools.jpg]]

==See Also==

* [[Student FAQ]]
* [[Student documentation]]
[[Category: Student]]

File:editortools.jpg

2006-05-11T11:54:39Z

Dbrighton: Image showing functions of the HTML text entry area.

Image showing functions of the HTML text entry area.

Student tutorials

2006-05-11T11:48:45Z

Dbrighton: /* Settings */

=Student Tutorials=
The following student tutorials are being worked upon:

==Access and Navigation==
* Logging in
* Site Navigation
* Finding a course
* Enrolling and Unenrolling

==Settings==
===Your Profile===
The profile contains information about you. Other users on Moodle can see your profile if they click on your name. Profile information includes the description of yourself (if you have entered one) your name, location, email address (if you chose to make it accessible) and the list of courses you are enrolled on. When you view your profile you can edit it by clicking on the 'edit' tab. In your profile you can add a picture of yourself (or anything else you like). This image will appear next to your name in forum messages etc.
====Updating your Profile====
In your profile you can also update information such as your location or email address. Please update your profile if you change your email address, as this will enable you to receive updates or information sent out via Moodle. If you choose to automatically subscribe to forums, you will receive email copies of all new messages in forums you participate in. Forum tracking is useful to use as well, as it will let you quickly identify new messages in forums.

There are several settings that are accessible from your profile that will help make your use of Moodle more productive.

*'''Email format''': You can choose to have emails sent from Moodle in Plain text format or Pretty HTML format. HTML format will include images and the Moodle colour scheme in emails, but will be slightly larger in size.
*'''Forum auto-subscribe''': If you select yes for this it will mean that when you post a message to a forum, you will be subscribed to that forum and receive email copies of all messages for that forum. You may unsubscribe from forums if you wish as well.
*'''Email digest type''': You may choose to receive all emails from Moodle in one daily message. There is also the option to receive either the complete message or just the Subjects from forums you subscribe to.
*'''Forum tracking''': This is a useful option to enable. If it is enabled on your Moodle site it will highlight unread forum messages so you can easily see what is new.

===My Moodle===
===Gradebook===

==Course Content==

* Using the Participants block
* Using the Activities block
* Using messaging

===Activities===
* Assignments
* Chat
* Choice
* Glossary
* Forums
* Lesson
* Quiz
* Wiki
* Workshop

==See Also==

* [[Student FAQ]]
* [[Student documentation]]
[[Category: Student]]

Cron

2006-03-21T12:31:54Z

Dbrighton: added some description of function

Some of Moodle's modules require continual checks to perform tasks. For example, Moodle needs to check the discussion forums so it can mail out copies of posts to people who have subscribed.

The script that does all this is located in the admin directory, and is called cron.php. However, it can not run itself, so you need to set up a mechanism where this script is run regularly (eg every five or ten minutes). This provides a "heartbeat" so that the script can perform functions at periods defined by each module. This kind of regular mechanism is known as a '''cron service'''.

The cron.php script looks through all the module directories for cron.php files and runs them. These files can contain cleanup functions, email functions or anything that needs to be run on a regular basis. For example, cron will trigger the system to create the backups of courses at the time specified in the administration settings. It also triggers any messaging module or forum email notifications, but not all functions are called each time the cron runs. Some functions, such as enrolling students who have not logged in or deleting old copies of log files, are only run occasionally. The cron.php file has a section which will randomly call these core tasks approximately 1 in 5 times the cron runs.

Note that the machine performing the cron '''does not need to be the same machine that is running Moodle'''. For example, if you have a limited web hosting service that does not have a cron service, then you can might choose to run cron on another server or on your home computer. All that matters is that the cron.php file is called regularly.

The load of this script is not very high, so 5 minutes is usually reasonable, but if you're worried about it you can reduce the time period to something like 15 minutes or even 30 minutes. It's best not to make the time period too long, as delaying mail-outs can slow down activity within the course. Remember that mail-outs also wait for the editing time to expire before being qued for sending.

First, test that the script works by running it directly from your browser: ''<nowiki>http://example.com/moodle/admin/cron.php</nowiki>''

If cron is called from the command line by any user logged in to your Moodle it will create a temporary admin environment in order to run and then log the user out. You can disable command line running of cron by disabling the appropriate section in the cron.php file.

Now, you need to set up some of way of running the script automatically and regularly.

==On Windows systems==

The simplest way is to use this little package [http://moodle.org/download/modules/moodle-cron-for-windows.zip moodle-cron-for-windows.zip] which makes this whole thing very easy by installing a small Windows service. Run it and forget about it! :-)

==On web hosting services==

Your web-based control panel may have a web page that allows you to set up this cron process. For example, on Cpanel system, look for a button called "Cron jobs". In there you can put the same sort of Unix commands as listed below.

==Using the command line on Unix==

There are different command line programs you can use to call the page from the command line. Not all of them may be available on a given server.

For example, you can use a Unix utility like 'wget':

wget -q -O /dev/null <nowiki>http://example.com/moodle/admin/cron.php</nowiki>

Note in this example that the output is thrown away (to /dev/null).

A number of users of Moodle have found that'wget' sometimes fails. Especially if you have trouble with email digests not being sent on a daily basis to all users, an alternative command that solves the problem is:

php <nowiki>http://example.com/moodle/admin/cron.php</nowiki>

Note in this example that the output is thrown away (to /dev/null).
The same thing using lynx:

lynx -dump <nowiki>http://example.com/moodle/admin/cron.php</nowiki> > /dev/null

Alternatively you could use a standalone version of PHP, compiled to be run on the command line. The advantage with doing this is that your web server logs aren't filled with constant requests to cron.php. The disadvantage is that you need to have access to a command-line version of php.

/opt/bin/php /web/moodle/admin/cron.php

==Using the crontab program on Unix==

All that Cpanel does is provide a web interface to a Unix utility known as crontab. If you have a command line, you can set up crontab yourself using the command:

crontab -e

and then adding one of the above commands like:

*/5 * * * * wget -q -O /dev/null <nowiki>http://example.com/moodle/admin/cron.php</nowiki>

Usually, the "crontab" command will put you into the 'vi' editor. You enter "insert mode" by pressing "i", then type in the line as above, then exit insert mode by pressing ESC. You save and exit by typing ":wq", or quit without saving using ":q!" (without the quotes).

==See also==

*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=41827 Cron - can someone give me a quick confirmation of function?] forum discussion

[[Category:Core]]
[[Category:Administrator]]
[[Category:Installation]]

[[es:Cron]]
[[fr:Cron]]
[[nl:Cron]]

Courses block

2006-02-14T13:29:21Z

Dbrighton:

The '''Courses''' block lists all of the courses you are enrolled in or teach, allowing one-click access to another course home page.

[[Image:CourseBlock.jpg]]

See also [[Create your own course]]

[[Category:Teacher]]
[[Category:Block]]

Courses block

2006-02-14T13:28:37Z

Dbrighton:

The '''Courses''' block lists all of the courses you are enrolled in or teach, allowing one-click access to another course home page.

[[Image:CourseBlock.jpg]]

See also [Create your own course]

[[Category:Teacher]]
[[Category:Block]]

Sandbox

2006-02-09T15:26:15Z

Dbrighton:

I am trying the sandbox out. I am trying to learn about Moodle so I can be the administrator for our district.--[[User:Maginitt|Maginitt]] 23:16, 8 February 2006 (WST)
[[Create your own course]]