User:Derek Chirnside

I'm interested in the process of getting small fixes into core Moodle. There seem to be a number of no brainers, and I've often wondered what it needs to get things moving a little. I have also found it hard to follow the tracker. So, this is really list #3, after my list in 2009 and 2010. There is some progress, but it's been 2 steps forward, one step back:

cohorts (but to make a cohort you need to chose each of the 200 names individually)
blog comments (But the have removed blogs posts attached to courses)
themes (but there is no one basic theme with the basic features in it in standard with Moodle now)
better import and export of activities and resources (at a cost of difficulties in the file management)
filters (but a lot of hard coding so they are inflexible)
repositories (sort of)

Some musings. There is a lot of really good things we could do on Moodle. And there are a lot of good plugins. I'm interested in Core Vanilla Moodle. Big organisations can make the changes they want. Small organisations often can survive without them. Slightly bigger: like they don't link to an SMS and have to create 40 courses (No CSV new course upload), they use self enrolment (No e-mail sent to teacher) they can't install plugins (Like the menu to remove the scroll of death) . . .

I worry that the future development of Moodle will head down the lines of Mobile (taking a lot of resources from the basics) or Distros (like ELIS or Totara) or OU-type customisations. MoodleHQ may just not have the time or inclination to get the small helpful fixes into Moodle core.

Footnote: Mobile is interesting: at a Moodle workshop in Singapore in early June I was basically in a room full of folk with iPhone. It was a serious question "Moodle for Mobile" but really only the forums. I've changed my opinion: maybe Moodle for Mobile is needed.

A PERSONAL WISH LIST

ADMIN FUNCTIONS

Admin: Cloning items

Coming soon in 2.1, I think.

http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=21234&parent=102367 (Old: 2005)

http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=67185#p450794 (2007)

TEACHING FUNCTIONS

Teacher: Notification of first time visits/enrolment in a course

Tracker item: Generate Email Notification to Teachers upon Student Enrollment in a Course http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-20647

Tracker item with code: Notify self-enrol by email http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-20290

Teacher: email notifications when a new account created

If you create an account, then you have to send a second message to tell the user of the account information. Tracker: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-19390

From the comments in 2009: "There is somewhat of a move away from directly sending emails because of the variety of forms that folks like to receive communications. For example, some users may want to receive an IM or SMS message from Moodle rather than an email. The goal is to use a united messaging system and then let the user control how that message gets sent out"

Also: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-19851 :Messaging: Allow for personalization of message by using ##field## similar to database or [[filtertext]]"

Teach: E-mail to course members

Override forum setting.

Tracker item:

Teach: Provide a quick 1<>1 forum/dialogue in core Moodle

Tracker: Convenience/usability: provide a simple way to provide teachers a 1<>1 conference, journal, conversation, dialogue forum with students. http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-27223 Similar idea: Autocreate a group for each student in the course and the group name set to the first and last name http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-21000

REPOSITORY/FILE PICKER

File_picker

File management: One Click upload of file

Tracker item with code: single click file upload http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-19075

File management: Multiple File Upload

Facebook and Flickr have it, why not Moodle. :)

Forum: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=74103
Forum: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=74103
Bugtracker: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-12810

There is a simple version using CSV's available.

Issue tracker: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-13114 Discussion: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=30126#p450831 Tracker:

Blog Posts

Discussions

A way to link files

FORUM MODULE ENHANCEMENTS

In some respects, discussion on this issue has been very irrational, sporatic, littered with unfulfilled promises and shattered plans. Here is a view: forums are pretty fundemental in Moodle. There is no equivalent to a Wall (in FB) a quality blog (like wordpress) and the special equivalents in the verious flavours of Moodle: Joule, TotaraLMS, ELIAS etc - or the special communication enhancements in D2L, Haiku, Edmodo and Canvas etc. Moodle core lags behind.

See https://docs.moodle.org/en/Development:Forum_requirements Forums were in the Moodle roadmap for over a year. Then they just disappeared. There are now three big groups with their own forum/communication channels:

Advanced Forums (Moodlerooms) http://talentmgt.com/articles/view/moodlerooms_releases_joule_1.1
[ForumNG] (Open University)
TotaraLMS

. . . but there has only been one small fix on Forums in core Moodle (fixing the bug that made the Q&A forum unuseable) Tracker: xxx and one enhancement of indeterminate value: Blog-style forums

To take just one feature (subscription at the thread level), the latest word is: "I can absolutely guarantee that this feature will be in the rewrite of forum when it happens" (10 March 2011) referring to the request made in 8th July 2004. ie 7 years, and a lot of effort from coders (all documented on the tracker)

It's the old problem: limited resources and competing demands. I'd like to see more effort made to shepherd the coding done with people outside Moodle core, to focus effort, provide feedback.

Forum: listing of attached files

In some respects, Moodle does not have an easy to use file sharing functionality. (Database if not really easy enough for a basic user) Hence this suggestion for an enhancement.

Tracker: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-27062

Forum thread: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=175989#p772104

Forum/Groups: Allow "Create new discussion for each group"

Tracker item: Allow "Create new discussion for each group" to enable teachers to post the same question for each group with only one posting http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-19670

Forum: locking a thread/forum

Forum Post: 2006 - http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=45359
Documentation: https://docs.moodle.org/en/Forum_permissions
Tracker item: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-12944

Forum: subscribe at the thread level

I notice in the tracker http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-1626 there is a request for the ability for notification (subscription) at the thread level, not just the forum level. It says it is in 2.0 in the tracker. What does this mean? Is this definite, since it is not mentioned in the roadmap? Is it too small an enhancement to justify comment in the roadmap? To what level of detail does the roadmap get maintained?

Subscription at thread level: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=111313
With code: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=115149
Tracker, from 2006: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-7368
Tracker, from 2004: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-1626

Forum: export posts at end of term

Tracker issue: https://docs.moodle.org/en/User:Derek_Chirnside

http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-19254

Forum: have ForumNG in core

Tracker issue: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-21538

ForumNG Pages

MEDIA MANAGEMENT, LINK/UPLOAD SIMPLIFICATIONS

Forum posts

Resize video

GROUPS

Groups Self enrolment

Rationale: for a student centred/constructivist LMS to have no self signup for groups is a bit of a pity.

http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-13962

http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-1310

SORTED Site wide groups

Now called cohorts

Groups: CSV creation of cohorts

Tracker: Add ability to upload to a cohort via Upload users http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-26965

BLOGS

SORTED: blogs with comments

Blogs: blogs visible at course level only

Tracker: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-25347

Forum Posts:

SORTED Book module and 2.0

https://docs.moodle.org/en/Book_module#Books_and_Moodle_2.0

But still not in the core I note there is a request for the book module to be in the core. http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/CONTRIB-283 But it does not have a fix version indicated. Does that mean the request is not considered significant to be included in 2.0??

Documentation