Note:

If you want to create a new page for developers, you should create it on the Moodle Developer Resource site.

Usability issues - File management system

From MoodleDocs

Most logical, consistent ordering of columns

How can we be consistent with other file management systems?

Linux file management system has the order: name, size, (type, which won't exist in this case) and modified. So I think we should follow this pattern and have name, size an modified in this order. So the question is where to put the "rename". There are two possibilities:

  • To put it near name because it has name connotations.
  • To put it at the end because the first three are informative fields and the last one is two change a parameter of the file.

In general, it is more common the second one. It must also be considered that action is not only rename but also list, unzip, etc.

Would users prefer to have the icons for rename, delete, unzip, list, restore or words?

Users prefer generally icons rather than names. Moreover, you can always put the mouse over the icon and you can read the description. In this case it will not confuse the user because there would be few icons in the page and it would be used icons that have already been used in other places at Moodle (specially when selecting the "Turn editing on mode").

This would be the icons that I find more usable and that are already used at Moodle:

Rename.gif Rename (used already at Moodle)

delete.gif Delete (used already at Moodle)

Hide.gif List (used already at Moodle but to hide, perhaps this can cause confusion...)

Restore.gif Restore (used already at Moodle)

winzip.JPG Unzip (my proposal) although at Moodle this icon is used zip.gif Zip icon as it can bee seen here Backup.JPG

So it must be considered that if my proposal is used it should be changed of several pages in order to be consistent.

Ability to click on the column headings to sort the files username, file size, and modified date

This is a functionality that should be added to all tables but the backup table shown above, which have no sense ordering it in another way which is not the date of the backup.