MoodleDocs - User contributions [en]

Talk:Cloning a theme

2012-01-09T11:58:27Z

Rcollman: where is formal white clone string name that displays old name not new name?

==Clone Formal White==
Will post this in theme forum. I cloned Formal White in 2.2. But I can not find the string that actually changes it's display name. I renamed it best01, but it still displays as Formal White but is in the position after Arialist. Where is it getting that string. In Appearance>Themes it appears and I can edit it, which is wonderful. When I follow the boxie instructions and call the close best02, it follows my clone "formal white". --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 19:58, 9 January 2012 (WST)

Talk:Main Page

2011-10-03T11:46:20Z

Rcollman: When I clicked on Dev Docs from the Moodle 2.0 main page I came here and was directed to go to Developer_documentation.

Hi,
Please edit the side Nav block in Moodle 2.0 docs so that the link goes to https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Developer_documentation, not this page. Alternatively, figure out which is the main page, or put a redirect here :) Thanks --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 19:46, 3 October 2011 (WST)

Themes overview

2011-09-18T11:49:08Z

Rcollman: Change intro slightly. Teachers and non-developers will hit this page from the Themes template in Moodle Docs 2.0

{{Template:Themes}}{{Moodle 2.0}}Welcome to the new world of themes in Moodle 2.0!

A Moodle themes allow the user to change the look and feel of a Moodle site. Themes can be applied on the site, category, course and activity levels by users with permissions to do so. Themes can be designed for specific devices such as mobile phones or tablets. This page explains how themes work in Moodle and is intended to help you create or modify most themes for Moodle 2.0

You can use contributed themes or create your entire own to share with the community. Themes can also be based on parent themes with only few customizations. Themes accomplish this using CSS, changing the underlying markup structure and also adding Javscript to add more advanced behaviors.

Most theme developers simply add a few changes to their new theme by basing it on an existing one. The Moodle Theme architecture is designed in such a way whereby the base theme will act as a fall-back that is used when nothing has been defined in the theme based on it. This makes it easy to create new themes that simply seek out to make minor changes.

==What's new in 2.0==

The theme system was completely redesigned in Moodle 2.0. Known issues have been addressed and new features have been added to meet community requests.

Unfortunately it was not possible to maintain backward compatibility, so all Moodle 1.x themes need to be recreated for Moodle 2.0.

Major changes include:
* Clearer and more consistent CSS classes and IDs throughout all pages in Moodle
* Introduction of layout files (templates) describing overall layout HTML for many different types of pages in Moodle.
* Introduction of renderers, which produce the smaller "parts" of a HTML page. Advanced themes can choose to override these too if they choose.
* Introduction of standard methods for adding Javascript to themes.
* Easier control over icons and images in Moodle.
* The old "standard" theme has been split into two themes:
**'''base''' - contains absolutely basic layout, and
**'''standard''' - which adds CSS to the base theme to make it look like the old standard theme.
* Performance tuning: In normal production mode CSS files are combined into a single optimised file, and both CSS and JavaScript files are minimised to ensure there are no wasted connections or traffic. Files are heavily cached, but also versioned, so that users never need to clear their caches.

==The structure of a theme==

Some important things to know when building good themes:

# '''config.php''' - this file is required in every theme. It defines configuration settings and definitions required to make the theme work in Moodle. These include theme, file, region, default region and options.
# '''Layouts and layout files''' - in config.php there is one definition for each page type (see [[#theme_layouts_table|Appendix A: Theme layouts]] for a list of over 12 types). Each page type definition tells Moodle which layout file will be used, what block regions this page type should display and so on. The layout file contains the HTML and the minimum PHP required to display basic structure of pages. (If you know Moodle 1.9, it's like a combination of header.html and footer.html).
# '''The base theme''' - is not intended to be used for production sites. It sets up the simplest possible generic layout and includes only CSS essential to that layout ''or'' to Moodle as a whole. It tries not to make any unnecessary rules and makes as few assumptions as possible. It's the perfect base on which to start designing a theme, as there are very few colours, borders, margins, and alignments to override. You can just start adding what you need.

===Files and folders===
A theme's files are placed in a folder with under moodle/theme folder and have subfolders. They are laid out like this:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! Directory
! File
! Description
|-
|
| /config.php
| Contains all of the configuration and definitions for each theme
|-
|
| /lib.php
| Contains speciality classes and functions that are used by theme
|-
|
| /renderers.php
| Contains any custom renderers for the theme.
|-
|
| /settings.php
| Contains custom theme settings. These local settings are defined by the theme allowing the theme user to easily alter something about the way it looks or operates. (eg a background colour, or a header image)
|-
| /javascript/
|
| All specialty JavaScript files the theme requires should be located in here.
|-
| /lang/
|
| Any special language files the theme requires should be located in here.
|-
| /layout/
|
| Contains the layout files for the theme.
|-
| /pix/
|
| Contains any images the theme makes use of either in CSS or in the layout files.
|-
| /pix
| /favicon.ico
| The favicon to display for this theme.
|-
| /pix
| /screenshot.jpg
| A screenshot of the theme to be displayed in on the theme selection screen.
|-
| /style
|
| Default location for CSS files.
|-
|
|/*.css
|CSS files the theme requires
|}

There are also several other places that stylesheets can be included from (see the CSS how and why section below).

==Theme options==
All theme options are set within the config.php file for the theme. The settings that are most used are: parents, sheets, layouts, and javascripts. Have a look at the '''[[#theme_options_table|theme options table]]''' for a complete list of theme options which include lesser used specialised or advanced settings.

===Basic theme config example===
Lets have a look at a basic theme configuration file and the different bits that make it up:
<code php>
$THEME->name = 'newtheme';

$THEME->parents = array(
'base'
);

$THEME->sheets = array(
'admin',
'blocks',
'calendar',
'course',
'grade',
'message',
'question',
'user'
);

$THEME->layouts = array(
'base' => array(
'theme' => 'newtheme',
'file' => 'general.php',
'regions' => array(),
),
'standard' => array(
'theme' => 'newtheme',
'file' => 'general.php',
'regions' => array('side-pre', 'side-post'),
'defaultregion' => 'side-post',
)
//.......
);

$THEME->javascripts_footer = array(
'navigation'
);
</code>

===Basic theme example settings explained===
First up you will notice everything is added to $THEME. This is the theme's configuration object, it is created by Moodle using default settings and is then updated by whatever settings you add to it.

; $THEME->name : The first setting, is the theme's name. This should simply be whatever your theme's name is, most likely whatever you named your theme directory.

; $THEME->parents : This defines the themes that the theme will extend. In this case it is extending only the base theme.

; $THEME->sheets : An array containing the names of the CSS stylesheets to include for this theme. Note that it is just the name of the stylesheet and does not contain the directory or the file extension. Moodle assumes that the theme's stylesheets will be located in the styles directory of the theme and have .css as an extension.

; $THEME->layouts : In this example, two layouts have been defined to override the layouts from the base theme. For more information see the [[#Layouts|layouts]] section below.

; $THEME->javascripts_footer : The final setting is to include a JavaScript file. Much like stylesheets, you only need to provide the files name. Moodle will assume it is in your themes JavaScript directory and be a .js file.

'''''Note''''': When you first begin writing themes, make sure you take a look at the configuration files of the other themes that get shipped with Moodle. You will get a good picture of how everything works, and what is going on in a theme, simply by reading it and taking notice of what it is including or excluding.

==CSS==
===Locations of CSS files===
First lets look at where CSS can be included from within Moodle:
; \theme\themename\style\*.css : This is the default location for all of the stylesheets that are used by a theme and the place which should be used by a theme designer.

New theme developers should note that the order in which CSS files are found and included creates a hierarchy. This order ensures that the rules, within a theme's style sheets, take precedence over identical rules in other files that may have been introduced before. This can both extend another files definitions (see parent array in the config file) and also ensures that the current theme's CSS rules/definitions have the last say.

There are other locations that can be used (although very rarely) to include CSS in a page. A developer of a php file can manually specify a stylesheet from anywhere within Moodle, like the database. Usually, if code is doing this, it is because there is a non-theme config or plugin setting that contains information requires special CSS information. As a theme designer you should be aware of, but not have to worry about, these locations of CSS files. Here are some examples:

; {pluginpath}\styles.css e.g. \block\blockname\styles.css or \mod\modname\styles.css : Every plugin can have its own styles.css file. This file should only contain the required CSS rules for the module and should not add anything to the look of the plugin such as colours, font sizes, or margins other than those that are truly required.<br />Theme specific styles for a plugin should be located within the themes styles directory.
; {pluginpath}\styles_themename.css : This should only ever be used by plugin developers. It allows them to write CSS that is designed for a specific theme without having to make changes to that theme. You will notice that this is never used within Moodle and is designed to be used only by contributed code.

As theme designers, we will only use the first method of introducing CSS: adding rules to a stylesheet file located in the theme's style directory.

===Moodle's core CSS organisation===
The next thing to look at is the organisation of CSS and rules within a theme. Although as a theme designer it is entirely up to you as to how you create and organise your CSS. Please note that within the themes provided in the standard install by Moodle there is a very clear organisation of CSS.

First is the pagelayout.css file. This contains the CSS required to give the layouts their look and feel. It doesn't contain any rules that affect the content generated by Moodle.

Next is the core.css file. If you open up core you will notice that it contains all manner of general (usually simple) rules that don't relate to a specific section of Moodle but to Moodle as a whole.

There can also be rules that relate to specific sections. However, this is done only when there are only a handful of rules for that section. These small clusters of rules are grouped together and separated by comments identifying for which section each relates.

Finally there are all the other CSS files, you will notice that there is a file for each section of Moodle that has a significant collection of rules.

:For those who are familiar with Moodle 1.9 theme's, this organisation will be a big change. In 1.9, CSS was organised by its nature (for example: colours, layout, other).

===How to write effective CSS rules within Moodle===
In Moodle 2.0, writing good CSS rules is incredibly important.

Due to performance requirements and browser limitations, all of the CSS files are combined into a single CSS file that gets included every time. This means that rules need to be written in such a way as to minimise the chances of a collision leading to unwanted styles being applied. Whilst writing good CSS is something most designers strive for we have implemented several new body classes and prompt developers to use appropriate classnames.

====<body> CSS id and classes ====
As of Moodle 2.0 the ID tag that gets applied to the body will always be a representation of the URI. For example if you are looking at a forum posting and the URI is '/mod/forum/view.php' then the body tags ID will be '#page-mod-forum-view'.

As well as the body's ID attribute the URI is also exploded to form several CSS classes that get added to the body tag, so in the above example '/mod/forum/view' you would end up with the following classes being added to the body tag '.path-mod', '.path-mod-forum'. Note that '.path-mod-forum-view' is not added as a class, this is intentionally left out to lessen confusion and duplication as rules can relate directly to the page by using the ID and do not require the final class.

The body ID and body classes described above will form the bread and butter for many of the CSS rules you will need to write for your theme, however there are also several other very handy classes that get added to the body tag that will be beneficial to you once you start your journey down the rabbit hole that is themeing. Some of the more interesting classes are listed below.

* If JavaScript is enabled then 'jsenabled' will be added as a class to the body tag allowing you to style based on JavaScript being enabled or not.
* Either 'dir-rtl' or 'dir-ltr' will be added to the body as a class depending on the direction of the language pack: rtl = right to left, ltr = left to right. This allows you to determine your text-alignment based on language if required.
* A class will be added to represent the language pack currently in use, by default en_utf8 is used by Moodle and will result in the class 'lang-en_utf8' being added to the body tag.
* The wwwroot for Moodle will also be converted to a class and added to the body tag allowing you to stylise your theme based on the URL through which it was reached. e.g. http://sam.moodle.local/moodle/ will become '.sam-moodle-local—moodle'
* If the current user is not logged then '.notloggedin' will be added to the body tag.

What does all of this look like in practise? Well using the above example /mod/forum/view.php you would get at least the following body tag:
<code html4strict><body id=”page-mod-forum-view” class=”path-mod path-mod-forum” /></code>

====Writing your rules====

By following CSS best-practices and understanding the [http://htmlhelp.com/reference/css/structure.html#cascade cascading order] of CSS a theme developer will reduce collisions and lines CSS that is written. CSS classes have been placed where it is believed anyone may want to apply their own styles.

When starting to write rules make sure that you have a good understanding of where you want those rules to be applied, it is a good idea to make the most of the body classes mentioned above.
If you want to write a rule for a specific page make use of the body tag's ID, e.g.:

<code css>#page-mod-forum-view .forumpost {border:1px solid orange;)</code>

If you want to write a rule that will be applied all throughout the forum.:

<code css>.path-mod-forum .forumpost {border:1px solid orange;}</code>

The other very important thing to take into consideration is the structure leading up to the tag you want to style. Browsers apply conflicting styles with priority on the more specific selectors. It can be very beneficial to keep this in mind and write full selectors that rely on the structure of the tags leading to the tag you wish to style.

By making use of body id's and classes and writing selectors to take into account the leading structure you can greatly minimise the chance of a collision both with Moodle now and in the future.

==Layouts==
Layouts are defined in '''config.php'''.

All themes are required to define the layouts they wish to be responsible for as well as create; however, many layout files are required by those layouts. If the theme is overriding another theme then it is a case of deciding which layouts this new theme should override. If the theme is a completely fresh start then you will need to define a layout for each of the different possibilities.

It is also important to note that a new theme that will base itself on another theme (overriding it) does not need to define any layouts or use any layout files if there are no changes that it wishes to make to the layouts of the existing theme. The standard theme in Moodle is a good example of this as it extends the base theme simply adding CSS to achieve its look and feel.

So layouts... as mentioned earlier layouts are defined in config.php within $THEME->layouts. The following is an example of one such layout definition:
<code php>
$THEME->layouts = array(
// Standard layout with blocks, this is recommended for most pages with general information
'standard' => array(
'theme' => 'base',
'file' => 'general.php',
'regions' => array('side-pre', 'side-post'),
'defaultregion' => 'side-post'
)
)
</code>
The first thing Moodle looks at is the name of the layout, in this case it is `standard` (the array key in PHP), it then looks at the settings for the layout, this is the theme, file, regions, and default region. There are also a couple of other options that can be set by a layout.

; theme : is the theme the layout file exists in. That's right you can make use of layouts from other installed themes. ''Optional''
; file : is the name of the layout file this layout wants to use. ''Required''
; regions : is the different block regions (places you can put blocks) within the theme. ''Required''
; defaultregion : is the default location when adding new blocks. '''Required if regions is non-empty, otherwise optional'''
; options : an array of layout specific options described in detail below. '''Optional'''

The '''theme''' is optional. Normally the the layout file is looked for in the current theme, or, if it is not there, in the parent theme. However, you can use a layout file from any other theme by giving the theme name here.

You can define whatever regions you like. You just need to pick an name for each one. Most themes just use one or both of '''side_pre''' and '''side_post''', which is like 'left side' and 'right side', except in right to left languages, when they are reversed. If you say in config.php that your the layout provides regions called 'fred' and 'barney', then you must call $OUTPUT->blocks_for_region('fred') and $OUTPUT->blocks_for_region('barney') somewhere in the layout file.

The final setting '''options''' is a special case that only needs to be set if you want to make use of it. This setting allows the theme designer to specify special options that they would like to create that can be later accessed within the layout file. This allows the theme to make design decisions during the definition and react upon those decisions in what ever layout file is being used.

One such place this has been used is infact within the base theme. If you take a look first at theme/base/config.php you will notice that several layouts specify options '''nonavbar''' and '''nofooter''' which can both be set to either true or false. Then if we take a look at theme/base/layout/general.php you will spot lines like the following:
<code php>
<?php
$hasnavbar = (empty($PAGE->layout_options['nonavbar']) && $PAGE->has_navbar());
$hasfooter = (empty($PAGE->layout_options['nofooter']));
?>
............
<?php if ($hasnavbar) { ?>
<div class="navbar clearfix">
<div class="breadcrumb"><?php echo $OUTPUT->navbar(); ?></div>
<div class="navbutton"> <?php echo $PAGE->button; ?></div>
</div>
<?php } ?>
</code>
What you are seeing here is the use of those settings from the layout within the layout file. In this case it is being used to toggle the display of the navigation bar and page footer.

==Layout files==
A layout file is a file that contains the core HTML structure for a layout including the header, footer, content and block regions. For those of you who are familiar with themes in Moodle 1.9 this is simply header.html and footer.html combined. Of course it is not all HTML, there are bits of HTML and content that Moodle needs to put into the page, within each layout file this will be done by a couple of simple PHP calls to get bits and pieces including content.

Before learning more it is good to understand the two primary objects that will be used in your layout files: $OUTPUT and $PAGE.

'''$OUTPUT''' is an instance of the <code>core_renderer</code> class which is defined in lib/outputrenderers.php. Each method is clearly documented there, along with which is appropriate for use within the layout files.

'''$PAGE''' is an instance of the <code>moodle_page</code> class defined in lib/pagelib.php. Most of the things you will want to use are the properties that are all documented at the top of the file. If you are not familiar with PHP properties, you access them like $PAGE->activityname, just like fields of an ordinary PHP object. (However, behind the scenes the value you get is produced by calling a function. Also, you cannot change these values, they are '''read-only'''. However, you don't need to understand all that if you are just using these properties in your theme.)

The following is a very simple layout file to illustrate the different bits that make it up:
<code php>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->doctype() ?>
<html <?php echo $OUTPUT->htmlattributes() ?>>
<head>
<title><?php echo $PAGE->title ?></title>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->standard_head_html() ?>
</head>
<body id="<?php p($PAGE->bodyid) ?>" class="<?php p($PAGE->bodyclasses) ?>">
<?php echo $OUTPUT->standard_top_of_body_html() ?>
<table id="page">
<tr>
<td colspan="3">
<h1 class="headermain"><?php echo $PAGE->heading ?></h1>
<div class="headermenu"><?php echo $OUTPUT->login_info(); echo $PAGE->headingmenu; ?></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->blocks_for_region('side-pre') ?>
</td>
<td>
<?php echo core_renderer::MAIN_CONTENT_TOKEN ?>
</td>
<td>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->blocks_for_region('side-post') ?>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3">
<p class="helplink"><?php echo page_doc_link(get_string('moodledocslink')) ?></p>
<?php
echo $OUTPUT->login_info();
echo $OUTPUT->home_link();
echo $OUTPUT->standard_footer_html();
?>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->standard_end_of_body_html() ?>
</body>
</html>
</code>

We assume you know enough HTML to understand the basic structure above, but let's explain the PHP code since that is less obvious.
<code php>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->doctype() ?>
</code>
This occurs at the VERY top of the page, it must be the first bit of output and is responsible for adding the (X)HTML document type definition to the page. This of course is determined by the settings of the site and is one of the things that the theme designer has no control over.

<code php>
<html <?php echo $OUTPUT->htmlattributes() ?>>
</code>
Here we have started writing the opening html tag and have asked Moodle to give us the HTML attributes that should be applied to it. This again is determined by several settings within the actual HTML install.

<code php>
<?php echo $PAGE->title ?>
</code>
This gets us the title for the page.

<code php>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->standard_head_html() ?>
</code>
This very important call gets us the standard head HTML that needs to be within the HEAD tag of the page. This is where CSS and JavaScript requirements for the top of the page will be output as well as any special script or style tags.

<code php>
<body id="<?php p($PAGE->bodyid); ?>" class="<?php p($PAGE->bodyclasses); ?>">
</code>
Much like the html tag above we have started writing the body tag and have asked for Moodle to get us the desired ID and classes that should be applied to it.

<code php>
<h1 class="headermain"><?php echo $PAGE->heading; ?></h1>
<div class="headermenu"><?php echo $OUTPUT->login_info(); echo $PAGE->headingmenu; ?></div>
</code>
Here we are creating the header for the page. In this case we want the heading for the page, we want to display the login information which will be the current users username or a link to log in if they are not logged in, and we want the heading menu if there is one.

<code php>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->blocks_for_region('side-pre') ?>
</code>
Here we get the HTML to display the blocks that have been added to the page. In this case we have asked for all blocks that have been added to the area labelled ''side-pre''.

<code php>
<?php echo core_renderer::MAIN_CONTENT_TOKEN ?>
</code>
This is one of the most important calls within the file, it determines where the actual content for the page gets inserted.

<code php>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->blocks_for_region('side-post') ?>
</code>
Here we get the HTML to display the blocks that have been added to the page. In this case we have asked for all blocks that have been added to the area labelled ''side-post''.

<code php>
<?php
echo $OUTPUT->login_info();
echo $OUTPUT->home_link();
echo $OUTPUT->standard_footer_html();
?>
</code>
This final bit of code gets the content for the footer of the page. It gets the login information which is the same as in the header, a home link, and the standard footer HTML which like the standard head HTML contains all of the script and style tags required by the page and requested to go in the footer.

'''''Note''''': Within Moodle 2.0 most of the JavaScript for the page will be included in the footer. This greatly helps reduce the loading time of the page.

When writing layout files think about the different layouts and how the HTML that each makes use of will differ. You will most likely find you do not need a different layout file for each layout, most likely you will be able to reuse the layout files you create across several layouts. You can of course make use of layout options as well to further reduce the number of layout files you need to produce.

Of course as mentioned above if you are customising an existing theme then you may not need to create any layouts or layout files at all.

==Language File==

You need to create a language file for your theme with a few standard strings in it. At a minimum create a file called lang/en.theme_themename.php in your theme folder. For example, the 'standard' theme has a language file called lang/en/theme_standard.php.

You '''must''' define the following lines in your file (example is from standard theme, adapt as required):

<code php>
$string['pluginname'] = 'Standard';
$string['region-side-post'] = 'Right';
$string['region-side-pre'] = 'Left';
$string['choosereadme'] = 'This theme is a very basic white theme, with a minimum amount of
CSS added to the base theme to make it actually usable.';
</code>

Without the above you will get notices for the missing strings.

==Making use of images==
Right at the start when listing the features of the new themes system one of the features mentioned was the ability to override any of the standard images within Moodle from within your theme. At this point we will look at both how to make use of your own images within your theme, and secondly how to override the images being used by Moodle.
So first up a bit about images within Moodle,

# Images you want to use within your theme '''need''' to be located within your theme's pix directory.
# You can use sub directories within the pix directory of your theme.
# Images used by Moodle's core are located within the pix directory of Moodle.
# Modules, blocks and other plugins should also store their images within a pix directory.

So making use of your own images first up. Lets assume you have added two image files to the pix directory of your theme.

* /theme/yourthemename/pix/imageone.jpg
* /theme/yourthemename/pix/subdir/imagetwo.png

Notice that one image is a JPEG image, and the second is a PNG. Also the second image is in a subdirectory.

The following code snippet illustrates how to make use of your images within HTML, such as if you wanted to use them within a layout file.
<code php>
<img src="<?php echo $OUTPUT->pix_url('imageone', 'theme');?>" alt="" />
<img src="<?php echo $OUTPUT->pix_url('subdir/imagetwo', 'theme');?>" alt="" />
</code>

'''DO NOT''' include the image file extension. Moodle will work it out automatically and it will not work if you do include it.

In this case rather than writing out the URL to the image we use a method of Moodle's output library. Its not too important how that functions works but it is important that we use it as it is what allows images within Moodle to be over-rideable.

The following is how you would use the images from within CSS as background images.
<code css>
.divone {background-image:url([[pix:theme|imageone]]);}
.divtwo {background-image:url([[pix:theme|subdir/imagetwo]]);}
</code>
If this case we have to use some special notations that Moodle looks for. Whenever Moodle hands out a CSS file it first searches for all ''[[something]]'' tags and replaces them with what is required.

The final thing to notice with both of the cases above is that at no point do we include the images file extension.
The reason for this leads us into the next topic, how to override images.

From within a theme you can VERY easily override any standard image within Moodle by simply adding the replacement image to the theme's pix directory in the same sub directory structure as it is in Moodle.
So for instance we wanted to override the following two images:
# /pix/moodlelogo.gif
# /pix/i/user.gif
We would simply need to add our replacement images to the theme in the following locations
# /theme/themename/pix_core/moodlelogo.gif
# /theme/themename/pix_core/i/user.gif
''Note that we have created a '''pix_core''' directory in our theme. For module images we need a '''pix_mod''' directory. See [[Themes_2.0_How_to_use_images_within_your_theme|using images within your theme]] for the full story.

Now the other very cool thing to mention is that Moodle looks for not just replacements of the same image type (jpg, gif, etc...) but also replacements in any image format. This is why above when working with our images we never specified the images file extension.
This means that the following would also work:
# /theme/themename/pix_core/moodlelogo.png
# /theme/themename/pix_core/i/user.bmp

For a more detailed description of how this all works see the page on [[Themes_2.0_How_to_use_images_within_your_theme|using images within your theme]]

==Unobvious Things==
===Getting Your Theme to Appear Correctly in Theme Selector===
If you follow the examples on this page to the letter, when you go to the Theme Selector page you may be discouraged to find that your theme does not appear like the other themes do. In fact, instead of your theme's name, you will see something along the lines of <nowiki>[[pluginname]]</nowiki>.

To correct this, you must add the theme/THEMENAME/lang/en/theme_THEMENAME.php file, where THEMENAME is the name of the theme folder. Inside that file, add the string "$string['pluginname'] = 'THEMENAME'; ". Make THEMENAME the name of your theme, however you want it displayed in the Theme selector.

The screenshot for the theme should be about 500x400 px.

===Required theme divs===

Some parts of Moodle may rely on particular divs, for example the div with id 'page-header'.

Consequently all themes must include at least the divs (with the same ids) that are present in the 'base' theme.

Missing out these elements may result in unexpected behaviour within specific modules or other plugins.

==Appendix A==
===Theme options as of April 28th, 2010===
{| class="nicetable" id="theme_options_table"
|-
! Setting
! Effect
|-
| $THEME->'''csspostprocess'''
| Allows the user to provide the name of a function that all CSS should be passed to before being delivered.
|-
| $THEME->'''editor_sheets'''
| An array of stylesheets to include within the body of the editor.
|-
| $THEME->'''enable_dock'''
| If set to true the side dock is enabled for blocks
|-
| $THEME->'''hidefromselector'''
| Used to hide a theme from the theme selector (unless theme designer mode is on). Accepts true or false.
|-
| $THEME->'''filter_mediaplugin_colors'''
| Used to control the colours used in the small media player for the filters
|-
| $THEME->'''javascripts'''
| An array containing the names of JavaScript files located in /javascript/ to include in the theme. (gets included in the head)
|-
| $THEME->'''javascripts_footer'''
| As above but will be included in the page footer.
|-
| $THEME->'''larrow'''
| Overrides the left arrow image used throughout Moodle
|-
| $THEME->'''layouts'''
| An array setting the layouts for the theme
|-
| $THEME->'''name'''
| Name of the theme. Most likely the name of the directory in which this file resides.
|-
| $THEME->'''parents'''
| An array of themes to inherit from
|-
| $THEME->'''parents_exclude_javascripts'''
| An array of JavaScript files NOT to inherit from the themes parents
|-
| $THEME->'''parents_exclude_sheets'''
| An array of stylesheets not to inherit from the themes parents
|-
| $THEME->'''plugins_exclude_sheets'''
| An array of plugin sheets to ignore and not include.
|-
| $THEME->'''rarrow'''
| Overrides the right arrow image used throughout Moodle
|-
| $THEME->'''renderfactory'''
| Sets a custom render factory to use with the theme, used when working with custom renderers.
|-
| $THEME->'''resource_mp3player_colors'''
| Controls the colours for the MP3 player
|-
| $THEME->'''sheets'''
| An array of stylesheets to include for this theme. Should be located in the theme's style directory.
|}
===The different layouts as of August 17th, 2010===
{| class="nicetable" id="theme_layouts_table"
|-
! Layout
! Purpose
|-
| base
| Most backwards compatible layout without the blocks - this is the layout used by default.
|-
| standard
| Standard layout with blocks, this is recommended for most pages with general information.
|-
| course
| Main course page.
|-
| coursecategory
| Use for browsing through course categories.
|-
| incourse
| Default layout while browsing a course, typical for modules.
|-
| frontpage
| The site home page.
|-
| admin
| Administration pages and scripts.
|-
| mydashboard
| My dashboard page.
|-
| mypublic
| My public page.
|-
| login
| The login page.
|-
| popup
| Pages that appear in pop-up windows - no navigation, no blocks, no header.
|-
| frametop
| Used for legacy frame layouts only. No blocks and minimal footer.
|-
| embedded
| Embeded pages, like iframe/object embedded in moodleform - it needs as much space as possible
|-
| maintenance
| Used during upgrade and install. This must not have any blocks, and it is good idea if it does not have links to other places - for example there should not be a home link in the footer.
|-
| print
| Used when the page is being displayed specifically for printing.
|}

==See also==

* [[Themes 2.0 creating your first theme]] - A quick step by step guide to creating your first theme.
* [[Themes 2.0 overriding a renderer]] - A tutorial on creating a custom renderer and changing the HTML Moodle produces.
* [[Themes 2.0 How to use images within your theme]] - Explains how to use and override images within your theme.
* [[Themes 2.0 adding a settings page]] - Looks at how to add a setting page making your theme easily customisable.
* [[Themes 2.0 extending the custom menu]] - Customising the custom menu.
* [[Themes 2.0 adding courses and categories to the custom menu]] - Extending the custom menu further adding all categories + courses
* [[Themes 2.0 how to make the dock horizontal]] - Modifying the dock to make it horizontal.
* [[Themes 2.0 adding upgrade code]]
* [[Styling and customising the dock]] - How to style and customise the dock.
* [[Theme changes in 2.0]]
* [[Using jQuery with Moodle 2.0]]
* [[Themes 2.0 how to clone a Moodle 2.0 theme]]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvaU54uh-qA New themes in Moodle 2.0 video]

[[de:Designs 2.0]]
[[es:Temas 2.0]]

Themes overview

2011-09-16T01:21:12Z

Rcollman: /* Getting Your Theme to Appear Correctly in Theme Selector */ be clear it is in the theme subfolder

{{Template:Themes}}{{Moodle 2.0}}Welcome to the new world of themes in Moodle 2.0!

'''Moodle themes''' allow you to change the look and feel of your Moodle site. You can use contributed themes or create your entire own to share with the community. Themes can also be based on parent themes with only few customizations. Themes accomplish this using CSS, changing the underlying markup structure and also adding Javscript to add more advanced behaviors.

Most theme developers simply add a few changes to their new theme by basing it on an existing one. The Moodle Theme architecture is designed in such a way whereby the base theme will act as a fall-back that is used when nothing has been defined in the theme based on it. This makes it easy to create new themes that simply seek out to make minor changes.

This document explains how themes work in Moodle and is intended to help you create or modify most themes for Moodle 2.0

==What's new in 2.0==

The theme system was completely redesigned in Moodle 2.0. Known issues have been addressed and new features have been added to meet community requests.

Unfortunately it was not possible to maintain backward compatibility, so all Moodle 1.x themes need to be recreated for Moodle 2.0.

Major changes include:
* Clearer and more consistent CSS classes and IDs throughout all pages in Moodle
* Introduction of layout files (templates) describing overall layout HTML for many different types of pages in Moodle.
* Introduction of renderers, which produce the smaller "parts" of a HTML page. Advanced themes can choose to override these too if they choose.
* Introduction of standard methods for adding Javascript to themes.
* Easier control over icons and images in Moodle.
* The old "standard" theme has been split into two themes:
**'''base''' - contains absolutely basic layout, and
**'''standard''' - which adds CSS to the base theme to make it look like the old standard theme.
* Performance tuning: In normal production mode CSS files are combined into a single optimised file, and both CSS and JavaScript files are minimised to ensure there are no wasted connections or traffic. Files are heavily cached, but also versioned, so that users never need to clear their caches.

==The structure of a theme==

Some important things to know when building good themes:

# '''config.php''' - this file is required in every theme. It defines configuration settings and definitions required to make the theme work in Moodle. These include theme, file, region, default region and options.
# '''Layouts and layout files''' - in config.php there is one definition for each page type (see [[#theme_layouts_table|Appendix A: Theme layouts]] for a list of over 12 types). Each page type definition tells Moodle which layout file will be used, what block regions this page type should display and so on. The layout file contains the HTML and the minimum PHP required to display basic structure of pages. (If you know Moodle 1.9, it's like a combination of header.html and footer.html).
# '''The base theme''' - is not intended to be used for production sites. It sets up the simplest possible generic layout and includes only CSS essential to that layout ''or'' to Moodle as a whole. It tries not to make any unnecessary rules and makes as few assumptions as possible. It's the perfect base on which to start designing a theme, as there are very few colours, borders, margins, and alignments to override. You can just start adding what you need.

===Files and folders===
A theme's files are placed in a folder with under moodle/theme folder and have subfolders. They are laid out like this:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! Directory
! File
! Description
|-
|
| /config.php
| Contains all of the configuration and definitions for each theme
|-
|
| /lib.php
| Contains speciality classes and functions that are used by theme
|-
|
| /renderers.php
| Contains any custom renderers for the theme.
|-
|
| /settings.php
| Contains custom theme settings. These local settings are defined by the theme allowing the theme user to easily alter something about the way it looks or operates. (eg a background colour, or a header image)
|-
| /javascript/
|
| All specialty JavaScript files the theme requires should be located in here.
|-
| /lang/
|
| Any special language files the theme requires should be located in here.
|-
| /layout/
|
| Contains the layout files for the theme.
|-
| /pix/
|
| Contains any images the theme makes use of either in CSS or in the layout files.
|-
| /pix
| /favicon.ico
| The favicon to display for this theme.
|-
| /pix
| /screenshot.jpg
| A screenshot of the theme to be displayed in on the theme selection screen.
|-
| /style
|
| Default location for CSS files.
|-
|
|/*.css
|CSS files the theme requires
|}

There are also several other places that stylesheets can be included from (see the CSS how and why section below).

==Theme options==
All theme options are set within the config.php file for the theme. The settings that are most used are: parents, sheets, layouts, and javascripts. Have a look at the '''[[#theme_options_table|theme options table]]''' for a complete list of theme options which include lesser used specialised or advanced settings.

===Basic theme config example===
Lets have a look at a basic theme configuration file and the different bits that make it up:
<code php>
$THEME->name = 'newtheme';

$THEME->parents = array(
'base'
);

$THEME->sheets = array(
'admin',
'blocks',
'calendar',
'course',
'grade',
'message',
'question',
'user'
);

$THEME->layouts = array(
'base' => array(
'theme' => 'newtheme',
'file' => 'general.php',
'regions' => array(),
),
'standard' => array(
'theme' => 'newtheme',
'file' => 'general.php',
'regions' => array('side-pre', 'side-post'),
'defaultregion' => 'side-post',
)
//.......
);

$THEME->javascripts_footer = array(
'navigation'
);
</code>

===Basic theme example settings explained===
First up you will notice everything is added to $THEME. This is the theme's configuration object, it is created by Moodle using default settings and is then updated by whatever settings you add to it.

; $THEME->name : The first setting, is the theme's name. This should simply be whatever your theme's name is, most likely whatever you named your theme directory.

; $THEME->parents : This defines the themes that the theme will extend. In this case it is extending only the base theme.

; $THEME->sheets : An array containing the names of the CSS stylesheets to include for this theme. Note that it is just the name of the stylesheet and does not contain the directory or the file extension. Moodle assumes that the theme's stylesheets will be located in the styles directory of the theme and have .css as an extension.

; $THEME->layouts : In this example, two layouts have been defined to override the layouts from the base theme. For more information see the [[#Layouts|layouts]] section below.

; $THEME->javascripts_footer : The final setting is to include a JavaScript file. Much like stylesheets, you only need to provide the files name. Moodle will assume it is in your themes JavaScript directory and be a .js file.

'''''Note''''': When you first begin writing themes, make sure you take a look at the configuration files of the other themes that get shipped with Moodle. You will get a good picture of how everything works, and what is going on in a theme, simply by reading it and taking notice of what it is including or excluding.

==CSS==
===Locations of CSS files===
First lets look at where CSS can be included from within Moodle:
; \theme\themename\style\*.css : This is the default location for all of the stylesheets that are used by a theme and the place which should be used by a theme designer.

New theme developers should note that the order in which CSS files are found and included creates a hierarchy. This order ensures that the rules, within a theme's style sheets, take precedence over identical rules in other files that may have been introduced before. This can both extend another files definitions (see parent array in the config file) and also ensures that the current theme's CSS rules/definitions have the last say.

There are other locations that can be used (although very rarely) to include CSS in a page. A developer of a php file can manually specify a stylesheet from anywhere within Moodle, like the database. Usually, if code is doing this, it is because there is a non-theme config or plugin setting that contains information requires special CSS information. As a theme designer you should be aware of, but not have to worry about, these locations of CSS files. Here are some examples:

; {pluginpath}\styles.css e.g. \block\blockname\styles.css or \mod\modname\styles.css : Every plugin can have its own styles.css file. This file should only contain the required CSS rules for the module and should not add anything to the look of the plugin such as colours, font sizes, or margins other than those that are truly required.<br />Theme specific styles for a plugin should be located within the themes styles directory.
; {pluginpath}\styles_themename.css : This should only ever be used by plugin developers. It allows them to write CSS that is designed for a specific theme without having to make changes to that theme. You will notice that this is never used within Moodle and is designed to be used only by contributed code.

As theme designers, we will only use the first method of introducing CSS: adding rules to a stylesheet file located in the theme's style directory.

===Moodle's core CSS organisation===
The next thing to look at is the organisation of CSS and rules within a theme. Although as a theme designer it is entirely up to you as to how you create and organise your CSS. Please note that within the themes provided in the standard install by Moodle there is a very clear organisation of CSS.

First is the pagelayout.css file. This contains the CSS required to give the layouts their look and feel. It doesn't contain any rules that affect the content generated by Moodle.

Next is the core.css file. If you open up core you will notice that it contains all manner of general (usually simple) rules that don't relate to a specific section of Moodle but to Moodle as a whole.

There can also be rules that relate to specific sections. However, this is done only when there are only a handful of rules for that section. These small clusters of rules are grouped together and separated by comments identifying for which section each relates.

Finally there are all the other CSS files, you will notice that there is a file for each section of Moodle that has a significant collection of rules.

:For those who are familiar with Moodle 1.9 theme's, this organisation will be a big change. In 1.9, CSS was organised by its nature (for example: colours, layout, other).

===How to write effective CSS rules within Moodle===
In Moodle 2.0, writing good CSS rules is incredibly important.

Due to performance requirements and browser limitations, all of the CSS files are combined into a single CSS file that gets included every time. This means that rules need to be written in such a way as to minimise the chances of a collision leading to unwanted styles being applied. Whilst writing good CSS is something most designers strive for we have implemented several new body classes and prompt developers to use appropriate classnames.

====<body> CSS id and classes ====
As of Moodle 2.0 the ID tag that gets applied to the body will always be a representation of the URI. For example if you are looking at a forum posting and the URI is '/mod/forum/view.php' then the body tags ID will be '#page-mod-forum-view'.

As well as the body's ID attribute the URI is also exploded to form several CSS classes that get added to the body tag, so in the above example '/mod/forum/view' you would end up with the following classes being added to the body tag '.path-mod', '.path-mod-forum'. Note that '.path-mod-forum-view' is not added as a class, this is intentionally left out to lessen confusion and duplication as rules can relate directly to the page by using the ID and do not require the final class.

The body ID and body classes described above will form the bread and butter for many of the CSS rules you will need to write for your theme, however there are also several other very handy classes that get added to the body tag that will be beneficial to you once you start your journey down the rabbit hole that is themeing. Some of the more interesting classes are listed below.

* If JavaScript is enabled then 'jsenabled' will be added as a class to the body tag allowing you to style based on JavaScript being enabled or not.
* Either 'dir-rtl' or 'dir-ltr' will be added to the body as a class depending on the direction of the language pack: rtl = right to left, ltr = left to right. This allows you to determine your text-alignment based on language if required.
* A class will be added to represent the language pack currently in use, by default en_utf8 is used by Moodle and will result in the class 'lang-en_utf8' being added to the body tag.
* The wwwroot for Moodle will also be converted to a class and added to the body tag allowing you to stylise your theme based on the URL through which it was reached. e.g. http://sam.moodle.local/moodle/ will become '.sam-moodle-local—moodle'
* If the current user is not logged then '.notloggedin' will be added to the body tag.

What does all of this look like in practise? Well using the above example /mod/forum/view.php you would get at least the following body tag:
<code html4strict><body id=”page-mod-forum-view” class=”path-mod path-mod-forum” /></code>

====Writing your rules====

By following CSS best-practices and understanding the [http://htmlhelp.com/reference/css/structure.html#cascade cascading order] of CSS a theme developer will reduce collisions and lines CSS that is written. CSS classes have been placed where it is believed anyone may want to apply their own styles.

When starting to write rules make sure that you have a good understanding of where you want those rules to be applied, it is a good idea to make the most of the body classes mentioned above.
If you want to write a rule for a specific page make use of the body tag's ID, e.g.:

<code css>#page-mod-forum-view .forumpost {border:1px solid orange;)</code>

If you want to write a rule that will be applied all throughout the forum.:

<code css>.path-mod-forum .forumpost {border:1px solid orange;}</code>

The other very important thing to take into consideration is the structure leading up to the tag you want to style. Browsers apply conflicting styles with priority on the more specific selectors. It can be very beneficial to keep this in mind and write full selectors that rely on the structure of the tags leading to the tag you wish to style.

By making use of body id's and classes and writing selectors to take into account the leading structure you can greatly minimise the chance of a collision both with Moodle now and in the future.

==Layouts==
Layouts are defined in '''config.php'''.

All themes are required to define the layouts they wish to be responsible for as well as create; however, many layout files are required by those layouts. If the theme is overriding another theme then it is a case of deciding which layouts this new theme should override. If the theme is a completely fresh start then you will need to define a layout for each of the different possibilities.

It is also important to note that a new theme that will base itself on another theme (overriding it) does not need to define any layouts or use any layout files if there are no changes that it wishes to make to the layouts of the existing theme. The standard theme in Moodle is a good example of this as it extends the base theme simply adding CSS to achieve its look and feel.

So layouts... as mentioned earlier layouts are defined in config.php within $THEME->layouts. The following is an example of one such layout definition:
<code php>
$THEME->layouts = array(
// Standard layout with blocks, this is recommended for most pages with general information
'standard' => array(
'theme' => 'base',
'file' => 'general.php',
'regions' => array('side-pre', 'side-post'),
'defaultregion' => 'side-post'
)
)
</code>
The first thing Moodle looks at is the name of the layout, in this case it is `standard` (the array key in PHP), it then looks at the settings for the layout, this is the theme, file, regions, and default region. There are also a couple of other options that can be set by a layout.

; theme : is the theme the layout file exists in. That's right you can make use of layouts from other installed themes. ''Optional''
; file : is the name of the layout file this layout wants to use. ''Required''
; regions : is the different block regions (places you can put blocks) within the theme. ''Required''
; defaultregion : is the default location when adding new blocks. '''Required if regions is non-empty, otherwise optional'''
; options : an array of layout specific options described in detail below. '''Optional'''

The '''theme''' is optional. Normally the the layout file is looked for in the current theme, or, if it is not there, in the parent theme. However, you can use a layout file from any other theme by giving the theme name here.

You can define whatever regions you like. You just need to pick an name for each one. Most themes just use one or both of '''side_pre''' and '''side_post''', which is like 'left side' and 'right side', except in right to left languages, when they are reversed. If you say in config.php that your the layout provides regions called 'fred' and 'barney', then you must call $OUTPUT->blocks_for_region('fred') and $OUTPUT->blocks_for_region('barney') somewhere in the layout file.

The final setting '''options''' is a special case that only needs to be set if you want to make use of it. This setting allows the theme designer to specify special options that they would like to create that can be later accessed within the layout file. This allows the theme to make design decisions during the definition and react upon those decisions in what ever layout file is being used.

One such place this has been used is infact within the base theme. If you take a look first at theme/base/config.php you will notice that several layouts specify options '''nonavbar''' and '''nofooter''' which can both be set to either true or false. Then if we take a look at theme/base/layout/general.php you will spot lines like the following:
<code php>
<?php
$hasnavbar = (empty($PAGE->layout_options['nonavbar']) && $PAGE->has_navbar());
$hasfooter = (empty($PAGE->layout_options['nofooter']));
?>
............
<?php if ($hasnavbar) { ?>
<div class="navbar clearfix">
<div class="breadcrumb"><?php echo $OUTPUT->navbar(); ?></div>
<div class="navbutton"> <?php echo $PAGE->button; ?></div>
</div>
<?php } ?>
</code>
What you are seeing here is the use of those settings from the layout within the layout file. In this case it is being used to toggle the display of the navigation bar and page footer.

==Layout files==
A layout file is a file that contains the core HTML structure for a layout including the header, footer, content and block regions. For those of you who are familiar with themes in Moodle 1.9 this is simply header.html and footer.html combined. Of course it is not all HTML, there are bits of HTML and content that Moodle needs to put into the page, within each layout file this will be done by a couple of simple PHP calls to get bits and pieces including content.

Before learning more it is good to understand the two primary objects that will be used in your layout files: $OUTPUT and $PAGE.

'''$OUTPUT''' is an instance of the <code>core_renderer</code> class which is defined in lib/outputrenderers.php. Each method is clearly documented there, along with which is appropriate for use within the layout files.

'''$PAGE''' is an instance of the <code>moodle_page</code> class defined in lib/pagelib.php. Most of the things you will want to use are the properties that are all documented at the top of the file. If you are not familiar with PHP properties, you access them like $PAGE->activityname, just like fields of an ordinary PHP object. (However, behind the scenes the value you get is produced by calling a function. Also, you cannot change these values, they are '''read-only'''. However, you don't need to understand all that if you are just using these properties in your theme.)

The following is a very simple layout file to illustrate the different bits that make it up:
<code php>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->doctype() ?>
<html <?php echo $OUTPUT->htmlattributes() ?>>
<head>
<title><?php echo $PAGE->title ?></title>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->standard_head_html() ?>
</head>
<body id="<?php p($PAGE->bodyid) ?>" class="<?php p($PAGE->bodyclasses) ?>">
<?php echo $OUTPUT->standard_top_of_body_html() ?>
<table id="page">
<tr>
<td colspan="3">
<h1 class="headermain"><?php echo $PAGE->heading ?></h1>
<div class="headermenu"><?php echo $OUTPUT->login_info(); echo $PAGE->headingmenu; ?></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->blocks_for_region('side-pre') ?>
</td>
<td>
<?php echo core_renderer::MAIN_CONTENT_TOKEN ?>
</td>
<td>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->blocks_for_region('side-post') ?>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3">
<p class="helplink"><?php echo page_doc_link(get_string('moodledocslink')) ?></p>
<?php
echo $OUTPUT->login_info();
echo $OUTPUT->home_link();
echo $OUTPUT->standard_footer_html();
?>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->standard_end_of_body_html() ?>
</body>
</html>
</code>

We assume you know enough HTML to understand the basic structure above, but let's explain the PHP code since that is less obvious.
<code php>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->doctype() ?>
</code>
This occurs at the VERY top of the page, it must be the first bit of output and is responsible for adding the (X)HTML document type definition to the page. This of course is determined by the settings of the site and is one of the things that the theme designer has no control over.

<code php>
<html <?php echo $OUTPUT->htmlattributes() ?>>
</code>
Here we have started writing the opening html tag and have asked Moodle to give us the HTML attributes that should be applied to it. This again is determined by several settings within the actual HTML install.

<code php>
<?php echo $PAGE->title ?>
</code>
This gets us the title for the page.

<code php>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->standard_head_html() ?>
</code>
This very important call gets us the standard head HTML that needs to be within the HEAD tag of the page. This is where CSS and JavaScript requirements for the top of the page will be output as well as any special script or style tags.

<code php>
<body id="<?php p($PAGE->bodyid); ?>" class="<?php p($PAGE->bodyclasses); ?>">
</code>
Much like the html tag above we have started writing the body tag and have asked for Moodle to get us the desired ID and classes that should be applied to it.

<code php>
<h1 class="headermain"><?php echo $PAGE->heading; ?></h1>
<div class="headermenu"><?php echo $OUTPUT->login_info(); echo $PAGE->headingmenu; ?></div>
</code>
Here we are creating the header for the page. In this case we want the heading for the page, we want to display the login information which will be the current users username or a link to log in if they are not logged in, and we want the heading menu if there is one.

<code php>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->blocks_for_region('side-pre') ?>
</code>
Here we get the HTML to display the blocks that have been added to the page. In this case we have asked for all blocks that have been added to the area labelled ''side-pre''.

<code php>
<?php echo core_renderer::MAIN_CONTENT_TOKEN ?>
</code>
This is one of the most important calls within the file, it determines where the actual content for the page gets inserted.

<code php>
<?php echo $OUTPUT->blocks_for_region('side-post') ?>
</code>
Here we get the HTML to display the blocks that have been added to the page. In this case we have asked for all blocks that have been added to the area labelled ''side-post''.

<code php>
<?php
echo $OUTPUT->login_info();
echo $OUTPUT->home_link();
echo $OUTPUT->standard_footer_html();
?>
</code>
This final bit of code gets the content for the footer of the page. It gets the login information which is the same as in the header, a home link, and the standard footer HTML which like the standard head HTML contains all of the script and style tags required by the page and requested to go in the footer.

'''''Note''''': Within Moodle 2.0 most of the JavaScript for the page will be included in the footer. This greatly helps reduce the loading time of the page.

When writing layout files think about the different layouts and how the HTML that each makes use of will differ. You will most likely find you do not need a different layout file for each layout, most likely you will be able to reuse the layout files you create across several layouts. You can of course make use of layout options as well to further reduce the number of layout files you need to produce.

Of course as mentioned above if you are customising an existing theme then you may not need to create any layouts or layout files at all.

==Language File==

You need to create a language file for your theme with a few standard strings in it. At a minimum create a file called lang/en.theme_themename.php in your theme folder. For example, the 'standard' theme has a language file called lang/en/theme_standard.php.

You '''must''' define the following lines in your file (example is from standard theme, adapt as required):

<code php>
$string['pluginname'] = 'Standard';
$string['region-side-post'] = 'Right';
$string['region-side-pre'] = 'Left';
$string['choosereadme'] = 'This theme is a very basic white theme, with a minimum amount of
CSS added to the base theme to make it actually usable.';
</code>

Without the above you will get notices for the missing strings.

==Making use of images==
Right at the start when listing the features of the new themes system one of the features mentioned was the ability to override any of the standard images within Moodle from within your theme. At this point we will look at both how to make use of your own images within your theme, and secondly how to override the images being used by Moodle.
So first up a bit about images within Moodle,

# Images you want to use within your theme '''need''' to be located within your theme's pix directory.
# You can use sub directories within the pix directory of your theme.
# Images used by Moodle's core are located within the pix directory of Moodle.
# Modules, blocks and other plugins should also store their images within a pix directory.

So making use of your own images first up. Lets assume you have added two image files to the pix directory of your theme.

* /theme/yourthemename/pix/imageone.jpg
* /theme/yourthemename/pix/subdir/imagetwo.png

Notice that one image is a JPEG image, and the second is a PNG. Also the second image is in a subdirectory.

The following code snippet illustrates how to make use of your images within HTML, such as if you wanted to use them within a layout file.
<code php>
<img src="<?php echo $OUTPUT->pix_url('imageone', 'theme');?>" alt="" />
<img src="<?php echo $OUTPUT->pix_url('subdir/imagetwo', 'theme');?>" alt="" />
</code>

'''DO NOT''' include the image file extension. Moodle will work it out automatically and it will not work if you do include it.

In this case rather than writing out the URL to the image we use a method of Moodle's output library. Its not too important how that functions works but it is important that we use it as it is what allows images within Moodle to be over-rideable.

The following is how you would use the images from within CSS as background images.
<code css>
.divone {background-image:url([[pix:theme|imageone]]);}
.divtwo {background-image:url([[pix:theme|subdir/imagetwo]]);}
</code>
If this case we have to use some special notations that Moodle looks for. Whenever Moodle hands out a CSS file it first searches for all ''[[something]]'' tags and replaces them with what is required.

The final thing to notice with both of the cases above is that at no point do we include the images file extension.
The reason for this leads us into the next topic, how to override images.

From within a theme you can VERY easily override any standard image within Moodle by simply adding the replacement image to the theme's pix directory in the same sub directory structure as it is in Moodle.
So for instance we wanted to override the following two images:
# /pix/moodlelogo.gif
# /pix/i/user.gif
We would simply need to add our replacement images to the theme in the following locations
# /theme/themename/pix_core/moodlelogo.gif
# /theme/themename/pix_core/i/user.gif
''Note that we have created a '''pix_core''' directory in our theme. For module images we need a '''pix_mod''' directory. See [[Themes_2.0_How_to_use_images_within_your_theme|using images within your theme]] for the full story.

Now the other very cool thing to mention is that Moodle looks for not just replacements of the same image type (jpg, gif, etc...) but also replacements in any image format. This is why above when working with our images we never specified the images file extension.
This means that the following would also work:
# /theme/themename/pix_core/moodlelogo.png
# /theme/themename/pix_core/i/user.bmp

For a more detailed description of how this all works see the page on [[Themes_2.0_How_to_use_images_within_your_theme|using images within your theme]]

==Unobvious Things==
===Getting Your Theme to Appear Correctly in Theme Selector===
If you follow the examples on this page to the letter, when you go to the Theme Selector page you may be discouraged to find that your theme does not appear like the other themes do. In fact, instead of your theme's name, you will see something along the lines of <nowiki>[[pluginname]]</nowiki>.

To correct this, you must add the theme/THEMENAME/lang/en/theme_THEMENAME.php file, where THEMENAME is the name of the theme folder. Inside that file, add the string "$string['pluginname'] = 'THEMENAME'; ". Make THEMENAME the name of your theme, however you want it displayed in the Theme selector.

The screenshot for the theme should be about 500x400 px.

===Required theme divs===

Some parts of Moodle may rely on particular divs, for example the div with id 'page-header'.

Consequently all themes must include at least the divs (with the same ids) that are present in the 'base' theme.

Missing out these elements may result in unexpected behaviour within specific modules or other plugins.

==Appendix A==
===Theme options as of April 28th, 2010===
{| class="nicetable" id="theme_options_table"
|-
! Setting
! Effect
|-
| $THEME->'''csspostprocess'''
| Allows the user to provide the name of a function that all CSS should be passed to before being delivered.
|-
| $THEME->'''editor_sheets'''
| An array of stylesheets to include within the body of the editor.
|-
| $THEME->'''enable_dock'''
| If set to true the side dock is enabled for blocks
|-
| $THEME->'''hidefromselector'''
| Used to hide a theme from the theme selector (unless theme designer mode is on). Accepts true or false.
|-
| $THEME->'''filter_mediaplugin_colors'''
| Used to control the colours used in the small media player for the filters
|-
| $THEME->'''javascripts'''
| An array containing the names of JavaScript files located in /javascript/ to include in the theme. (gets included in the head)
|-
| $THEME->'''javascripts_footer'''
| As above but will be included in the page footer.
|-
| $THEME->'''larrow'''
| Overrides the left arrow image used throughout Moodle
|-
| $THEME->'''layouts'''
| An array setting the layouts for the theme
|-
| $THEME->'''name'''
| Name of the theme. Most likely the name of the directory in which this file resides.
|-
| $THEME->'''parents'''
| An array of themes to inherit from
|-
| $THEME->'''parents_exclude_javascripts'''
| An array of JavaScript files NOT to inherit from the themes parents
|-
| $THEME->'''parents_exclude_sheets'''
| An array of stylesheets not to inherit from the themes parents
|-
| $THEME->'''plugins_exclude_sheets'''
| An array of plugin sheets to ignore and not include.
|-
| $THEME->'''rarrow'''
| Overrides the right arrow image used throughout Moodle
|-
| $THEME->'''renderfactory'''
| Sets a custom render factory to use with the theme, used when working with custom renderers.
|-
| $THEME->'''resource_mp3player_colors'''
| Controls the colours for the MP3 player
|-
| $THEME->'''sheets'''
| An array of stylesheets to include for this theme. Should be located in the theme's style directory.
|}
===The different layouts as of August 17th, 2010===
{| class="nicetable" id="theme_layouts_table"
|-
! Layout
! Purpose
|-
| base
| Most backwards compatible layout without the blocks - this is the layout used by default.
|-
| standard
| Standard layout with blocks, this is recommended for most pages with general information.
|-
| course
| Main course page.
|-
| coursecategory
| Use for browsing through course categories.
|-
| incourse
| Default layout while browsing a course, typical for modules.
|-
| frontpage
| The site home page.
|-
| admin
| Administration pages and scripts.
|-
| mydashboard
| My dashboard page.
|-
| mypublic
| My public page.
|-
| login
| The login page.
|-
| popup
| Pages that appear in pop-up windows - no navigation, no blocks, no header.
|-
| frametop
| Used for legacy frame layouts only. No blocks and minimal footer.
|-
| embedded
| Embeded pages, like iframe/object embedded in moodleform - it needs as much space as possible
|-
| maintenance
| Used during upgrade and install. This must not have any blocks, and it is good idea if it does not have links to other places - for example there should not be a home link in the footer.
|-
| print
| Used when the page is being displayed specifically for printing.
|}

==See also==

* [[Themes 2.0 creating your first theme]] - A quick step by step guide to creating your first theme.
* [[Themes 2.0 overriding a renderer]] - A tutorial on creating a custom renderer and changing the HTML Moodle produces.
* [[Themes 2.0 How to use images within your theme]] - Explains how to use and override images within your theme.
* [[Themes 2.0 adding a settings page]] - Looks at how to add a setting page making your theme easily customisable.
* [[Themes 2.0 extending the custom menu]] - Customising the custom menu.
* [[Themes 2.0 adding courses and categories to the custom menu]] - Extending the custom menu further adding all categories + courses
* [[Themes 2.0 how to make the dock horizontal]] - Modifying the dock to make it horizontal.
* [[Themes 2.0 adding upgrade code]]
* [[Styling and customising the dock]] - How to style and customise the dock.
* [[Theme changes in 2.0]]
* [[Using jQuery with Moodle 2.0]]
* [[Themes 2.0 how to clone a Moodle 2.0 theme]]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvaU54uh-qA New themes in Moodle 2.0 video]

[[de:Designs 2.0]]
[[es:Temas 2.0]]

Themes FAQ

2011-07-31T13:40:15Z

Rcollman: /* Why is the new theme I uploaded not showing up in Theme Selector? */ Spell out

{{Themes}}
<p class="note">'''Please refer to [[TOC_with_notes#Themes|these notes]] before editing this page.'''</p>
== Theme Installation ==

=== How do I install a new theme? ===

# Unzip the .zip file to an empty local directory.
# Upload folder to your web server to the /moodle/theme/[Theme Name]. (Replace [Theme Name] with the name of the theme you have downloaded.) Ensure the new theme folder and its contents are readable by the webserver. Change Read and Write permissions (CHMOD) for the files and folder to 755 - Owner read/write/execute, Group read/execute, Everyone read/execute. Incorrect permissions may prevent display of the newly installed theme.
# Choose your new theme from within Moodle via ''Administration > Appearance > Themes > Theme selector'' (or ''Administration > Configuration > Themes'' in versions of Moodle prior to 1.7).

=== How do I install a new theme when using cPanel? ===

# Upload your new theme .zip file to your web server via cPanel.
# Then using cPanel install the new theme to your Moodle theme's folder. The new theme will be installed into its own folder at /moodle/theme/[mytheme] (where [mytheme] is the name of your new theme.
# Ensure the new theme folder and its contents are readable by the webserver. If necessary change Read and Write permissions (CHMOD) for the files and folder to 755 - Owner read/write/execute, Group read/execute, Everyone read/execute. Incorrect permissions may prevent display of the newly installed theme.
# Choose your new theme from within Moodle via ''Administration > Appearance > Themes > Theme selector'' (or ''Administration > Configuration > Themes'' in versions of Moodle prior to 1.7).

=== Why is the new theme I uploaded not showing up in Theme Selector? ===
You probably forgot to do something correctly. Here are steps to create a "new" theme from an existing theme called "standard". Bold show places you must change for the theme to appear.
#Copy folder theme/standard and call it theme/new
#In theme/new/lang/en folder,
##'''Renamed theme_standard.php to theme_new.php'''
#Opened theme/new/lang/en/new.php, recommend you change 2 lines to read something like:
##$string['pluginname'] = 'New theme - Martin D';
##$string['chooseredme'] = 'New theme came from the Standard theme and is being changed by Martin D in 2011';
##Saved the file
#In theme/new/config.php
##Change '''$THEME->NAME = 'new'''';
#Went to Settings > Site Administration >Appearance > Theme settings > Theme designer mode (Checked)
#Settings > Site Administration >Appearance > Theme selector
##Clear theme caches
##Select theme

:''Tip:'' There could be a number of problems with the theme you uploaded, but one major problem reported in the Themes Forum all point to the way in which the theme is uploaded on certain servers. Using the cPanel method, as described in the FAQ [[Themes_FAQ#How do I install a new theme when using cPanel?|How do I install a new theme when using cPanel?]] will, in most cases, cure the problem.

==How do I create a custom theme?==

See [[Creating a custom theme]] and/or [[Make your own theme]].

==Can I assign a specific theme to a course?==

Yes. In the course settings, use the "Force theme" dropdown box.

== Where shall I put my custom CSS code? ==

Instead of modifying the theme's CSS files you better put your own code in a separate CSS file and make your theme aware of that file by modifying its config.php file (be sure add your own CSS file as the last one in the list so that you will override all prior settings). See this posting for [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=128599#p564055 detailed instructions].

See also the instructions on creating your own theme mentioned above.

==How can I get the New Moodle2 theme for my site?==
Not till Moodle 2.x comes out and it will be a "sort of". The new look (refered to as "Moodle2") for Moodle.org was made public just before the close of 2008. The Moodle2 look has various things hard coded into its fabric. The good news is that many pieces of the look are available.
: See [[Themes 2.0]] for anything related to themes in Moodle 2.0.

==Will I lose my courses, language files, logo, etc. if I switch my theme?==
Switching themes only changes the appearance of your site, not the content within it. The logo is a part of the theme and will be lost when you switch.

Follow these instructions to [[Creating_a_custom_theme#Adding_a_Logo|add a logo]] to a theme.

== Are there tools which help me creating and editing themes? ==

=== Clear Cache Button ===
This useful Firefox add-on let's you add a button to your tool bar for easily clearing your cache while working on your theme: https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/1801

<p class="note">Please note that the following tools are only for development. They only change the way ''you'' see your Moodle site, not the Moodle site itself. Any changes you make using these tools will not be visible to anyone else who uses your site. For this you will have to make those changes permanent by changing your theme's CSS files for example.</p>

=== Firebug ===
The single most useful tool is the [[Firebug|Firebug]] add-on for the [[Firefox]] web browser. Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page... And there are additional add-ons for making Firebug an even more powerful tool.

==== Firebug enhancements ====
You can enhance Firebug even further. See [[Firebug]] for more information.

=== Web Developer Toolbar ===
Another great tool for any web developer is the [[Web developer extension]], another Firefox add-on. One very useful feature is the option to '''disable your browser's cache''' while working on your theme. That way you are sure you're always presented with your latest modifications and not with an older, cached version.

Now also available for Google's Chrome browser: [http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2010/03/23/chrome-web-developer-toolbar/ "The Web Developer Toolbar Comes to Chrome"]

=== Stylish ===
Modifications made with Firebug are lost when refreshing your page. If you want your CSS changes to be a bit more permanent, for example to try them with different pages of your Moodle installation, you can use another Firefox plugin: [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2108 Stylish]. That way you can change your site's CSS with a simple mouse click without having to change Moodle code.

See [[Stylish]] for detailed instructions and examples.

==== Stylish-Custom ====
This is an [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12105/ custom additions] to the Stylish extension which brings back features from 0.5.9 and adds new features.

== How do I check for cross-browser compatibility? ==
There are some tools (standalone and online) which can show you how your site looks in different browsers. See this [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=127746 forum discussion] for details.

== Concrete examples for modifying Moodle themes ==
<p class="note">
The following examples were taken from the former ''Theme Scrapbook'':
<br />
"The Moodle '''Theme Scrapbook''' is a collection of small how-to descriptions. You theme designers and Moodle users working with themes add your knowledge here to help new Moodle users with tips and tricks for their theme work.
<br />
Feel free to add to this list! Don't know how? Read our [[MoodleDocs:Guidelines_for_contributors|Guidelines for contributors]]."
</p>

=== Changing things ===

==== Colors ====
* [[Forcing the colour of the chat discussion pane (pop-up mode)]]
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=142765 Changing background colour of a topic box]
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=152357 How to change the colour of the popup event's header and background]

==== Logo and icons ====
* [[Alternate Icon Set|Using an alternate icon set in Moodle]]
* [[Favicon|Change the favicon that shows in front of the web address]]
* [[Footer replacement|Replace the logo in the footer with your web address and/or or own logo]]
*[[Header logo|Replace the logo in the header]]

==== Layout ====
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=136546 Overriding the $menu / $button variables] using PHP regular expressions in header.html
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=143411 Changing the view of course categories] - work in progress
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=145077 Sub categories and courses layout] - work in progress
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=151370 Tracker 'components' list too small]

=== Adding things ===
* [[Header logo|Adding a logo to the theme header]]
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=157935 How to add a different img-bullet to each category?]

=== Hiding things ===
* Hiding an element with CSS is generally achieved using the [http://reference.sitepoint.com/css/display display: none;] property on the element.
* See [[Print style]] and [[Stylish#Print style for Database records]] for an example how to hide parts of a page not meant for printing.

=== Moving things ===
* [[Center Forum Posts|Centre smaller forum posts on the page]]
* [[Footer positioning|Positioning the page footer]]
* [[Left-align quiz|Left align quiz questions and answers]]
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=121847 Indentation for nested categories]
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=128599 Positioning login and choose language field]
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=145179 Match question type - position answers nearer to the questions]
* [[Stylish#Fixed admin menue with CSS]]

=== Miscellaneous ===
* [[Fixed-width theme|Creating a fixed-width theme]]
* [[Homepage design|Homepage design of moodle.org]]
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=146763 Is there a way to fix oversized HTML Editor using CSS?]
* [[Category Design|Modifying the design of specific categories with CSS]]

==How can I see theme changes when using the Windows Complete Installer package==
In the [http://download.moodle.org/windows/ Windows Complete Installer package], the eAccelerator in the XAMPP install can cause some issues with changes to your theme's CSS and HTML files from showing.

Open the php.ini file inside of the server\php folder from your install in notepad and search for "eAccelerator" you should see a line that reads:
extension=eaccelerator.dll

Insert a semi-colon (turns the line into a comment) at the start of this line so it now reads:
;extension=eaccelerator.dll

Restart the Moodle server using the "stop moodle" and then the "start moodle" programs in your server folder. You should now find that all of your changes to your CSS are reflected as soon as you save the file and refresh your browser cache (usually you can refresh your cache by pressing F5). This FAQ from a discussion at [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=151562#p663950 Deactivating caching with XAMPP installations]

==What is new in themes in Moodle 2.0?==

A lot! See [[Themes 2.0]].

== See also ==

* Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?f=29 Themes forum]
* [[CSS FAQ]]
* [http://learn.open.ac.uk/mod/oublog/view.php?user=155976 "Understanding Moodle Themes"] - Blog post by [http://moodle.org/user/view.php?id=78896&course=5 Christopher Douce] (Open University)
* Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=149534 Testing 2.0. Use for modern vs old browsers] forum discussion

[[Category:FAQ]]

Question engine

2011-07-18T17:50:22Z

Rcollman: Question engine upgrade helper

{{Template:Question development}}

Moodle has a powerful question engine with a modular structure to allow question type plug-ins. The question engine is responsible for rendering the questions and for processing student responses. It is used by the [[Quiz developer docs|quiz module]] and it is planned that in future it will be used by the Lesson and other modules.

Historically the question engine started as a part of the quiz module. Only since Moodle 1.6 is it a separate core component of Moodle that can be used by any other Moodle component or module. During this restructuring the code was moved from mod/quiz/ to question/ and the tables and functions were renamed. Wherever the old table or function name contained 'quiz_' the new one will contain 'question_'

==Terminology==

When talking about the question engine there are certain terms that can cause confusion because they can be used with different meanings. In Moodle we have adopted a certain terminology that will be explained below.

===Questions===

A '''question''' is the set of definitions (question name, question text, possible answers, grading rules, feedback, etc.) that constitute a reusable assessment item. So it includes much more than what one would in everyday language call a question.
In the terminology of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QTI QTI] specification a 'question' is more appropriately called an '''assessment item''' or just 'item' for short.

There are different types of questions, like for example multiple-choice questions or numerical questions. These are referred to as '''[[Question engine#Question types|question types]]''' in Moodle.

Since version 1.5 Moodle is able to handle so-called '''[[Adaptive questions]]''', also known as 'adaptive items' in QTI speak. These are questions that interact with the student by going through several states depending on the student responses. For example a complicated mathematical question that is answered incorrectly, but is likely to be incorrect because of a common mistake, could provide the user with a hint towards this mistake, apply a penalty and allow a second attempt at this question. Quizzes can be run in 'adaptive mode', in which case Moodle provides buttons to mark each question individually.

===Answers===

In Moodle the term ''''answer'''' is used exclusively for the '''teacher-defined answers''' of a question. It is easy to get confused between these teacher-defined answers and the answers that the students actually give. We have therefore adopted the convention to refer to the student-supplied answers as 'responses' and to reserve the term 'answers' to apply to teacher-defined answers. In question types that rely on teacher-supplied answers these are used in the grading process by comparing them with the student responses. Of course not all question types use teacher-defined answers but use some more intelligent way to process the student responses.

Perhaps one should also stress that 'answer' is not always used in the sense of 'correct answer'. For example every choice in a multiple-choice question is referred to as an answer. Other systems use the term 'distractor' for wrong answers.

In Moodle we always use the term ''''responses'''' to refer to the students' responses to a question. This term is always used in plural, although for some questiontypes there is only one possible response.

There is unfortunately, for historical reasons, one exception to the above rule: The question_states table has a field 'answer' whose purpose it actually is to hold the student's responses.

===Attempts===

In Moodle the term ''''attempt'''' is used in the sense of "Attempt at a quiz" (or another activity involving questions). Depending on the quiz settings, a student may be allowed several attempts at a quiz. An attempt is finished when the student clicks on the corresponding button on the attempt page. Students do not have to complete an attempt in one visit. They can navigate away from the quiz page and return later to continue the same attempt.

Each module that uses the question engine should hold its own data for the attempts in its own tables. When the module calls the question engine functions it is often expected to pass an attempt object.

Within one and the same quiz attempt a student may make several attempts at answering a particular question, at least if the questiontype allows it and the quiz is set up in adaptive mode. These will always be referred to as ''''question sessions'''' or sometimes 'attempts at a question, never just as 'attempts'.

===Sessions, States, Events===

When a new attempt is started, a new '''session''' is started for each question. So in a sense a session is for a question what an attempt is for a whole quiz. A question session lasts no longer than an attempt and for each question there can only by one session within one attempt.

Moodle allows the student to interact with a question repeatedly within one session and each such interaction leads to a new '''state'''. The first state is created when the session is created. A new state is then created when a student saves, validates or submits an answer or .... The student's responses and, if appropriate, the results of response processing (grading) are stored in the new state that gets created.

The type of '''event''' that led to the creation of a particular state is saved along with the state. The types of events currently used are:
;open :A new session has just been created and this is the opening state. Usually it doesn't hold student responses yet (except where a quiz attempt is based on a previous attempt because the 'attemptonlast' option is set).
;save:The student has clicked the save button.
;validate:The student has asked for his responses to be validated. This means it is checked that they are valid responses. In the case of mathematical questions which requires the input of a mathematical expression in some linear format the question type may want to display the validated result back to the student in typeset form. Similar things may apply to other subject-specific question types. If a student response is found to be invalid the student is told so but no penalty is applied. The invalid response is stored with the state.
;grade:The student has pressed the submit button. The grade is calculated and stored with the attempt.
;duplicategrade:The student has pressed the submit button but the response to this question has not actually changed. This happens a lot in quizzes with several questions on one page where the student may have changed the responses for one question only. I believe that states created by this type of event are not stored in the database.
;close:The last state in a session which is now closed. Currently a session closes only when the attempt closes, either because the student requests it or because the timelimit elapses.

There are now plans to introduce another event type
;submit:The student has submitted his responses for grading but grading has not yet taken place. This will be used by teacher-marked question types like the essay questions for example.

==Code documentation==

The code is documented according to [http://www.phpdoc.org/ PHPdocumentor] conventions. The explanations here in the wiki are meant to complement this.

Inline comments should be used liberally in the code. The following conventions make it easier to search for comments with special meaning:
* use TODO in comments about things that need to be done
* use ??? in comments that are questions about the code

Code is organised into packages
* Package questionbank - code that relates to the questionbank system
** Subpackage questiontypes - code that relates to the question types, including the question type base class.
** Subpackage importexport - code that relates to importing and exporting questions.

Generally, the base classes default_questiontype and qformat_default should contain most of the documentation, since all question types should follow the same interface. There is no value in repeating the same information on all the various subclasses. The subclasses should concentrate on describing any new methods they have that do not come from the base class.

See the [http://manual.phpdoc.org/HTMLSmartyConverter/HandS/phpDocumentor/tutorial_phpDocumentor.quickstart.pkg.html#coding.phpcomments PHPdocumentor manual] for more advice on writing good comments.

Moodle PHPdocs can be seen here: http://phpdocs.moodle.org/.

==API==

The library lib/questionlib.php contains all functions that need to be available to any module wanting to use questions (this is new in Moodle 1.6, in Moodle 1.5 this was part of mod/quiz/locallib.php). Loading this library instantiates all questiontype classes by loading the questiontype.php files

A description of the API still needs to be written. Also lib/questionlib.php should be cleaned up a bit to distinguish between the API functions and the helper functions.

==Organisation==
The default questiontype class is defined in '''question/type/questiontype.php''' (in Moodle 1.5 this was still in mod/quiz/locallib.php). The individual questiontypes extend this class in their own questiontype.php file. For documentation of the questiontype classes one should often look at the documentation of the default question type because much of the documentation that is in the default class is not repeated in the other questiontype classes.

While questiontypes are realized as classes, the question engine is not written in a truly object-oriented way. Instead it follows the Moodle model of using objects mostly only as alternatives to arrays to hold database records. So none of the question, attempt, and state objects that play a central role in the module have any methods. Only the questiontype objects have methods. Strangely enough the quiz module instantiates one object of each questiontype class at the start and then reuses their methods for the different questions. If one is used to the Moodle way of programming then this is easy enough to handle.

==Objects and data structures==

Key to understanding how the question engine works is to understand how the different kinds of object work together. The most important ones are:

*Questions
*Attempts
*States

Questions are data created by the teacher. Attempts and States are data created by the student when interacting with a quiz.

The Moodle quiz module allows students to make several attempts at a quiz. Data about such an '''attempt''' is stored in an attempt object. The Moodle question engine was optimized to deal with such attempts and therefore every module wanting to use the question engine also has to implement the attempt object and pass it to many of the question engine functions. The attempt object holds for example information about how the quiz was randomized for this attempt and the ordering of the questions and answers.

Moodle allows students to interact repeatedly with a single question. So for example the student might initially just save an answer, later mark it, then correct it if it was marked incorrect. When the student first views a question within a particular attempt a '''question session''' and the first question state is created. Each time the student interacts with the question a new '''question state''' is created. So states are indexed by user id, attempt id and question id.

===Database structure===
All this data needs to be kept in Moodle's database. How this is achieved is explained on a separate page about the '''[[Quiz database structure]]''', which also contains a useful diagram.

As is customary in Moodle, most runtime objects simply represent the data from a particular database record. So for example a $quiz object has fields corresponding to all the fields in the [[Quiz database structure#quiz|quiz table]]. In some cases the objects have some additional fields that are added at runtime. This is particularly the case for $question and $state objects. These additional fields are also described on the page about the '''[[Quiz database structure]]'''. Many functions that are used to process these objects make use of the additional fields and it is therefore necessary to use the correct functions for creating these objects.

===Runtime objects===
Some objects used by the quiz module are purely runtime object and do not correspond to a database table. The structure of these objects is explained in detail on a separate page about the '''[[Quiz runtime objects]]'''.

The main script of the quiz module is attempt.php which will have to deal with all these objects. Studying the '''[[Quiz attempt|explanation of attempt.php]]''' is therefore a good way to start to study the quiz module code.

==Response storage==

The student's responses to a question are stored in <code>$state->responses</code>. Questiontypes are completely free to implement the storage mechanism of their responses (and other state information) the way they want. Still, the standard questiontypes all follow a similar model. The default storage model and the questiontype specific variations are explained below.

The flexibility for the questiontypes to choose their response storage mechanism freely and to convert from the storage model to the runtime model is provided by a set of three functions, which allow to initialise the runtime <code>$state->responses</code> field, to convert from the runtime to the storage model and vice versa:

;<code>create_session_and_responses()</code>
:Initializes the $state object, in particular the <code>$state->responses</code> field

;<code>restore_session_and_responses()</code>
:Loads the question type specific session data from the database into the <code>$state</code> object, in particular it loads the responses that have been saved for the given <code>$state</code> into the <code>$state->responses</code> field.

;<code>save_session_and_responses()</code>
:Saves the question type specific session data from the $state object to the database. In particular, for most questiontypes, it saves the responses from the <code>$state->responses</code> to the database.

The generic quiz module code saves the contents form the <code><nowiki>$state->responses['']</nowiki></code> field to the answer field in the [[Quiz database structure#quiz_states|quiz_states table]] and also automatically restores the contents of this field to <code><nowiki>$state->responses['']</nowiki></code>. This means that any questiontype, which only expects a single value as its response can skip the implementation of the three methods described above. All questiontypes that have multiple value responses need to implement these methods.

The default questiontypes handle this problem by serializing/de-serializing the responses to/from the answer field in the quiz_states table. However, it is also possible (and may be better practice) to extend the quiz_states table with a questiontype specific table, i.e. take the id of the quiz_states record as a foreign key in the questiontype specific table. Because the value of <code><nowiki>$state->responses['']</nowiki></code> is set to the value of the answer field, questiontypes that serialize their response need to overwrite (in <code>save_session_and_responses()</code>) whatever value the generic code set this field to with their serialized value (usually achieved with a simple set_field).

In the method <code>restore_session_and_responses()</code> the serialized value can be read from <code><nowiki>$state->responses['']</nowiki></code> because this is where the value from answer field of the quiz_states table has been moved. Care needs to be taken that this array value is then unset or the whole array overwritten, so that the array does not accidentally contain a value with the empty string index.

==Response processing==

The runtime model for responses dictates the structure of the $state->responses array. Starting with the names of the form elements this section goes through the relevant processing steps and thus attempts to clarify why the keys of the $state->responses array can differ for different questiontypes; even more, it explains how the array keys are chosen and set.

Although it may initially seem strange to start with the naming convention of the form fields, the reason for this will become clear later on. The controls (i.e. the form fields) of a question get printed by the method <code>print_question_formulation_and_controls()</code>. The convention only dictates that the name of the control element(s) must begin with the value of <code>$question->name_prefix</code>. The <code>$question->name_prefix</code> is a string starting with "resp" followed by the question id and an underscore, e.g. <code>resp56_</code>. In the default case, when there is only a single control element (this includes the case of a list of equally named radio buttons), no postfix is appended to the name prefix. For questiontypes that allow or require multiple form elements, an arbitrary string can be appended to the name prefix to form the name of these form elements. The postfix must not include any relational data (i.e. ids of records in the quiz_answers table), because this can lead to problems with regrading of versioned questions.

After the printing of the question the server only sees it again when it is submitted. So the submitted data will contain several values indexed by strings starting with <code>respXX_</code>. Upon submission, the function <code>quiz_process_responses()</code> is called, which assigns the submitted responses to the state of the question with id XX, using the postfix (i.e. everything after the underscore) as array keys. In the default case with only one control element the name only consists of the name prefix. This explains why the default index of the <code>$state->responses</code> array is the empty string. The value of each array element is obviously the value that was submitted by the form, basically a raw response.

The function <code>quiz_process_responses()</code> in turn calls the questiontype specific method <code>grade_responses()</code> to assign a grade to the submitted responses and <code>compare_responses()</code> to determine whether the response was identical to the previous submission and to avoid regrading the same responses repeatedly. These questiontype specific functions need to be aware of the expected keys of the <code>$state->responses</code> array.

Finally, the methods <code>restore_session_and_responses()</code> and <code>save_session_and_responses()</code> also need to know the questiontype specific layout of the <code>$state->responses array</code> and restore or save the information, e.g. by converting from or to the data representation.

==Question types==
{{Questiontype developer docs}}
The quiz module is itself modular and allows question type plug-ins. For each question type there should be a page, accessible via the menu at the right, which provides at least the details about
*Database tables
*Response storage
*Question options object
*State options object
[[Question type code flow]]

It is hoped that Moodlers will contribute a lot of non-core question types in the future. For this it would be good to start a [[How to write a question type plugin]].

==Grades==

The handling of grades is a bit complicated because there are so many different grades around that get rescaled and combined in various ways. This section should summarize how this is done and why.

The following grade fields are being used:
*$question->defaultgrade
::This is the default value for the maximum grade for this question. This is set up when the teacher creates the question and it is stored in an int(10) field in the [[Quiz database structure#quiz_questions|quiz_questions]] table. However when the question is actually used in a particular quiz the teacher can overrule this default and this is stored in:
*$question->maxgrade
::This is the maximum grade that the teacher has assigned to this question in the context of the current quiz. This is by default equal to $questions->defaultgrade but the teacher can change this when editing the quiz. In the database it is stored in an int(10) field in the [[Quiz database structure#quiz_question_instances|quiz_question_instances table]].
*$question->penalty

*$state->raw_grade
*$state->grade
*$state->penalty
*$state->sumpenalty

*$attempt->sumgrades

The maximum grades set by the teacher, $question->defaultgrade and $question->maxgrade, are integers. All student-obtained grades are in principle floating point numbers. For historical reasons they are stored in the database as varchar(10) fields. Care has to be taken when writing to the database to make sure all grades are correctly rounded and squeezed into a string of no more than 10 characters, otherwise the writing to database will fail, see bug 4220.

The final outcome of the calculation of the grade for a user at a particular quiz is stored in the 'grade' field of the [[Quiz database structure#quiz_grades|quiz_grades table]]. This field has type double.

==Penalty mechanism==

===What it is for===

When the quiz is run in adaptive mode the student can interact with a question repeatedly. So in particular the student can try again when he gets a wrong answer. Clearly the final mark for the question must reflect the fact that the student did not get it right originally. Therefore a penalty is subtracted from the final mark.

===How the penalty is determined===

First of all penalties are relevant only if a quiz is run in adaptive mode. Only in this case can a student have a second attempt and therefore only in this mode can there be any occasion to subtract a penalty.

Even in adaptive mode the penalty mechanism is only used when it is selected in the quiz options. If "Apply penalties" is set to "No" then the final mark for the question is the mark for the last graded response.

Each question has a 'penalty' field (which should really be called 'penaltyfactor') which is a number between 0 and 1. The penalty for a wrong response is calculated as the product ($quiz->penalty * $quiz->grade), i.e., as the product of the penaltyfactor with the maximum achievable grade for the question. This product is stored in $state->penalty. So $quiz->penalty is the fraction of the maximum grade that is subtracted as a penalty for each wrong response.

The $quiz->penalty field has a default value of 0.1, both in the database and in mod/quiz/defaults.php. This default can of course be overwritten by the admin on the quiz configuration page. This admin-selected default is (as usual for admin defaults) stored in $CFG->quiz_penalty. The teacher can choose a different penalty factor for each individual question when adding or editing a question. (In Moodle 1.8 the default value of 0.1 is actually hardcoded at line 87 of moodle/question/type/edit_question_form.php)

Now if a student makes repeated wrong attempts (or partially correct attempts) the penalties for all these attempts are added up in $state->sumpenalties. The mark for the question is then calculated as the mark for the last graded response minus the sum of the penalties.

One curious fact about $state->sumpenalties is that, for efficiency reasons, it is not stored in the quiz_states table but instead in the 'sumpenalty' field of the quiz_newest_states table. That way it only has to be stored once per attempt rather than once per response.

===Where it is done in the code===

The function quiz_apply_penalty_and_timelimit() subtracts the penalty in $state->sumpenalty from the raw grade in $state->raw_grade to obtain $state->grade for the response. However it is ensured that the grade of a new attempt at the question never falls below the previously achieved grade. This function also increases $state->sumpenalty by the amount in $state->penalty. The assumption is that $state->penalty has just been set appropriately by the code calling this function, e.g., quiz_process_responses.

==Files belonging to questions==

This talks about the situation in relation to the Moodle 2.0 file API.

===File areas===

There are various file areas associated with each question.

For example there is a file are 'questiontext', belonging to the 'question' core component, which stores any images or other embedded files used by the question text. There are also 'generalfeedback' and 'question_answer' file areas.

There may also be some file areas specific to each question type. For example the 'qtype_multichoice' component has a 'correctfeedback' file area (among others).

All these file areas belong to the context that is the context of $question->category.

===Serving files and access checks===

This is a bit complicated because, although the files belong to the question system or a particular question type, then whether the user should be able to see a particular file (for example an image in the general feedback) is influenced by whichever part of Moodle is using the question (for example the quiz module or question preview).

The easiest way to explain is probably to show the call-stack for determining whether a particular image is displayed, then you can go and read the code.

For the request .../pluginfile.php/123/question/questiontext/234/345/image.png for an impage in the questiontext of a question in a quiz attempt.

(here, 123 is the contextid, 234 if the attemptid (corresponding to question_attempts.id) and 345 is the questionid.)

# pluginfile.php
# question_pluginfile() ''in lib/questionlib.php''
# quiz_question_pluginfile() ''in mod/quiz/lib.php''
# quiz_attempt->check_file_access() ''in mod/quiz/attemptlib.php''
# question->check_file_access() ''in lib/questionlib.php''
# qtype_''whatever''->check_file_access() ''in question/type/whatever/quetsiontype.php''

If, instead, the question was appearing in the question preview pop-up window, the call stack would be

# pluginfile.php
# question_pluginfile() ''in lib/questionlib.php''
# '''question_preview_question_pluginfile()''' ''in question/previewlib.php''
# question->check_file_access() ''in lib/questionlib.php''
# qtype_''whatever''->check_file_access() ''in question/type/whatever/quetsiontype.php''

(the different bit is highlighted in bold).

If, instead, the image url was .../pluginfile.php/123/qtype_multichoice/correctfeedback/234/345/image.png, the call stack would be

# pluginfile.php
# '''qtype_multichoice_pluginfile()''' ''in question/type/multichoice/lib.php''
# question_pluginfile() ''in lib/questionlib.php''
# quiz_question_pluginfile() ''in mod/quiz/lib.php''
# quiz_attempt->check_file_access() ''in mod/quiz/attemptlib.php''
# question->check_file_access() ''in lib/questionlib.php''
# qtype_multichoice->check_file_access() ''in question/type/multichoice/quetsiontype.php''

Roughly speaking, qtype_whatever->check_file_access() takes the same $question, $state and $options objects as print_question_formulation_and_controls, so, for example, you can do the same permissions check when trying to access a file in the feedback as was done when deciding whether to display the feedback.

The quiz_question_pluginfile or question_preview_question_pluginfile functions are responsible for getting the right $question, $state, $options based on the $attemptid and $questionid in the URL. They also do some basic access checks.

All the other functions are really just about dispatching the request to the right place to be handled.

==Question engine upgrade helper 2.1 ==

''Site administration > Question engine upgrade helper'' has a menu to assist quiz conversion. It contains links for:
*List quizzes still to upgrade
*List already upgrade quizzes than can be reset
*Extract test case
*Config cron

[[Category:Question engine]]
[[Category:Quiz]]

lib/moodlelib.php

2011-01-08T14:57:37Z

Rcollman: fomat

moodlelib.php is the main library file of miscellaneous general purpose Moodle functions.

Other main libraries:
* weblib.php - functions that produce web output
* datalib.php - functions that access the database

lib/moodlelib.php

2011-01-08T14:56:37Z

Rcollman: no page link from Dev home page copied from heading

moodlelib.php is the main library file of miscellaneous general-purpose Moodle functions.

Other main libraries:
* - weblib.php - functions that produce web output
* - datalib.php - functions that access the database

Finding your way into the Moodle code

2011-01-08T14:44:38Z

Rcollman: /* See also */ put intro to moodle programming at top

This article is aimed at people totally new to Moodle development and have some PHP experience, if you don't have that experience please visit [[PHP for novices|PHP for novices]]. It is a few tips to help you get started with the mass of Moodle code.

Please feel free to add more tips here, but I think it is also good if we can keep this article quite short.

==Developer documentation==

If you have not already found it, the main source of developer documentation is [[Developer_documentation]].

==Finding a way in==

For finding where to start, you need to know that when you are looking at, for example, http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=82799, then the code for that is in /mod/forum/discuss.php, and you just need to follow through what it does.

It calls functions in the main Moodle libraries, and the three most important are:

*lib/moodlelib.php - general stuff.
*lib/weblib.php - things to do with output of HTML
*lib/dmllib.php - things to do with getting data in and out of the database.

==Understanding what you find==

As you look at the code, it is often a good idea, to insert statements like
debugging('In function require_login');
which will print the message above if it gets far enough so you know the code has not stalled before there, or
print_object($course);
which will print out a variable, showing you what it contains.

Variable like $course are often objects with lots of fields. Seeing what they contain will help you understand what is going on. The first of these prints out whatever text you give it, and information about the sequence of function calls that the code took to get there. (It only works if you go to ''Administration > Server > [[Debugging]]'', and turn the debug level to ALL or DEVELOPER.)

==Tools that can help==

*'''Eclipse''', for instance helps finding function definitions. You can hold down CTRL and click on the name of a function, it immediately jumps you to where that function is defined. ([[Setting_up_Eclipse]])
*'''Emacs'''
*'''Vim'''
*'''TextMate'''

See also [[Developer documentation#Tools]] and [[:Category:Developer tools]].

==See also==
* [http://dev.moodle.org/course/view.php?id=2 Introduction to Moodle Programming] a course at dev.moodle.org
* First posted at http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=82799#p366264
* [[Developer_documentation]]
* [[Overview]]
* [[ctags]]
* [http://blog.danpoltawski.co.uk/archives/2009-05-Secrets-of-Learning-Moodle-Development!.html "Secrets of Learning Moodle Development!"] by Moodle core developer [[User:Dan Poltawski| Dan Poltawski]]
* http://www.slideshare.net/tjh1000/a-basic-introduciton-to-the-moodle-architecture-5442122

Calculated question type

2010-12-23T13:15:57Z

Rcollman: think we could delete this page as well, no obsolete: page

#REDIRECT [[Calculated question type]]

User talk:Chris collman

2010-12-19T14:25:38Z

Rcollman: /* Comment from Derek */

Please add new comment sections at the top.
==A Quote you may like==
The growth of any craft depends on shared practice and honest dialogue among the people who do it. We grow by private trial and error, to be sure -- but our willingness to try, and fail, as individuals is severely limited when we are not supported by a community that encourages such risks" - The Courage to Teach; Palmer, 1998, p. 144

==Comment from Derek==
Just saw your name pop up a bit today as I engage with Moodle 2.0 file handling.

We have a new Moodle 2 site for a trial, mainly in NZ schools. [http://2011.moodle2.net.nz/ Moodle 2 Matters]
If you need a space to play at any stage you are welcome. [[User:Derek Chirnside|Derek Chirnside]] 02:54, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

::Thanks for the offer Derek. Saw the FAQs and decided that was a good idea so created a page and moved them. Your contribution got me thinking maybe could use a template:files in a bit. However, I am still getting my head around the new file system. Helen always seems to tell me 2 things: Thanks for your contribution and remember to keep it simple/plain/don't change that" (she is much more diplomatic than that, bless her). Templates and new pages tend to be where I get the most edits of my edits :) --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 14:24, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

== File Upload Size ==
Hi Chris,

I noticed that you made some changes to the [[File_upload_size]] page.

I have been thrashing a few ideas about this page round with Marc and Colin for a while ([[Talk:File_upload_size]]) and I think I am getting close to a format that will help users first discover the info they need before they ask the question "How do I increase the file upload size in Moodle?"

Anyway, I have finally found some time to have a look at it again. I have started a re-working of it from my user area on the docs. I am trying to take into account the idea of the matrix of questions Marc discussed. Have a look at it here [[User:Jon_Witts/file-upload-v2]] and leave any comments in the talk page and make any additions you see fit to make too.

Cheers

[[User:Jon Witts|Jon Witts]] 19:55, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
::Thanks Jon. Great use of a subpage. I jumped right in when I saw you added links, and left comments. I think we should be able to sift this out for the experienced and new user. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 13:26, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

== New Hampshire Moodlers ==
Way back when, Don S down in Nashua way asked me if I would like to talk about a New Hampshire Moodle user's group. Interesting. That was a small group at that time. Since then the list is really growing.

For example some overall agencies using/promoting/customizing Moodles in NH:
*Exeter Professional Development Center is developing the Portfolio module and trains K-12 Moodlers and does Moodle hosting for their stakeholders,
*North Country Educational Services (NCES in Gorham) promotes and trains North Country K-12 schools, and
*UNH Cooperative Extension is looking at it
*Other Professional Development Centers (groups of School Administration Units, funded in part by NH's Dept of Education) may also be promoting Moodle.
*The State Higher Ed (USNH) colleges and universities, along with the state community college system (NHCCS, formerly NHCTCS) all use Bb. Some individual teachers may use Moodle.

So I would guess as of October 2007 there are at least 15 to 25 schools and agencies using Moodle in New Hampshire.

==Changes to Development:Usability/Improve_Moodle_User_Experience_Consistency==
Hi Chris,

I appreciate you working on the docs, and thanks for adding a common GSOC 09 tag to [[Development:Usability/Improve_Moodle_User_Experience_Consistency]]. Is there a page which links all the pages tagged this way?

However, I am not so sure about your newer changes. Are these changes made according to a Moodle docs convention, or based on your own user research? I assume you have changed the other GSOC pages accordingly, too, but just mentioning you are making it more user friendly does not mean much. Mostly your changes are okay (though you haven't really communicated what are the users/usage scenarios you are aiming to make it more useful for so it is hard to tell if it is more "user friendly" [usable?] or not). To have the navigation to other related documents seems important to me to keep at the top of the page, and the "up to usability" link was there to make the hierarchical relationship to the more general Usability page clear (and as such "additional documentation" is not really appropriate).

--[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 12:34, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Having not heard from you, reverted the "up to usability" link back to how it was. --[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 09:59, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

Hm, I am not sure why Development:Usability also has the GSoC template - I am not really working on that this summer - is some other GSoCcer?

Would you like me to edit the template so that it would be a link to the GSoC'09 page itself - this way it would be easier to browse around the different GSOC sites with the help of the template?
Thanks.--[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 15:07, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

::Hi Olli, been flat out with other stuff and have not checked "my watchlist" in a few days. It was my understanding that someday some of the GSoC projects would become part of Moodle, thus my interest. I respect your changes.

::I thought you were working on this as a [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=121585 project for '09],and/or [[GSOC/2009#Improve_Moodle_user_experience_consistency]] my apologies. I usually stay away from the Development: stuff but am peeking in on the GSoC 09 forum this year to watch process.

::Usual MoodleDoc format is to put brief intro, then first heading, so TOC automatically inserts itself before the first heading and after the intro. Usual MoodleDocs convention is to put "See also" at bottom of page with links to outside sources, or internal page links that may also be useful but not clearly linked in the body of the page. I personally like to see functionality come before setup instructions in mature MoodleDoc pages used by teachers, but in the development space, I think anything goes. I can see where those links serve as history or precedent which is useful for developers. And not something teachers really care about, so different needs for different users :)

:: The reason for the Template is to alert people that this is '09 project. There is a [[:Category:GSOC]] a sub category of [[:Category:Project]] that seems to list student projects/. I thought about creating a template with links but most users do not flit between the projects. I was wondering if a sub category 09 might be better but decided that also too elaborate for the number of users who really were involved. I was going to go back and tag all the GSoC '09 projects with a category but ran out of time and put it on the potential roundtuit list.

:: Appreciate your comments, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Thanks for all your contributions to Moodle, as well. Best --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 18:49, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

::: Hi Chris,

::: I realize now that I was overtly harsh about your changes. Sorry about that. My project indeed is a GSoC project, and it makes sense to have the GSoC template on it. But Development:Usability is not directly related to this usability project, except by its subject area.

::: I find it fascinating that you know so much about Moodle Docs conventions. The reason for this is that my project is, in essence, a project to create easy-as-possible content to the Docs: UI guidelines. So I would really like to learn from you.

::: Oops, gotta go, will respond to the rest later. --[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 08:42, 27 May 2009 (UTC)
::::I have been mentored by Helen :) [https://docs.moodle.org/en/Special:Contributions/Rcollman Trial and error], watching our community edit and discuss pages, and paying attention to repeating issues raised in a couple of forums also has influenced my knowledge of what seems to work. We all live in ruts that we can not see out of without help, some of us know it and some of us don't :) Cultural Anthropology with 5 years of what might be called field experience taught me that before my brain became frozen at 25. Best --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 10:03, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

::::: Great :). As I am creating content on docs, too, do you think it might be possible to document, just briefly, the conventions we already use, and the relationship to other recommendations for using wikis, such as Wikipedia's? Or would you like to participate in the discussion, once we get that far, on [[Development:Usability/Improve_Moodle_User_Experience_Consistency/Detailed_project_plan#Examine_pattern_libraries_and_guidelines_for_content_and_information_architecture_.28week_24.29|the design of the future guidelines]] - which, although they are mostly for developers at this point - must critically be ''very'' easy to read, since usability is typically strange land for many developers. --[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 11:22, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

::::: If you have time, please have a look at Development:Progressive_Disclosure and comment. Thanks :) --[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 11:41, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

==Beginning Administration FAQ==
I liked your comments about the question:
Why am I just not getting how Permissions and Roles work?

This section really jumps around in my logic and needs more links. The intro is good because it addresses a problem I had/have :) But after that I would delete the rest. At a certain point the words revert to a description of a process, where authentication is mixed in with front page roles and terms of teacher, course creator and such and what happens when a user comes back from a course..... I think more links will help and maybe ask another question (or more) to focus upon why the mental block about permissions, contexts, capabilities, and roles. --chris collman 12:37, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes, you are probably right Chris, but my initial concern was to get the question up. Just go for it, I am not in the position I can spend a lot of time doing this until the end of September now. Cheers..

Your comment : (→How do I restore an older graphics course that is way over he file upload limit?: why someone would do this) It was worded the way it was for two reasons, first I rushed it and did not really think too hard about it, sorry, but then later when I realized it, and had time to fix it, you had already done so, thank you, saves me from looking like a complete blockhead..:) [[User:Colin Fraser|Colin Fraser]] 09:04, 12 December 2009 (UTC)Colin Fraser
::Hey Colin, that is why MoodleDocs is collaborative, we help the process along as we are able and so inclined. I saw that because I am recreating a 1.5.3 site on a new 1.9.7 server. I decided I better review the Beginning Admin FAQs for any hints about backups and users. I had just finishing reinventing the wheel using WinSCP, when I saw your FAQ which was one of the issues I had to deal with. I will confess that I tend not to look at those pages to edit, but obviously find them useful as I am sure others do as well. Thanks for your continued contributions to Moodle, especially on behalf of the new users! --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 11:59, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

== Thank you for catching my typo ==

https://docs.moodle.org/en/index.php?title=Unit_tests&diff=65278&oldid=65277 did rather change the meaning ;-)--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 14:51, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Keep doing the heavy lifting, sometimes I will find a grain of sand to put in the right place. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 11:39, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

== GIFT examples? ==

Chris, have you carefully tested the GIFT examples in Moodle. I am very inclined to say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" with these.--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 13:40, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

:Thank you Tim. I will check all of them this morning. I like humor but the subject of Grant's Tomb could be culturally inappropriate and the difference between being entombed above ground and buried will not be obvious many speakers of English. Of course any changes had better work :) --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 09:38, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

User talk:Chris collman

2010-12-19T14:24:01Z

Rcollman: /* A Quote you may like */ Thx Derek, nice work in Docs

Please add new comment sections at the top.
==A Quote you may like==
The growth of any craft depends on shared practice and honest dialogue among the people who do it. We grow by private trial and error, to be sure -- but our willingness to try, and fail, as individuals is severely limited when we are not supported by a community that encourages such risks" - The Courage to Teach; Palmer, 1998, p. 144

==Comment from Derek==
Just saw your name pop up a bit today as I engage with Moodle 2.0 file handling.

We have a new Moodle 2 site for a trial, mainly in NZ schools. [http://2011.moodle2.net.nz/ Moodle 2 Matters]
If you need a space to play at any stage you are welcome. [[User:Derek Chirnside|Derek Chirnside]] 02:54, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

::Thanks for the offer Derek. Saw the FAQs and decided that was a good idea so created a page and moved them. Your contribution got me thinking maybe could use a template:files in a bit. However, I am still getting my head around the new file system. Helen always seems to tell me 2 things: Thanks for your contribution and remember to keep it simple/plain/don't change that". Templates and new pages tend to be where I get the most edits of my edits :) --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 14:24, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

== File Upload Size ==
Hi Chris,

I noticed that you made some changes to the [[File_upload_size]] page.

I have been thrashing a few ideas about this page round with Marc and Colin for a while ([[Talk:File_upload_size]]) and I think I am getting close to a format that will help users first discover the info they need before they ask the question "How do I increase the file upload size in Moodle?"

Anyway, I have finally found some time to have a look at it again. I have started a re-working of it from my user area on the docs. I am trying to take into account the idea of the matrix of questions Marc discussed. Have a look at it here [[User:Jon_Witts/file-upload-v2]] and leave any comments in the talk page and make any additions you see fit to make too.

Cheers

[[User:Jon Witts|Jon Witts]] 19:55, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
::Thanks Jon. Great use of a subpage. I jumped right in when I saw you added links, and left comments. I think we should be able to sift this out for the experienced and new user. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 13:26, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

== New Hampshire Moodlers ==
Way back when, Don S down in Nashua way asked me if I would like to talk about a New Hampshire Moodle user's group. Interesting. That was a small group at that time. Since then the list is really growing.

For example some overall agencies using/promoting/customizing Moodles in NH:
*Exeter Professional Development Center is developing the Portfolio module and trains K-12 Moodlers and does Moodle hosting for their stakeholders,
*North Country Educational Services (NCES in Gorham) promotes and trains North Country K-12 schools, and
*UNH Cooperative Extension is looking at it
*Other Professional Development Centers (groups of School Administration Units, funded in part by NH's Dept of Education) may also be promoting Moodle.
*The State Higher Ed (USNH) colleges and universities, along with the state community college system (NHCCS, formerly NHCTCS) all use Bb. Some individual teachers may use Moodle.

So I would guess as of October 2007 there are at least 15 to 25 schools and agencies using Moodle in New Hampshire.

==Changes to Development:Usability/Improve_Moodle_User_Experience_Consistency==
Hi Chris,

I appreciate you working on the docs, and thanks for adding a common GSOC 09 tag to [[Development:Usability/Improve_Moodle_User_Experience_Consistency]]. Is there a page which links all the pages tagged this way?

However, I am not so sure about your newer changes. Are these changes made according to a Moodle docs convention, or based on your own user research? I assume you have changed the other GSOC pages accordingly, too, but just mentioning you are making it more user friendly does not mean much. Mostly your changes are okay (though you haven't really communicated what are the users/usage scenarios you are aiming to make it more useful for so it is hard to tell if it is more "user friendly" [usable?] or not). To have the navigation to other related documents seems important to me to keep at the top of the page, and the "up to usability" link was there to make the hierarchical relationship to the more general Usability page clear (and as such "additional documentation" is not really appropriate).

--[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 12:34, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Having not heard from you, reverted the "up to usability" link back to how it was. --[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 09:59, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

Hm, I am not sure why Development:Usability also has the GSoC template - I am not really working on that this summer - is some other GSoCcer?

Would you like me to edit the template so that it would be a link to the GSoC'09 page itself - this way it would be easier to browse around the different GSOC sites with the help of the template?
Thanks.--[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 15:07, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

::Hi Olli, been flat out with other stuff and have not checked "my watchlist" in a few days. It was my understanding that someday some of the GSoC projects would become part of Moodle, thus my interest. I respect your changes.

::I thought you were working on this as a [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=121585 project for '09],and/or [[GSOC/2009#Improve_Moodle_user_experience_consistency]] my apologies. I usually stay away from the Development: stuff but am peeking in on the GSoC 09 forum this year to watch process.

::Usual MoodleDoc format is to put brief intro, then first heading, so TOC automatically inserts itself before the first heading and after the intro. Usual MoodleDocs convention is to put "See also" at bottom of page with links to outside sources, or internal page links that may also be useful but not clearly linked in the body of the page. I personally like to see functionality come before setup instructions in mature MoodleDoc pages used by teachers, but in the development space, I think anything goes. I can see where those links serve as history or precedent which is useful for developers. And not something teachers really care about, so different needs for different users :)

:: The reason for the Template is to alert people that this is '09 project. There is a [[:Category:GSOC]] a sub category of [[:Category:Project]] that seems to list student projects/. I thought about creating a template with links but most users do not flit between the projects. I was wondering if a sub category 09 might be better but decided that also too elaborate for the number of users who really were involved. I was going to go back and tag all the GSoC '09 projects with a category but ran out of time and put it on the potential roundtuit list.

:: Appreciate your comments, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Thanks for all your contributions to Moodle, as well. Best --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 18:49, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

::: Hi Chris,

::: I realize now that I was overtly harsh about your changes. Sorry about that. My project indeed is a GSoC project, and it makes sense to have the GSoC template on it. But Development:Usability is not directly related to this usability project, except by its subject area.

::: I find it fascinating that you know so much about Moodle Docs conventions. The reason for this is that my project is, in essence, a project to create easy-as-possible content to the Docs: UI guidelines. So I would really like to learn from you.

::: Oops, gotta go, will respond to the rest later. --[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 08:42, 27 May 2009 (UTC)
::::I have been mentored by Helen :) [https://docs.moodle.org/en/Special:Contributions/Rcollman Trial and error], watching our community edit and discuss pages, and paying attention to repeating issues raised in a couple of forums also has influenced my knowledge of what seems to work. We all live in ruts that we can not see out of without help, some of us know it and some of us don't :) Cultural Anthropology with 5 years of what might be called field experience taught me that before my brain became frozen at 25. Best --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 10:03, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

::::: Great :). As I am creating content on docs, too, do you think it might be possible to document, just briefly, the conventions we already use, and the relationship to other recommendations for using wikis, such as Wikipedia's? Or would you like to participate in the discussion, once we get that far, on [[Development:Usability/Improve_Moodle_User_Experience_Consistency/Detailed_project_plan#Examine_pattern_libraries_and_guidelines_for_content_and_information_architecture_.28week_24.29|the design of the future guidelines]] - which, although they are mostly for developers at this point - must critically be ''very'' easy to read, since usability is typically strange land for many developers. --[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 11:22, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

::::: If you have time, please have a look at Development:Progressive_Disclosure and comment. Thanks :) --[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 11:41, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

==Beginning Administration FAQ==
I liked your comments about the question:
Why am I just not getting how Permissions and Roles work?

This section really jumps around in my logic and needs more links. The intro is good because it addresses a problem I had/have :) But after that I would delete the rest. At a certain point the words revert to a description of a process, where authentication is mixed in with front page roles and terms of teacher, course creator and such and what happens when a user comes back from a course..... I think more links will help and maybe ask another question (or more) to focus upon why the mental block about permissions, contexts, capabilities, and roles. --chris collman 12:37, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes, you are probably right Chris, but my initial concern was to get the question up. Just go for it, I am not in the position I can spend a lot of time doing this until the end of September now. Cheers..

Your comment : (→How do I restore an older graphics course that is way over he file upload limit?: why someone would do this) It was worded the way it was for two reasons, first I rushed it and did not really think too hard about it, sorry, but then later when I realized it, and had time to fix it, you had already done so, thank you, saves me from looking like a complete blockhead..:) [[User:Colin Fraser|Colin Fraser]] 09:04, 12 December 2009 (UTC)Colin Fraser
::Hey Colin, that is why MoodleDocs is collaborative, we help the process along as we are able and so inclined. I saw that because I am recreating a 1.5.3 site on a new 1.9.7 server. I decided I better review the Beginning Admin FAQs for any hints about backups and users. I had just finishing reinventing the wheel using WinSCP, when I saw your FAQ which was one of the issues I had to deal with. I will confess that I tend not to look at those pages to edit, but obviously find them useful as I am sure others do as well. Thanks for your continued contributions to Moodle, especially on behalf of the new users! --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 11:59, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

== Thank you for catching my typo ==

https://docs.moodle.org/en/index.php?title=Unit_tests&diff=65278&oldid=65277 did rather change the meaning ;-)--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 14:51, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Keep doing the heavy lifting, sometimes I will find a grain of sand to put in the right place. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 11:39, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

== GIFT examples? ==

Chris, have you carefully tested the GIFT examples in Moodle. I am very inclined to say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" with these.--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 13:40, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

:Thank you Tim. I will check all of them this morning. I like humor but the subject of Grant's Tomb could be culturally inappropriate and the difference between being entombed above ground and buried will not be obvious many speakers of English. Of course any changes had better work :) --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 09:38, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

User:Chris collman/handyformats

2010-12-18T18:42:47Z

Rcollman: /* Wiki TOC codes */ #toc works

This page is for handy formats I use in MoodleDocs. Either I need a place to put links to what I think are successful formats and/or put examples here. In Wikimedia I use a subpage to format my library books. In MoodleDocs I want

==A table==

{| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
|-
| abc || def || ghi
|- style="height:100px"
| jkl || style="width:200px" |mno || pqr
|-
| stu || vwx || yz
|}
==A nice table==

{| class="nicetable"
|-
!What it looks like
!What you type
|-
| A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}

| <pre><nowiki>A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}
</nowiki></pre>
|}

Note, the class="nicetable" is our local hack for Moodledocs. You can leave it out to get a table without borders.

==A table with picture==

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
|-
|[[Image:Edit.gif]]|| Edit text ||[[Image:Open.gif]] || Open ||[[Image:Delete.gif]] || Delete ||[[Image:Move.gif]] ||Move
|-
||[[Image:All.gif]] ||See all topics||[[Image:Closed.gif]] ||Close||[[Image:Right.gif]] || Indent ||[[Image:Movehere.gif]] || Move here
|-
||[[Image:One.gif]] || See one topic||[[Image:Help.gif]] ||Help || || ||[[Image:Marker.gif]] ||Make Current
|}
<br>

==Picture formats==
frame
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]</nowiki>
thumb example resized
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]</nowiki>

== Modules and plugins ==
==See also==
*[Place http address for M&P entry here Name of Entry here] is a Modules and plugins database page that has downloads and more information.
*Discussions: [Place http address for moodle forum or forum thread]
**Please create or find a discussion topic in the <nowiki>[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=44 Contributed Code forum]</nowiki>
**The contributor also maintains a Moodle site that contains one or more [Place http address forums using and supporting xxx], outside of Moodle.org .
*Additional documentation
**[Place http address outside page Moodle] (outside of Moodle.org)
* [Place http address for M&P download put name here] for Moodle 2.0

==Forgotten templates ==
*Note format <br>
<nowiki><p class="note">'''Note:''' Moodle 2.0 has a new HTML editor. For details of the HTML editor in Moodle prior to 2.0, see [[HTML editor]].</p></nowiki>

* Update template <br>
<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki>

*Gallery format

<nowiki><gallery></nowiki> <br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo|This is the a Moodle logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki></gallery></nowiki><br>

* Gallery - fancy <br>
<nowiki><gallery caption="Possible screenshots" widths="225px" heights="120px" perrow="3"></nowiki>

==Other wiki codes==
<strike>Strikeout</strike> can be achieved by <nowiki><strike>Strikeout </strike></nowiki>. I find this useful as a tool for visually marking text to be moved or changed.

* <nowiki>#redirect [[Adding a content page]]</nowiki>
*<u>underline</u> -- No! No! No! underline is an evil abomination on the web, for anything other than links. People expect online text with an underline t be click-able. If you want to emphasise something, use bold or italic.--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 20:15, 9 December 2010 (UTC) -- Sorry for the interruption.
:Evil abomination for all those who color blind and bald headed? Point noted and taken. However, I saw "Moodle '''IS''' an online.." and all I could think of was "Moodle Information Systems" and my brain froze :) Interrupt any time.--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 17:32, 10 December 2010 (UTC)

==Wiki TOC codes==

* <nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki> forces placement of Table of Contents at this spot
* <nowiki>{{TOCright}}</nowiki> interesting, sort of in the template postion.
* <nowiki>[[#toc|Top]]</nowiki> - Links back to Table of Contents, says "Top"
*<nowiki>__FORCETOC__</nowiki> = for less than 4 entries to create toc
*<nowiki>__NOTOC__</nowiki>

==Note to self==
Template for update section as a special page?

<nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

These templates work

<nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> Listed on special pages

<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki> Not listed on special pages

User:Chris collman/handyformats

2010-12-18T18:40:52Z

Rcollman: /* Wiki TOC codes */ __SECTIONLINKTOTOP__ that might be handy

This page is for handy formats I use in MoodleDocs. Either I need a place to put links to what I think are successful formats and/or put examples here. In Wikimedia I use a subpage to format my library books. In MoodleDocs I want

==A table==

{| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
|-
| abc || def || ghi
|- style="height:100px"
| jkl || style="width:200px" |mno || pqr
|-
| stu || vwx || yz
|}
==A nice table==

{| class="nicetable"
|-
!What it looks like
!What you type
|-
| A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}

| <pre><nowiki>A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}
</nowiki></pre>
|}

Note, the class="nicetable" is our local hack for Moodledocs. You can leave it out to get a table without borders.

==A table with picture==

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
|-
|[[Image:Edit.gif]]|| Edit text ||[[Image:Open.gif]] || Open ||[[Image:Delete.gif]] || Delete ||[[Image:Move.gif]] ||Move
|-
||[[Image:All.gif]] ||See all topics||[[Image:Closed.gif]] ||Close||[[Image:Right.gif]] || Indent ||[[Image:Movehere.gif]] || Move here
|-
||[[Image:One.gif]] || See one topic||[[Image:Help.gif]] ||Help || || ||[[Image:Marker.gif]] ||Make Current
|}
<br>

==Picture formats==
frame
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]</nowiki>
thumb example resized
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]</nowiki>

== Modules and plugins ==
==See also==
*[Place http address for M&P entry here Name of Entry here] is a Modules and plugins database page that has downloads and more information.
*Discussions: [Place http address for moodle forum or forum thread]
**Please create or find a discussion topic in the <nowiki>[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=44 Contributed Code forum]</nowiki>
**The contributor also maintains a Moodle site that contains one or more [Place http address forums using and supporting xxx], outside of Moodle.org .
*Additional documentation
**[Place http address outside page Moodle] (outside of Moodle.org)
* [Place http address for M&P download put name here] for Moodle 2.0

==Forgotten templates ==
*Note format <br>
<nowiki><p class="note">'''Note:''' Moodle 2.0 has a new HTML editor. For details of the HTML editor in Moodle prior to 2.0, see [[HTML editor]].</p></nowiki>

* Update template <br>
<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki>

*Gallery format

<nowiki><gallery></nowiki> <br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo|This is the a Moodle logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki></gallery></nowiki><br>

* Gallery - fancy <br>
<nowiki><gallery caption="Possible screenshots" widths="225px" heights="120px" perrow="3"></nowiki>

==Other wiki codes==
<strike>Strikeout</strike> can be achieved by <nowiki><strike>Strikeout </strike></nowiki>. I find this useful as a tool for visually marking text to be moved or changed.

* <nowiki>#redirect [[Adding a content page]]</nowiki>
*<u>underline</u> -- No! No! No! underline is an evil abomination on the web, for anything other than links. People expect online text with an underline t be click-able. If you want to emphasise something, use bold or italic.--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 20:15, 9 December 2010 (UTC) -- Sorry for the interruption.
:Evil abomination for all those who color blind and bald headed? Point noted and taken. However, I saw "Moodle '''IS''' an online.." and all I could think of was "Moodle Information Systems" and my brain froze :) Interrupt any time.--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 17:32, 10 December 2010 (UTC)

==Wiki TOC codes==

* <nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki> forces placement of Table of Contents at this spot
* <nowiki>{{TOCright}}</nowiki> interesting, sort of in the template postion.
* <nowiki>[[#toc|top]]</nowiki> - [[#toc]] got to find what puts link to top section. Does not work
*<nowiki>__FORCETOC__</nowiki> = for less than 4 entries to create toc
*<nowiki>__NOTOC__</nowiki>
*__SECTIONLINKTOTOP__

==Note to self==
Template for update section as a special page?

<nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

These templates work

<nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> Listed on special pages

<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki> Not listed on special pages

User:Chris collman/handyformats

2010-12-18T18:37:48Z

Rcollman: /* Wiki TOC codes */ maybe #toc ?

This page is for handy formats I use in MoodleDocs. Either I need a place to put links to what I think are successful formats and/or put examples here. In Wikimedia I use a subpage to format my library books. In MoodleDocs I want

==A table==

{| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
|-
| abc || def || ghi
|- style="height:100px"
| jkl || style="width:200px" |mno || pqr
|-
| stu || vwx || yz
|}
==A nice table==

{| class="nicetable"
|-
!What it looks like
!What you type
|-
| A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}

| <pre><nowiki>A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}
</nowiki></pre>
|}

Note, the class="nicetable" is our local hack for Moodledocs. You can leave it out to get a table without borders.

==A table with picture==

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
|-
|[[Image:Edit.gif]]|| Edit text ||[[Image:Open.gif]] || Open ||[[Image:Delete.gif]] || Delete ||[[Image:Move.gif]] ||Move
|-
||[[Image:All.gif]] ||See all topics||[[Image:Closed.gif]] ||Close||[[Image:Right.gif]] || Indent ||[[Image:Movehere.gif]] || Move here
|-
||[[Image:One.gif]] || See one topic||[[Image:Help.gif]] ||Help || || ||[[Image:Marker.gif]] ||Make Current
|}
<br>

==Picture formats==
frame
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]</nowiki>
thumb example resized
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]</nowiki>

== Modules and plugins ==
==See also==
*[Place http address for M&P entry here Name of Entry here] is a Modules and plugins database page that has downloads and more information.
*Discussions: [Place http address for moodle forum or forum thread]
**Please create or find a discussion topic in the <nowiki>[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=44 Contributed Code forum]</nowiki>
**The contributor also maintains a Moodle site that contains one or more [Place http address forums using and supporting xxx], outside of Moodle.org .
*Additional documentation
**[Place http address outside page Moodle] (outside of Moodle.org)
* [Place http address for M&P download put name here] for Moodle 2.0

==Forgotten templates ==
*Note format <br>
<nowiki><p class="note">'''Note:''' Moodle 2.0 has a new HTML editor. For details of the HTML editor in Moodle prior to 2.0, see [[HTML editor]].</p></nowiki>

* Update template <br>
<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki>

*Gallery format

<nowiki><gallery></nowiki> <br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo|This is the a Moodle logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki></gallery></nowiki><br>

* Gallery - fancy <br>
<nowiki><gallery caption="Possible screenshots" widths="225px" heights="120px" perrow="3"></nowiki>

==Other wiki codes==
<strike>Strikeout</strike> can be achieved by <nowiki><strike>Strikeout </strike></nowiki>. I find this useful as a tool for visually marking text to be moved or changed.

* <nowiki>#redirect [[Adding a content page]]</nowiki>
*<u>underline</u> -- No! No! No! underline is an evil abomination on the web, for anything other than links. People expect online text with an underline t be click-able. If you want to emphasise something, use bold or italic.--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 20:15, 9 December 2010 (UTC) -- Sorry for the interruption.
:Evil abomination for all those who color blind and bald headed? Point noted and taken. However, I saw "Moodle '''IS''' an online.." and all I could think of was "Moodle Information Systems" and my brain froze :) Interrupt any time.--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 17:32, 10 December 2010 (UTC)

==Wiki TOC codes==

* <nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki> forces placement of Table of Contents at this spot
* <nowiki>{{TOCright}}</nowiki> interesting, sort of in the template postion.
* <nowiki>[[#toc|top]]</nowiki> - got to find what puts link to top section. Does not work
*<nowiki>__FORCETOC__</nowiki> = for less than 4 entries to create toc
*<nowiki>__NOTOC__</nowiki>
*

==Note to self==
Template for update section as a special page?

<nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

These templates work

<nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> Listed on special pages

<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki> Not listed on special pages

User:Chris collman/handyformats

2010-12-18T18:13:20Z

Rcollman: /* Wiki TOC codes */ #top does not work, where did I use that?

This page is for handy formats I use in MoodleDocs. Either I need a place to put links to what I think are successful formats and/or put examples here. In Wikimedia I use a subpage to format my library books. In MoodleDocs I want

==A table==

{| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
|-
| abc || def || ghi
|- style="height:100px"
| jkl || style="width:200px" |mno || pqr
|-
| stu || vwx || yz
|}
==A nice table==

{| class="nicetable"
|-
!What it looks like
!What you type
|-
| A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}

| <pre><nowiki>A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}
</nowiki></pre>
|}

Note, the class="nicetable" is our local hack for Moodledocs. You can leave it out to get a table without borders.

==A table with picture==

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
|-
|[[Image:Edit.gif]]|| Edit text ||[[Image:Open.gif]] || Open ||[[Image:Delete.gif]] || Delete ||[[Image:Move.gif]] ||Move
|-
||[[Image:All.gif]] ||See all topics||[[Image:Closed.gif]] ||Close||[[Image:Right.gif]] || Indent ||[[Image:Movehere.gif]] || Move here
|-
||[[Image:One.gif]] || See one topic||[[Image:Help.gif]] ||Help || || ||[[Image:Marker.gif]] ||Make Current
|}
<br>

==Picture formats==
frame
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]</nowiki>
thumb example resized
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]</nowiki>

== Modules and plugins ==
==See also==
*[Place http address for M&P entry here Name of Entry here] is a Modules and plugins database page that has downloads and more information.
*Discussions: [Place http address for moodle forum or forum thread]
**Please create or find a discussion topic in the <nowiki>[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=44 Contributed Code forum]</nowiki>
**The contributor also maintains a Moodle site that contains one or more [Place http address forums using and supporting xxx], outside of Moodle.org .
*Additional documentation
**[Place http address outside page Moodle] (outside of Moodle.org)
* [Place http address for M&P download put name here] for Moodle 2.0

==Forgotten templates ==
*Note format <br>
<nowiki><p class="note">'''Note:''' Moodle 2.0 has a new HTML editor. For details of the HTML editor in Moodle prior to 2.0, see [[HTML editor]].</p></nowiki>

* Update template <br>
<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki>

*Gallery format

<nowiki><gallery></nowiki> <br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo|This is the a Moodle logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki></gallery></nowiki><br>

* Gallery - fancy <br>
<nowiki><gallery caption="Possible screenshots" widths="225px" heights="120px" perrow="3"></nowiki>

==Other wiki codes==
<strike>Strikeout</strike> can be achieved by <nowiki><strike>Strikeout </strike></nowiki>. I find this useful as a tool for visually marking text to be moved or changed.

* <nowiki>#redirect [[Adding a content page]]</nowiki>
*<u>underline</u> -- No! No! No! underline is an evil abomination on the web, for anything other than links. People expect online text with an underline t be click-able. If you want to emphasise something, use bold or italic.--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 20:15, 9 December 2010 (UTC) -- Sorry for the interruption.
:Evil abomination for all those who color blind and bald headed? Point noted and taken. However, I saw "Moodle '''IS''' an online.." and all I could think of was "Moodle Information Systems" and my brain froze :) Interrupt any time.--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 17:32, 10 December 2010 (UTC)

==Wiki TOC codes==

* <nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki> forces placement of Table of Contents at this spot

* <nowiki>{{TOCright}}</nowiki> interesting, sort of in the template postion.

* <nowiki>[[#Top|top]]</nowiki> - got to find what puts link to top section. Does not work

==Note to self==
Template for update section as a special page?

<nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

These templates work

<nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> Listed on special pages

<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki> Not listed on special pages

User:Chris collman/handyformats

2010-12-18T18:11:41Z

Rcollman: /* Note to self */ added some TOC features, only use 2 of them

This page is for handy formats I use in MoodleDocs. Either I need a place to put links to what I think are successful formats and/or put examples here. In Wikimedia I use a subpage to format my library books. In MoodleDocs I want

==A table==

{| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
|-
| abc || def || ghi
|- style="height:100px"
| jkl || style="width:200px" |mno || pqr
|-
| stu || vwx || yz
|}
==A nice table==

{| class="nicetable"
|-
!What it looks like
!What you type
|-
| A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}

| <pre><nowiki>A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}
</nowiki></pre>
|}

Note, the class="nicetable" is our local hack for Moodledocs. You can leave it out to get a table without borders.

==A table with picture==

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
|-
|[[Image:Edit.gif]]|| Edit text ||[[Image:Open.gif]] || Open ||[[Image:Delete.gif]] || Delete ||[[Image:Move.gif]] ||Move
|-
||[[Image:All.gif]] ||See all topics||[[Image:Closed.gif]] ||Close||[[Image:Right.gif]] || Indent ||[[Image:Movehere.gif]] || Move here
|-
||[[Image:One.gif]] || See one topic||[[Image:Help.gif]] ||Help || || ||[[Image:Marker.gif]] ||Make Current
|}
<br>

==Picture formats==
frame
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]</nowiki>
thumb example resized
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]</nowiki>

== Modules and plugins ==
==See also==
*[Place http address for M&P entry here Name of Entry here] is a Modules and plugins database page that has downloads and more information.
*Discussions: [Place http address for moodle forum or forum thread]
**Please create or find a discussion topic in the <nowiki>[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=44 Contributed Code forum]</nowiki>
**The contributor also maintains a Moodle site that contains one or more [Place http address forums using and supporting xxx], outside of Moodle.org .
*Additional documentation
**[Place http address outside page Moodle] (outside of Moodle.org)
* [Place http address for M&P download put name here] for Moodle 2.0

==Forgotten templates ==
*Note format <br>
<nowiki><p class="note">'''Note:''' Moodle 2.0 has a new HTML editor. For details of the HTML editor in Moodle prior to 2.0, see [[HTML editor]].</p></nowiki>

* Update template <br>
<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki>

*Gallery format

<nowiki><gallery></nowiki> <br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo|This is the a Moodle logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki></gallery></nowiki><br>

* Gallery - fancy <br>
<nowiki><gallery caption="Possible screenshots" widths="225px" heights="120px" perrow="3"></nowiki>

==Other wiki codes==
<strike>Strikeout</strike> can be achieved by <nowiki><strike>Strikeout </strike></nowiki>. I find this useful as a tool for visually marking text to be moved or changed.

* <nowiki>#redirect [[Adding a content page]]</nowiki>
*<u>underline</u> -- No! No! No! underline is an evil abomination on the web, for anything other than links. People expect online text with an underline t be click-able. If you want to emphasise something, use bold or italic.--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 20:15, 9 December 2010 (UTC) -- Sorry for the interruption.
:Evil abomination for all those who color blind and bald headed? Point noted and taken. However, I saw "Moodle '''IS''' an online.." and all I could think of was "Moodle Information Systems" and my brain froze :) Interrupt any time.--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 17:32, 10 December 2010 (UTC)

==Wiki TOC codes==

* <nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki> forces placement of Table of Contents at this spot

* <nowiki>{{TOCright}}</nowiki> interesting, sort of in the template postion.

* [[#Top|top]] puts link to top section. Better check this

==Note to self==
Template for update section as a special page?

<nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

These templates work

<nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> Listed on special pages

<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki> Not listed on special pages

User:Chris collman/sandbox2

2010-12-17T13:14:52Z

Rcollman:

Chris Collman uses this sub page as a sandbox for testing out ideas in Moodle.org's documentation wiki. It changes. If you would like to know more about Chris see [[User:chris collman]] here a moodle.org

{{Moodle 2.0}}
Settings block>Lesson administration>Settings

The updating a lesson window is show when adding a lesson for the first time or by following links in the "Settings block" while in a Lesson. By clicking on "Advanced features" button, more options can be displayed.

==General==
*Name
*Time limit - if enabled, set time in minutes
**Available from - if enabled
**Day Month Year Hour Minute - set when lesson can be seen by students
**Enable - check if you want this feature
*Deadline - if enabled
**Day Month Year Hour Minute - set when lesson is closed for students
**Enable - check if you want this feature
*Maximum number of answers/branches - set number (2-20)

===Advanced general options===
*Password protected lesson - Yes/No
**Password, with mask unmask

==Grade options==
*Practice lesson - Yes/No
*Custom scoring - Yes/No
*Maximum grade - set value
*Re-takes allowed - Yes/No
*Handling of re-takes - if allowed then use either mean score or max score
*Display ongoing score - Yes/No

===Advanced grade options===
None
==Flow control==
*Allow student review - Yes/No
*Display review button - Yes/No
*Maximum number of attempts - set number of attempts before lesson automatically advances to "next page".
*Display default feedback - Yes/No
*Progress bar - Yes/No
*Display left menu - Yes/No

===Advanced flow control options===
*Action after correct answer - "Normal", "Show unseen", "Show unanswered"
*Display left menu only if grade greater than - select number from 0% - 100%
*Number of pages to show- Number of pages to show when slideshow is enabled
*Slideshow - Yes/No
*Link to and activity - pull down list with all course activities

==Popup==
Pop-up to file or web page - Choose a file or page
===Advanced popup options===
None

==Dependent on==
Dependent on - select lesson this lesson is dependent upon
Time spent - set minimum number of minutes in dependent lesson to enter this one
Completed - check if must complete dependent lesson to enter this one
Grade better than - set minimum percentage grade in dependent lesson to enter this one
===Advanced dependent on options===
None

==Common module settings==
Visible - Check if visible to students
ID Number - Field to put id number used in grading

===Advanced common module options===
Grouping - Yes/no, must be enabled in course settings
Available for group members Available for group members only

==Save-Cancel options==
You can cancel any changes you made, or save them and return to the course, or save them and display the current lesson.

User:Chris collman

2010-12-17T13:10:34Z

Rcollman: update a bit

Hi,
I have over 4 years experience at being a perpetual new user and helping new users who come to Moodle.org. Yes, I might change my picture whenever I feel like it at [http://moodle.org/user/pix.php/105471/f1.jpg my photo at Moodle.org] My [http://moodle.org/user/view.php?id=105471&course=1 Moodle profile] tells a different version of my story.

In December 2010, I am spending more volunteer time in Moodle Docs. Slowly working with the community to transition Docs into M2 (Moodle 2.0), while understanding the vast majority of users have older versions and need to know things. "Learn by documenting" is what I do. Having moved the content of a 1.5.3 Moodle to a new server running 1.9.9, I am ready to do the same for a 1.5.2 Moodle on a different server. Moral: wait long enough and all those custom modules might become standard parts of a Moodle install and then upgrading will be simple after that. Best practice: DO NOT WAIT 4 YEARS to upgrade :).

Trivia: If you believe in these things: on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment DISC assessment scale] I am a low D, high I, moderate S, and a very low C.

::'''"We are what we repeatedly do.
:::'''Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"'''
::::::'''~~[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aristotle Aristotle]'''

*[[User:chris collman/handyformats|I seem to forget these things]]

__TOC__

==Moodler interests==
===Help for new users goals===
As a Moodler, I am interested in giving help to the so called "Newbie": The KISS, "what are the basic things I need to know". Typically "my" newbie is like me - a little bit of a teacher and a little bit of a site administration. Initially my help focused on "how you make Moodle do things", more or less a translation of developer talk in MoodleDocs.

In 2010, more effort at moodle.org has been put by others in sharing "What can Moodle do for you". We are now seeing more pictures (or videos) and dozens of different courses as examples, not to mention new genres of Moodle books. I have also noticed some great non-moodle.org sites that have excellent and pithy help information for their set of users.

Helping people is a challenge on moodle.org because everybody "sees what they want to see, hears what they want to hear, you dig?" (says the Rockman in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Point%21 The Point]), this includes my next door neighbor or someone in another country. Plus there are so many ways to use Moodle, all new (or old) users certainly do not all have the same goals!

I appreciate all those who improve upon my work and Helen Foster for the alignments with the big picture.

Examining other people's questions, helps me learn and jump from my [[Image:Confused_questions.jpg||50px|Confuzzled]] ruts to [[Image:F1_user_default_image.jpg||30px|happy learner]].

===Recent projects===
History at moodle.org: Started Moodling Jan '06, in 2008 was asked to help moderate the Lesson forum, then 2 other forums. I helped develop a new Lesson topic in "Features" course at demo.moodle.org for 1.x, given some additional Admin rights in MoodleDocs and in the Modules and Plugin database. In Moodle.org, most of my time is spent editing words and looking at user comments.

I watch about 800 pages in the en_MoodleDocs, very few are development pages. I am noticing fewer and fewer edits are showing each day and they are generally small ones. Big difference from 2006-2008. I make a point to provide links to specific Moodle Doc pages in my answers to forum posts. I look at special pages links (redirects, stubs) if I have a few minutes. And the M2 release has caused a flurry of activity in Docs.

==== 2010 ====
Currently, there is a 1.5.2 site that services 3 schools. It is "cranky" and the plan is to put each school on its own 1.9.9 server. A shortage of tech time, has delayed implementation but not my prep work. One of the schools is getting a complete makeover, consolidating 70 courses/subjects, into 1 course per cohort. Could be my prep work there might become obsolete, if we jump to 2.0 in the Summer of 2011.

In addition to normal operations, July to November was all about bringing 1.5.3 content into a production 1.9.9 Moodle. Really glad I spent time since 2007 preparing a localhost as if we were upgrading to the next 1.x. Still tweaking a few site administration things and helping teachers create new courses on that server.

In March- April my MoodleDocs was spent with Themes, followed Helen's twitters to some new apps and toys for Moodle and some impulsive cross linking in older pages to other pages. I created some new pages.

In Feb I worked with others on Metacourses and File upload pages. Want to clean up my Tracker entries and look at those for Lesson.

In Nov-Dec 2009, one of regular job's F2F classes ended, then in December one of my outside compilation projects had a site failure. At my salary job, I basically customized a Moodle server and populated it with old/new courses. Oh yes, we do have a little construction project going on in our house. Then there were the holidays. I seemed to have emerged and back to "normal" things by end of January 2010.

Current Moodle work projects involve:
*Preparing for a 1.5.2 to 1.9.x, when each of 3 schools get their own server.
*Editing 2000 quiz questions for grammar and punctuation.
*Housekeeping on 150 question categories and quizzes
*Trying to figure out how my localhost server can get phpMyAdmin to manage another server.
*Consulting/mentoring course builders on a for profit site.

====Reports and Excel====
I have a created several spreadsheets that are used to track student progress. All these use the "download" features found in Quiz, Grades and Questionaire (contributed code) in 1.5.x and 1.9.x.
*Grades. I download uncategorized Grades in Excel for a course and paste everything into another spreadsheet's worksheet of the same name. I then have Excel tell us everything we wanted to know about the class and each individual in a series of worksheets. I keep summary info for each column for previous classes.`
*Quiz. I do the same with quiz scores. I wanted to have statistical information on a separate worksheet for each Quiz. Looking forward to 2.0 reports to replace my graphs.
*Logs. I want to know who has filled out a subject evaluation (25 questionnaire activities) and who has not. In 1.9.x I will be assigning 1 point grade to each questionnaire activity, this will appear in gradebook and everyone is happy.

====Courses are Rooms for my wife====
My wife was tired of not being able to share files, communicate and keep information up to date with her school counselor association via their web site. Why not Moodle? So I have been having fun changing courses into committee rooms and translating Moodle into language that ironically is all about the [[Philosophy#Social_Constructivism|social constructionist]] point of view, for this group of adults that just wants to communicate (or not). I call this applied anthropology (big grin).

==Here is a brief bio.==
As a support person, I work with Moodle 1.5.x & 1.9.x within a very specific learning environment: 'certified training'. My primary job is to assist state agency trainers. Most Moodlers are trying to be fantastic educators and interact with students for weeks or months. Our goals are similar but the interaction is very different. After hours, I also work for private trainers who supply certified on line training in other parts of the country. Outside of Moodle, 600 hours a year will find me multitasking as a site adjunct for training being presented via video conference technology between 4 sites. And just to keep me aware of new users, I like to teach introduction to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Computer courses at the local community college.

I am constantly learning.

As a young adult, I lived and worked with Ibos, Effics (Nigeria), and Somali people during my 4 years in the Peace Corps doing Community/Rural Development. Served in the Army for 2 years. Lived with the Navajo for a year as a volunteer at a boarding school for special students in New Mexico, while I did historical research. I have a BA in Anthropology from Franconia College. My wife and I ran a small manufacturing company in rural New England for 20 years before my current job. Beside Moodle, my hobbies include walking my dog, genealogy, local histories, and encouraging wild flowers around my house near the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA.

==Fun of course==
::'''Need I add that Life Should be Fun!'''

Frank Ralf tells me:
::'''"Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit."'''
:::'''Aristotle'''

Cheers to all

Chris

===Footnotes and links===
After I learned about subpages on userpages in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Subpages wikipedia], I decided to put my handy formats for MoodleDocs here
*[[User:chris collman/handyformats]]
I am thinking that a page with documentation that is already indexed might be useful
*[[User:chris collman/Workshop]] temp space to gather page info from help and other files
*[[User:chris collman/sandbox1]] showing template samples, template list of templates
*'''[[User:chris collman/LessonDemo1|Lesson Demo 1 outline]] or [[User:chris collman/LessonDemo1/LessonPageList| Lesson Demo Page list]]'''
*[[User:chris_collman/Tool_list]] tool list
*[[User:chris collman/TestingProcess]]
*[[User:chris collman/sandbox2]] Another sandbox for Block temp, will delete later
* Don't forget the very handy <nowiki>[[template:update]]</nowiki> to ask for content help in the
<noinclude>[[:Category:Pages requiring updating]].</noinclude> Or <nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

Discovered David Scotson's [[User:David_Scotson#Things_I.27ve_learned.2C_realised_or_had_brought_home_to_me_through_contributing_to_this_Wiki |Things I've realized-learned-brought to my attention]] concerning MoodleDocs.

Moodle download stats
[http://download.moodle.org/stats.php]

===Lesson Development pages===
More notes to myself
*[[Development:Lesson_Specification]]
*[[Development:New lesson navigation]]
*[[Development:Adding question types to lesson]] 2.0
*[[Development:Adding blocks to lesson]]
*[[QA:Lesson Test Plan]]

User:Chris collman/handyformats

2010-12-10T17:32:38Z

Rcollman: /* Other wiki codes */ Humm Evil, thks Tim !

This page is for handy formats I use in MoodleDocs. Either I need a place to put links to what I think are successful formats and/or put examples here. In Wikimedia I use a subpage to format my library books. In MoodleDocs I want

==A table==

{| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
|-
| abc || def || ghi
|- style="height:100px"
| jkl || style="width:200px" |mno || pqr
|-
| stu || vwx || yz
|}
==A nice table==

{| class="nicetable"
|-
!What it looks like
!What you type
|-
| A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}

| <pre><nowiki>A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}
</nowiki></pre>
|}

Note, the class="nicetable" is our local hack for Moodledocs. You can leave it out to get a table without borders.

==A table with picture==

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
|-
|[[Image:Edit.gif]]|| Edit text ||[[Image:Open.gif]] || Open ||[[Image:Delete.gif]] || Delete ||[[Image:Move.gif]] ||Move
|-
||[[Image:All.gif]] ||See all topics||[[Image:Closed.gif]] ||Close||[[Image:Right.gif]] || Indent ||[[Image:Movehere.gif]] || Move here
|-
||[[Image:One.gif]] || See one topic||[[Image:Help.gif]] ||Help || || ||[[Image:Marker.gif]] ||Make Current
|}
<br>

==Picture formats==
frame
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]</nowiki>
thumb example resized
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]</nowiki>

== Modules and plugins ==
==See also==
*[Place http address for M&P entry here Name of Entry here] is a Modules and plugins database page that has downloads and more information.
*Discussions: [Place http address for moodle forum or forum thread]
**Please create or find a discussion topic in the <nowiki>[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=44 Contributed Code forum]</nowiki>
**The contributor also maintains a Moodle site that contains one or more [Place http address forums using and supporting xxx], outside of Moodle.org .
*Additional documentation
**[Place http address outside page Moodle] (outside of Moodle.org)
* [Place http address for M&P download put name here] for Moodle 2.0

==Forgotten templates ==
*Note format <br>
<nowiki><p class="note">'''Note:''' Moodle 2.0 has a new HTML editor. For details of the HTML editor in Moodle prior to 2.0, see [[HTML editor]].</p></nowiki>

* Update template <br>
<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki>

*Gallery format

<nowiki><gallery></nowiki> <br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo|This is the a Moodle logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki></gallery></nowiki><br>

* Gallery - fancy <br>
<nowiki><gallery caption="Possible screenshots" widths="225px" heights="120px" perrow="3"></nowiki>

==Other wiki codes==
<strike>Strikeout</strike> can be achieved by <nowiki><strike>Strikeout </strike></nowiki>. I find this useful as a tool for visually marking text to be moved or changed.

* <nowiki>#redirect [[Adding a content page]]</nowiki>
*<u>underline</u> -- No! No! No! underline is an evil abomination on the web, for anything other than links. People expect online text with an underline t be click-able. If you want to emphasise something, use bold or italic.--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 20:15, 9 December 2010 (UTC) -- Sorry for the interruption.
:Evil abomination for all those who color blind and bald headed? Point noted and taken. However, I saw "Moodle '''IS''' an online.." and all I could think of was "Moodle Information Systems" and my brain froze :) Interrupt any time.--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 17:32, 10 December 2010 (UTC)

==Note to self==
Template for update section as a special page?

<nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

These templates work

<nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> Listed on special pages

<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki> Not listed on special pages

User:Chris collman/handyformats

2010-12-09T11:42:28Z

Rcollman: /* Other wiki codes */ underline

This page is for handy formats I use in MoodleDocs. Either I need a place to put links to what I think are successful formats and/or put examples here. In Wikimedia I use a subpage to format my library books. In MoodleDocs I want

==A table==

{| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
|-
| abc || def || ghi
|- style="height:100px"
| jkl || style="width:200px" |mno || pqr
|-
| stu || vwx || yz
|}
==A nice table==

{| class="nicetable"
|-
!What it looks like
!What you type
|-
| A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}

| <pre><nowiki>A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}
</nowiki></pre>
|}

Note, the class="nicetable" is our local hack for Moodledocs. You can leave it out to get a table without borders.

==A table with picture==

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
|-
|[[Image:Edit.gif]]|| Edit text ||[[Image:Open.gif]] || Open ||[[Image:Delete.gif]] || Delete ||[[Image:Move.gif]] ||Move
|-
||[[Image:All.gif]] ||See all topics||[[Image:Closed.gif]] ||Close||[[Image:Right.gif]] || Indent ||[[Image:Movehere.gif]] || Move here
|-
||[[Image:One.gif]] || See one topic||[[Image:Help.gif]] ||Help || || ||[[Image:Marker.gif]] ||Make Current
|}
<br>

==Picture formats==
frame
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]</nowiki>
thumb example resized
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]</nowiki>

== Modules and plugins ==
==See also==
*[Place http address for M&P entry here Name of Entry here] is a Modules and plugins database page that has downloads and more information.
*Discussions: [Place http address for moodle forum or forum thread]
**Please create or find a discussion topic in the <nowiki>[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=44 Contributed Code forum]</nowiki>
**The contributor also maintains a Moodle site that contains one or more [Place http address forums using and supporting xxx], outside of Moodle.org .
*Additional documentation
**[Place http address outside page Moodle] (outside of Moodle.org)
* [Place http address for M&P download put name here] for Moodle 2.0

==Forgotten templates ==
*Note format <br>
<nowiki><p class="note">'''Note:''' Moodle 2.0 has a new HTML editor. For details of the HTML editor in Moodle prior to 2.0, see [[HTML editor]].</p></nowiki>

* Update template <br>
<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki>

*Gallery format

<nowiki><gallery></nowiki> <br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo|This is the a Moodle logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki></gallery></nowiki><br>

* Gallery - fancy <br>
<nowiki><gallery caption="Possible screenshots" widths="225px" heights="120px" perrow="3"></nowiki>

==Other wiki codes==
<strike>Strikeout</strike> can be achieved by <nowiki><strike>Strikeout </strike></nowiki>. I find this useful as a tool for visually marking text to be moved or changed.

* <nowiki>#redirect [[Adding a content page]]</nowiki>
*<u>underline</u>

==Note to self==
Template for update section as a special page?

<nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

These templates work

<nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> Listed on special pages

<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki> Not listed on special pages

User:Chris collman

2010-12-08T12:26:55Z

Rcollman:

Hi,
I am still a new user, been working with Moodle since Jan 2006. Yes, I keep changing [http://moodle.org/user/pix.php/105471/f1.jpg my photo at Moodle.org] My [http://moodle.org/user/view.php?id=105471&course=1 Moodle profile] tells a different version of the story.

In October 2010, I am spending more time in Moodle Docs. Getting ready for 2.0's official release by revisiting some of my watch list pages for 1.9.9 corrections:)

Trivia: If you believe in these things: on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment DISC assessment scale] I am a low D, high I, moderate S, and a very low C.

::'''"We are what we repeatedly do.
:::'''Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"'''
::::::'''~~[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aristotle Aristotle]'''

*[[User:chris collman/handyformats|I seem to forget these things]]

__TOC__

==Moodler interests==
===Help for new users goals===
As a Moodler, I am interested in giving help to the so called "Newbie": The KISS, "what are the basic things I need to know". Typically "my" newbie is like me - a little bit of a teacher and a little bit of a site administration. Initially my help focused on "how you make Moodle do things", more or less a translation of developer talk in MoodleDocs.

In 2010 the next refinement in help for any "new" (or evolving) Moodler is to provide examples of uses. "What can Moodle do for you" - where people allow others to witness the essence of their Moodling. My help here is finding ways to cross link these with MoodleDocs.

Helping people is a challenge because everybody "sees what they want to see, hears what they want to hear, you dig?" (says the Rockman in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Point%21 The Point]), this includes my next door neighbor or someone in another country. Plus there are so many ways to use Moodle, all new (or old) users certainly do not all have the same goals!

I appreciate all those who improve upon my work and Helen Foster for the alignments with the big picture.

Examining other people's questions, helps me learn and jump from my [[Image:Confused_questions.jpg||50px|Confuzzled]] ruts to [[Image:F1_user_default_image.jpg||30px|happy learner]].

===Recent projects===
History at moodle.org: Started Moodling Jan '06, in 2008 was asked to help moderate the Lesson forum and I helped develop a new Lesson topic in demo.moodle.org, given some additional Admin rights in MoodleDocs and in the Modules and Plugin database. In Moodle.org, most of my time is spent editing words and looking at user comments.

I watch about 800 pages in the en_MoodleDocs, very few are development pages. I am noticing fewer and fewer edits are showing each day and they are generally small ones. Big difference from 2006-2008. I make a point to find answers to forum posts in MoodleDocs. I look at special pages links if I have a few minutes. Moodle 2.0 is about to entered my MoodleDoc world and that will create a new round of thoughtful edits.
==== September 2010 ====
This summer and fall is all about understanding how to bring a 1.5.3 content into a production 1.9.9 Moodle. So I have become more active in areas around this project. I had previous worked on Themes and languages. I spent lots of time with FTP and phpMyAdmin on one of over a dozen localhosts, looking at Certificate, Questionnare, Activity Locking and moodledata. I got a lot of experience in breaking things and then with one hand tied behind my back (knowledge) fixing things.

In March- April my MoodleDocs was spent with Themes, followed Helen's twitters to some new apps and toys for Moodle and some impulsive cross linking in older pages to other pages. I created some new pages.

In Feb I worked with others on Metacourses and File upload pages. Want to clean up my Tracker entries and look at those for Lesson.

In Nov-Dec, one of regular job's F2F classes ended, then in December one of my outside compilation projects had a site failure. )At my salary job, I basically customized a Moodle server and populated it with old/new courses. Oh yes, we do have a little construction project going on in our house. Then there were the holidays. I seemed to have emerged and back to "normal" things by end of January.

Current Moodle work projects involve:
*NH Moodle User groups - side volunteer project to see if there is interest (yes there is).
*Waiting for the launch of my recompiled, re-themed of a clean install 1.9.7 Moodle Ubuntu server!
*Monitoring a site activity in a series of Lessons, to figure out where content or questions needs to be improved on unrelated 1.5.x and a 1.9.7 sites.
*Assisting customer service answering questions and fixing student issues on 2 24/7 courses.
*As part of a team, I am still looking at lesson plans and integrating 10 subjects that can be used by 2 different tracks of students, especially with Quiz and resources.
*Pre-planing to create another new Moodle site (Maybe 2.0) that will use 1.5.3 question categories. Estimate launch July 2010.

====Reports and Excel====
I have a created several spreadsheets that are used to track student progress. All these use the "download" features found in Quiz, Grades and Questionaire (contributed code) in 1.5.x and 1.9.7.
*Grades. I download uncategorized Grades in Excel for a course and paste everything into another spreadsheet's worksheet of the same name. I then have Excel tell us everything we wanted to know about the class and each individual in a series of worksheets. I keep summary info for each column for previous classes.`
*Quiz. I do the same with quiz scores. I wanted to have statistical information on a separate worksheet for each Quiz. Looking forward to 2.0 reports to replace my graphs.
*Logs. I want to know who has filled out a subject evaluation (25 questionnaire activities) and who has not.

====Courses are Rooms for my wife====
My wife was tired of not being able to share files, communicate and keep information up to date with her school counselor association via their web site. Why not Moodle? So I have been having fun changing courses into committee rooms and translating Moodle into language that ironically is all about the [[Philosophy#Social_Constructivism|social constructionist]] point of view, for this group of adults that just wants to communicate (or not). I call this applied anthropology (big grin).

==Here is a brief bio.==
As a support person, I work with Moodle 1.5.x & 1.9.x within a very specific learning environment: 'certified training'. My primary job is to assist state agency trainers. Most Moodlers are trying to be fantastic educators and interact with students for weeks or months. Our goals are similar but the interaction is very different. After hours, I also work for private trainers who supply certified on line training in other parts of the country. Outside of Moodle, 600 hours a year will find me multitasking as a site adjunct for training being presented via video conference technology between 4 sites. And just to keep me aware of new users, I like to teach introduction to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Computer courses at the local community college.

I am constantly learning.

As a young adult, I lived and worked with Ibos, Effics (Nigeria), and Somali people during my 4 years in the Peace Corps doing Community/Rural Development. Served in the Army for 2 years. Lived with the Navajo for a year as a volunteer at a boarding school for special students in New Mexico, while I did historical research. I have a BA in Anthropology from Franconia College. My wife and I ran a small manufacturing company in rural New England for 20 years before my current job. Beside Moodle, my hobbies include walking my dog, genealogy, local histories, and encouraging wild flowers around my house near the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA.

==Fun of course==
::'''Need I add that Life Should be Fun!'''

Frank Ralf tells me:
::'''"Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit."'''
:::'''Aristotle'''

Cheers to all

Chris

===Footnotes and links===
After I learned about subpages on userpages in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Subpages wikipedia], I decided to put my handy formats for MoodleDocs here
*[[User:chris collman/handyformats]]
I am thinking that a page with documentation that is already indexed might be useful
*[[User:chris collman/Workshop]] temp space to gather page info from help and other files
*[[User:chris collman/sandbox1]] showing template samples, template list of templates
*'''[[User:chris collman/LessonDemo1|Lesson Demo 1 outline]] or [[User:chris collman/LessonDemo1/LessonPageList| Lesson Demo Page list]]'''
*[[User:chris_collman/Tool_list]] tool list
*[[User:chris collman/TestingProcess]]
*[[User:chris collman/sandbox2]] Another sandbox for Block temp, will delete later
* Don't forget the very handy <nowiki>[[template:update]]</nowiki> to ask for content help in the
<noinclude>[[:Category:Pages requiring updating]].</noinclude> Or <nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

Discovered David Scotson's [[User:David_Scotson#Things_I.27ve_learned.2C_realised_or_had_brought_home_to_me_through_contributing_to_this_Wiki |Things I've realized-learned-brought to my attention]] concerning MoodleDocs.

Moodle download stats
[http://download.moodle.org/stats.php]

===Lesson Development pages===
More notes to myself
*[[Development:Lesson_Specification]]
*[[Development:New lesson navigation]]
*[[Development:Adding question types to lesson]] 2.0
*[[Development:Adding blocks to lesson]]
*[[QA:Lesson Test Plan]]

User:Chris collman/handyformats

2010-12-08T12:21:22Z

Rcollman: /* Other wiki codes */

This page is for handy formats I use in MoodleDocs. Either I need a place to put links to what I think are successful formats and/or put examples here. In Wikimedia I use a subpage to format my library books. In MoodleDocs I want

==A table==

{| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
|-
| abc || def || ghi
|- style="height:100px"
| jkl || style="width:200px" |mno || pqr
|-
| stu || vwx || yz
|}
==A nice table==

{| class="nicetable"
|-
!What it looks like
!What you type
|-
| A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}

| <pre><nowiki>A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}
</nowiki></pre>
|}

Note, the class="nicetable" is our local hack for Moodledocs. You can leave it out to get a table without borders.

==A table with picture==

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
|-
|[[Image:Edit.gif]]|| Edit text ||[[Image:Open.gif]] || Open ||[[Image:Delete.gif]] || Delete ||[[Image:Move.gif]] ||Move
|-
||[[Image:All.gif]] ||See all topics||[[Image:Closed.gif]] ||Close||[[Image:Right.gif]] || Indent ||[[Image:Movehere.gif]] || Move here
|-
||[[Image:One.gif]] || See one topic||[[Image:Help.gif]] ||Help || || ||[[Image:Marker.gif]] ||Make Current
|}
<br>

==Picture formats==
frame
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]</nowiki>
thumb example resized
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]</nowiki>

== Modules and plugins ==
==See also==
*[Place http address for M&P entry here Name of Entry here] is a Modules and plugins database page that has downloads and more information.
*Discussions: [Place http address for moodle forum or forum thread]
**Please create or find a discussion topic in the <nowiki>[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=44 Contributed Code forum]</nowiki>
**The contributor also maintains a Moodle site that contains one or more [Place http address forums using and supporting xxx], outside of Moodle.org .
*Additional documentation
**[Place http address outside page Moodle] (outside of Moodle.org)
* [Place http address for M&P download put name here] for Moodle 2.0

==Forgotten templates ==
*Note format <br>
<nowiki><p class="note">'''Note:''' Moodle 2.0 has a new HTML editor. For details of the HTML editor in Moodle prior to 2.0, see [[HTML editor]].</p></nowiki>

* Update template <br>
<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki>

*Gallery format

<nowiki><gallery></nowiki> <br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo|This is the a Moodle logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki></gallery></nowiki><br>

* Gallery - fancy <br>
<nowiki><gallery caption="Possible screenshots" widths="225px" heights="120px" perrow="3"></nowiki>

==Other wiki codes==
<strike>Strikeout</strike> can be achieved by <nowiki><strike>Strikeout </strike></nowiki>. I find this useful as a tool for visually marking text to be moved or changed.

* <nowiki>#redirect [[Adding a content page]]</nowiki>

==Note to self==
Template for update section as a special page?

<nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

These templates work

<nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> Listed on special pages

<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki> Not listed on special pages

User:Chris collman/handyformats

2010-12-07T11:55:21Z

Rcollman: /* Other wiki codes */ Templates I forget

This page is for handy formats I use in MoodleDocs. Either I need a place to put links to what I think are successful formats and/or put examples here. In Wikimedia I use a subpage to format my library books. In MoodleDocs I want

==A table==

{| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
|-
| abc || def || ghi
|- style="height:100px"
| jkl || style="width:200px" |mno || pqr
|-
| stu || vwx || yz
|}
==A nice table==

{| class="nicetable"
|-
!What it looks like
!What you type
|-
| A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}

| <pre><nowiki>A table:

{| class="nicetable"
|-
! header 1
! header 2
! header 3
|-
| row 1, cell 1
| row 1, cell 2
| row 1, cell 3
|-
| row 2, cell 1
| row 2, cell 2
| row 2, cell 3
|}
</nowiki></pre>
|}

Note, the class="nicetable" is our local hack for Moodledocs. You can leave it out to get a table without borders.

==A table with picture==

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
!width="30"|Icon
!width="100"|Effect
|-
|[[Image:Edit.gif]]|| Edit text ||[[Image:Open.gif]] || Open ||[[Image:Delete.gif]] || Delete ||[[Image:Move.gif]] ||Move
|-
||[[Image:All.gif]] ||See all topics||[[Image:Closed.gif]] ||Close||[[Image:Right.gif]] || Indent ||[[Image:Movehere.gif]] || Move here
|-
||[[Image:One.gif]] || See one topic||[[Image:Help.gif]] ||Help || || ||[[Image:Marker.gif]] ||Make Current
|}
<br>

==Picture formats==
frame
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|frame|left|format frame, left, this label]]</nowiki>
thumb example resized
[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]
<nowiki>[[Image:Course_section_formats_1.JPG|thumb|100px|center|format thumb, 100px, center, this label]]</nowiki>

== Modules and plugins ==
==See also==
*[Place http address for M&P entry here Name of Entry here] is a Modules and plugins database page that has downloads and more information.
*Discussions: [Place http address for moodle forum or forum thread]
**Please create or find a discussion topic in the <nowiki>[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=44 Contributed Code forum]</nowiki>
**The contributor also maintains a Moodle site that contains one or more [Place http address forums using and supporting xxx], outside of Moodle.org .
*Additional documentation
**[Place http address outside page Moodle] (outside of Moodle.org)
* [Place http address for M&P download put name here] for Moodle 2.0

==Forgotten templates ==
*Note format <br>
<nowiki><p class="note">'''Note:''' Moodle 2.0 has a new HTML editor. For details of the HTML editor in Moodle prior to 2.0, see [[HTML editor]].</p></nowiki>

* Update template <br>
<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki>

*Gallery format

<nowiki><gallery></nowiki> <br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki>Image:Moodle.logo|This is the a Moodle logo</nowiki><br>
<nowiki></gallery></nowiki><br>

* Gallery - fancy <br>
<nowiki><gallery caption="Possible screenshots" widths="225px" heights="120px" perrow="3"></nowiki>

==Other wiki codes==
<strike>Strikeout</strike> can be achieved by <nowiki><strike>Strikeout </strike></nowiki>. I find this useful as a tool for visually marking text to be moved or changed.

==Note to self==
Template for update section as a special page?

<nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

These templates work

<nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> Listed on special pages

<nowiki>{{Update}}</nowiki> Not listed on special pages

Moodle 2.0 release notes

2010-12-05T17:56:08Z

Rcollman: /* File handling */

Release date: '''24th November, 2010'''

Moodle 2.0 contains a lot of large new features, some completely rewritten features, and hundreds of bug fixes. For full details (more than you probably want!), see [http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL/fixforversion/10122 the full list of fixed issues in 2.0].

===Major new features===

====[[Community hub|Community hubs]]====

* Anybody can set up a Community hub, which is a directory of courses for public use or for private communities. The code is implemented as separate GPL plugin for Moodle.
* Sites can register to any Community hub (instead of just moodle.org)
* Teachers on registered sites can publish their full courses to Community hubs, for download
* Teachers on registered sites can also advertise their courses on Community hubs, for people to join
* Teachers on any site can search all public Community hubs and download courses as templates for their own courses
* Users on any Moodle site can also search Community hubs for courses (and communities of practice) to participate in. Initially we are encouraging ''''communities of teaching practice'''' but any sort of course can be listed.

====[[Repositories|Repository support]]====
*File management has undergone a major change in both the interface and function.
*The [[File picker]] presents a standard way to access the new [[File bank]] repository system.
* This allows Moodle to integrate with external repositories of content, making it really simple to bring documents and media into Moodle via an AJAX interface that looks like a standard '''Open''' dialogue in desktop applications.
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Alfresco, Amazon S3, Box.net, File system on Server, Flickr, Google Docs, Mahara, MERLOT, Picasa, Recent Files, Remote Moodle sites, WebDAV servers, Wikimedia, Youtube. These are simple to develop, so many more are expected.
* You can also import files from your desktop or by specifying a URL.
* There are more attributes that can be added to a file, such as license and author.

====[[Portfolios|Portfolio support]]====

* Modules can now export their data to external systems, particularly useful for portfolios where snapshots of forums, assignments and other things in Moodle are useful to record in a journal or a portfolio of evidence
* Different formats are supported (currently LEAP2A, HTML, Images and Text, but others like PDF can be added)
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Box.net, Flickr, Google Docs, '''Mahara''' and Picasa.

====[[Course completion]] and prerequisites====

* Teachers can now specify a [[Course completion]] condition standard for all students. Conditions include activity completion, but could also be by grade, date or a number of other criteria.
* Teachers can use the above standard as a [[Course completion tracking|prerequisite]] to other courses that allows ordered progression and scaffolding.
* Teachers and students can see reports that show the progress within a course, or through a series of courses.

====[[Conditional activities]]====

* Access to activities can be restricted based on certain criteria, such as dates, grade obtained, or the completion of another activity.
* These can be chained together to enable progressive disclosure of the course content, if that is desired.
* Teachers can now specify conditions that define when any '''activity''' is seen as [[Activity completion|completed]] by a student. For example, when a certain number of posts have been made, or a grade has been reached, or a choice has been made.

====[[Cohorts]]====
* Also known as "Site-wide groups", these are site-wide collections of users that can be enrolled into courses in one action, either manually or synchronised automatically

====[[Web Services|Web services support]]====
* Support for standards-based web services across the entire Moodle code base, allowing the admin to expose particular functions of Moodle for use by:
** Administrative systems such as HR or SIS applications
** Mobile clients
* Framework contains a very high-level of security with a detailed token system and complete control over the range of functions exposed
* All defined functions are automatically available via:
** XML-RPC
** AMF (Flash)
** REST
** SOAP (PHP)

====New blocks====
* [[Comments block]] - like a shoutbox, allows comments to be added to any page. Great for student feedback.
* [[My private files block]] - allows access to a user's private files, which can then be accessed by them anywhere with the [[File picker]]. There is quota management available.
* [[Community block]] - keeps track of external courses one is interested in
* [[Course completion status block]] - reports on the completion status of your courses

====[[Plagiarism Prevention|Plagiarism prevention]]====

* Moodle supports integration with plagiarism prevention tools such as Turnitin

===Major improvements to existing core features===

====[[Backup 2.0|Backup and restore]]====

* Completely rewritten Backup/Restore framework, no longer bound by memory (can work with '''any size course''').
* Completely new backup format.
* Improved interface.
* Backup can be made of whole courses, but also specific sections or activities.

====[[Blocks 2.0|Blocks]]====
* Blocks are now consistently implemented on every page in Moodle
* No longer any limit to placing blocks in only the left and right column regions but also at the top, center or bottom of areas of pages)
* Any block can be [[Sticky blocks|forced to appear]] in all the page [[Context|contexts]] below it (for example, in every course or throughout a course).
* Blocks can placed in the [[Dock]] area on the side of the screen (if the theme supports it)

====[[Blogs 2.0|Blogs]]====
* Support for comments on each blog entry
* Removal of group-level and course-level blogs (these are converted into forums on upgrade)
* Support for external blog feeds (synchronised to Moodle blog)

====[[Comments 2.0|Comments]]====
* User comments (Glossaries, Databases, Blogs, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available

====[[Enrolments 2.0|Enrolment plugins]]====
* Major improvements in the handling of guests and guest accounts
* Support for multiple forms of enrolment at the same time
* More detailed control over enrolment in courses

====[[File handling 2.0|File handling]]====
* There is a new [[File picker]] interface that manages files for resources and when they are used in an activity, such as including an image in a content page.
* Full support for Unicode file names on all operating systems.
* Metadata about each file (author, date, license, etc) and what the file is used for are stored in the database.
* Duplicate files (for example, a large video file use in two different courses) are only stored once, saving disk space.
* Security has been improved because files have the same contexual permissions as the activity that uses them. (For example, a file may belong to a file resource, a forum post or a wiki page ). Files are no longer just "uploaded to the course".

====[[Filters 2.0]]====

* In the past, you had to use the same filters everywhere in your Moodle site, and this could only be changed by admins.
* Now, you can have different filters in different courses, activities or categories.
* For example, you could turn on the LaTeX filter just for courses in the Maths and Physics categories.
* Or you could turn off glossary linking in the end of course exam.

====[[HTML editor 2.0|HTML editor]]====
* New editor based on TinyMCE
* Works on more browsers
* Resizable editing area
* Cleaner XHTML output
* Full integration with configured external repositories to import and embed media into text

====[[Messaging 2.0|Messaging]]====
* All email sent by Moodle is now treated as a message
* A message overview panel allows users to control how messages are sent to them
* Initial message output plugins in Moodle 2.0 include: Email, Jabber and Popups

====[[My Moodle 2.0|My Moodle page]]====
* More customisable My Moodle page with new blocks for showing relevant information
* Admin can design (and optionally force) site-wide layouts for My Moodle
* My Moodle page given more prominence as the main "home page" for users

====[[Navigation 2.0|Navigation]]====
* Standard "Navigation" block on every page showing contextual links, while allowing you to jump elsewhere quickly
* Standard "Settings" blocks on every page shows contextual settings as well as settings for anything else you have permissions for

====[[Ratings 2.0|Ratings]]====
* User ratings (Glossaries, Databases, Forums, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available
* Aggregation of using ratings into activity grades is now standardised in all activities

====[[Roles 2.0|Roles and permissions]]====
* Simplified permission evaluation logic
* Improved and simplified AJAX interfaces for defining and assigning roles
* Improved and simplified interfaces for tweaking permissions in any given context
* New "Archetypes" concept replacing the "Legacy roles" concept.
* New archetype "manager" to define the role of most people with system-wide editing rights, separate from "admin" role.
* Permission of "Administrator" superusers can not be modified

====[[RSS feeds 2.0|RSS feeds]]====
* All RSS feeds are now secured using a random per-user token in the URL
* Tokens can be updated by the user at any time (if they suspect a feed URL has been compromised)
* RSS feeds are now more accurate (eg they support forums with separate groups), and are generated efficiently whenever required

====[[Development:Themes 2.0|Themes]]====
* Many new themes in the core distribution - see [[Theme credits]] for a list
* All HTML and JS ouput is now far more efficient (server-side caching) and consistent (tableless layout, new CSS, YUI Framework)
* Themes can change the HTML of the page if they wish
* Core support for custom menus in all themes (for example at the top of the page)

====[[Translation 2.0|Translation system]]====
* [http://lang.moodle.org/ New web portal] to make it easer for groups to collaborate on translating Moodle, and to keep their translations up-to-date.
* More efficient [[Development:Languages/AMOS|storage format for language strings]] should slightly improve performance.

====User profile pages====
* Site-wide user profile page can be customised by users with blocks, news, feeds and so on
* Course-specific user profile pages show course blocks and standard profile information, plus information for teachers of that course

===Major improvements to activity modules===

====Lesson====
* Refactored internal code
* Forms are now standard Moodle forms

====Quiz module and question bank====

* [[Development:quiz_navigation|Quiz navigation improvements for students]]
* [[Development:Flagging_questions_during_a_quiz_attempt|Flagging questions during a quiz attempt]] Student can mark a question that stays with their quiz.
* [[Development:Quiz_report_enhancements|Quiz report enhancements]] - Major improvements to the quiz reports, especially regrading and item analysis
* [[Development:Quiz_report_statistics|Quiz report statistics]] - A brief guide
* [[Development:Quiz_UI_redesign|Quiz editing interface improvements]]
* Different settings (open/close date, number of attempts, password, time limit) for each group or student (MDL-16478)
* [[Development:Administration page for question types|Administration page for question types]]
* [[Development:Moodle 2.0 question bank improvements|Question tagging and improved searching in the question bank]]
* MDL-8648 Essay questions can now be randomised by random questions

====Resource====
* All the resource types have been refactored into real modules, and cleaned up
** File - for displaying a file, possibly with supporting files (like a HTML mini-site)
** Folder - for displaying a collection of documents
** URL - for displaying a page with a given URL
** Page - for a single page, edited online using the HTML editor
** IMS - for showing a regular IMS content package
* Better XHTML-compliant support for frames, iframes and embedding in all these modules

====SCORM====

* New [[SCORM module]] settings - display attempt status, display course structure, force completed, force new attempt, lock after final attempt - allowing the behaviour dictated to the SCORM object by the authoring package to be changed MDL-11501
* New reporting interface including sortable/collapsible table with group select box and ability to download in Excel, ODS and text format MDL-21555
* New SCORM player UI with better navigation, improved performance and better handling of stage size MDL-22951

====[[Wiki module 2.0|Wiki]]====
* Completely re-written from scratch, based on NWIki from UPC
* Support for Mediawiki-style syntax, as well as Creole
* Interface improvements

====[[Workshop module 2.0|Workshop]]====

* Completely rewritten from scratch
* Vastly improved interface for managing stages and users

<noinclude>==System requirements==

Since Moodle 2.0 is such a major release, we are allowing ourselves some increases in the requirements.

* PHP must be 5.2.8 or later (it was released 08-Dec-2008), PHP 5.3.3 or later is recommended
* Databases should be one of the following:
** MySQL 5.0.25 or later (InnoDB storage engine highly recommended)
** PostgreSQL 8.3 or later
** Oracle 10.2 or later
** MS SQL 2005 or later
* Any standards-supporting browser from the past few years, for example:
** Firefox 3 or later
** Safari 3 or later
** Google Chrome 4 or later
** Opera 9 or later
** MS Internet Explorer 7 or later (Even [http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/01/modern-browsers-for-modern-applications.html Google don't support IE6 any more])
** etc

==Upgrading==

When upgrading to Moodle 2.0, you must have Moodle 1.9 or later. if you are using an earlier version of Moodle (eg 1.8.x) then you need to upgrade to Moodle 1.9.x first. We advise that you test the upgrade first on a COPY of your production site, to make sure it works as you expect.

For further information, see [[Upgrading to Moodle 2.0]].

==For developers: API changes==

See [[Development:Migrating contrib code to 2.0]]

* [[Development:Plugin system changes in Moodle 2.0]] - all the different types of plugin are now handles more consistently when it comes to installation and upgrading, capabilities, events, and so on.
* [[Development:DB_layer_2.0_migration_docs|Database layer changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Using_the_file_API|File handling changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Migrating your code code to the 2.0 rendering API|Rendering layer changes]] - should be mostly backwards compatible, but you are advised to upgrade your code.
* Require capability used to do an automatic require_login. It no longer does so. All pages must explicitly call require_login if they need it. MDL-19882
* [[Development:Moodle_2.0_question_type_API_changes|Changes to the question type API]]
* MNet has been refactored and tidied up - related third party code needs to be checked
* Changes and improvements to the [[Development:Local_customisation|Local customisation system]].
* Javascript
* YUI
* custom profile fields values are loaded into $USER->profile array instead of directly into $USER object

==Credits==

These people made check-ins to Moodle 2.0 code. Thanks to all of them, of course. Some of these people represent a team of people who actually worked on the code.

* Robert Allerstorfer (anet.at)
* Aaron Barnes, Peter Bulmer, Matt Clarkson, Jonathan Harker, Piers Harding, Luke Hudson, Martin Langhoff, Dan Marsden, Francois Marier, Donal McMullan, Jonathan Newman (catalyst.net.nz)
* Howard Miller (e-learndesign.co.uk)
* Iñaki Arenaza (mondragon.edu)
* Andreas Grabs (grabs-edv.de)
* Jamie Pratt (jamiep.org)
* Anthony Borrow (jesuits.net)
* Gordon Bateson (kanazawa-gu.ac.jp)
* Samuli Karevaara (lamk.fi)
* Penny Leach (liip.ch)
* Dan Poltawski (luns.net.uk)
* Matt Oquist (majen.net)
* Roberto Pinna (mfn.unipmn.it)
* Michael Ketcham (microsoft.com)
* Mitsuhiro Yoshida (mitstek.com)
* Aparup Banerjee, Dongsheng Cai, Nicolas Connault, Andrew Davis, Martin Dougiamas, Helen Foster, Sam Hemelryk, Eloy Lafuente, Jerome Mouneyrac, David Mudrak, Mathieu Petit-Clair, Petr Skoda, Rossiani Wijaya, Yu Zhang (moodle.com)
* Mark Nielsen (moodlerooms.com)
* Andrea Bicciolo (mtouch.it)
* John Beedell, Nicholas Freear, Jenny Gray, Tim Hunt, Sam Marshall, Gareth Morgan, Derek Woolhead (open.ac.uk)
* Ashley Holman (netspot.com.au)
* Patrick Malley (newschoollearning.com)
* Eric Merrill (oakland.edu)
* Mike Churchward (oktech.ca)
* Shane Elliott (pukunui.com)
* Shamim Rezaie (rezaie.info)
* Joseph Rezeau (rezeau.org)
* Lukas Haemmerle (switch.ch)
* Urs Hunkler (unodo.de)
* Jordi Piguillem (upc.edu.es)
* Pierre Pichet (uqam.ca)
* Gustav Delius (york.ac.uk)
* Ethem Evlice, Valery Fremaux, Dariem Garces, Wen Hao Chuang, Luis Rodrigues, Olli Savolainen, John Stabinger

==See also==

* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 1 release notes]] - May 4, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 2 release notes]] - May 17, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 3 release notes]] - May 31, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 4 release notes]] - June 30, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Release Candidate 1 release notes]] - September 21, 2010

[[Category:Release notes]]
[[Category:Moodle 2.0]]

[[fr:Notes de mise à jour de Moodle 2.0]]
[[es:Notas de Moodle 2.0]]</noinclude>
[[de:Moodle 2.0 Versionsinformationen]]

Moodle 2.0 release notes

2010-12-05T17:49:40Z

Rcollman: /* Repository support */ revert heading

Release date: '''24th November, 2010'''

Moodle 2.0 contains a lot of large new features, some completely rewritten features, and hundreds of bug fixes. For full details (more than you probably want!), see [http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL/fixforversion/10122 the full list of fixed issues in 2.0].

===Major new features===

====[[Community hub|Community hubs]]====

* Anybody can set up a Community hub, which is a directory of courses for public use or for private communities. The code is implemented as separate GPL plugin for Moodle.
* Sites can register to any Community hub (instead of just moodle.org)
* Teachers on registered sites can publish their full courses to Community hubs, for download
* Teachers on registered sites can also advertise their courses on Community hubs, for people to join
* Teachers on any site can search all public Community hubs and download courses as templates for their own courses
* Users on any Moodle site can also search Community hubs for courses (and communities of practice) to participate in. Initially we are encouraging ''''communities of teaching practice'''' but any sort of course can be listed.

====[[Repositories|Repository support]]====
*File management has undergone a major change in both the interface and function.
*The [[File picker]] presents a standard way to access the new [[File bank]] repository system.
* This allows Moodle to integrate with external repositories of content, making it really simple to bring documents and media into Moodle via an AJAX interface that looks like a standard '''Open''' dialogue in desktop applications.
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Alfresco, Amazon S3, Box.net, File system on Server, Flickr, Google Docs, Mahara, MERLOT, Picasa, Recent Files, Remote Moodle sites, WebDAV servers, Wikimedia, Youtube. These are simple to develop, so many more are expected.
* You can also import files from your desktop or by specifying a URL.
* There are more attributes that can be added to a file, such as license and author.

====[[Portfolios|Portfolio support]]====

* Modules can now export their data to external systems, particularly useful for portfolios where snapshots of forums, assignments and other things in Moodle are useful to record in a journal or a portfolio of evidence
* Different formats are supported (currently LEAP2A, HTML, Images and Text, but others like PDF can be added)
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Box.net, Flickr, Google Docs, '''Mahara''' and Picasa.

====[[Course completion]] and prerequisites====

* Teachers can now specify a [[Course completion]] condition standard for all students. Conditions include activity completion, but could also be by grade, date or a number of other criteria.
* Teachers can use the above standard as a [[Course completion tracking|prerequisite]] to other courses that allows ordered progression and scaffolding.
* Teachers and students can see reports that show the progress within a course, or through a series of courses.

====[[Conditional activities]]====

* Access to activities can be restricted based on certain criteria, such as dates, grade obtained, or the completion of another activity.
* These can be chained together to enable progressive disclosure of the course content, if that is desired.
* Teachers can now specify conditions that define when any '''activity''' is seen as [[Activity completion|completed]] by a student. For example, when a certain number of posts have been made, or a grade has been reached, or a choice has been made.

====[[Cohorts]]====
* Also known as "Site-wide groups", these are site-wide collections of users that can be enrolled into courses in one action, either manually or synchronised automatically

====[[Web Services|Web services support]]====
* Support for standards-based web services across the entire Moodle code base, allowing the admin to expose particular functions of Moodle for use by:
** Administrative systems such as HR or SIS applications
** Mobile clients
* Framework contains a very high-level of security with a detailed token system and complete control over the range of functions exposed
* All defined functions are automatically available via:
** XML-RPC
** AMF (Flash)
** REST
** SOAP (PHP)

====New blocks====
* [[Comments block]] - like a shoutbox, allows comments to be added to any page. Great for student feedback.
* [[My private files block]] - allows access to a user's private files, which can then be accessed by them anywhere with the [[File picker]]. There is quota management available.
* [[Community block]] - keeps track of external courses one is interested in
* [[Course completion status block]] - reports on the completion status of your courses

====[[Plagiarism Prevention|Plagiarism prevention]]====

* Moodle supports integration with plagiarism prevention tools such as Turnitin

===Major improvements to existing core features===

====[[Backup 2.0|Backup and restore]]====

* Completely rewritten Backup/Restore framework, no longer bound by memory (can work with '''any size course''').
* Completely new backup format.
* Improved interface.
* Backup can be made of whole courses, but also specific sections or activities.

====[[Blocks 2.0|Blocks]]====
* Blocks are now consistently implemented on every page in Moodle
* No longer any limit to placing blocks in only the left and right column regions but also at the top, center or bottom of areas of pages)
* Any block can be [[Sticky blocks|forced to appear]] in all the page [[Context|contexts]] below it (for example, in every course or throughout a course).
* Blocks can placed in the [[Dock]] area on the side of the screen (if the theme supports it)

====[[Blogs 2.0|Blogs]]====
* Support for comments on each blog entry
* Removal of group-level and course-level blogs (these are converted into forums on upgrade)
* Support for external blog feeds (synchronised to Moodle blog)

====[[Comments 2.0|Comments]]====
* User comments (Glossaries, Databases, Blogs, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available

====[[Enrolments 2.0|Enrolment plugins]]====
* Major improvements in the handling of guests and guest accounts
* Support for multiple forms of enrolment at the same time
* More detailed control over enrolment in courses

====[[File handling 2.0|File handling]]====

* Full support for Unicode file names on all operating systems.
* Metadata about each file (author, date, license, etc) and what the file is used for are stored in the database.
* Duplicate files (for example, a large video file use in two different courses) are only stored once, saving disk space.
* Files are no longer just "uploaded to the course". Files are connected to the particular bit of Moodle content that uses them. (For example, a file may belong to a file resource, a forum post or a wiki page). Access to these files is then controlled by the same rules as as that bit of Moodle, increasing security.

====[[Filters 2.0]]====

* In the past, you had to use the same filters everywhere in your Moodle site, and this could only be changed by admins.
* Now, you can have different filters in different courses, activities or categories.
* For example, you could turn on the LaTeX filter just for courses in the Maths and Physics categories.
* Or you could turn off glossary linking in the end of course exam.

====[[HTML editor 2.0|HTML editor]]====
* New editor based on TinyMCE
* Works on more browsers
* Resizable editing area
* Cleaner XHTML output
* Full integration with configured external repositories to import and embed media into text

====[[Messaging 2.0|Messaging]]====
* All email sent by Moodle is now treated as a message
* A message overview panel allows users to control how messages are sent to them
* Initial message output plugins in Moodle 2.0 include: Email, Jabber and Popups

====[[My Moodle 2.0|My Moodle page]]====
* More customisable My Moodle page with new blocks for showing relevant information
* Admin can design (and optionally force) site-wide layouts for My Moodle
* My Moodle page given more prominence as the main "home page" for users

====[[Navigation 2.0|Navigation]]====
* Standard "Navigation" block on every page showing contextual links, while allowing you to jump elsewhere quickly
* Standard "Settings" blocks on every page shows contextual settings as well as settings for anything else you have permissions for

====[[Ratings 2.0|Ratings]]====
* User ratings (Glossaries, Databases, Forums, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available
* Aggregation of using ratings into activity grades is now standardised in all activities

====[[Roles 2.0|Roles and permissions]]====
* Simplified permission evaluation logic
* Improved and simplified AJAX interfaces for defining and assigning roles
* Improved and simplified interfaces for tweaking permissions in any given context
* New "Archetypes" concept replacing the "Legacy roles" concept.
* New archetype "manager" to define the role of most people with system-wide editing rights, separate from "admin" role.
* Permission of "Administrator" superusers can not be modified

====[[RSS feeds 2.0|RSS feeds]]====
* All RSS feeds are now secured using a random per-user token in the URL
* Tokens can be updated by the user at any time (if they suspect a feed URL has been compromised)
* RSS feeds are now more accurate (eg they support forums with separate groups), and are generated efficiently whenever required

====[[Development:Themes 2.0|Themes]]====
* Many new themes in the core distribution - see [[Theme credits]] for a list
* All HTML and JS ouput is now far more efficient (server-side caching) and consistent (tableless layout, new CSS, YUI Framework)
* Themes can change the HTML of the page if they wish
* Core support for custom menus in all themes (for example at the top of the page)

====[[Translation 2.0|Translation system]]====
* [http://lang.moodle.org/ New web portal] to make it easer for groups to collaborate on translating Moodle, and to keep their translations up-to-date.
* More efficient [[Development:Languages/AMOS|storage format for language strings]] should slightly improve performance.

====User profile pages====
* Site-wide user profile page can be customised by users with blocks, news, feeds and so on
* Course-specific user profile pages show course blocks and standard profile information, plus information for teachers of that course

===Major improvements to activity modules===

====Lesson====
* Refactored internal code
* Forms are now standard Moodle forms

====Quiz module and question bank====

* [[Development:quiz_navigation|Quiz navigation improvements for students]]
* [[Development:Flagging_questions_during_a_quiz_attempt|Flagging questions during a quiz attempt]] Student can mark a question that stays with their quiz.
* [[Development:Quiz_report_enhancements|Quiz report enhancements]] - Major improvements to the quiz reports, especially regrading and item analysis
* [[Development:Quiz_report_statistics|Quiz report statistics]] - A brief guide
* [[Development:Quiz_UI_redesign|Quiz editing interface improvements]]
* Different settings (open/close date, number of attempts, password, time limit) for each group or student (MDL-16478)
* [[Development:Administration page for question types|Administration page for question types]]
* [[Development:Moodle 2.0 question bank improvements|Question tagging and improved searching in the question bank]]
* MDL-8648 Essay questions can now be randomised by random questions

====Resource====
* All the resource types have been refactored into real modules, and cleaned up
** File - for displaying a file, possibly with supporting files (like a HTML mini-site)
** Folder - for displaying a collection of documents
** URL - for displaying a page with a given URL
** Page - for a single page, edited online using the HTML editor
** IMS - for showing a regular IMS content package
* Better XHTML-compliant support for frames, iframes and embedding in all these modules

====SCORM====

* New [[SCORM module]] settings - display attempt status, display course structure, force completed, force new attempt, lock after final attempt - allowing the behaviour dictated to the SCORM object by the authoring package to be changed MDL-11501
* New reporting interface including sortable/collapsible table with group select box and ability to download in Excel, ODS and text format MDL-21555
* New SCORM player UI with better navigation, improved performance and better handling of stage size MDL-22951

====[[Wiki module 2.0|Wiki]]====
* Completely re-written from scratch, based on NWIki from UPC
* Support for Mediawiki-style syntax, as well as Creole
* Interface improvements

====[[Workshop module 2.0|Workshop]]====

* Completely rewritten from scratch
* Vastly improved interface for managing stages and users

<noinclude>==System requirements==

Since Moodle 2.0 is such a major release, we are allowing ourselves some increases in the requirements.

* PHP must be 5.2.8 or later (it was released 08-Dec-2008), PHP 5.3.3 or later is recommended
* Databases should be one of the following:
** MySQL 5.0.25 or later (InnoDB storage engine highly recommended)
** PostgreSQL 8.3 or later
** Oracle 10.2 or later
** MS SQL 2005 or later
* Any standards-supporting browser from the past few years, for example:
** Firefox 3 or later
** Safari 3 or later
** Google Chrome 4 or later
** Opera 9 or later
** MS Internet Explorer 7 or later (Even [http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/01/modern-browsers-for-modern-applications.html Google don't support IE6 any more])
** etc

==Upgrading==

When upgrading to Moodle 2.0, you must have Moodle 1.9 or later. if you are using an earlier version of Moodle (eg 1.8.x) then you need to upgrade to Moodle 1.9.x first. We advise that you test the upgrade first on a COPY of your production site, to make sure it works as you expect.

For further information, see [[Upgrading to Moodle 2.0]].

==For developers: API changes==

See [[Development:Migrating contrib code to 2.0]]

* [[Development:Plugin system changes in Moodle 2.0]] - all the different types of plugin are now handles more consistently when it comes to installation and upgrading, capabilities, events, and so on.
* [[Development:DB_layer_2.0_migration_docs|Database layer changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Using_the_file_API|File handling changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Migrating your code code to the 2.0 rendering API|Rendering layer changes]] - should be mostly backwards compatible, but you are advised to upgrade your code.
* Require capability used to do an automatic require_login. It no longer does so. All pages must explicitly call require_login if they need it. MDL-19882
* [[Development:Moodle_2.0_question_type_API_changes|Changes to the question type API]]
* MNet has been refactored and tidied up - related third party code needs to be checked
* Changes and improvements to the [[Development:Local_customisation|Local customisation system]].
* Javascript
* YUI
* custom profile fields values are loaded into $USER->profile array instead of directly into $USER object

==Credits==

These people made check-ins to Moodle 2.0 code. Thanks to all of them, of course. Some of these people represent a team of people who actually worked on the code.

* Robert Allerstorfer (anet.at)
* Aaron Barnes, Peter Bulmer, Matt Clarkson, Jonathan Harker, Piers Harding, Luke Hudson, Martin Langhoff, Dan Marsden, Francois Marier, Donal McMullan, Jonathan Newman (catalyst.net.nz)
* Howard Miller (e-learndesign.co.uk)
* Iñaki Arenaza (mondragon.edu)
* Andreas Grabs (grabs-edv.de)
* Jamie Pratt (jamiep.org)
* Anthony Borrow (jesuits.net)
* Gordon Bateson (kanazawa-gu.ac.jp)
* Samuli Karevaara (lamk.fi)
* Penny Leach (liip.ch)
* Dan Poltawski (luns.net.uk)
* Matt Oquist (majen.net)
* Roberto Pinna (mfn.unipmn.it)
* Michael Ketcham (microsoft.com)
* Mitsuhiro Yoshida (mitstek.com)
* Aparup Banerjee, Dongsheng Cai, Nicolas Connault, Andrew Davis, Martin Dougiamas, Helen Foster, Sam Hemelryk, Eloy Lafuente, Jerome Mouneyrac, David Mudrak, Mathieu Petit-Clair, Petr Skoda, Rossiani Wijaya, Yu Zhang (moodle.com)
* Mark Nielsen (moodlerooms.com)
* Andrea Bicciolo (mtouch.it)
* John Beedell, Nicholas Freear, Jenny Gray, Tim Hunt, Sam Marshall, Gareth Morgan, Derek Woolhead (open.ac.uk)
* Ashley Holman (netspot.com.au)
* Patrick Malley (newschoollearning.com)
* Eric Merrill (oakland.edu)
* Mike Churchward (oktech.ca)
* Shane Elliott (pukunui.com)
* Shamim Rezaie (rezaie.info)
* Joseph Rezeau (rezeau.org)
* Lukas Haemmerle (switch.ch)
* Urs Hunkler (unodo.de)
* Jordi Piguillem (upc.edu.es)
* Pierre Pichet (uqam.ca)
* Gustav Delius (york.ac.uk)
* Ethem Evlice, Valery Fremaux, Dariem Garces, Wen Hao Chuang, Luis Rodrigues, Olli Savolainen, John Stabinger

==See also==

* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 1 release notes]] - May 4, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 2 release notes]] - May 17, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 3 release notes]] - May 31, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 4 release notes]] - June 30, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Release Candidate 1 release notes]] - September 21, 2010

[[Category:Release notes]]
[[Category:Moodle 2.0]]

[[fr:Notes de mise à jour de Moodle 2.0]]
[[es:Notas de Moodle 2.0]]</noinclude>
[[de:Moodle 2.0 Versionsinformationen]]

Moodle 2.0 release notes

2010-12-05T17:45:13Z

Rcollman: /* New blocks */ My private

Release date: '''24th November, 2010'''

Moodle 2.0 contains a lot of large new features, some completely rewritten features, and hundreds of bug fixes. For full details (more than you probably want!), see [http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL/fixforversion/10122 the full list of fixed issues in 2.0].

===Major new features===

====[[Community hub|Community hubs]]====

* Anybody can set up a Community hub, which is a directory of courses for public use or for private communities. The code is implemented as separate GPL plugin for Moodle.
* Sites can register to any Community hub (instead of just moodle.org)
* Teachers on registered sites can publish their full courses to Community hubs, for download
* Teachers on registered sites can also advertise their courses on Community hubs, for people to join
* Teachers on any site can search all public Community hubs and download courses as templates for their own courses
* Users on any Moodle site can also search Community hubs for courses (and communities of practice) to participate in. Initially we are encouraging ''''communities of teaching practice'''' but any sort of course can be listed.

====[[Repositories|Repository support (File bank)]]====
*File management has undergone a major change in both the interface and function.
*The [[File picker]] presents a standard way to access the new [[File bank]] repository system.
* This allows Moodle to integrate with external repositories of content, making it really simple to bring documents and media into Moodle via an AJAX interface that looks like a standard '''Open''' dialogue in desktop applications.
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Alfresco, Amazon S3, Box.net, File system on Server, Flickr, Google Docs, Mahara, MERLOT, Picasa, Recent Files, Remote Moodle sites, WebDAV servers, Wikimedia, Youtube. These are simple to develop, so many more are expected.
* You can also import files from your desktop or by specifying a URL.
* There are more attributes that can be added to a file, such as license and author.

====[[Portfolios|Portfolio support]]====

* Modules can now export their data to external systems, particularly useful for portfolios where snapshots of forums, assignments and other things in Moodle are useful to record in a journal or a portfolio of evidence
* Different formats are supported (currently LEAP2A, HTML, Images and Text, but others like PDF can be added)
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Box.net, Flickr, Google Docs, '''Mahara''' and Picasa.

====[[Course completion]] and prerequisites====

* Teachers can now specify a [[Course completion]] condition standard for all students. Conditions include activity completion, but could also be by grade, date or a number of other criteria.
* Teachers can use the above standard as a [[Course completion tracking|prerequisite]] to other courses that allows ordered progression and scaffolding.
* Teachers and students can see reports that show the progress within a course, or through a series of courses.

====[[Conditional activities]]====

* Access to activities can be restricted based on certain criteria, such as dates, grade obtained, or the completion of another activity.
* These can be chained together to enable progressive disclosure of the course content, if that is desired.
* Teachers can now specify conditions that define when any '''activity''' is seen as [[Activity completion|completed]] by a student. For example, when a certain number of posts have been made, or a grade has been reached, or a choice has been made.

====[[Cohorts]]====
* Also known as "Site-wide groups", these are site-wide collections of users that can be enrolled into courses in one action, either manually or synchronised automatically

====[[Web Services|Web services support]]====
* Support for standards-based web services across the entire Moodle code base, allowing the admin to expose particular functions of Moodle for use by:
** Administrative systems such as HR or SIS applications
** Mobile clients
* Framework contains a very high-level of security with a detailed token system and complete control over the range of functions exposed
* All defined functions are automatically available via:
** XML-RPC
** AMF (Flash)
** REST
** SOAP (PHP)

====New blocks====
* [[Comments block]] - like a shoutbox, allows comments to be added to any page. Great for student feedback.
* [[My private files block]] - allows access to a user's private files, which can then be accessed by them anywhere with the [[File picker]]. There is quota management available.
* [[Community block]] - keeps track of external courses one is interested in
* [[Course completion status block]] - reports on the completion status of your courses

====[[Plagiarism Prevention|Plagiarism prevention]]====

* Moodle supports integration with plagiarism prevention tools such as Turnitin

===Major improvements to existing core features===

====[[Backup 2.0|Backup and restore]]====

* Completely rewritten Backup/Restore framework, no longer bound by memory (can work with '''any size course''').
* Completely new backup format.
* Improved interface.
* Backup can be made of whole courses, but also specific sections or activities.

====[[Blocks 2.0|Blocks]]====
* Blocks are now consistently implemented on every page in Moodle
* No longer any limit to placing blocks in only the left and right column regions but also at the top, center or bottom of areas of pages)
* Any block can be [[Sticky blocks|forced to appear]] in all the page [[Context|contexts]] below it (for example, in every course or throughout a course).
* Blocks can placed in the [[Dock]] area on the side of the screen (if the theme supports it)

====[[Blogs 2.0|Blogs]]====
* Support for comments on each blog entry
* Removal of group-level and course-level blogs (these are converted into forums on upgrade)
* Support for external blog feeds (synchronised to Moodle blog)

====[[Comments 2.0|Comments]]====
* User comments (Glossaries, Databases, Blogs, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available

====[[Enrolments 2.0|Enrolment plugins]]====
* Major improvements in the handling of guests and guest accounts
* Support for multiple forms of enrolment at the same time
* More detailed control over enrolment in courses

====[[File handling 2.0|File handling]]====

* Full support for Unicode file names on all operating systems.
* Metadata about each file (author, date, license, etc) and what the file is used for are stored in the database.
* Duplicate files (for example, a large video file use in two different courses) are only stored once, saving disk space.
* Files are no longer just "uploaded to the course". Files are connected to the particular bit of Moodle content that uses them. (For example, a file may belong to a file resource, a forum post or a wiki page). Access to these files is then controlled by the same rules as as that bit of Moodle, increasing security.

====[[Filters 2.0]]====

* In the past, you had to use the same filters everywhere in your Moodle site, and this could only be changed by admins.
* Now, you can have different filters in different courses, activities or categories.
* For example, you could turn on the LaTeX filter just for courses in the Maths and Physics categories.
* Or you could turn off glossary linking in the end of course exam.

====[[HTML editor 2.0|HTML editor]]====
* New editor based on TinyMCE
* Works on more browsers
* Resizable editing area
* Cleaner XHTML output
* Full integration with configured external repositories to import and embed media into text

====[[Messaging 2.0|Messaging]]====
* All email sent by Moodle is now treated as a message
* A message overview panel allows users to control how messages are sent to them
* Initial message output plugins in Moodle 2.0 include: Email, Jabber and Popups

====[[My Moodle 2.0|My Moodle page]]====
* More customisable My Moodle page with new blocks for showing relevant information
* Admin can design (and optionally force) site-wide layouts for My Moodle
* My Moodle page given more prominence as the main "home page" for users

====[[Navigation 2.0|Navigation]]====
* Standard "Navigation" block on every page showing contextual links, while allowing you to jump elsewhere quickly
* Standard "Settings" blocks on every page shows contextual settings as well as settings for anything else you have permissions for

====[[Ratings 2.0|Ratings]]====
* User ratings (Glossaries, Databases, Forums, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available
* Aggregation of using ratings into activity grades is now standardised in all activities

====[[Roles 2.0|Roles and permissions]]====
* Simplified permission evaluation logic
* Improved and simplified AJAX interfaces for defining and assigning roles
* Improved and simplified interfaces for tweaking permissions in any given context
* New "Archetypes" concept replacing the "Legacy roles" concept.
* New archetype "manager" to define the role of most people with system-wide editing rights, separate from "admin" role.
* Permission of "Administrator" superusers can not be modified

====[[RSS feeds 2.0|RSS feeds]]====
* All RSS feeds are now secured using a random per-user token in the URL
* Tokens can be updated by the user at any time (if they suspect a feed URL has been compromised)
* RSS feeds are now more accurate (eg they support forums with separate groups), and are generated efficiently whenever required

====[[Development:Themes 2.0|Themes]]====
* Many new themes in the core distribution - see [[Theme credits]] for a list
* All HTML and JS ouput is now far more efficient (server-side caching) and consistent (tableless layout, new CSS, YUI Framework)
* Themes can change the HTML of the page if they wish
* Core support for custom menus in all themes (for example at the top of the page)

====[[Translation 2.0|Translation system]]====
* [http://lang.moodle.org/ New web portal] to make it easer for groups to collaborate on translating Moodle, and to keep their translations up-to-date.
* More efficient [[Development:Languages/AMOS|storage format for language strings]] should slightly improve performance.

====User profile pages====
* Site-wide user profile page can be customised by users with blocks, news, feeds and so on
* Course-specific user profile pages show course blocks and standard profile information, plus information for teachers of that course

===Major improvements to activity modules===

====Lesson====
* Refactored internal code
* Forms are now standard Moodle forms

====Quiz module and question bank====

* [[Development:quiz_navigation|Quiz navigation improvements for students]]
* [[Development:Flagging_questions_during_a_quiz_attempt|Flagging questions during a quiz attempt]] Student can mark a question that stays with their quiz.
* [[Development:Quiz_report_enhancements|Quiz report enhancements]] - Major improvements to the quiz reports, especially regrading and item analysis
* [[Development:Quiz_report_statistics|Quiz report statistics]] - A brief guide
* [[Development:Quiz_UI_redesign|Quiz editing interface improvements]]
* Different settings (open/close date, number of attempts, password, time limit) for each group or student (MDL-16478)
* [[Development:Administration page for question types|Administration page for question types]]
* [[Development:Moodle 2.0 question bank improvements|Question tagging and improved searching in the question bank]]
* MDL-8648 Essay questions can now be randomised by random questions

====Resource====
* All the resource types have been refactored into real modules, and cleaned up
** File - for displaying a file, possibly with supporting files (like a HTML mini-site)
** Folder - for displaying a collection of documents
** URL - for displaying a page with a given URL
** Page - for a single page, edited online using the HTML editor
** IMS - for showing a regular IMS content package
* Better XHTML-compliant support for frames, iframes and embedding in all these modules

====SCORM====

* New [[SCORM module]] settings - display attempt status, display course structure, force completed, force new attempt, lock after final attempt - allowing the behaviour dictated to the SCORM object by the authoring package to be changed MDL-11501
* New reporting interface including sortable/collapsible table with group select box and ability to download in Excel, ODS and text format MDL-21555
* New SCORM player UI with better navigation, improved performance and better handling of stage size MDL-22951

====[[Wiki module 2.0|Wiki]]====
* Completely re-written from scratch, based on NWIki from UPC
* Support for Mediawiki-style syntax, as well as Creole
* Interface improvements

====[[Workshop module 2.0|Workshop]]====

* Completely rewritten from scratch
* Vastly improved interface for managing stages and users

<noinclude>==System requirements==

Since Moodle 2.0 is such a major release, we are allowing ourselves some increases in the requirements.

* PHP must be 5.2.8 or later (it was released 08-Dec-2008), PHP 5.3.3 or later is recommended
* Databases should be one of the following:
** MySQL 5.0.25 or later (InnoDB storage engine highly recommended)
** PostgreSQL 8.3 or later
** Oracle 10.2 or later
** MS SQL 2005 or later
* Any standards-supporting browser from the past few years, for example:
** Firefox 3 or later
** Safari 3 or later
** Google Chrome 4 or later
** Opera 9 or later
** MS Internet Explorer 7 or later (Even [http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/01/modern-browsers-for-modern-applications.html Google don't support IE6 any more])
** etc

==Upgrading==

When upgrading to Moodle 2.0, you must have Moodle 1.9 or later. if you are using an earlier version of Moodle (eg 1.8.x) then you need to upgrade to Moodle 1.9.x first. We advise that you test the upgrade first on a COPY of your production site, to make sure it works as you expect.

For further information, see [[Upgrading to Moodle 2.0]].

==For developers: API changes==

See [[Development:Migrating contrib code to 2.0]]

* [[Development:Plugin system changes in Moodle 2.0]] - all the different types of plugin are now handles more consistently when it comes to installation and upgrading, capabilities, events, and so on.
* [[Development:DB_layer_2.0_migration_docs|Database layer changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Using_the_file_API|File handling changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Migrating your code code to the 2.0 rendering API|Rendering layer changes]] - should be mostly backwards compatible, but you are advised to upgrade your code.
* Require capability used to do an automatic require_login. It no longer does so. All pages must explicitly call require_login if they need it. MDL-19882
* [[Development:Moodle_2.0_question_type_API_changes|Changes to the question type API]]
* MNet has been refactored and tidied up - related third party code needs to be checked
* Changes and improvements to the [[Development:Local_customisation|Local customisation system]].
* Javascript
* YUI
* custom profile fields values are loaded into $USER->profile array instead of directly into $USER object

==Credits==

These people made check-ins to Moodle 2.0 code. Thanks to all of them, of course. Some of these people represent a team of people who actually worked on the code.

* Robert Allerstorfer (anet.at)
* Aaron Barnes, Peter Bulmer, Matt Clarkson, Jonathan Harker, Piers Harding, Luke Hudson, Martin Langhoff, Dan Marsden, Francois Marier, Donal McMullan, Jonathan Newman (catalyst.net.nz)
* Howard Miller (e-learndesign.co.uk)
* Iñaki Arenaza (mondragon.edu)
* Andreas Grabs (grabs-edv.de)
* Jamie Pratt (jamiep.org)
* Anthony Borrow (jesuits.net)
* Gordon Bateson (kanazawa-gu.ac.jp)
* Samuli Karevaara (lamk.fi)
* Penny Leach (liip.ch)
* Dan Poltawski (luns.net.uk)
* Matt Oquist (majen.net)
* Roberto Pinna (mfn.unipmn.it)
* Michael Ketcham (microsoft.com)
* Mitsuhiro Yoshida (mitstek.com)
* Aparup Banerjee, Dongsheng Cai, Nicolas Connault, Andrew Davis, Martin Dougiamas, Helen Foster, Sam Hemelryk, Eloy Lafuente, Jerome Mouneyrac, David Mudrak, Mathieu Petit-Clair, Petr Skoda, Rossiani Wijaya, Yu Zhang (moodle.com)
* Mark Nielsen (moodlerooms.com)
* Andrea Bicciolo (mtouch.it)
* John Beedell, Nicholas Freear, Jenny Gray, Tim Hunt, Sam Marshall, Gareth Morgan, Derek Woolhead (open.ac.uk)
* Ashley Holman (netspot.com.au)
* Patrick Malley (newschoollearning.com)
* Eric Merrill (oakland.edu)
* Mike Churchward (oktech.ca)
* Shane Elliott (pukunui.com)
* Shamim Rezaie (rezaie.info)
* Joseph Rezeau (rezeau.org)
* Lukas Haemmerle (switch.ch)
* Urs Hunkler (unodo.de)
* Jordi Piguillem (upc.edu.es)
* Pierre Pichet (uqam.ca)
* Gustav Delius (york.ac.uk)
* Ethem Evlice, Valery Fremaux, Dariem Garces, Wen Hao Chuang, Luis Rodrigues, Olli Savolainen, John Stabinger

==See also==

* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 1 release notes]] - May 4, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 2 release notes]] - May 17, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 3 release notes]] - May 31, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 4 release notes]] - June 30, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Release Candidate 1 release notes]] - September 21, 2010

[[Category:Release notes]]
[[Category:Moodle 2.0]]

[[fr:Notes de mise à jour de Moodle 2.0]]
[[es:Notas de Moodle 2.0]]</noinclude>
[[de:Moodle 2.0 Versionsinformationen]]

Moodle 2.0 release notes

2010-12-05T17:40:33Z

Rcollman: /* Repository support */ Might want to check this

Release date: '''24th November, 2010'''

Moodle 2.0 contains a lot of large new features, some completely rewritten features, and hundreds of bug fixes. For full details (more than you probably want!), see [http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL/fixforversion/10122 the full list of fixed issues in 2.0].

===Major new features===

====[[Community hub|Community hubs]]====

* Anybody can set up a Community hub, which is a directory of courses for public use or for private communities. The code is implemented as separate GPL plugin for Moodle.
* Sites can register to any Community hub (instead of just moodle.org)
* Teachers on registered sites can publish their full courses to Community hubs, for download
* Teachers on registered sites can also advertise their courses on Community hubs, for people to join
* Teachers on any site can search all public Community hubs and download courses as templates for their own courses
* Users on any Moodle site can also search Community hubs for courses (and communities of practice) to participate in. Initially we are encouraging ''''communities of teaching practice'''' but any sort of course can be listed.

====[[Repositories|Repository support (File bank)]]====
*File management has undergone a major change in both the interface and function.
*The [[File picker]] presents a standard way to access the new [[File bank]] repository system.
* This allows Moodle to integrate with external repositories of content, making it really simple to bring documents and media into Moodle via an AJAX interface that looks like a standard '''Open''' dialogue in desktop applications.
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Alfresco, Amazon S3, Box.net, File system on Server, Flickr, Google Docs, Mahara, MERLOT, Picasa, Recent Files, Remote Moodle sites, WebDAV servers, Wikimedia, Youtube. These are simple to develop, so many more are expected.
* You can also import files from your desktop or by specifying a URL.
* There are more attributes that can be added to a file, such as license and author.

====[[Portfolios|Portfolio support]]====

* Modules can now export their data to external systems, particularly useful for portfolios where snapshots of forums, assignments and other things in Moodle are useful to record in a journal or a portfolio of evidence
* Different formats are supported (currently LEAP2A, HTML, Images and Text, but others like PDF can be added)
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Box.net, Flickr, Google Docs, '''Mahara''' and Picasa.

====[[Course completion]] and prerequisites====

* Teachers can now specify a [[Course completion]] condition standard for all students. Conditions include activity completion, but could also be by grade, date or a number of other criteria.
* Teachers can use the above standard as a [[Course completion tracking|prerequisite]] to other courses that allows ordered progression and scaffolding.
* Teachers and students can see reports that show the progress within a course, or through a series of courses.

====[[Conditional activities]]====

* Access to activities can be restricted based on certain criteria, such as dates, grade obtained, or the completion of another activity.
* These can be chained together to enable progressive disclosure of the course content, if that is desired.
* Teachers can now specify conditions that define when any '''activity''' is seen as [[Activity completion|completed]] by a student. For example, when a certain number of posts have been made, or a grade has been reached, or a choice has been made.

====[[Cohorts]]====
* Also known as "Site-wide groups", these are site-wide collections of users that can be enrolled into courses in one action, either manually or synchronised automatically

====[[Web Services|Web services support]]====
* Support for standards-based web services across the entire Moodle code base, allowing the admin to expose particular functions of Moodle for use by:
** Administrative systems such as HR or SIS applications
** Mobile clients
* Framework contains a very high-level of security with a detailed token system and complete control over the range of functions exposed
* All defined functions are automatically available via:
** XML-RPC
** AMF (Flash)
** REST
** SOAP (PHP)

====New blocks====
* [[Comments block]] - like a shoutbox, allows comments to be added to any page. Great for student feedback.
* [[My private files block]] - allows easy access to one's private file repository in Moodle (with quota support)
* [[Community block]] - keeps track of external courses one is interested in
* [[Course completion status block]] - reports on the completion status of your courses

====[[Plagiarism Prevention|Plagiarism prevention]]====

* Moodle supports integration with plagiarism prevention tools such as Turnitin

===Major improvements to existing core features===

====[[Backup 2.0|Backup and restore]]====

* Completely rewritten Backup/Restore framework, no longer bound by memory (can work with '''any size course''').
* Completely new backup format.
* Improved interface.
* Backup can be made of whole courses, but also specific sections or activities.

====[[Blocks 2.0|Blocks]]====
* Blocks are now consistently implemented on every page in Moodle
* No longer any limit to placing blocks in only the left and right column regions but also at the top, center or bottom of areas of pages)
* Any block can be [[Sticky blocks|forced to appear]] in all the page [[Context|contexts]] below it (for example, in every course or throughout a course).
* Blocks can placed in the [[Dock]] area on the side of the screen (if the theme supports it)

====[[Blogs 2.0|Blogs]]====
* Support for comments on each blog entry
* Removal of group-level and course-level blogs (these are converted into forums on upgrade)
* Support for external blog feeds (synchronised to Moodle blog)

====[[Comments 2.0|Comments]]====
* User comments (Glossaries, Databases, Blogs, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available

====[[Enrolments 2.0|Enrolment plugins]]====
* Major improvements in the handling of guests and guest accounts
* Support for multiple forms of enrolment at the same time
* More detailed control over enrolment in courses

====[[File handling 2.0|File handling]]====

* Full support for Unicode file names on all operating systems.
* Metadata about each file (author, date, license, etc) and what the file is used for are stored in the database.
* Duplicate files (for example, a large video file use in two different courses) are only stored once, saving disk space.
* Files are no longer just "uploaded to the course". Files are connected to the particular bit of Moodle content that uses them. (For example, a file may belong to a file resource, a forum post or a wiki page). Access to these files is then controlled by the same rules as as that bit of Moodle, increasing security.

====[[Filters 2.0]]====

* In the past, you had to use the same filters everywhere in your Moodle site, and this could only be changed by admins.
* Now, you can have different filters in different courses, activities or categories.
* For example, you could turn on the LaTeX filter just for courses in the Maths and Physics categories.
* Or you could turn off glossary linking in the end of course exam.

====[[HTML editor 2.0|HTML editor]]====
* New editor based on TinyMCE
* Works on more browsers
* Resizable editing area
* Cleaner XHTML output
* Full integration with configured external repositories to import and embed media into text

====[[Messaging 2.0|Messaging]]====
* All email sent by Moodle is now treated as a message
* A message overview panel allows users to control how messages are sent to them
* Initial message output plugins in Moodle 2.0 include: Email, Jabber and Popups

====[[My Moodle 2.0|My Moodle page]]====
* More customisable My Moodle page with new blocks for showing relevant information
* Admin can design (and optionally force) site-wide layouts for My Moodle
* My Moodle page given more prominence as the main "home page" for users

====[[Navigation 2.0|Navigation]]====
* Standard "Navigation" block on every page showing contextual links, while allowing you to jump elsewhere quickly
* Standard "Settings" blocks on every page shows contextual settings as well as settings for anything else you have permissions for

====[[Ratings 2.0|Ratings]]====
* User ratings (Glossaries, Databases, Forums, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available
* Aggregation of using ratings into activity grades is now standardised in all activities

====[[Roles 2.0|Roles and permissions]]====
* Simplified permission evaluation logic
* Improved and simplified AJAX interfaces for defining and assigning roles
* Improved and simplified interfaces for tweaking permissions in any given context
* New "Archetypes" concept replacing the "Legacy roles" concept.
* New archetype "manager" to define the role of most people with system-wide editing rights, separate from "admin" role.
* Permission of "Administrator" superusers can not be modified

====[[RSS feeds 2.0|RSS feeds]]====
* All RSS feeds are now secured using a random per-user token in the URL
* Tokens can be updated by the user at any time (if they suspect a feed URL has been compromised)
* RSS feeds are now more accurate (eg they support forums with separate groups), and are generated efficiently whenever required

====[[Development:Themes 2.0|Themes]]====
* Many new themes in the core distribution - see [[Theme credits]] for a list
* All HTML and JS ouput is now far more efficient (server-side caching) and consistent (tableless layout, new CSS, YUI Framework)
* Themes can change the HTML of the page if they wish
* Core support for custom menus in all themes (for example at the top of the page)

====[[Translation 2.0|Translation system]]====
* [http://lang.moodle.org/ New web portal] to make it easer for groups to collaborate on translating Moodle, and to keep their translations up-to-date.
* More efficient [[Development:Languages/AMOS|storage format for language strings]] should slightly improve performance.

====User profile pages====
* Site-wide user profile page can be customised by users with blocks, news, feeds and so on
* Course-specific user profile pages show course blocks and standard profile information, plus information for teachers of that course

===Major improvements to activity modules===

====Lesson====
* Refactored internal code
* Forms are now standard Moodle forms

====Quiz module and question bank====

* [[Development:quiz_navigation|Quiz navigation improvements for students]]
* [[Development:Flagging_questions_during_a_quiz_attempt|Flagging questions during a quiz attempt]] Student can mark a question that stays with their quiz.
* [[Development:Quiz_report_enhancements|Quiz report enhancements]] - Major improvements to the quiz reports, especially regrading and item analysis
* [[Development:Quiz_report_statistics|Quiz report statistics]] - A brief guide
* [[Development:Quiz_UI_redesign|Quiz editing interface improvements]]
* Different settings (open/close date, number of attempts, password, time limit) for each group or student (MDL-16478)
* [[Development:Administration page for question types|Administration page for question types]]
* [[Development:Moodle 2.0 question bank improvements|Question tagging and improved searching in the question bank]]
* MDL-8648 Essay questions can now be randomised by random questions

====Resource====
* All the resource types have been refactored into real modules, and cleaned up
** File - for displaying a file, possibly with supporting files (like a HTML mini-site)
** Folder - for displaying a collection of documents
** URL - for displaying a page with a given URL
** Page - for a single page, edited online using the HTML editor
** IMS - for showing a regular IMS content package
* Better XHTML-compliant support for frames, iframes and embedding in all these modules

====SCORM====

* New [[SCORM module]] settings - display attempt status, display course structure, force completed, force new attempt, lock after final attempt - allowing the behaviour dictated to the SCORM object by the authoring package to be changed MDL-11501
* New reporting interface including sortable/collapsible table with group select box and ability to download in Excel, ODS and text format MDL-21555
* New SCORM player UI with better navigation, improved performance and better handling of stage size MDL-22951

====[[Wiki module 2.0|Wiki]]====
* Completely re-written from scratch, based on NWIki from UPC
* Support for Mediawiki-style syntax, as well as Creole
* Interface improvements

====[[Workshop module 2.0|Workshop]]====

* Completely rewritten from scratch
* Vastly improved interface for managing stages and users

<noinclude>==System requirements==

Since Moodle 2.0 is such a major release, we are allowing ourselves some increases in the requirements.

* PHP must be 5.2.8 or later (it was released 08-Dec-2008), PHP 5.3.3 or later is recommended
* Databases should be one of the following:
** MySQL 5.0.25 or later (InnoDB storage engine highly recommended)
** PostgreSQL 8.3 or later
** Oracle 10.2 or later
** MS SQL 2005 or later
* Any standards-supporting browser from the past few years, for example:
** Firefox 3 or later
** Safari 3 or later
** Google Chrome 4 or later
** Opera 9 or later
** MS Internet Explorer 7 or later (Even [http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/01/modern-browsers-for-modern-applications.html Google don't support IE6 any more])
** etc

==Upgrading==

When upgrading to Moodle 2.0, you must have Moodle 1.9 or later. if you are using an earlier version of Moodle (eg 1.8.x) then you need to upgrade to Moodle 1.9.x first. We advise that you test the upgrade first on a COPY of your production site, to make sure it works as you expect.

For further information, see [[Upgrading to Moodle 2.0]].

==For developers: API changes==

See [[Development:Migrating contrib code to 2.0]]

* [[Development:Plugin system changes in Moodle 2.0]] - all the different types of plugin are now handles more consistently when it comes to installation and upgrading, capabilities, events, and so on.
* [[Development:DB_layer_2.0_migration_docs|Database layer changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Using_the_file_API|File handling changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Migrating your code code to the 2.0 rendering API|Rendering layer changes]] - should be mostly backwards compatible, but you are advised to upgrade your code.
* Require capability used to do an automatic require_login. It no longer does so. All pages must explicitly call require_login if they need it. MDL-19882
* [[Development:Moodle_2.0_question_type_API_changes|Changes to the question type API]]
* MNet has been refactored and tidied up - related third party code needs to be checked
* Changes and improvements to the [[Development:Local_customisation|Local customisation system]].
* Javascript
* YUI
* custom profile fields values are loaded into $USER->profile array instead of directly into $USER object

==Credits==

These people made check-ins to Moodle 2.0 code. Thanks to all of them, of course. Some of these people represent a team of people who actually worked on the code.

* Robert Allerstorfer (anet.at)
* Aaron Barnes, Peter Bulmer, Matt Clarkson, Jonathan Harker, Piers Harding, Luke Hudson, Martin Langhoff, Dan Marsden, Francois Marier, Donal McMullan, Jonathan Newman (catalyst.net.nz)
* Howard Miller (e-learndesign.co.uk)
* Iñaki Arenaza (mondragon.edu)
* Andreas Grabs (grabs-edv.de)
* Jamie Pratt (jamiep.org)
* Anthony Borrow (jesuits.net)
* Gordon Bateson (kanazawa-gu.ac.jp)
* Samuli Karevaara (lamk.fi)
* Penny Leach (liip.ch)
* Dan Poltawski (luns.net.uk)
* Matt Oquist (majen.net)
* Roberto Pinna (mfn.unipmn.it)
* Michael Ketcham (microsoft.com)
* Mitsuhiro Yoshida (mitstek.com)
* Aparup Banerjee, Dongsheng Cai, Nicolas Connault, Andrew Davis, Martin Dougiamas, Helen Foster, Sam Hemelryk, Eloy Lafuente, Jerome Mouneyrac, David Mudrak, Mathieu Petit-Clair, Petr Skoda, Rossiani Wijaya, Yu Zhang (moodle.com)
* Mark Nielsen (moodlerooms.com)
* Andrea Bicciolo (mtouch.it)
* John Beedell, Nicholas Freear, Jenny Gray, Tim Hunt, Sam Marshall, Gareth Morgan, Derek Woolhead (open.ac.uk)
* Ashley Holman (netspot.com.au)
* Patrick Malley (newschoollearning.com)
* Eric Merrill (oakland.edu)
* Mike Churchward (oktech.ca)
* Shane Elliott (pukunui.com)
* Shamim Rezaie (rezaie.info)
* Joseph Rezeau (rezeau.org)
* Lukas Haemmerle (switch.ch)
* Urs Hunkler (unodo.de)
* Jordi Piguillem (upc.edu.es)
* Pierre Pichet (uqam.ca)
* Gustav Delius (york.ac.uk)
* Ethem Evlice, Valery Fremaux, Dariem Garces, Wen Hao Chuang, Luis Rodrigues, Olli Savolainen, John Stabinger

==See also==

* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 1 release notes]] - May 4, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 2 release notes]] - May 17, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 3 release notes]] - May 31, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 4 release notes]] - June 30, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Release Candidate 1 release notes]] - September 21, 2010

[[Category:Release notes]]
[[Category:Moodle 2.0]]

[[fr:Notes de mise à jour de Moodle 2.0]]
[[es:Notas de Moodle 2.0]]</noinclude>
[[de:Moodle 2.0 Versionsinformationen]]

Plugin contribution

2010-11-29T13:32:13Z

Rcollman: /* Possible format for a contributed code Moodle Docs page */

This page describes the various ways to share and work collaboratively on contributed code.
#Submit code in the [http://tracker.moodle.org/ Moodle Tracker] under [http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/CONTRIB CONTRIB].
#Work with submitted code in [http://cvs.moodle.org Moodle's CVS server]
#Document features and install instructions in [https://docs.moodle.org Moodle Docs]
#Share and distribute code in the [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?id=6009 Modules and Plugins database]
#Talk and support code in the [http://moodle.org/course/view.php?id=5 Using Moodle forums]
#Maintain and further develop code with the [http://tracker.moodle.org Moodle Tracker]

==The Frequently asked question==
'''Question:''' I have written a new block, activity, patch or theme to share with the Moodle community. What is the process for contributing the code?

'''Answer:''' First, thank you for your generosity and desire to share your work with the rest of the Moodle community. Code contributions are highly valued and Moodle wants to encourage creativity and generosity in keeping with its constructivist tradition and pedagogical approach. To support this, there are several tools will support your contribution by allowing the code to be more easily found, tested, used, maintained, documented, and evaluated by fellow Moodlers and developers. Learning to use the various tools common among Moodle developers will help you to efficiently and effectively develop, share and maintain the contributed code.

==How to submit code==
You have created some code that you would like to contribute to the Moodle community. The first step is to create a login in [[Tracker]]. You should create a new issue as a "non- core contributed module" project and a "New Feature" issue type. Here is a link to tracker with [http://tracker.moodle.org/secure/CreateIssue!default.jspa?pid=10033 those fields filled in].

Your issue will be a request that the code be evaluated and uploaded into CVS. Provide a clear description of what the code does and the functionality that it adds to Moodle. Attach the contributed code as a zip (or tar.gz) file to the tracker issue. At that point, the Contrib Coordinator will work directly with the code contributor to help evaluate the code, work on resolving any questions/issues found, etc.

*Contributors are encouraged to follow Moodle's coding guidelines [[Coding]].
*A list of current tracker [http://tracker.moodle.org/secure/BrowseProject.jspa contributed projects is here].

==How to work with code in CVS==
Once the code has been added to the CONTRIB section of Moodle's [[CVS (developer)| CVS]], the contributor will request CVS write access via http://moodle.org/cvs/ and thus be able to make changes to the contributed code.

Contributors are encouraged to maintain a branch for each major Moodle release (i.e. 1.8, 1.9, etc.). The HEAD branch should be used as the development branch. Once CVS write access is approved, the maintainer will be able to make whatever changes are needed to maintain the code.

That being said, contributors are encouraged to associate each change made to an issue in the tracker. This is accomplished automatically by beginning the CVS commit comment with the issue number. By doing so, the contributor helps to document the reason for the change in the code back to the issue requesting for a change. More information on working with CVS is available at: [[CVS (developer)]].

:''Tip:'' '''Eclipse''' is an example of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that integrates and facilitates many of the common CVS tasks involved in working with Moodle CVS. Instructions for setting up and using Eclipse are available at: [[Eclipse]]. Experienced developers are free to use the tools they are most comfortable/productive with.

: Another IDE with CVS support is [[Setting_up_Netbeans|NetBeans]].

==How to provide documentation==
Having great code available to the community is wonderful. It is also important to educate users about how to use the code with documentation in [[Main Page|Moodle Docs]]. See [[MoodleDocs:Guidelines for contributors|guidelines for contributors]] for more help.

A documentation page for a contributed module should have some basic elements. A brief introduction of what the code does, a "Features" heading, perhaps a "Installation", "Tips and tricks" and "See also" headings, all with content of course. Sometimes a screenshot is worth 1000 words. In the "See also" put a link to the Modules and Plug database, with a note that this is the place to download versions, and the forum where questions can be answered at moodle.org.

Other information might include: Languages Supported, Known Issues, Supported Versions (for Moodle 1.8, 1.9), and maybe which are being actively supported. The page should be added to the contributed code category by typing <code><nowiki>[[Category:Contributed code]]</nowiki></code> at the bottom of the page.

===Possible format for a contributed code Moodle Docs page===
You can copy and paste the below into your Moodle documentation page. Please add the URL links. '''This is only a suggestion'''.
Start with a 2-4 line introduction. The Plug In Name works with the activity module.
It makes the life of the teacher easier by ...
==Features==
* Add features list or overview description here <nowiki><br></nowiki>
<nowiki> [[Image:Sample_screen_shot|thumb|500px|center|Title of screenshot]]</nowiki>
==Installation==
Place install instructions here
==Tips and tricks==
*Optional section, usually added by users later
==See also==
*[Place http_address_for_M&P_entry_here Name of Entry here] is a Modules and plugins database page that has download links and more information.
*Discussions: [Place http_address_for_moodle_forum_or_thread_here Name of forum]

When no thread or forum exists for discussion, put a link to the Contributed Code forum.
*Discussions: Please create or find a discussion topic in the <nowiki>[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=44 Contributed Code forum]</nowiki>

==Share code with modules and plugins database==
Now you have a place for users to get your code, how will they know it exists? Moodle users can easily find information about contributed code in the [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?id=6009 Modules and Plugins database]. When you add an entry to this database, remember that it is searchable by any field. Every field is not required, but providing as much information as possible will help people who would like to find, read about, and then install your contribution. In particular, the name of the module and the description of its function are important. Screen shots are helpful (but please, not larger than 350px wide!). Links to discussion (on Moodle.org or other forum) and documentation (link to your page in the [https://docs.moodle.org Moodle docs] or another location) should be included if possible.

If you are maintaining your code using Moodle's CVS server, a zip file of your code is automatically created and stored on Moodle's download server ([http://download.moodle.org/ http://download.moodle.org]). Therefore, the download link for most contributed code will be a link to [http://download.moodle.org/ Moodle's download server]. If you host your code on a site other than [http://download.moodle.org/ Moodle's download server], please ensure that the download link goes directly to the file and that the file is in a standard archive format (i.e. preferably a zip file). This makes it easier for users to locate the file quickly and helps to standardize installation of the code.

By way of example, if you have a CONTRIB plugin block called birthday, the preferred download link would be http://download.moodle.org/download.php/plugins/blocks/birthday.zip for the HEAD branch. For the MOODLE_19_STABLE branch, the URL would be http://download.moodle.org/download.php/plugins19/blocks/birthday.zip. Please note that the download.php is important as that is used to help produce the [http://download.moodle.org/stats.php download stats].

Users may leave comments on your entry, so please check it periodically for questions and bug reports. If you include contact information or a link to a discussion, your users may be able to contact you more directly. The comments are not emailed automatically.

Keep in mind that entries added to the [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?id=6009 Modules and Plugins database] require approval by a moderator before they will be visible to other Moodle users.

==Support code and get feedback with forums==
As users become familiar with the contributed code, discussions about the code are likely to emerge. We strongly urge you to place links to at least one forum at moodle.org in your Modules and Plugins entry as well as in MoodleDocs.

It is important to respond to users who have questions about how to use the code, suggestions for how to make it better, etc. If it looks like there is sufficient need for some contributed code to have its own forum, please create a request via the tracker in the MDL-SITE section. Moodle has included many contributed code projects and ideas into its core.

*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=44 Contributed code forum] is a generic forum. Maybe create a thread "New Mousetrap module".
*[http://moodle.org/course/view.php?id=5 Using Moodle forums] The English speaking list of forums on many different subjects.
*[http://moodle.org/course/ A list of] other language forums and special areas in Moodle

==Maintain and refine code with Tracker==

In order to facilitate keeping track of feature requests, bugs, and other code issues, the contributor may request that a component be created in the CONTRIB section of the Moodle tracker. (This is the section where you initially made the request to have code included in CVS.moodle.org.)

The contributor can be added to the group of CONTRIB developers in the tracker to manage the issues assigned to them and better coordinate with other developers. Users of the contributed code can then add issues which can be assigned directly to the maintainer. The tracker helps to manage the work flow involved in fixing bugs, working through feature requests, and maintaining the code. When committing changes, maintainers are strongly encouraged to begin the commit comment with a tracker number.

We strongly encourage users to involve themselves in the process of creating a useful issue in tracker. For the developer and code contributor, describing the fix can help clarify the need for the code change. Further, it helps to establish good documentation about how the code developed. Others will be able to identify the issues addressed and understand why a particular decision was made.

==Summary==

It is hoped that following this procedure, will help guide contributors of code in the process of learning the tools and skills used by the Moodle developers. Learning to submit code by using the tracker, work the code with CVS, support the code by providing documentation, share code in Modules and Plugins, maintain the code by using the tracker, and evolve the code by using the Moodle.org forums will assist you in successfully contributing to the Moodle community and working with Moodle's developers.

Throughout this process, the CONTRIB Coordinator is here to encourage and support those contributing code to the Moodle community and fostering the development of tomorrow's Moodle developers.

Eventually, the community may wish for the code to become part of the Moodle core. By following the steps above, the developers will be able to evaluate the merit of the contributed code, understand how users have used the code, see the issues that have emerged and thus have more information to make an informed decision about whether or not to incorporate the contributed code into core.

==Most common recommendations for contributed code==

There are several small issues that the CONTRIB Coordinator will typically check for when reviewing the code prior to committing to the CVS server. These issues help to ensure consistency and quality of code. Any suggestions made by the CONTRIB Coordinator should be considered recommendations aimed to help folks new to the Moodle community collaborate in a way consistent with standard practices within the Moodle community. The suggestions are meant to help avoid potential issues and facilitate the acceptance of your code.

=== Does the file structure conform to Moodle standards? ===
Generally speaking, each file should have an appropriate extension (i.e. php, html, css, txt, etc.). To avoid issues with case sensitivity, folders and files are normally lower case; however, there are exceptions to this. Another common recommendation is to place the lang folder within the block or module rather than asking the user to copy files into the main lang folder. Changes made in the get_string function for Moodle 1.9 and onward make it possible to do this which goes a long way in keeping things modular. Similarly, to respect the modular nature of Moodle if a block requires a library it is usually preferred to keep it as a subdirectory in the block's folder. This can be especially helpful if your code is dependent upon a particular version of an external library.

=== Does the code work without any obvious errors? ===
The CONTRIB Coordinator will try to install the block or module on a fresh Moodle installation and report back any errors. This testing is done with Debugging set to show All PHP notices and errors (not developer mode). The most common notices have to do with attempting to use a variable that has not been initialized or checked for existence.

=== Does the code use the config_plugins table? ===

Contributed blocks and modules are encouraged to make use of the '''config_plugins''' table rather than the config table. Maintainers are encouraged to read the documentation provided for the [http://xref.moodle.org/lib/moodlelib.php.html#get_config get_config()] and [http://xref.moodle.org/lib/moodlelib.php.html#set_config set_config()]] functions in the /lib/moodlelib.php file to help ensure that the footprint for the global $CFG variable does not become bloated.

=== Does the code follow the [[Coding|Coding Guidelines]]? ===
The CONTRIB Coordinator will look at the code for general readability and point out any obvious deviations from the [[Coding|Coding Guidelines]]. While not all code needs to conform with each and every guideline, maintainers are encouraged to follow those guidelines as closely as possible.

==See also==

*[[Migrating contrib code to 2.0]]
*[[contrib]] CONTRIB is an area in the Moodle CVS
*[[Translation]] for information on the translation of contributed code
*[[Overview]]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=99037 Best practices for code modification?] forum discussion

[[Category:Guidelines for contributors]]

Plugin contribution

2010-11-29T13:31:31Z

Rcollman: /* How to provide documentation */ Suggestion

This page describes the various ways to share and work collaboratively on contributed code.
#Submit code in the [http://tracker.moodle.org/ Moodle Tracker] under [http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/CONTRIB CONTRIB].
#Work with submitted code in [http://cvs.moodle.org Moodle's CVS server]
#Document features and install instructions in [https://docs.moodle.org Moodle Docs]
#Share and distribute code in the [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?id=6009 Modules and Plugins database]
#Talk and support code in the [http://moodle.org/course/view.php?id=5 Using Moodle forums]
#Maintain and further develop code with the [http://tracker.moodle.org Moodle Tracker]

==The Frequently asked question==
'''Question:''' I have written a new block, activity, patch or theme to share with the Moodle community. What is the process for contributing the code?

'''Answer:''' First, thank you for your generosity and desire to share your work with the rest of the Moodle community. Code contributions are highly valued and Moodle wants to encourage creativity and generosity in keeping with its constructivist tradition and pedagogical approach. To support this, there are several tools will support your contribution by allowing the code to be more easily found, tested, used, maintained, documented, and evaluated by fellow Moodlers and developers. Learning to use the various tools common among Moodle developers will help you to efficiently and effectively develop, share and maintain the contributed code.

==How to submit code==
You have created some code that you would like to contribute to the Moodle community. The first step is to create a login in [[Tracker]]. You should create a new issue as a "non- core contributed module" project and a "New Feature" issue type. Here is a link to tracker with [http://tracker.moodle.org/secure/CreateIssue!default.jspa?pid=10033 those fields filled in].

Your issue will be a request that the code be evaluated and uploaded into CVS. Provide a clear description of what the code does and the functionality that it adds to Moodle. Attach the contributed code as a zip (or tar.gz) file to the tracker issue. At that point, the Contrib Coordinator will work directly with the code contributor to help evaluate the code, work on resolving any questions/issues found, etc.

*Contributors are encouraged to follow Moodle's coding guidelines [[Coding]].
*A list of current tracker [http://tracker.moodle.org/secure/BrowseProject.jspa contributed projects is here].

==How to work with code in CVS==
Once the code has been added to the CONTRIB section of Moodle's [[CVS (developer)| CVS]], the contributor will request CVS write access via http://moodle.org/cvs/ and thus be able to make changes to the contributed code.

Contributors are encouraged to maintain a branch for each major Moodle release (i.e. 1.8, 1.9, etc.). The HEAD branch should be used as the development branch. Once CVS write access is approved, the maintainer will be able to make whatever changes are needed to maintain the code.

That being said, contributors are encouraged to associate each change made to an issue in the tracker. This is accomplished automatically by beginning the CVS commit comment with the issue number. By doing so, the contributor helps to document the reason for the change in the code back to the issue requesting for a change. More information on working with CVS is available at: [[CVS (developer)]].

:''Tip:'' '''Eclipse''' is an example of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that integrates and facilitates many of the common CVS tasks involved in working with Moodle CVS. Instructions for setting up and using Eclipse are available at: [[Eclipse]]. Experienced developers are free to use the tools they are most comfortable/productive with.

: Another IDE with CVS support is [[Setting_up_Netbeans|NetBeans]].

==How to provide documentation==
Having great code available to the community is wonderful. It is also important to educate users about how to use the code with documentation in [[Main Page|Moodle Docs]]. See [[MoodleDocs:Guidelines for contributors|guidelines for contributors]] for more help.

A documentation page for a contributed module should have some basic elements. A brief introduction of what the code does, a "Features" heading, perhaps a "Installation", "Tips and tricks" and "See also" headings, all with content of course. Sometimes a screenshot is worth 1000 words. In the "See also" put a link to the Modules and Plug database, with a note that this is the place to download versions, and the forum where questions can be answered at moodle.org.

Other information might include: Languages Supported, Known Issues, Supported Versions (for Moodle 1.8, 1.9), and maybe which are being actively supported. The page should be added to the contributed code category by typing <code><nowiki>[[Category:Contributed code]]</nowiki></code> at the bottom of the page.

===Possible format for a contributed code Moodle Docs page===
You can copy and paste the below into your Moodle documentation page. Please add the URL links. '''This is only a suggestion'''.
Start with a 2-4 line introduction. The Plug In Name works with the activity module.
It makes the life of the teacher easier by ...
==Features==
* Add features list or overview description here <nowiki><br></nowiki>
<nowiki> [[Image:Sample_screen_shot|thumb|500px|center|Title of screenshot]]</nowiki>
==Installation==
Place install instructions here
==Tips and tricks==
*Optional section, usually added by users later
==See also==
*[Place http_address_for_M&P_entry_here Name of Entry here] is a Modules and plugins database page that has download links and more information.
*Discussions: [Place http_address_for_moodle_forum_or_thread_here Name of forum]

When no thread or forum exists for discussion, put a link to the Contributed Code forum.
*Discussions: Please create or find a discussion topic in the [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=44 Contributed Code forum]

==Share code with modules and plugins database==
Now you have a place for users to get your code, how will they know it exists? Moodle users can easily find information about contributed code in the [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?id=6009 Modules and Plugins database]. When you add an entry to this database, remember that it is searchable by any field. Every field is not required, but providing as much information as possible will help people who would like to find, read about, and then install your contribution. In particular, the name of the module and the description of its function are important. Screen shots are helpful (but please, not larger than 350px wide!). Links to discussion (on Moodle.org or other forum) and documentation (link to your page in the [https://docs.moodle.org Moodle docs] or another location) should be included if possible.

If you are maintaining your code using Moodle's CVS server, a zip file of your code is automatically created and stored on Moodle's download server ([http://download.moodle.org/ http://download.moodle.org]). Therefore, the download link for most contributed code will be a link to [http://download.moodle.org/ Moodle's download server]. If you host your code on a site other than [http://download.moodle.org/ Moodle's download server], please ensure that the download link goes directly to the file and that the file is in a standard archive format (i.e. preferably a zip file). This makes it easier for users to locate the file quickly and helps to standardize installation of the code.

By way of example, if you have a CONTRIB plugin block called birthday, the preferred download link would be http://download.moodle.org/download.php/plugins/blocks/birthday.zip for the HEAD branch. For the MOODLE_19_STABLE branch, the URL would be http://download.moodle.org/download.php/plugins19/blocks/birthday.zip. Please note that the download.php is important as that is used to help produce the [http://download.moodle.org/stats.php download stats].

Users may leave comments on your entry, so please check it periodically for questions and bug reports. If you include contact information or a link to a discussion, your users may be able to contact you more directly. The comments are not emailed automatically.

Keep in mind that entries added to the [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?id=6009 Modules and Plugins database] require approval by a moderator before they will be visible to other Moodle users.

==Support code and get feedback with forums==
As users become familiar with the contributed code, discussions about the code are likely to emerge. We strongly urge you to place links to at least one forum at moodle.org in your Modules and Plugins entry as well as in MoodleDocs.

It is important to respond to users who have questions about how to use the code, suggestions for how to make it better, etc. If it looks like there is sufficient need for some contributed code to have its own forum, please create a request via the tracker in the MDL-SITE section. Moodle has included many contributed code projects and ideas into its core.

*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=44 Contributed code forum] is a generic forum. Maybe create a thread "New Mousetrap module".
*[http://moodle.org/course/view.php?id=5 Using Moodle forums] The English speaking list of forums on many different subjects.
*[http://moodle.org/course/ A list of] other language forums and special areas in Moodle

==Maintain and refine code with Tracker==

In order to facilitate keeping track of feature requests, bugs, and other code issues, the contributor may request that a component be created in the CONTRIB section of the Moodle tracker. (This is the section where you initially made the request to have code included in CVS.moodle.org.)

The contributor can be added to the group of CONTRIB developers in the tracker to manage the issues assigned to them and better coordinate with other developers. Users of the contributed code can then add issues which can be assigned directly to the maintainer. The tracker helps to manage the work flow involved in fixing bugs, working through feature requests, and maintaining the code. When committing changes, maintainers are strongly encouraged to begin the commit comment with a tracker number.

We strongly encourage users to involve themselves in the process of creating a useful issue in tracker. For the developer and code contributor, describing the fix can help clarify the need for the code change. Further, it helps to establish good documentation about how the code developed. Others will be able to identify the issues addressed and understand why a particular decision was made.

==Summary==

It is hoped that following this procedure, will help guide contributors of code in the process of learning the tools and skills used by the Moodle developers. Learning to submit code by using the tracker, work the code with CVS, support the code by providing documentation, share code in Modules and Plugins, maintain the code by using the tracker, and evolve the code by using the Moodle.org forums will assist you in successfully contributing to the Moodle community and working with Moodle's developers.

Throughout this process, the CONTRIB Coordinator is here to encourage and support those contributing code to the Moodle community and fostering the development of tomorrow's Moodle developers.

Eventually, the community may wish for the code to become part of the Moodle core. By following the steps above, the developers will be able to evaluate the merit of the contributed code, understand how users have used the code, see the issues that have emerged and thus have more information to make an informed decision about whether or not to incorporate the contributed code into core.

==Most common recommendations for contributed code==

There are several small issues that the CONTRIB Coordinator will typically check for when reviewing the code prior to committing to the CVS server. These issues help to ensure consistency and quality of code. Any suggestions made by the CONTRIB Coordinator should be considered recommendations aimed to help folks new to the Moodle community collaborate in a way consistent with standard practices within the Moodle community. The suggestions are meant to help avoid potential issues and facilitate the acceptance of your code.

=== Does the file structure conform to Moodle standards? ===
Generally speaking, each file should have an appropriate extension (i.e. php, html, css, txt, etc.). To avoid issues with case sensitivity, folders and files are normally lower case; however, there are exceptions to this. Another common recommendation is to place the lang folder within the block or module rather than asking the user to copy files into the main lang folder. Changes made in the get_string function for Moodle 1.9 and onward make it possible to do this which goes a long way in keeping things modular. Similarly, to respect the modular nature of Moodle if a block requires a library it is usually preferred to keep it as a subdirectory in the block's folder. This can be especially helpful if your code is dependent upon a particular version of an external library.

=== Does the code work without any obvious errors? ===
The CONTRIB Coordinator will try to install the block or module on a fresh Moodle installation and report back any errors. This testing is done with Debugging set to show All PHP notices and errors (not developer mode). The most common notices have to do with attempting to use a variable that has not been initialized or checked for existence.

=== Does the code use the config_plugins table? ===

Contributed blocks and modules are encouraged to make use of the '''config_plugins''' table rather than the config table. Maintainers are encouraged to read the documentation provided for the [http://xref.moodle.org/lib/moodlelib.php.html#get_config get_config()] and [http://xref.moodle.org/lib/moodlelib.php.html#set_config set_config()]] functions in the /lib/moodlelib.php file to help ensure that the footprint for the global $CFG variable does not become bloated.

=== Does the code follow the [[Coding|Coding Guidelines]]? ===
The CONTRIB Coordinator will look at the code for general readability and point out any obvious deviations from the [[Coding|Coding Guidelines]]. While not all code needs to conform with each and every guideline, maintainers are encouraged to follow those guidelines as closely as possible.

==See also==

*[[Migrating contrib code to 2.0]]
*[[contrib]] CONTRIB is an area in the Moodle CVS
*[[Translation]] for information on the translation of contributed code
*[[Overview]]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=99037 Best practices for code modification?] forum discussion

[[Category:Guidelines for contributors]]

User:Chris collman/handyformats

2010-11-29T13:00:52Z

Rcollman: /* Picture formats */

Moodle 2.0 release notes

2010-11-28T13:22:05Z

Rcollman: /* Quiz module and question bank */ what does flagging mean

Release date: '''24th November, 2010'''

Moodle 2.0 contains a lot of large new features, some completely rewritten features, and hundreds of bug fixes. For full details (more than you probably want!), see [http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL/fixforversion/10122 the full list of fixed issues in 2.0].

===Major new features===

====[[Community hub|Community hubs]]====

* Anybody can set up a Community hub, which is a directory of courses for public use or for private communities. The code is implemented as separate GPL plugin for Moodle.
* Sites can register to any Community hub (instead of just moodle.org)
* Teachers on registered sites can publish their full courses to Community hubs, for download
* Teachers on registered sites can also advertise their courses on Community hubs, for people to join
* Teachers on any site can search all public Community hubs and download courses as templates for their own courses
* Users on any Moodle site can also search Community hubs for courses (and communities of practice) to participate in. Initially we are encouraging ''''communities of teaching practice'''' but any sort of course can be listed.

====[[Repositories|Repository support]]====

* Moodle now supports integration with external repositories of content, making it really simple to bring documents and media into Moodle via an AJAX interface that looks like a standard '''Open''' dialogue in desktop applications.
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Alfresco, Amazon S3, Box.net, File system on Server, Flickr, Google Docs, Mahara, MERLOT, Picasa, Recent Files, Remote Moodle sites, WebDAV servers, Wikimedia, Youtube. These are simple to develop, so many more are expected.
* You can also import files from your desktop or by specifying a URL.

====[[Portfolios|Portfolio support]]====

* Modules can now export their data to external systems, particularly useful for portfolios where snapshots of forums, assignments and other things in Moodle are useful to record in a journal or a portfolio of evidence
* Different formats are supported (currently LEAP2A, HTML, Images and Text, but others like PDF can be added)
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Box.net, Flickr, Google Docs, '''Mahara''' and Picasa.

====[[Course completion]] and prerequisites====

* Teachers can now specify a [[Course completion]] condition standard for all students. Conditions include activity completion, but could also be by grade, date or a number of other criteria.
* Teachers can use the above standard as a [[Course completion tracking|prerequisite]] to other courses that allows ordered progression and scaffolding.
* Teachers and students can see reports that show the progress within a course, or through a series of courses.

====[[Conditional activities]]====

* Access to activities can be restricted based on certain criteria, such as dates, grade obtained, or the completion of another activity.
* These can be chained together to enable progressive disclosure of the course content, if that is desired.
* Teachers can now specify conditions that define when any '''activity''' is seen as [[Activity completion|completed]] by a student. For example, when a certain number of posts have been made, or a grade has been reached, or a choice has been made.

====[[Cohorts]]====
* Also known as "Site-wide groups", these are site-wide collections of users that can be enrolled into courses in one action, either manually or synchronised automatically

====[[Web Services|Web services support]]====
* Support for standards-based web services across the entire Moodle code base, allowing the admin to expose particular functions of Moodle for use by:
** Administrative systems such as HR or SIS applications
** Mobile clients
* Framework contains a very high-level of security with a detailed token system and complete control over the range of functions exposed
* All defined functions are automatically available via:
** XML-RPC
** AMF (Flash)
** REST
** SOAP (PHP)

====New blocks====
* [[Comments block]] - like a shoutbox, allows comments to be added to any page. Great for student feedback.
* [[My private files block]] - allows easy access to one's private file repository in Moodle (with quota support)
* [[Community block]] - keeps track of external courses one is interested in
* [[Course completion status block]] - reports on the completion status of your courses

====[[Plagiarism Prevention|Plagiarism prevention]]====

* Moodle supports integration with plagiarism prevention tools such as Turnitin

===Major improvements to existing core features===

====[[Backup 2.0|Backup and restore]]====

* Completely rewritten Backup/Restore framework, no longer bound by memory (can work with '''any size course''').
* Completely new backup format.
* Improved interface.
* Backup can be made of whole courses, but also specific sections or activities.

====[[Blocks 2.0|Blocks]]====
* Blocks are now consistently implemented on every page in Moodle
* No longer any limit to placing blocks in only the left and right column regions but also at the top, center or bottom of areas of pages)
* Any block can be [[Sticky blocks|forced to appear]] in all the page [[Context|contexts]] below it (for example, in every course or throughout a course).
* Blocks can placed in the [[Dock]] area on the side of the screen (if the theme supports it)

====[[Blogs 2.0|Blogs]]====
* Support for comments on each blog entry
* Removal of group-level and course-level blogs (these are converted into forums on upgrade)
* Support for external blog feeds (synchronised to Moodle blog)

====[[Comments 2.0|Comments]]====
* User comments (Glossaries, Databases, Blogs, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available

====[[Enrolments 2.0|Enrolment plugins]]====
* Major improvements in the handling of guests and guest accounts
* Support for multiple forms of enrolment at the same time
* More detailed control over enrolment in courses

====[[File handling 2.0|File handling]]====

* Full support for Unicode file names on all operating systems.
* Metadata about each file (author, date, license, etc) and what the file is used for are stored in the database.
* Duplicate files (for example, a large video file use in two different courses) are only stored once, saving disk space.
* Files are no longer just "uploaded to the course". Files are connected to the particular bit of Moodle content that uses them. (For example, a file may belong to a file resource, a forum post or a wiki page). Access to these files is then controlled by the same rules as as that bit of Moodle, increasing security.

====[[Filters 2.0]]====

* In the past, you had to use the same filters everywhere in your Moodle site, and this could only be changed by admins.
* Now, you can have different filters in different courses, activities or categories.
* For example, you could turn on the LaTeX filter just for courses in the Maths and Physics categories.
* Or you could turn off glossary linking in the end of course exam.

====[[HTML editor 2.0|HTML editor]]====
* New editor based on TinyMCE
* Works on more browsers
* Resizable editing area
* Cleaner XHTML output
* Full integration with configured external repositories to import and embed media into text

====[[Messaging 2.0|Messaging]]====
* All email sent by Moodle is now treated as a message
* A message overview panel allows users to control how messages are sent to them
* Initial message output plugins in Moodle 2.0 include: Email, Jabber and Popups

====[[My Moodle 2.0|My Moodle page]]====
* More customisable My Moodle page with new blocks for showing relevant information
* Admin can design (and optionally force) site-wide layouts for My Moodle
* My Moodle page given more prominence as the main "home page" for users

====[[Navigation 2.0|Navigation]]====
* Standard "Navigation" block on every page showing contextual links, while allowing you to jump elsewhere quickly
* Standard "Settings" blocks on every page shows contextual settings as well as settings for anything else you have permissions for

====[[Ratings 2.0|Ratings]]====
* User ratings (Glossaries, Databases, Forums, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available
* Aggregation of using ratings into activity grades is now standardised in all activities

====[[Roles 2.0|Roles and permissions]]====
* Simplified permission evaluation logic
* Improved and simplified AJAX interfaces for defining and assigning roles
* Improved and simplified interfaces for tweaking permissions in any given context
* New "Archetypes" concept replacing the "Legacy roles" concept.
* New archetype "manager" to define the role of most people with system-wide editing rights, separate from "admin" role.
* Permission of "Administrator" superusers can not be modified

====[[RSS feeds 2.0|RSS feeds]]====
* All RSS feeds are now secured using a random per-user token in the URL
* Tokens can be updated by the user at any time (if they suspect a feed URL has been compromised)
* RSS feeds are now more accurate (eg they support forums with separate groups), and are generated efficiently whenever required

====[[Development:Themes 2.0|Themes]]====
* Many new themes in the core distribution - see [[Theme credits]] for a list
* All HTML and JS ouput is now far more efficient (server-side caching) and consistent (tableless layout, new CSS, YUI Framework)
* Themes can change the HTML of the page if they wish
* Core support for custom menus in all themes (for example at the top of the page)

====[[Translation 2.0|Translation system]]====
* [http://lang.moodle.org/ New web portal] to make it easer for groups to collaborate on translating Moodle, and to keep their translations up-to-date.
* More efficient [[Development:Languages/AMOS|storage format for language strings]] should slightly improve performance.

====User profile pages====
* Site-wide user profile page can be customised by users with blocks, news, feeds and so on
* Course-specific user profile pages show course blocks and standard profile information, plus information for teachers of that course

===Major improvements to activity modules===

====Lesson====
* Refactored internal code
* Forms are now standard Moodle forms

====Quiz module and question bank====

* [[Development:quiz_navigation|Quiz navigation improvements for students]]
* [[Development:Flagging_questions_during_a_quiz_attempt|Flagging questions during a quiz attempt]] Student can mark a question that stays with their quiz.
* [[Development:Quiz_report_enhancements|Quiz report enhancements]] - Major improvements to the quiz reports, especially regrading and item analysis
* [[Development:Quiz_report_statistics|Quiz report statistics]] - A brief guide
* [[Development:Quiz_UI_redesign|Quiz editing interface improvements]]
* Different settings (open/close date, number of attempts, password, time limit) for each group or student (MDL-16478)
* [[Development:Administration page for question types|Administration page for question types]]
* [[Development:Moodle 2.0 question bank improvements|Question tagging and improved searching in the question bank]]
* MDL-8648 Essay questions can now be randomised by random questions

====Resource====
* All the resource types have been refactored into real modules, and cleaned up
** File - for displaying a file, possibly with supporting files (like a HTML mini-site)
** Folder - for displaying a collection of documents
** URL - for displaying a page with a given URL
** Page - for a single page, edited online using the HTML editor
** IMS - for showing a regular IMS content package
* Better XHTML-compliant support for frames, iframes and embedding in all these modules

====SCORM====

* New [[SCORM module]] settings - display attempt status, display course structure, force completed, force new attempt, lock after final attempt - allowing the behaviour dictated to the SCORM object by the authoring package to be changed MDL-11501
* New reporting interface including sortable/collapsible table with group select box and ability to download in Excel, ODS and text format MDL-21555
* New SCORM player UI with better navigation, improved performance and better handling of stage size MDL-22951

====[[Wiki module 2.0|Wiki]]====
* Completely re-written from scratch, based on NWIki from UPC
* Support for Mediawiki-style syntax, as well as Creole
* Interface improvements

====[[Workshop module 2.0|Workshop]]====

* Completely rewritten from scratch
* Vastly improved interface for managing stages and users

<noinclude>==System requirements==

Since Moodle 2.0 is such a major release, we are allowing ourselves some increases in the requirements.

* PHP must be 5.2.8 or later (it was released 08-Dec-2008), PHP 5.3.3 or later is recommended
* Databases should be one of the following:
** MySQL 5.0.25 or later (InnoDB storage engine highly recommended)
** PostgreSQL 8.3 or later
** Oracle 10.2 or later
** MS SQL 2005 or later
* Any standards-supporting browser from the past few years, for example:
** Firefox 3 or later
** Safari 3 or later
** Google Chrome 4 or later
** Opera 9 or later
** MS Internet Explorer 7 or later (Even [http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/01/modern-browsers-for-modern-applications.html Google don't support IE6 any more])
** etc

==Upgrading==

When upgrading to Moodle 2.0, you must have Moodle 1.9 or later. if you are using an earlier version of Moodle (eg 1.8.x) then you need to upgrade to Moodle 1.9.x first. We advise that you test the upgrade first on a COPY of your production site, to make sure it works as you expect.

For further information, see [[Upgrading to Moodle 2.0]].

==For developers: API changes==

See [[Development:Migrating contrib code to 2.0]]

* [[Development:Plugin system changes in Moodle 2.0]] - all the different types of plugin are now handles more consistently when it comes to installation and upgrading, capabilities, events, and so on.
* [[Development:DB_layer_2.0_migration_docs|Database layer changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Using_the_file_API|File handling changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Migrating your code code to the 2.0 rendering API|Rendering layer changes]] - should be mostly backwards compatible, but you are advised to upgrade your code.
* Require capability used to do an automatic require_login. It no longer does so. All pages must explicitly call require_login if they need it. MDL-19882
* [[Development:Moodle_2.0_question_type_API_changes|Changes to the question type API]]
* MNet has been refactored and tidied up - related third party code needs to be checked
* Changes and improvements to the [[Development:Local_customisation|Local customisation system]].
* Javascript
* YUI
* custom profile fields values are loaded into $USER->profile array instead of directly into $USER object

==Credits==

These people made check-ins to Moodle 2.0 code. Thanks to all of them, of course. Some of these people represent a team of people who actually worked on the code.

* Robert Allerstorfer (anet.at)
* Aaron Barnes, Peter Bulmer, Matt Clarkson, Jonathan Harker, Piers Harding, Luke Hudson, Martin Langhoff, Dan Marsden, Francois Marier, Donal McMullan, Jonathan Newman (catalyst.net.nz)
* Howard Miller (e-learndesign.co.uk)
* Iñaki Arenaza (mondragon.edu)
* Andreas Grabs (grabs-edv.de)
* Jamie Pratt (jamiep.org)
* Anthony Borrow (jesuits.net)
* Gordon Bateson (kanazawa-gu.ac.jp)
* Samuli Karevaara (lamk.fi)
* Penny Leach (liip.ch)
* Dan Poltawski (luns.net.uk)
* Matt Oquist (majen.net)
* Roberto Pinna (mfn.unipmn.it)
* Michael Ketcham (microsoft.com)
* Mitsuhiro Yoshida (mitstek.com)
* Aparup Banerjee, Dongsheng Cai, Nicolas Connault, Andrew Davis, Martin Dougiamas, Helen Foster, Sam Hemelryk, Eloy Lafuente, Jerome Mouneyrac, David Mudrak, Mathieu Petit-Clair, Petr Skoda, Rossiani Wijaya, Yu Zhang (moodle.com)
* Mark Nielsen (moodlerooms.com)
* Andrea Bicciolo (mtouch.it)
* John Beedell, Nicholas Freear, Jenny Gray, Tim Hunt, Sam Marshall, Gareth Morgan, Derek Woolhead (open.ac.uk)
* Ashley Holman (netspot.com.au)
* Patrick Malley (newschoollearning.com)
* Eric Merrill (oakland.edu)
* Mike Churchward (oktech.ca)
* Shane Elliott (pukunui.com)
* Shamim Rezaie (rezaie.info)
* Joseph Rezeau (rezeau.org)
* Lukas Haemmerle (switch.ch)
* Urs Hunkler (unodo.de)
* Jordi Piguillem (upc.edu.es)
* Pierre Pichet (uqam.ca)
* Gustav Delius (york.ac.uk)
* Ethem Evlice, Valery Fremaux, Dariem Garces, Wen Hao Chuang, Luis Rodrigues, Olli Savolainen, John Stabinger

==See also==

* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 1 release notes]] - May 4, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 2 release notes]] - May 17, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 3 release notes]] - May 31, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 4 release notes]] - June 30, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Release Candidate 1 release notes]] - September 21, 2010

[[Category:Release notes]]
[[Category:Moodle 2.0]]

[[fr:Notes de mise à jour de Moodle 2.0]]
[[es:Notas de Moodle 2.0]]</noinclude>

Moodle 2.0 release notes

2010-11-26T18:40:25Z

Rcollman: /* Blocks */ add more links, edit words a bit

Release date: '''24th November, 2010'''

Moodle 2.0 contains a lot of large new features, some completely rewritten features, and hundreds of bug fixes. For full details (more than you probably want!), see [http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL/fixforversion/10122 the full list of fixed issues in 2.0].

===Major new features===

====[[Community hub|Community hubs]]====

* Anybody can set up a Community hub, which is a directory of courses for public use or for private communities. The code is implemented as separate GPL plugin for Moodle.
* Sites can register to any Community hub (instead of just moodle.org)
* Teachers on registered sites can publish their full courses to Community hubs, for download
* Teachers on registered sites can also advertise their courses on Community hubs, for people to join
* Teachers on any site can search all public Community hubs and download courses as templates for their own courses
* Users on any Moodle site can also search Community hubs for courses (and communities of practice) to participate in. Initially we are encouraging ''''communities of teaching practice'''' but any sort of course can be listed.

====[[Repositories|Repository support]]====

* Moodle now supports integration with external repositories of content, making it really simple to bring documents and media into Moodle via an AJAX interface that looks like a standard '''Open''' dialogue in desktop applications.
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Alfresco, Amazon S3, Box.net, File system on Server, Flickr, Google Docs, Mahara, MERLOT, Picasa, Recent Files, Remote Moodle sites, WebDAV servers, Wikimedia, Youtube. These are simple to develop, so many more are expected.
* You can also import files from your desktop or by specifying a URL.

====[[Portfolios|Portfolio support]]====

* Modules can now export their data to external systems, particularly useful for portfolios where snapshots of forums, assignments and other things in Moodle are useful to record in a journal or a portfolio of evidence
* Different formats are supported (currently LEAP2A, HTML, Images and Text, but others like PDF can be added)
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Box.net, Flickr, Google Docs, '''Mahara''' and Picasa.

====[[Course completion]] and prerequisites====

* Teachers can now specify a [[Course completion]] condition standard for all students. Conditions include activity completion, but could also be by grade, date or a number of other criteria.
* Teachers can use the above standard as a [[Course completion tracking|prerequisite]] to other courses that allows ordered progression and scaffolding.
* Teachers and students can see reports that show the progress within a course, or through a series of courses.

====[[Conditional activities]]====

* Access to activities can be restricted based on certain criteria, such as dates, grade obtained, or the completion of another activity.
* These can be chained together to enable progressive disclosure of the course content, if that is desired.
* Teachers can now specify conditions that define when any '''activity''' is seen as [[Activity completion|completed]] by a student. For example, when a certain number of posts have been made, or a grade has been reached, or a choice has been made.

====[[Cohorts]]====
* Also known as "Site-wide groups", these are site-wide collections of users that can be enrolled into courses in one action, either manually or synchronised automatically

====[[Web Services|Web services support]]====
* Support for standards-based web services across the entire Moodle code base, allowing the admin to expose particular functions of Moodle for use by:
** Administrative systems such as HR or SIS applications
** Mobile clients
* Framework contains a very high-level of security with a detailed token system and complete control over the range of functions exposed
* All defined functions are automatically available via:
** XML-RPC
** AMF (Flash)
** REST
** SOAP (PHP)

====New blocks====
* [[Comments block]] - like a shoutbox, allows comments to be added to any page. Great for student feedback.
* [[My private files block]] - allows easy access to one's private file repository in Moodle (with quota support)
* [[Community block]] - keeps track of external courses one is interested in
* [[Course completion status block]] - reports on the completion status of your courses

====[[Plagiarism Prevention|Plagiarism prevention]]====

* Moodle supports integration with plagiarism prevention tools such as Turnitin

===Major improvements to existing core features===

====[[Backup 2.0|Backup and restore]]====

* Completely rewritten Backup/Restore framework, no longer bound by memory (can work with '''any size course''').
* Completely new backup format.
* Improved interface.
* Backup can be made of whole courses, but also specific sections or activities.

====[[Blocks 2.0|Blocks]]====
* Blocks are now consistently implemented on every page in Moodle
* No longer any limit to placing blocks in only the left and right column regions but also at the top, center or bottom of areas of pages)
* Any block can be [[Sticky blocks|forced to appear]] in all the page [[Context|contexts]] below it (for example, in every course or throughout a course).
* Blocks can placed in the [[Dock]] area on the side of the screen (if the theme supports it)

====[[Blogs 2.0|Blogs]]====
* Support for comments on each blog entry
* Removal of group-level and course-level blogs (these are converted into forums on upgrade)
* Support for external blog feeds (synchronised to Moodle blog)

====[[Comments 2.0|Comments]]====
* User comments (Glossaries, Databases, Blogs, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available

====[[Enrolments 2.0|Enrolment plugins]]====
* Major improvements in the handling of guests and guest accounts
* Support for multiple forms of enrolment at the same time
* More detailed control over enrolment in courses

====[[File handling 2.0|File handling]]====

* Full support for Unicode file names on all operating systems.
* Metadata about each file (author, date, license, etc) and what the file is used for are stored in the database.
* Duplicate files (for example, a large video file use in two different courses) are only stored once, saving disk space.
* Files are no longer just "uploaded to the course". Files are connected to the particular bit of Moodle content that uses them. (For example, a file may belong to a file resource, a forum post or a wiki page). Access to these files is then controlled by the same rules as as that bit of Moodle, increasing security.

====[[Filters 2.0]]====

* In the past, you had to use the same filters everywhere in your Moodle site, and this could only be changed by admins.
* Now, you can have different filters in different courses, activities or categories.
* For example, you could turn on the LaTeX filter just for courses in the Maths and Physics categories.
* Or you could turn off glossary linking in the end of course exam.

====[[HTML editor 2.0|HTML editor]]====
* New editor based on TinyMCE
* Works on more browsers
* Resizable editing area
* Cleaner XHTML output
* Full integration with configured external repositories to import and embed media into text

====[[Messaging 2.0|Messaging]]====
* All email sent by Moodle is now treated as a message
* A message overview panel allows users to control how messages are sent to them
* Initial message output plugins in Moodle 2.0 include: Email, Jabber and Popups

====[[My Moodle 2.0|My Moodle page]]====
* More customisable My Moodle page with new blocks for showing relevant information
* Admin can design (and optionally force) site-wide layouts for My Moodle
* My Moodle page given more prominence as the main "home page" for users

====[[Navigation 2.0|Navigation]]====
* Standard "Navigation" block on every page showing contextual links, while allowing you to jump elsewhere quickly
* Standard "Settings" blocks on every page shows contextual settings as well as settings for anything else you have permissions for

====[[Ratings 2.0|Ratings]]====
* User ratings (Glossaries, Databases, Forums, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available
* Aggregation of using ratings into activity grades is now standardised in all activities

====[[Roles 2.0|Roles and permissions]]====
* Improved and simplified AJAX interfaces for defining and assigning roles
* Improved and simplified interfaces for tweaking permissions in any given context
* New "Archetypes" concept replacing the "Legacy roles" concept.
* New archetype "manager" to define the role of most people with system-wide editing rights, separate from "admin" role.

====[[RSS feeds 2.0|RSS feeds]]====
* All RSS feeds are now secured using a random per-user token in the URL
* Tokens can be updated by the user at any time (if they suspect a feed URL has been compromised)
* RSS feeds are now more accurate (eg they support forums with separate groups), and are generated efficiently whenever required

====[[Development:Themes 2.0|Themes]]====
* Many new themes in the core distribution - see [[Theme credits]] for a list
* All HTML and JS ouput is now far more efficient (server-side caching) and consistent (tableless layout, new CSS, YUI Framework)
* Themes can change the HTML of the page if they wish
* Core support for custom menus in all themes (for example at the top of the page)

====[[Translation 2.0|Translation system]]====
* [http://lang.moodle.org/ New web portal] to make it easer for groups to collaborate on translating Moodle, and to keep their translations up-to-date.
* More efficient [[Development:Languages/AMOS|storage format for language strings]] should slightly improve performance.

====User profile pages====
* Site-wide user profile page can be customised by users with blocks, news, feeds and so on
* Course-specific user profile pages show course blocks and standard profile information, plus information for teachers of that course

===Major improvements to activity modules===

====Lesson====
* Refactored internal code
* Forms are now standard Moodle forms

====Quiz module and question bank====

* [[Development:quiz_navigation|Quiz navigation improvements for students]]
* [[Development:Flagging_questions_during_a_quiz_attempt|Flagging questions during a quiz attempt]]
* [[Development:Quiz_report_enhancements|Quiz report enhancements]] - Major improvements to the quiz reports, especially regrading and item analysis
* [[Development:Quiz_report_statistics|Quiz report statistics]] - A brief guide
* [[Development:Quiz_UI_redesign|Quiz editing interface improvements]]
* Different settings (open/close date, number of attempts, password, time limit) for each group or student (MDL-16478)
* [[Development:Administration page for question types|Administration page for question types]]
* [[Development:Moodle 2.0 question bank improvements|Question tagging and improved searching in the question bank]]
* MDL-8648 Essay questions can now be randomised by random questions

====Resource====
* All the resource types have been refactored into real modules, and cleaned up
** File - for displaying a file, possibly with supporting files (like a HTML mini-site)
** Folder - for displaying a collection of documents
** URL - for displaying a page with a given URL
** Page - for a single page, edited online using the HTML editor
** IMS - for showing a regular IMS content package
* Better XHTML-compliant support for frames, iframes and embedding in all these modules

====SCORM====

* New [[SCORM module]] settings - display attempt status, display course structure, force completed, force new attempt, lock after final attempt - allowing the behaviour dictated to the SCORM object by the authoring package to be changed MDL-11501
* New reporting interface including sortable/collapsible table with group select box and ability to download in Excel, ODS and text format MDL-21555
* New SCORM player UI with better navigation, improved performance and better handling of stage size MDL-22951

====[[Wiki module 2.0|Wiki]]====
* Completely re-written from scratch, based on NWIki from UPC
* Support for Mediawiki-style syntax, as well as Creole
* Interface improvements

====[[Workshop module 2.0|Workshop]]====

* Completely rewritten from scratch
* Vastly improved interface for managing stages and users

<noinclude>==System requirements==

Since Moodle 2.0 is such a major release, we are allowing ourselves some increases in the requirements.

* PHP must be 5.2.8 or later (it was released 08-Dec-2008)
* Databases should be one of the following:
** MySQL 5.0.25 or later (InnoDB storage engine highly recommended)
** PostgreSQL 8.3 or later
** Oracle 10.2 or later
** MS SQL 2005 or later
* Any standards-supporting browser from the past few years, for example:
** Firefox 3 or later
** Safari 3 or later
** Google Chrome 4 or later
** Opera 9 or later
** MS Internet Explorer 7 or later (Even [http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/01/modern-browsers-for-modern-applications.html Google don't support IE6 any more])
** etc

==Upgrading==

When upgrading to Moodle 2.0, you must have Moodle 1.9 or later. if you are using an earlier version of Moodle (eg 1.8.x) then you need to upgrade to Moodle 1.9.x first. We advise that you test the upgrade first on a COPY of your production site, to make sure it works as you expect.

For further information, see [[Upgrading to Moodle 2.0]].

==For developers: API changes==

See [[Development:Migrating contrib code to 2.0]]

* [[Development:Plugin system changes in Moodle 2.0]] - all the different types of plugin are now handles more consistently when it comes to installation and upgrading, capabilities, events, and so on.
* [[Development:DB_layer_2.0_migration_docs|Database layer changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Using_the_file_API|File handling changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Migrating your code code to the 2.0 rendering API|Rendering layer changes]] - should be mostly backwards compatible, but you are advised to upgrade your code.
* Require capability used to do an automatic require_login. It no longer does so. All pages must explicitly call require_login if they need it. MDL-19882
* [[Development:Moodle_2.0_question_type_API_changes|Changes to the question type API]]
* MNet has been refactored and tidied up - related third party code needs to be checked
* Changes and improvements to the [[Development:Local_customisation|Local customisation system]].
* Javascript
* YUI
* custom profile fields values are loaded into $USER->profile array instead of directly into $USER object

==Credits==

These people made check-ins to Moodle 2.0 code. Thanks to all of them, of course. Some of these people represent a team of people who actually worked on the code.

* Robert Allerstorfer (anet.at)
* Aaron Barnes, Peter Bulmer, Matt Clarkson, Jonathan Harker, Piers Harding, Luke Hudson, Martin Langhoff, Dan Marsden, Francois Marier, Donal McMullan, Jonathan Newman (catalyst.net.nz)
* Howard Miller (e-learndesign.co.uk)
* Iñaki Arenaza (mondragon.edu)
* Andreas Grabs (grabs-edv.de)
* Jamie Pratt (jamiep.org)
* Anthony Borrow (jesuits.net)
* Gordon Bateson (kanazawa-gu.ac.jp)
* Samuli Karevaara (lamk.fi)
* Penny Leach (liip.ch)
* Dan Poltawski (luns.net.uk)
* Matt Oquist (majen.net)
* Roberto Pinna (mfn.unipmn.it)
* Michael Ketcham (microsoft.com)
* Mitsuhiro Yoshida (mitstek.com)
* Aparup Banerjee, Dongsheng Cai, Nicolas Connault, Andrew Davis, Martin Dougiamas, Helen Foster, Sam Hemelryk, Eloy Lafuente, Jerome Mouneyrac, David Mudrak, Mathieu Petit-Clair, Petr Skoda, Rossiani Wijaya, Yu Zhang (moodle.com)
* Mark Nielsen (moodlerooms.com)
* Andrea Bicciolo (mtouch.it)
* John Beedell, Nicholas Freear, Jenny Gray, Tim Hunt, Sam Marshall, Gareth Morgan, Derek Woolhead (open.ac.uk)
* Ashley Holman (netspot.com.au)
* Patrick Malley (newschoollearning.com)
* Eric Merrill (oakland.edu)
* Mike Churchward (oktech.ca)
* Shane Elliott (pukunui.com)
* Shamim Rezaie (rezaie.info)
* Joseph Rezeau (rezeau.org)
* Lukas Haemmerle (switch.ch)
* Urs Hunkler (unodo.de)
* Jordi Piguillem (upc.edu.es)
* Pierre Pichet (uqam.ca)
* Gustav Delius (york.ac.uk)
* Ethem Evlice, Valery Fremaux, Dariem Garces, Wen Hao Chuang, Luis Rodrigues, Olli Savolainen, John Stabinger

==See also==

* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 1 release notes]] - May 4, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 2 release notes]] - May 17, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 3 release notes]] - May 31, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 4 release notes]] - June 30, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Release Candidate 1 release notes]] - September 21, 2010

[[Category:Release notes]]
[[Category:Moodle 2.0]]

[[fr:Notes de mise à jour de Moodle 2.0]]
[[es:Notas de Moodle 2.0]]</noinclude>

Moodle 2.0 release notes

2010-11-26T18:10:45Z

Rcollman: /* Blocks */ add dock link

Release date: '''24th November, 2010'''

Moodle 2.0 contains a lot of large new features, some completely rewritten features, and hundreds of bug fixes. For full details (more than you probably want!), see [http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL/fixforversion/10122 the full list of fixed issues in 2.0].

===Major new features===

====[[Community hub|Community hubs]]====

* Anybody can set up a Community hub, which is a directory of courses for public use or for private communities. The code is implemented as separate GPL plugin for Moodle.
* Sites can register to any Community hub (instead of just moodle.org)
* Teachers on registered sites can publish their full courses to Community hubs, for download
* Teachers on registered sites can also advertise their courses on Community hubs, for people to join
* Teachers on any site can search all public Community hubs and download courses as templates for their own courses
* Users on any Moodle site can also search Community hubs for courses (and communities of practice) to participate in. Initially we are encouraging ''''communities of teaching practice'''' but any sort of course can be listed.

====[[Repositories|Repository support]]====

* Moodle now supports integration with external repositories of content, making it really simple to bring documents and media into Moodle via an AJAX interface that looks like a standard '''Open''' dialogue in desktop applications.
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Alfresco, Amazon S3, Box.net, File system on Server, Flickr, Google Docs, Mahara, MERLOT, Picasa, Recent Files, Remote Moodle sites, WebDAV servers, Wikimedia, Youtube. These are simple to develop, so many more are expected.
* You can also import files from your desktop or by specifying a URL.

====[[Portfolios|Portfolio support]]====

* Modules can now export their data to external systems, particularly useful for portfolios where snapshots of forums, assignments and other things in Moodle are useful to record in a journal or a portfolio of evidence
* Different formats are supported (currently LEAP2A, HTML, Images and Text, but others like PDF can be added)
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Box.net, Flickr, Google Docs, '''Mahara''' and Picasa.

====[[Course completion]] and prerequisites====

* Teachers can now specify a [[Course completion]] condition standard for all students. Conditions include activity completion, but could also be by grade, date or a number of other criteria.
* Teachers can use the above standard as a [[Course completion tracking|prerequisite]] to other courses that allows ordered progression and scaffolding.
* Teachers and students can see reports that show the progress within a course, or through a series of courses.

====[[Conditional activities]]====

* Access to activities can be restricted based on certain criteria, such as dates, grade obtained, or the completion of another activity.
* These can be chained together to enable progressive disclosure of the course content, if that is desired.
* Teachers can now specify conditions that define when any '''activity''' is seen as [[Activity completion|completed]] by a student. For example, when a certain number of posts have been made, or a grade has been reached, or a choice has been made.

====[[Cohorts]]====
* Also known as "Site-wide groups", these are site-wide collections of users that can be enrolled into courses in one action, either manually or synchronised automatically

====[[Web Services|Web services support]]====
* Support for standards-based web services across the entire Moodle code base, allowing the admin to expose particular functions of Moodle for use by:
** Administrative systems such as HR or SIS applications
** Mobile clients
* Framework contains a very high-level of security with a detailed token system and complete control over the range of functions exposed
* All defined functions are automatically available via:
** XML-RPC
** AMF (Flash)
** REST
** SOAP (PHP)

====New blocks====
* [[Comments block]] - like a shoutbox, allows comments to be added to any page. Great for student feedback.
* [[My private files block]] - allows easy access to one's private file repository in Moodle (with quota support)
* [[Community block]] - keeps track of external courses one is interested in
* [[Course completion status block]] - reports on the completion status of your courses

====[[Plagiarism Prevention|Plagiarism prevention]]====

* Moodle supports integration with plagiarism prevention tools such as Turnitin

===Major improvements to existing core features===

====[[Backup 2.0|Backup and restore]]====

* Completely rewritten Backup/Restore framework, no longer bound by memory (can work with '''any size course''').
* Completely new backup format.
* Improved interface.
* Backup can be made of whole courses, but also specific sections or activities.

====[[Blocks 2.0|Blocks]]====
* Blocks are now consistently implemented on every page in Moodle
* No longer any limit to the block regions (in addition to left and right, put them at the top, center or bottom of pages)
* Any block can be made sticky (appears in all the contexts below, eg throughout a course).
* Blocks can placed in the [[Dock]] area on the side of the screen (if the theme supports it)

====[[Blogs 2.0|Blogs]]====
* Support for comments on each blog entry
* Removal of group-level and course-level blogs (these are converted into forums on upgrade)
* Support for external blog feeds (synchronised to Moodle blog)

====[[Comments 2.0|Comments]]====
* User comments (Glossaries, Databases, Blogs, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available

====[[Enrolments 2.0|Enrolment plugins]]====
* Major improvements in the handling of guests and guest accounts
* Support for multiple forms of enrolment at the same time
* More detailed control over enrolment in courses

====[[File handling 2.0|File handling]]====

* Full support for Unicode file names on all operating systems.
* Metadata about each file (author, date, license, etc) and what the file is used for are stored in the database.
* Duplicate files (for example, a large video file use in two different courses) are only stored once, saving disk space.
* Files are no longer just "uploaded to the course". Files are connected to the particular bit of Moodle content that uses them. (For example, a file may belong to a file resource, a forum post or a wiki page). Access to these files is then controlled by the same rules as as that bit of Moodle, increasing security.

====[[Filters 2.0]]====

* In the past, you had to use the same filters everywhere in your Moodle site, and this could only be changed by admins.
* Now, you can have different filters in different courses, activities or categories.
* For example, you could turn on the LaTeX filter just for courses in the Maths and Physics categories.
* Or you could turn off glossary linking in the end of course exam.

====[[HTML editor 2.0|HTML editor]]====
* New editor based on TinyMCE
* Works on more browsers
* Resizable editing area
* Cleaner XHTML output
* Full integration with configured external repositories to import and embed media into text

====[[Messaging 2.0|Messaging]]====
* All email sent by Moodle is now treated as a message
* A message overview panel allows users to control how messages are sent to them
* Initial message output plugins in Moodle 2.0 include: Email, Jabber and Popups

====[[My Moodle 2.0|My Moodle page]]====
* More customisable My Moodle page with new blocks for showing relevant information
* Admin can design (and optionally force) site-wide layouts for My Moodle
* My Moodle page given more prominence as the main "home page" for users

====[[Navigation 2.0|Navigation]]====
* Standard "Navigation" block on every page showing contextual links, while allowing you to jump elsewhere quickly
* Standard "Settings" blocks on every page shows contextual settings as well as settings for anything else you have permissions for

====[[Ratings 2.0|Ratings]]====
* User ratings (Glossaries, Databases, Forums, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available
* Aggregation of using ratings into activity grades is now standardised in all activities

====[[Roles 2.0|Roles and permissions]]====
* Improved and simplified AJAX interfaces for defining and assigning roles
* Improved and simplified interfaces for tweaking permissions in any given context
* New "Archetypes" concept replacing the "Legacy roles" concept.
* New archetype "manager" to define the role of most people with system-wide editing rights, separate from "admin" role.

====[[RSS feeds 2.0|RSS feeds]]====
* All RSS feeds are now secured using a random per-user token in the URL
* Tokens can be updated by the user at any time (if they suspect a feed URL has been compromised)
* RSS feeds are now more accurate (eg they support forums with separate groups), and are generated efficiently whenever required

====[[Development:Themes 2.0|Themes]]====
* Many new themes in the core distribution - see [[Theme credits]] for a list
* All HTML and JS ouput is now far more efficient (server-side caching) and consistent (tableless layout, new CSS, YUI Framework)
* Themes can change the HTML of the page if they wish
* Core support for custom menus in all themes (for example at the top of the page)

====[[Translation 2.0|Translation system]]====
* [http://lang.moodle.org/ New web portal] to make it easer for groups to collaborate on translating Moodle, and to keep their translations up-to-date.
* More efficient [[Development:Languages/AMOS|storage format for language strings]] should slightly improve performance.

====User profile pages====
* Site-wide user profile page can be customised by users with blocks, news, feeds and so on
* Course-specific user profile pages show course blocks and standard profile information, plus information for teachers of that course

===Major improvements to activity modules===

====Lesson====
* Refactored internal code
* Forms are now standard Moodle forms

====Quiz module and question bank====

* [[Development:quiz_navigation|Quiz navigation improvements for students]]
* [[Development:Flagging_questions_during_a_quiz_attempt|Flagging questions during a quiz attempt]]
* [[Development:Quiz_report_enhancements|Quiz report enhancements]] - Major improvements to the quiz reports, especially regrading and item analysis
* [[Development:Quiz_report_statistics|Quiz report statistics]] - A brief guide
* [[Development:Quiz_UI_redesign|Quiz editing interface improvements]]
* Different settings (open/close date, number of attempts, password, time limit) for each group or student (MDL-16478)
* [[Development:Administration page for question types|Administration page for question types]]
* [[Development:Moodle 2.0 question bank improvements|Question tagging and improved searching in the question bank]]
* MDL-8648 Essay questions can now be randomised by random questions

====Resource====
* All the resource types have been refactored into real modules, and cleaned up
** File - for displaying a file, possibly with supporting files (like a HTML mini-site)
** Folder - for displaying a collection of documents
** URL - for displaying a page with a given URL
** Page - for a single page, edited online using the HTML editor
** IMS - for showing a regular IMS content package
* Better XHTML-compliant support for frames, iframes and embedding in all these modules

====SCORM====

* New [[SCORM module]] settings - display attempt status, display course structure, force completed, force new attempt, lock after final attempt - allowing the behaviour dictated to the SCORM object by the authoring package to be changed MDL-11501
* New reporting interface including sortable/collapsible table with group select box and ability to download in Excel, ODS and text format MDL-21555
* New SCORM player UI with better navigation, improved performance and better handling of stage size MDL-22951

====[[Wiki module 2.0|Wiki]]====
* Completely re-written from scratch, based on NWIki from UPC
* Support for Mediawiki-style syntax, as well as Creole
* Interface improvements

====[[Workshop module 2.0|Workshop]]====

* Completely rewritten from scratch
* Vastly improved interface for managing stages and users

<noinclude>==System requirements==

Since Moodle 2.0 is such a major release, we are allowing ourselves some increases in the requirements.

* PHP must be 5.2.8 or later (it was released 08-Dec-2008)
* Databases should be one of the following:
** MySQL 5.0.25 or later (InnoDB storage engine highly recommended)
** PostgreSQL 8.3 or later
** Oracle 10.2 or later
** MS SQL 2005 or later
* Any standards-supporting browser from the past few years, for example:
** Firefox 3 or later
** Safari 3 or later
** Google Chrome 4 or later
** Opera 9 or later
** MS Internet Explorer 7 or later (Even [http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/01/modern-browsers-for-modern-applications.html Google don't support IE6 any more])
** etc

==Upgrading==

When upgrading to Moodle 2.0, you must have Moodle 1.9 or later. if you are using an earlier version of Moodle (eg 1.8.x) then you need to upgrade to Moodle 1.9.x first. We advise that you test the upgrade first on a COPY of your production site, to make sure it works as you expect.

For further information, see [[Upgrading to Moodle 2.0]].

==For developers: API changes==

See [[Development:Migrating contrib code to 2.0]]

* [[Development:Plugin system changes in Moodle 2.0]] - all the different types of plugin are now handles more consistently when it comes to installation and upgrading, capabilities, events, and so on.
* [[Development:DB_layer_2.0_migration_docs|Database layer changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Using_the_file_API|File handling changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Migrating your code code to the 2.0 rendering API|Rendering layer changes]] - should be mostly backwards compatible, but you are advised to upgrade your code.
* Require capability used to do an automatic require_login. It no longer does so. All pages must explicitly call require_login if they need it. MDL-19882
* [[Development:Moodle_2.0_question_type_API_changes|Changes to the question type API]]
* MNet has been refactored and tidied up - related third party code needs to be checked
* Changes and improvements to the [[Development:Local_customisation|Local customisation system]].
* Javascript
* YUI
* custom profile fields values are loaded into $USER->profile array instead of directly into $USER object

==Credits==

These people made check-ins to Moodle 2.0 code. Thanks to all of them, of course. Some of these people represent a team of people who actually worked on the code.

* Robert Allerstorfer (anet.at)
* Aaron Barnes, Peter Bulmer, Matt Clarkson, Jonathan Harker, Piers Harding, Luke Hudson, Martin Langhoff, Dan Marsden, Francois Marier, Donal McMullan, Jonathan Newman (catalyst.net.nz)
* Howard Miller (e-learndesign.co.uk)
* Iñaki Arenaza (mondragon.edu)
* Andreas Grabs (grabs-edv.de)
* Jamie Pratt (jamiep.org)
* Anthony Borrow (jesuits.net)
* Gordon Bateson (kanazawa-gu.ac.jp)
* Samuli Karevaara (lamk.fi)
* Penny Leach (liip.ch)
* Dan Poltawski (luns.net.uk)
* Matt Oquist (majen.net)
* Roberto Pinna (mfn.unipmn.it)
* Michael Ketcham (microsoft.com)
* Mitsuhiro Yoshida (mitstek.com)
* Aparup Banerjee, Dongsheng Cai, Nicolas Connault, Andrew Davis, Martin Dougiamas, Helen Foster, Sam Hemelryk, Eloy Lafuente, Jerome Mouneyrac, David Mudrak, Mathieu Petit-Clair, Petr Skoda, Rossiani Wijaya, Yu Zhang (moodle.com)
* Mark Nielsen (moodlerooms.com)
* Andrea Bicciolo (mtouch.it)
* John Beedell, Nicholas Freear, Jenny Gray, Tim Hunt, Sam Marshall, Gareth Morgan, Derek Woolhead (open.ac.uk)
* Ashley Holman (netspot.com.au)
* Patrick Malley (newschoollearning.com)
* Eric Merrill (oakland.edu)
* Mike Churchward (oktech.ca)
* Shane Elliott (pukunui.com)
* Shamim Rezaie (rezaie.info)
* Joseph Rezeau (rezeau.org)
* Lukas Haemmerle (switch.ch)
* Urs Hunkler (unodo.de)
* Jordi Piguillem (upc.edu.es)
* Pierre Pichet (uqam.ca)
* Gustav Delius (york.ac.uk)
* Ethem Evlice, Valery Fremaux, Dariem Garces, Wen Hao Chuang, Luis Rodrigues, Olli Savolainen, John Stabinger

==See also==

* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 1 release notes]] - May 4, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 2 release notes]] - May 17, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 3 release notes]] - May 31, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 4 release notes]] - June 30, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Release Candidate 1 release notes]] - September 21, 2010

[[Category:Release notes]]
[[Category:Moodle 2.0]]

[[fr:Notes de mise à jour de Moodle 2.0]]
[[es:Notas de Moodle 2.0]]</noinclude>

Moodle 2.0 release notes

2010-11-26T13:05:55Z

Rcollman: /* Major new features */ see page comments talk about courses, then activity conditions

Release date: '''24th November, 2010'''

Moodle 2.0 contains a lot of large new features, some completely rewritten features, and hundreds of bug fixes. For full details (more than you probably want!), see [http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL/fixforversion/10122 the full list of fixed issues in 2.0].

===Major new features===

====[[Community hub|Community hubs]]====

* Anybody can set up a Community hub, which is a directory of courses for public use or for private communities. The code is implemented as separate GPL plugin for Moodle.
* Sites can register to any Community hub (instead of just moodle.org)
* Teachers on registered sites can publish their full courses to Community hubs, for download
* Teachers on registered sites can also advertise their courses on Community hubs, for people to join
* Teachers on any site can search all public Community hubs and download courses as templates for their own courses
* Users on any Moodle site can also search Community hubs for courses (and communities of practice) to participate in. Initially we are encouraging ''''communities of teaching practice'''' but any sort of course can be listed.

====[[Repositories|Repository support]]====

* Moodle now supports integration with external repositories of content, making it really simple to bring documents and media into Moodle via an AJAX interface that looks like a standard '''Open''' dialogue in desktop applications.
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Alfresco, Amazon S3, Box.net, File system on Server, Flickr, Google Docs, Mahara, MERLOT, Picasa, Recent Files, Remote Moodle sites, WebDAV servers, Wikimedia, Youtube. These are simple to develop, so many more are expected.
* You can also import files from your desktop or by specifying a URL.

====[[Portfolios|Portfolio support]]====

* Modules can now export their data to external systems, particularly useful for portfolios where snapshots of forums, assignments and other things in Moodle are useful to record in a journal or a portfolio of evidence
* Different formats are supported (currently LEAP2A, HTML, Images and Text, but others like PDF can be added)
* Initial plugins in 2.0 include: Box.net, Flickr, Google Docs, '''Mahara''' and Picasa.

====[[Course completion]] and prerequisites====

* Teachers can now specify a [[Course completion]] condition standard for all students. Conditions include activity completion, but could also be by grade, date or a number of other criteria.
* Teachers can use the above standard as a [[Course completion tracking|prerequisite]] to other courses that allows ordered progression and scaffolding.
* Teachers and students can see reports that show the progress within a course, or through a series of courses.

====[[Conditional activities]]====

* Access to activities can be restricted based on certain criteria, such as dates, grade obtained, or the completion of another activity.
* These can be chained together to enable progressive disclosure of the course content, if that is desired.
* Teachers can now specify conditions that define when any '''activity''' is seen as [[Activity completion|completed]] by a student. For example, when a certain number of posts have been made, or a grade has been reached, or a choice has been made.

====[[Cohorts]]====
* Also known as "Site-wide groups", these are site-wide collections of users that can be enrolled into courses in one action, either manually or synchronised automatically

====[[Web Services|Web services support]]====
* Support for standards-based web services across the entire Moodle code base, allowing the admin to expose particular functions of Moodle for use by:
** Administrative systems such as HR or SIS applications
** Mobile clients
* Framework contains a very high-level of security with a detailed token system and complete control over the range of functions exposed
* All defined functions are automatically available via:
** XML-RPC
** AMF (Flash)
** REST
** SOAP (PHP)

====New blocks====
* [[Comments block]] - like a shoutbox, allows comments to be added to any page. Great for student feedback.
* [[My private files block]] - allows easy access to one's private file repository in Moodle (with quota support)
* [[Community block]] - keeps track of external courses one is interested in
* [[Course completion status block]] - reports on the completion status of your courses

====[[Plagiarism Prevention|Plagiarism prevention]]====

* Moodle supports integration with plagiarism prevention tools such as Turnitin

===Major improvements to existing core features===

====[[Backup 2.0|Backup and restore]]====

* Completely rewritten Backup/Restore framework, no longer bound by memory (can work with '''any size course''').
* Completely new backup format.
* Improved interface.
* Backup can be made of whole courses, but also specific sections or activities.

====[[Blocks 2.0|Blocks]]====
* Blocks are now consistently implemented on every page in Moodle
* No longer any limit to the block regions (in addition to left and right, put them at the top, center or bottom of pages)
* Any block can be made sticky (appears in all the contexts below, eg throughout a course).
* Blocks can be "docked" on the side of the screen (if the theme supports it)

====[[Blogs 2.0|Blogs]]====
* Support for comments on each blog entry
* Removal of group-level and course-level blogs (these are converted into forums on upgrade)
* Support for external blog feeds (synchronised to Moodle blog)

====[[Comments 2.0|Comments]]====
* User comments (Glossaries, Databases, Blogs, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available

====[[Enrolments 2.0|Enrolment plugins]]====
* Major improvements in the handling of guests and guest accounts
* Support for multiple forms of enrolment at the same time
* More detailed control over enrolment in courses

====[[File handling 2.0|File handling]]====

* Full support for Unicode file names on all operating systems.
* Metadata about each file (author, date, license, etc) and what the file is used for are stored in the database.
* Duplicate files (for example, a large video file use in two different courses) are only stored once, saving disk space.
* Files are no longer just "uploaded to the course". Files are connected to the particular bit of Moodle content that uses them. (For example, a file may belong to a file resource, a forum post or a wiki page). Access to these files is then controlled by the same rules as as that bit of Moodle, increasing security.

====[[Filters 2.0]]====

* In the past, you had to use the same filters everywhere in your Moodle site, and this could only be changed by admins.
* Now, you can have different filters in different courses, activities or categories.
* For example, you could turn on the LaTeX filter just for courses in the Maths and Physics categories.
* Or you could turn off glossary linking in the end of course exam.

====[[HTML editor 2.0|HTML editor]]====
* New editor based on TinyMCE
* Works on more browsers
* Resizable editing area
* Cleaner XHTML output
* Full integration with configured external repositories to import and embed media into text

====[[Messaging 2.0|Messaging]]====
* All email sent by Moodle is now treated as a message
* A message overview panel allows users to control how messages are sent to them
* Initial message output plugins in Moodle 2.0 include: Email, Jabber and Popups

====[[My Moodle 2.0|My Moodle page]]====
* More customisable My Moodle page with new blocks for showing relevant information
* Admin can design (and optionally force) site-wide layouts for My Moodle
* My Moodle page given more prominence as the main "home page" for users

====[[Navigation 2.0|Navigation]]====
* Standard "Navigation" block on every page showing contextual links, while allowing you to jump elsewhere quickly
* Standard "Settings" blocks on every page shows contextual settings as well as settings for anything else you have permissions for

====[[Ratings 2.0|Ratings]]====
* User ratings (Glossaries, Databases, Forums, etc) are now all consistently handled and displayed throughout Moodle, using AJAX if available
* Aggregation of using ratings into activity grades is now standardised in all activities

====[[Roles 2.0|Roles and permissions]]====
* Improved and simplified AJAX interfaces for defining and assigning roles
* Improved and simplified interfaces for tweaking permissions in any given context
* New "Archetypes" concept replacing the "Legacy roles" concept.
* New archetype "manager" to define the role of most people with system-wide editing rights, separate from "admin" role.

====[[RSS feeds 2.0|RSS feeds]]====
* All RSS feeds are now secured using a random per-user token in the URL
* Tokens can be updated by the user at any time (if they suspect a feed URL has been compromised)
* RSS feeds are now more accurate (eg they support forums with separate groups), and are generated efficiently whenever required

====[[Development:Themes 2.0|Themes]]====
* Many new themes in the core distribution - see [[Theme credits]] for a list
* All HTML and JS ouput is now far more efficient (server-side caching) and consistent (tableless layout, new CSS, YUI Framework)
* Themes can change the HTML of the page if they wish
* Core support for custom menus in all themes (for example at the top of the page)

====[[Translation 2.0|Translation system]]====
* [http://lang.moodle.org/ New web portal] to make it easer for groups to collaborate on translating Moodle, and to keep their translations up-to-date.
* More efficient [[Development:Languages/AMOS|storage format for language strings]] should slightly improve performance.

====User profile pages====
* Site-wide user profile page can be customised by users with blocks, news, feeds and so on
* Course-specific user profile pages show course blocks and standard profile information, plus information for teachers of that course

===Major improvements to activity modules===

====Lesson====
* Refactored internal code
* Forms are now standard Moodle forms

====Quiz module and question bank====

* [[Development:quiz_navigation|Quiz navigation improvements for students]]
* [[Development:Flagging_questions_during_a_quiz_attempt|Flagging questions during a quiz attempt]]
* [[Development:Quiz_report_enhancements|Quiz report enhancements]] - Major improvements to the quiz reports, especially regrading and item analysis
* [[Development:Quiz_report_statistics|Quiz report statistics]] - A brief guide
* [[Development:Quiz_UI_redesign|Quiz editing interface improvements]]
* Different settings (open/close date, number of attempts, password, time limit) for each group or student (MDL-16478)
* [[Development:Administration page for question types|Administration page for question types]]
* [[Development:Moodle 2.0 question bank improvements|Question tagging and improved searching in the question bank]]
* MDL-8648 Essay questions can now be randomised by random questions

====Resource====
* All the resource types have been refactored into real modules, and cleaned up
** File - for displaying a file, possibly with supporting files (like a HTML mini-site)
** Folder - for displaying a collection of documents
** URL - for displaying a page with a given URL
** Page - for a single page, edited online using the HTML editor
** IMS - for showing a regular IMS content package
* Better XHTML-compliant support for frames, iframes and embedding in all these modules

====SCORM====

* New [[SCORM module]] settings - display attempt status, display course structure, force completed, force new attempt, lock after final attempt - allowing the behaviour dictated to the SCORM object by the authoring package to be changed MDL-11501
* New reporting interface including sortable/collapsible table with group select box and ability to download in Excel, ODS and text format MDL-21555
* New SCORM player UI with better navigation, improved performance and better handling of stage size MDL-22951

====[[Wiki module 2.0|Wiki]]====
* Completely re-written from scratch, based on NWIki from UPC
* Support for Mediawiki-style syntax, as well as Creole
* Interface improvements

====[[Workshop module 2.0|Workshop]]====

* Completely rewritten from scratch
* Vastly improved interface for managing stages and users

<noinclude>==System requirements==

Since Moodle 2.0 is such a major release, we are allowing ourselves some increases in the requirements.

* PHP must be 5.2.8 or later (it was released 08-Dec-2008)
* Databases should be one of the following:
** MySQL 5.0.25 or later (InnoDB storage engine highly recommended)
** PostgreSQL 8.3 or later
** Oracle 10.2 or later
** MS SQL 2005 or later
* Any standards-supporting browser from the past few years, for example:
** Firefox 3 or later
** Safari 3 or later
** Google Chrome 4 or later
** Opera 9 or later
** MS Internet Explorer 7 or later (Even [http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/01/modern-browsers-for-modern-applications.html Google don't support IE6 any more])
** etc

==Upgrading==

When upgrading to Moodle 2.0, you must have Moodle 1.9 or later. if you are using an earlier version of Moodle (eg 1.8.x) then you need to upgrade to Moodle 1.9.x first. We advise that you test the upgrade first on a COPY of your production site, to make sure it works as you expect.

For further information, see [[Upgrading to Moodle 2.0]].

==For developers: API changes==

See [[Development:Migrating contrib code to 2.0]]

* [[Development:Plugin system changes in Moodle 2.0]] - all the different types of plugin are now handles more consistently when it comes to installation and upgrading, capabilities, events, and so on.
* [[Development:DB_layer_2.0_migration_docs|Database layer changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Using_the_file_API|File handling changes]] - you will need to update your code.
* [[Development:Migrating your code code to the 2.0 rendering API|Rendering layer changes]] - should be mostly backwards compatible, but you are advised to upgrade your code.
* Require capability used to do an automatic require_login. It no longer does so. All pages must explicitly call require_login if they need it. MDL-19882
* [[Development:Moodle_2.0_question_type_API_changes|Changes to the question type API]]
* MNet has been refactored and tidied up - related third party code needs to be checked
* Changes and improvements to the [[Development:Local_customisation|Local customisation system]].
* Javascript
* YUI
* custom profile fields values are loaded into $USER->profile array instead of directly into $USER object

==Credits==

These people made check-ins to Moodle 2.0 code. Thanks to all of them, of course. Some of these people represent a team of people who actually worked on the code.

* Robert Allerstorfer (anet.at)
* Aaron Barnes, Peter Bulmer, Matt Clarkson, Jonathan Harker, Piers Harding, Luke Hudson, Martin Langhoff, Dan Marsden, Francois Marier, Donal McMullan, Jonathan Newman (catalyst.net.nz)
* Howard Miller (e-learndesign.co.uk)
* Iñaki Arenaza (mondragon.edu)
* Andreas Grabs (grabs-edv.de)
* Jamie Pratt (jamiep.org)
* Anthony Borrow (jesuits.net)
* Gordon Bateson (kanazawa-gu.ac.jp)
* Samuli Karevaara (lamk.fi)
* Penny Leach (liip.ch)
* Dan Poltawski (luns.net.uk)
* Matt Oquist (majen.net)
* Roberto Pinna (mfn.unipmn.it)
* Michael Ketcham (microsoft.com)
* Mitsuhiro Yoshida (mitstek.com)
* Aparup Banerjee, Dongsheng Cai, Nicolas Connault, Andrew Davis, Martin Dougiamas, Helen Foster, Sam Hemelryk, Eloy Lafuente, Jerome Mouneyrac, David Mudrak, Mathieu Petit-Clair, Petr Skoda, Rossiani Wijaya, Yu Zhang (moodle.com)
* Mark Nielsen (moodlerooms.com)
* Andrea Bicciolo (mtouch.it)
* John Beedell, Nicholas Freear, Jenny Gray, Tim Hunt, Sam Marshall, Gareth Morgan, Derek Woolhead (open.ac.uk)
* Ashley Holman (netspot.com.au)
* Patrick Malley (newschoollearning.com)
* Eric Merrill (oakland.edu)
* Mike Churchward (oktech.ca)
* Shane Elliott (pukunui.com)
* Shamim Rezaie (rezaie.info)
* Joseph Rezeau (rezeau.org)
* Lukas Haemmerle (switch.ch)
* Urs Hunkler (unodo.de)
* Jordi Piguillem (upc.edu.es)
* Pierre Pichet (uqam.ca)
* Gustav Delius (york.ac.uk)
* Ethem Evlice, Valery Fremaux, Dariem Garces, Wen Hao Chuang, Luis Rodrigues, Olli Savolainen, John Stabinger

==See also==

* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 1 release notes]] - May 4, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 2 release notes]] - May 17, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 3 release notes]] - May 31, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 4 release notes]] - June 30, 2010
* [[Moodle 2.0 Release Candidate 1 release notes]] - September 21, 2010

[[Category:Release notes]]
[[Category:Moodle 2.0]]

[[fr:Notes de mise à jour de Moodle 2.0]]
[[es:Notas de Moodle 2.0]]</noinclude>

User:Chris collman

2010-10-27T11:16:15Z

Rcollman:

Hi,
I am still a new user, been working with Moodle since Jan 2006. Yes, I keep changing [http://moodle.org/user/pix.php/105471/f1.jpg my photo at Moodle.org] My [http://moodle.org/user/view.php?id=105471&course=1 Moodle profile] tells a different version of the story.

In October 2010, I am spending more time in Moodle Docs. Getting ready for 2.0's official release by revisiting some of my watch list pages for 1.9.9 corrections:)

Trivia: If you believe in these things: on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment DISC assessment scale] I am a low D, high I, moderate S, and a very low C.

::'''"We are what we repeatedly do.
:::'''Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"'''
::::::'''~~[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aristotle Aristotle]'''

__TOC__

==Moodler interests==
===Help for new users goals===
As a Moodler, I am interested in giving help to the so called "Newbie": The KISS, "what are the basic things I need to know". Typically "my" newbie is like me - a little bit of a teacher and a little bit of a site administration. Initially my help focused on "how you make Moodle do things", more or less a translation of developer talk in MoodleDocs.

In 2010 the next refinement in help for any "new" (or evolving) Moodler is to provide examples of uses. "What can Moodle do for you" - where people allow others to witness the essence of their Moodling. My help here is finding ways to cross link these with MoodleDocs.

Helping people is a challenge because everybody "sees what they want to see, hears what they want to hear, you dig?" (says the Rockman in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Point%21 The Point]), this includes my next door neighbor or someone in another country. Plus there are so many ways to use Moodle, all new (or old) users certainly do not all have the same goals!

I appreciate all those who improve upon my work and Helen Foster for the alignments with the big picture.

Examining other people's questions, helps me learn and jump from my [[Image:Confused_questions.jpg||50px|Confuzzled]] ruts to [[Image:F1_user_default_image.jpg||30px|happy learner]].

===Recent projects===
History at moodle.org: Started Moodling Jan '06, in 2008 was asked to help moderate the Lesson forum and I helped develop a new Lesson topic in demo.moodle.org, given some additional Admin rights in MoodleDocs and in the Modules and Plugin database. In Moodle.org, most of my time is spent editing words and looking at user comments.

I watch about 800 pages in the en_MoodleDocs, very few are development pages. I am noticing fewer and fewer edits are showing each day and they are generally small ones. Big difference from 2006-2008. I make a point to find answers to forum posts in MoodleDocs. I look at special pages links if I have a few minutes. Moodle 2.0 is about to entered my MoodleDoc world and that will create a new round of thoughtful edits.
==== September 2010 ====
This summer and fall is all about understanding how to bring a 1.5.3 content into a production 1.9.9 Moodle. So I have become more active in areas around this project. I had previous worked on Themes and languages. I spent lots of time with FTP and phpMyAdmin on one of over a dozen localhosts, looking at Certificate, Questionnare, Activity Locking and moodledata. I got a lot of experience in breaking things and then with one hand tied behind my back (knowledge) fixing things.

In March- April my MoodleDocs was spent with Themes, followed Helen's twitters to some new apps and toys for Moodle and some impulsive cross linking in older pages to other pages. I created some new pages.

In Feb I worked with others on Metacourses and File upload pages. Want to clean up my Tracker entries and look at those for Lesson.

In Nov-Dec, one of regular job's F2F classes ended, then in December one of my outside compilation projects had a site failure. )At my salary job, I basically customized a Moodle server and populated it with old/new courses. Oh yes, we do have a little construction project going on in our house. Then there were the holidays. I seemed to have emerged and back to "normal" things by end of January.

Current Moodle work projects involve:
*NH Moodle User groups - side volunteer project to see if there is interest (yes there is).
*Waiting for the launch of my recompiled, re-themed of a clean install 1.9.7 Moodle Ubuntu server!
*Monitoring a site activity in a series of Lessons, to figure out where content or questions needs to be improved on unrelated 1.5.x and a 1.9.7 sites.
*Assisting customer service answering questions and fixing student issues on 2 24/7 courses.
*As part of a team, I am still looking at lesson plans and integrating 10 subjects that can be used by 2 different tracks of students, especially with Quiz and resources.
*Pre-planing to create another new Moodle site (Maybe 2.0) that will use 1.5.3 question categories. Estimate launch July 2010.

====Reports and Excel====
I have a created several spreadsheets that are used to track student progress. All these use the "download" features found in Quiz, Grades and Questionaire (contributed code) in 1.5.x and 1.9.7.
*Grades. I download uncategorized Grades in Excel for a course and paste everything into another spreadsheet's worksheet of the same name. I then have Excel tell us everything we wanted to know about the class and each individual in a series of worksheets. I keep summary info for each column for previous classes.`
*Quiz. I do the same with quiz scores. I wanted to have statistical information on a separate worksheet for each Quiz. Looking forward to 2.0 reports to replace my graphs.
*Logs. I want to know who has filled out a subject evaluation (25 questionnaire activities) and who has not.

====Courses are Rooms for my wife====
My wife was tired of not being able to share files, communicate and keep information up to date with her school counselor association via their web site. Why not Moodle? So I have been having fun changing courses into committee rooms and translating Moodle into language that ironically is all about the [[Philosophy#Social_Constructivism|social constructionist]] point of view, for this group of adults that just wants to communicate (or not). I call this applied anthropology (big grin).

==Here is a brief bio.==
As a support person, I work with Moodle 1.5.x & 1.9.x within a very specific learning environment: 'certified training'. My primary job is to assist state agency trainers. Most Moodlers are trying to be fantastic educators and interact with students for weeks or months. Our goals are similar but the interaction is very different. After hours, I also work for private trainers who supply certified on line training in other parts of the country. Outside of Moodle, 600 hours a year will find me multitasking as a site adjunct for training being presented via video conference technology between 4 sites. And just to keep me aware of new users, I like to teach introduction to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Computer courses at the local community college.

I am constantly learning.

As a young adult, I lived and worked with Ibos, Effics (Nigeria), and Somali people during my 4 years in the Peace Corps doing Community/Rural Development. Served in the Army for 2 years. Lived with the Navajo for a year as a volunteer at a boarding school for special students in New Mexico, while I did historical research. I have a BA in Anthropology from Franconia College. My wife and I ran a small manufacturing company in rural New England for 20 years before my current job. Beside Moodle, my hobbies include walking my dog, genealogy, local histories, and encouraging wild flowers around my house near the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA.

==Fun of course==
::'''Need I add that Life Should be Fun!'''

Frank Ralf tells me:
::'''"Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit."'''
:::'''Aristotle'''

Cheers to all

Chris

===Footnotes and links===
After I learned about subpages on userpages in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Subpages wikipedia], I decided to put my handy formats for MoodleDocs here
*[[User:chris collman/handyformats]]
I am thinking that a page with documentation that is already indexed might be useful
*[[User:chris collman/Workshop]] temp space to gather page info from help and other files
*[[User:chris collman/sandbox1]] showing template samples, template list of templates
*'''[[User:chris collman/LessonDemo1|Lesson Demo 1 outline]] or [[User:chris collman/LessonDemo1/LessonPageList| Lesson Demo Page list]]'''
*[[User:chris_collman/Tool_list]] tool list
*[[User:chris collman/TestingProcess]]
*[[User:chris collman/sandbox2]] Another sandbox for Block temp, will delete later
* Don't forget the very handy <nowiki>[[template:update]]</nowiki> to ask for content help in the
<noinclude>[[:Category:Pages requiring updating]].</noinclude> Or <nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

Discovered David Scotson's [[User:David_Scotson#Things_I.27ve_learned.2C_realised_or_had_brought_home_to_me_through_contributing_to_this_Wiki |Things I've realized-learned-brought to my attention]] concerning MoodleDocs.

Moodle download stats
[http://download.moodle.org/stats.php]

===Lesson Development pages===
More notes to myself
*[[Development:Lesson_Specification]]
*[[Development:New lesson navigation]]
*[[Development:Adding question types to lesson]] 2.0
*[[Development:Adding blocks to lesson]]
*[[QA:Lesson Test Plan]]

User:Chris collman/handyformats

2010-10-27T11:12:16Z

Rcollman: /* Aa nice table */

User:Chris collman

2010-10-10T16:07:46Z

Rcollman: /* Footnotes and links */

Hi,
I am still a new user, been working with Moodle since Jan 2006. Yes, I keep changing [http://moodle.org/user/pix.php/105471/f1.jpg my photo at Moodle.org] My [http://moodle.org/user/view.php?id=105471&course=1 Moodle profile] tells a different version of the story.

If you believe in these things: On the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment DISC assessment scale] I am a low D, high I, moderate S, and a very low C.

::'''"We are what we repeatedly do.
:::'''Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"'''
::::::'''~~[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aristotle Aristotle]'''

__TOC__

==Moodler interests==
===Help for new users goals===
As a Moodler, I am interested in giving help to the so called "Newbie": The KISS, "what are the basic things I need to know". Typically "my" newbie is like me - a little bit of a teacher and a little bit of a site administration. Initially my help focused on "how you make Moodle do things", more or less a translation of developer talk in MoodleDocs.

In 2010 the next refinement in help for any "new" (or evolving) Moodler is to provide examples of uses. "What can Moodle do for you" - where people allow others to witness the essence of their Moodling. My help here is finding ways to cross link these with MoodleDocs.

Helping people is a challenge because everybody "sees what they want to see, hears what they want to hear, you dig?" (says the Rockman in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Point%21 The Point]), this includes my next door neighbor or someone in another country. Plus there are so many ways to use Moodle, all new (or old) users certainly do not all have the same goals!

I appreciate all those who improve upon my work and Helen Foster for the alignments with the big picture.

Examining other people's questions, helps me learn and jump from my [[Image:Confused_questions.jpg||50px|Confuzzled]] ruts to [[Image:F1_user_default_image.jpg||30px|happy learner]].

===Recent projects===
History at moodle.org: Started Moodling Jan '06, in 2008 was asked to help moderate the Lesson forum and I helped develop a new Lesson topic in demo.moodle.org, given some additional Admin rights in MoodleDocs and in the Modules and Plugin database. In Moodle.org, most of my time is spent editing words and looking at user comments.

I watch about 800 pages in the en_MoodleDocs, very few are development pages. I am noticing fewer and fewer edits are showing each day and they are generally small ones. Big difference from 2006-2008. I make a point to find answers to forum posts in MoodleDocs. I look at special pages links if I have a few minutes. Moodle 2.0 is about to entered my MoodleDoc world and that will create a new round of thoughtful edits.
==== September 2010 ====
This summer and fall is all about understanding how to bring a 1.5.3 content into a production 1.9.9 Moodle. So I have become more active in areas around this project. I had previous worked on Themes and languages. I spent lots of time with FTP and phpMyAdmin on one of over a dozen localhosts, looking at Certificate, Questionnare, Activity Locking and moodledata. I got a lot of experience in breaking things and then with one hand tied behind my back (knowledge) fixing things.

In March- April my MoodleDocs was spent with Themes, followed Helen's twitters to some new apps and toys for Moodle and some impulsive cross linking in older pages to other pages. I created some new pages.

In Feb I worked with others on Metacourses and File upload pages. Want to clean up my Tracker entries and look at those for Lesson.

In Nov-Dec, one of regular job's F2F classes ended, then in December one of my outside compilation projects had a site failure. )At my salary job, I basically customized a Moodle server and populated it with old/new courses. Oh yes, we do have a little construction project going on in our house. Then there were the holidays. I seemed to have emerged and back to "normal" things by end of January.

Current Moodle work projects involve:
*NH Moodle User groups - side volunteer project to see if there is interest (yes there is).
*Waiting for the launch of my recompiled, re-themed of a clean install 1.9.7 Moodle Ubuntu server!
*Monitoring a site activity in a series of Lessons, to figure out where content or questions needs to be improved on unrelated 1.5.x and a 1.9.7 sites.
*Assisting customer service answering questions and fixing student issues on 2 24/7 courses.
*As part of a team, I am still looking at lesson plans and integrating 10 subjects that can be used by 2 different tracks of students, especially with Quiz and resources.
*Pre-planing to create another new Moodle site (Maybe 2.0) that will use 1.5.3 question categories. Estimate launch July 2010.

====Reports and Excel====
I have a created several spreadsheets that are used to track student progress. All these use the "download" features found in Quiz, Grades and Questionaire (contributed code) in 1.5.x and 1.9.7.
*Grades. I download uncategorized Grades in Excel for a course and paste everything into another spreadsheet's worksheet of the same name. I then have Excel tell us everything we wanted to know about the class and each individual in a series of worksheets. I keep summary info for each column for previous classes.`
*Quiz. I do the same with quiz scores. I wanted to have statistical information on a separate worksheet for each Quiz. Looking forward to 2.0 reports to replace my graphs.
*Logs. I want to know who has filled out a subject evaluation (25 questionnaire activities) and who has not.

====Courses are Rooms for my wife====
My wife was tired of not being able to share files, communicate and keep information up to date with her school counselor association via their web site. Why not Moodle? So I have been having fun changing courses into committee rooms and translating Moodle into language that ironically is all about the [[Philosophy#Social_Constructivism|social constructionist]] point of view, for this group of adults that just wants to communicate (or not). I call this applied anthropology (big grin).

==Here is a brief bio.==
As a support person, I work with Moodle 1.5.x & 1.9.x within a very specific learning environment: 'certified training'. My primary job is to assist state agency trainers. Most Moodlers are trying to be fantastic educators and interact with students for weeks or months. Our goals are similar but the interaction is very different. After hours, I also work for private trainers who supply certified on line training in other parts of the country. Outside of Moodle, 600 hours a year will find me multitasking as a site adjunct for training being presented via video conference technology between 4 sites. And just to keep me aware of new users, I like to teach introduction to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Computer courses at the local community college.

I am constantly learning.

As a young adult, I lived and worked with Ibos, Effics (Nigeria), and Somali people during my 4 years in the Peace Corps doing Community/Rural Development. Served in the Army for 2 years. Lived with the Navajo for a year as a volunteer at a boarding school for special students in New Mexico, while I did historical research. I have a BA in Anthropology from Franconia College. My wife and I ran a small manufacturing company in rural New England for 20 years before my current job. Beside Moodle, my hobbies include walking my dog, genealogy, local histories, and encouraging wild flowers around my house near the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA.

==Fun of course==
::'''Need I add that Life Should be Fun!'''

Frank Ralf tells me:
::'''"Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit."'''
:::'''Aristotle'''

Cheers to all

Chris

===Footnotes and links===
After I learned about subpages on userpages in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Subpages wikipedia], I decided to put my handy formats for MoodleDocs here
*[[User:chris collman/handyformats]]
I am thinking that a page with documentation that is already indexed might be useful
*[[User:chris collman/Workshop]] temp space to gather page info from help and other files
*[[User:chris collman/sandbox1]] showing template samples, template list of templates
*'''[[User:chris collman/LessonDemo1|Lesson Demo 1 outline]] or [[User:chris collman/LessonDemo1/LessonPageList| Lesson Demo Page list]]'''
*[[User:chris_collman/Tool_list]] tool list
*[[User:chris collman/TestingProcess]]
*[[User:chris collman/sandbox2]] Another sandbox for Block temp, will delete later
* Don't forget the very handy <nowiki>[[template:update]]</nowiki> to ask for content help in the
<noinclude>[[:Category:Pages requiring updating]].</noinclude> Or <nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

Discovered David Scotson's [[User:David_Scotson#Things_I.27ve_learned.2C_realised_or_had_brought_home_to_me_through_contributing_to_this_Wiki |Things I've realized-learned-brought to my attention]] concerning MoodleDocs.

Moodle download stats
[http://download.moodle.org/stats.php]

===Lesson Development pages===
More notes to myself
*[[Development:Lesson_Specification]]
*[[Development:New lesson navigation]]
*[[Development:Adding question types to lesson]] 2.0
*[[Development:Adding blocks to lesson]]
*[[QA:Lesson Test Plan]]

User:Chris collman

2010-10-01T19:10:12Z

Rcollman:

Hi,
I am still a new user, been working with Moodle since Jan 2006. Yes, I keep changing [http://moodle.org/user/pix.php/105471/f1.jpg my photo at Moodle.org] My [http://moodle.org/user/view.php?id=105471&course=1 Moodle profile] tells a different version of the story.

If you believe in these things: On the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment DISC assessment scale] I am a low D, high I, moderate S, and a very low C.

::'''"We are what we repeatedly do.
:::'''Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"'''
::::::'''~~[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aristotle Aristotle]'''

__TOC__

==Moodler interests==
===Help for new users goals===
As a Moodler, I am interested in giving help to the so called "Newbie": The KISS, "what are the basic things I need to know". Typically "my" newbie is like me - a little bit of a teacher and a little bit of a site administration. Initially my help focused on "how you make Moodle do things", more or less a translation of developer talk in MoodleDocs.

In 2010 the next refinement in help for any "new" (or evolving) Moodler is to provide examples of uses. "What can Moodle do for you" - where people allow others to witness the essence of their Moodling. My help here is finding ways to cross link these with MoodleDocs.

Helping people is a challenge because everybody "sees what they want to see, hears what they want to hear, you dig?" (says the Rockman in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Point%21 The Point]), this includes my next door neighbor or someone in another country. Plus there are so many ways to use Moodle, all new (or old) users certainly do not all have the same goals!

I appreciate all those who improve upon my work and Helen Foster for the alignments with the big picture.

Examining other people's questions, helps me learn and jump from my [[Image:Confused_questions.jpg||50px|Confuzzled]] ruts to [[Image:F1_user_default_image.jpg||30px|happy learner]].

===Recent projects===
History at moodle.org: Started Moodling Jan '06, in 2008 was asked to help moderate the Lesson forum and I helped develop a new Lesson topic in demo.moodle.org, given some additional Admin rights in MoodleDocs and in the Modules and Plugin database. In Moodle.org, most of my time is spent editing words and looking at user comments.

I watch about 800 pages in the en_MoodleDocs, very few are development pages. I am noticing fewer and fewer edits are showing each day and they are generally small ones. Big difference from 2006-2008. I make a point to find answers to forum posts in MoodleDocs. I look at special pages links if I have a few minutes. Moodle 2.0 is about to entered my MoodleDoc world and that will create a new round of thoughtful edits.
==== September 2010 ====
This summer and fall is all about understanding how to bring a 1.5.3 content into a production 1.9.9 Moodle. So I have become more active in areas around this project. I had previous worked on Themes and languages. I spent lots of time with FTP and phpMyAdmin on one of over a dozen localhosts, looking at Certificate, Questionnare, Activity Locking and moodledata. I got a lot of experience in breaking things and then with one hand tied behind my back (knowledge) fixing things.

In March- April my MoodleDocs was spent with Themes, followed Helen's twitters to some new apps and toys for Moodle and some impulsive cross linking in older pages to other pages. I created some new pages.

In Feb I worked with others on Metacourses and File upload pages. Want to clean up my Tracker entries and look at those for Lesson.

In Nov-Dec, one of regular job's F2F classes ended, then in December one of my outside compilation projects had a site failure. )At my salary job, I basically customized a Moodle server and populated it with old/new courses. Oh yes, we do have a little construction project going on in our house. Then there were the holidays. I seemed to have emerged and back to "normal" things by end of January.

Current Moodle work projects involve:
*NH Moodle User groups - side volunteer project to see if there is interest (yes there is).
*Waiting for the launch of my recompiled, re-themed of a clean install 1.9.7 Moodle Ubuntu server!
*Monitoring a site activity in a series of Lessons, to figure out where content or questions needs to be improved on unrelated 1.5.x and a 1.9.7 sites.
*Assisting customer service answering questions and fixing student issues on 2 24/7 courses.
*As part of a team, I am still looking at lesson plans and integrating 10 subjects that can be used by 2 different tracks of students, especially with Quiz and resources.
*Pre-planing to create another new Moodle site (Maybe 2.0) that will use 1.5.3 question categories. Estimate launch July 2010.

====Reports and Excel====
I have a created several spreadsheets that are used to track student progress. All these use the "download" features found in Quiz, Grades and Questionaire (contributed code) in 1.5.x and 1.9.7.
*Grades. I download uncategorized Grades in Excel for a course and paste everything into another spreadsheet's worksheet of the same name. I then have Excel tell us everything we wanted to know about the class and each individual in a series of worksheets. I keep summary info for each column for previous classes.`
*Quiz. I do the same with quiz scores. I wanted to have statistical information on a separate worksheet for each Quiz. Looking forward to 2.0 reports to replace my graphs.
*Logs. I want to know who has filled out a subject evaluation (25 questionnaire activities) and who has not.

====Courses are Rooms for my wife====
My wife was tired of not being able to share files, communicate and keep information up to date with her school counselor association via their web site. Why not Moodle? So I have been having fun changing courses into committee rooms and translating Moodle into language that ironically is all about the [[Philosophy#Social_Constructivism|social constructionist]] point of view, for this group of adults that just wants to communicate (or not). I call this applied anthropology (big grin).

==Here is a brief bio.==
As a support person, I work with Moodle 1.5.x & 1.9.x within a very specific learning environment: 'certified training'. My primary job is to assist state agency trainers. Most Moodlers are trying to be fantastic educators and interact with students for weeks or months. Our goals are similar but the interaction is very different. After hours, I also work for private trainers who supply certified on line training in other parts of the country. Outside of Moodle, 600 hours a year will find me multitasking as a site adjunct for training being presented via video conference technology between 4 sites. And just to keep me aware of new users, I like to teach introduction to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Computer courses at the local community college.

I am constantly learning.

As a young adult, I lived and worked with Ibos, Effics (Nigeria), and Somali people during my 4 years in the Peace Corps doing Community/Rural Development. Served in the Army for 2 years. Lived with the Navajo for a year as a volunteer at a boarding school for special students in New Mexico, while I did historical research. I have a BA in Anthropology from Franconia College. My wife and I ran a small manufacturing company in rural New England for 20 years before my current job. Beside Moodle, my hobbies include walking my dog, genealogy, local histories, and encouraging wild flowers around my house near the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA.

==Fun of course==
::'''Need I add that Life Should be Fun!'''

Frank Ralf tells me:
::'''"Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit."'''
:::'''Aristotle'''

Cheers to all

Chris

===Footnotes and links===
After I learned about subpages on userpages in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Subpages wikipedia], I decided to put my handy formats for MoodleDocs here
*[[User:chris collman/handyformats]]
I am thinking that a page with documentation that is already indexed might be useful
*[[User:chris collman/Workshop]] temp space to gather page info from help and other files
*[[User:chris collman/sandbox1]] showing template samples, template list of templates
*[[User:chris collman/template1]] sample template for creation
*'''[[User:chris collman/LessonDemo1|Lesson Demo 1 outline]] or [[User:chris collman/LessonDemo1/LessonPageList| Lesson Demo Page list]]'''
*[[User:chris_collman/Tool_list]] tool list
*[[User:chris collman/TestingProcess]]
*[[User:chris_collman/version_notes]] Things my site admin is interested in
*[[User:chris collman/sandbox2]] Another sandbox for Block temp, will delete later
* Don't forget the very handy <nowiki>[[template:update]]</nowiki> to ask for content help in the
<noinclude>[[:Category:Pages requiring updating]].</noinclude> Or <nowiki>{{Update_section}}</nowiki>

Discovered David Scotson's [[User:David_Scotson#Things_I.27ve_learned.2C_realised_or_had_brought_home_to_me_through_contributing_to_this_Wiki |Things I've realized-learned-brought to my attention]] concerning MoodleDocs.

Moodle download stats
[http://download.moodle.org/stats.php]

===Lesson Development pages===
More notes to myself
*[[Development:Lesson_Specification]]
*[[Development:New lesson navigation]]
*[[Development:Adding question types to lesson]] 2.0
*[[Development:Adding blocks to lesson]]
*[[QA:Lesson Test Plan]]

User talk:Hank Eng

2010-10-01T17:40:26Z

Rcollman: Thanks but enrolment is the English-Aussie spelling

Hi Hank,
I live in New Hampshire USA. My spell checker says enrolment is wrong and enrollment is correct. However most of the English speaking world does not agree. There are several other words you will run into where the "European or Aussie" spelling is used.

Thank you for taking the time to correct what you thought was a mistake. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 17:40, 1 October 2010 (UTC)

Talk:Certificate Module

2010-09-19T12:41:54Z

Rcollman: /* Manage certificates in 2.0 */

== The basis ==
In my opinion I'd go for point B, that's would help us with many people testing it. We could also start using as sson as the main features are ok.

:I'm ok with this too. I would copy all current 17_STABLE over 18_STABLE and begin working there (merging every commit to HEAD always). Yep, No? [[User:Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)|Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)]] 13:36, 3 March 2007 (CST)

== Teacher certificate ==
See my access.php for roles and capabilities--they are all standard except for the Print teacher role--this was used to edit roles for the names that will print on the certificate for "teacher". Any ideas for a better way to do this?

:Hi Chardelle, I don't understand the "mod/certificate:teacher" capability. Are you saying that it's used to determine what roles are allowed to print the teacher certificate? Yes? Uhm... it's hard to decide who has that capability by default. Perhaps only admin and every institution has to decide about it, giving to certain users? I'm going to ask to role gurus about this... [[User:Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)|Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)]] 13:36, 3 March 2007 (CST)

== Manage certificates in 2.0 ==
Could we have a delete certificate feature? I would suggest keeping the record, add a valid/void field plus fields of voidcomment, void date, userwhovoid. Then the teacher/admin could void a certificate, and we could have more display options.

The student might or might not be able to see their void certificate given advanced certificate setting. A filter for the teacher or administrator to see all issued certificates, only valid, only void.

This might allow also an edit where a certificate could be "unvoided" and the comment saved. I would keep it simple and not create a record for every change

I like the 2.0 potential to reissue certificates. Perfect for my "unlawful harassment class" I have to take every year. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 12:40, 19 September 2010 (UTC)

Talk:Certificate Module

2010-09-19T12:40:41Z

Rcollman: /* Teacher certificate */

== The basis ==
In my opinion I'd go for point B, that's would help us with many people testing it. We could also start using as sson as the main features are ok.

:I'm ok with this too. I would copy all current 17_STABLE over 18_STABLE and begin working there (merging every commit to HEAD always). Yep, No? [[User:Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)|Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)]] 13:36, 3 March 2007 (CST)

== Teacher certificate ==
See my access.php for roles and capabilities--they are all standard except for the Print teacher role--this was used to edit roles for the names that will print on the certificate for "teacher". Any ideas for a better way to do this?

:Hi Chardelle, I don't understand the "mod/certificate:teacher" capability. Are you saying that it's used to determine what roles are allowed to print the teacher certificate? Yes? Uhm... it's hard to decide who has that capability by default. Perhaps only admin and every institution has to decide about it, giving to certain users? I'm going to ask to role gurus about this... [[User:Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)|Eloy Lafuente (stronk7)]] 13:36, 3 March 2007 (CST)

== Manage certificates in 2.0 ==
Could we have a delete certificate feature? I would suggest keeping the record, add a valid/void field plus fields of voidcomment, void date, userwhovoid. Then the teacher/admin could void a certificate, and we could have more display options.

The student might or might not be able to see their void certificate given advanced certificate setting. A filter for the teacher or administrator to see all issued certificates, only valid, only void.

This might allow also an edit where a certificate could be "unvoided" and the comment saved. I would keep it simple and not a record for every change

I like the 2.0 potential to reissue certificates. Perfect for my "unlawful harassment class" I have to take every year. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 12:40, 19 September 2010 (UTC)

Activity Locking

2010-09-13T14:36:56Z

Rcollman: /* Table of Versions */ change promoodle link

Activity Locking is an external module which sets up conditions that a student must reach before they can start(unlock) a Moodle activity. These criterion generally include time spent, score or completed. The conditions can be applied to more than one activity or resource for a each lock.

=Overview=
This page is an attempt to consolidate and explain the available activity locking (AL) code that is present for Moodle 1.5 to 1.7. This page will hopefully help explain all the available versions and their respective features. Some of the reference here will overlap with the existing MoodleDoc page covering [[Conditional activities]].

=Types of activity locking code=
For the purpose of this MoodleDoc article: AL is any code that allows the user to make decisions on the next available resource or item the student will be able to use based on student events or quiz performance. There is some activity locking code that is very quick and dirty to simply lock future activities and then there is much more complex code based on the conditional activity though structure which attempts to progress the student through the course in a thought out progression based on activities and performance. Again we hope to clarify some of this here.

==AL Branch 0.1 (Bernard Boucher)==
Bernard started all this with a hack to lock quiz and resources in [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=2948#12825 october 2003]. The certificate based on a quiz score was added in [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=9766#59875 september 2004] with version 0.7. It was a great start!

== AL Branch 2.0 for Moodle 1.6 (Stuart Mayor)==
*This has been virtually a complete rewrite and as such there are areas of functionality the were available in older versions of AL that are not in this.

* Conditional locking: Lock based on a user's performance in previous activities. You can also choose to unlock and activity if a user scores less than a certain grade.
* Show activity completion: The checkbox that appears before each activity to show it have been done.
* A variation on this also hides future activities, see AL Branch 2.2 for Moodle 1.6 (John Gschnaidner-Chardelle Busch) below.
* Bernard Boucher reworked Stuart's version for Moolde 1.6, initially on June 20, 2006 and updated on July 10, 2006 posted [http://206.167.134.155/bb/authoring1/activityLocking2_0_for_1_6_july1006.zip '''Activity Locking V 2.0 for Moodle 1.6'''] on [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=46863#220125 Activity Locking v3 or v2 for testing only].

*Downloaded the ..1.6_July10006.zip and installed it on a clean 1.6.3 localhost Windows XP machine. The language file did not have all the required fields. Spent time editing the lock.php file (not good at it) adding lines. But it worked. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 16:42, 20 October 2006 (CDT)

===Installation for 2.1 for Moodle 1.6(Stuart Mayor)===
'''activitylocking20051201.zip''' the initial version

* Firstly, you need the stable build of Moodle 1.6. This version of AL might work on earlier releases but I didn't write it with them in mind and I certainly can't support them.
Next, you need to modify one table in the database and add a new one (I use phpmyadmin for this).

*I downloaded a copy of the above zip ..20051201. Had to move the lang file from en to en_ut8f . Worked on my 1.6.3 localhost test course. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 16:37, 20 October 2006 (CDT)

====Details of install====
* The table you need to modify is mdl_course_modules and you need to add the following fields:
completedbox TINYINT(1) UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT '0'
completedscore VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL
completedstyle VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL
lockedbox TINYINT(1) UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT '1'
lockedstyle VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL DEFAULT 'locked'
lockedvisible TINYINT(1) UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT '1'
delay INT(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT '0'

* The table you need to create is as follows:
CREATE TABLE `mdl_course_locks` (
`id` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL auto_increment,
`courseid` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
`locktype` varchar(10) NOT NULL default '',
`targetid` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
`locks` longtext NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) TYPE=MyISAM COMMENT='Contains locks for sections and modules';
* Lastly, you need to copy the following files from the zip file:
lib/moodlelib.php to moodle/lib/moodlelib.php
lib/locklib.php to moodle/lib/locklib.php
course/lib.php to moodle/course/lib.php
course/lock.php to moodle/course/lock.php
course/mod.php to moodle/course/mod.php
course/settings.html to moodle/course/settings.html
pix/t/open.gif to moodle/pix/t/open.gif
pix/t/closed.gif to moodle/pix/t/closed.gif
lang/en/lock.php to moodle/lang/en/lock.php

==AL Branch 2.2 for Moodle 1.6 (John Gschnaidner-Chardelle Busch and others)==
John's versionincludes the settings tab--making it possible to set the hide/visible options, as well as the completion (a checkmark in front of a resource/activity) options, says Chardelle.
* A variation on Stuart Mayor's 2.1, it hides topics dependent upon conditions set on specific activities/resources '''ALV2_1_debug.ZIP''' (John). Had bug which Benard tweaked out.
* A build of Stuarts Mayor's 2.1 it locks and/or hides specific activities depending upon conditions set on specific activities/resources. Had bug which Benard tweaked out.
* A tweak by Bernard Boucher on June 27, 2006 was posted [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=35488&parent=222516 moodle/lib/locklib.php file] and called '''locklib.zip''' seems to fix known bug in both the above downloads.

==AL Branch 2.4 for Moodle 1.6 (John Gschnaidner)==
Further development of the 2.2 as a hack (no installation function).
:
'''WARNING:'''
:Because of some changes, this version may '''not''' be completely compatible to previous versions!
Status:
:Released, but you still should try it '''before''' implementing it on a production server.
:
In this version:
* Supports module '''and''' section locks
* Parallel locking and completing modules '''and''' sections
* CSS style and checkbox for locking and completing
* Hide when locked
* Language support and help
* Readme for features and installation
* SQL commands for DB update
* Info on how to update the CSS style sheets

FYI: Did a download on a clean complete package install of 1.6.3 localhost Windows XP. Seemed to work. No editing neeed on lang/lock.php. After unpacking file (see table below) and droping into moodle folder, went to database and imported the MySQL script found in moodle/course/MySQL.sql . --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 16:32, 20 October 2006 (CDT)

==AL Branch 3.s for Moodle 1.6 (Stuart Mayor)==
Similar to the 2.x versions. Major difference is that a question to the student unlocks activities. Being actively developed and tested.

==AL Branch 3.1 for Moodle 1.7 (Bernard Boucher & Stuart Mayor)==
Bernard has updated AL for 1.7 and it is being tested--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 07:18, 12 March 2007 (CDT)

==AL for Moodle 1.9.2+ Build: 20080917 (Cristiano Leoni)==
Tested on the "topics" lesson format.

==AL for Moodle 1.9.3+ Build: 20081015 (Cristiano Leoni)==
Tested on the "topics" lesson format.

==AL for Moodle 1.9.4+ (Cristiano Leoni)==
Tested on the "topics" lesson format.

==AL for Moodle 1.9.5 stable Build: 20090515 (Cristiano Leoni)==
Tested on the "topics" lesson format.

==CA Branch 1.0 for Moodle 1.5.2 (Borja Rubio Reyes)==
Details and discussed in the thread "[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=36697 NEW research on CONDITIONAL ACTIVITIES in Moodle]"

==Score Lock for Moodle 1.6x (John Gschnaidner)==
As announced, this is a ongoing development for Activity Locking v2.4, with a couple of new features.
For further information please refer to
:"[https://docs.moodle.org/en/Score_Lock moodle Docs: '''Score Lock''']"
Score Lock is scheduled for beta release until middle of September 2006.

= Table of Versions =
{| border="3" padding="4"
|+ Activity Locking updates
! -Version-
! Moodle version
! Who
! Status
! MySql Install
! Docs
! Download
! Teacher Interface
! Hide Option
! Completion Box Option
! Section Lock
! Quiz Question
! Comments
! Feature
! Bug
|-----
| AL for 1.9.5 stable
| 1.9.5 stable
| Cristiano Leoni
| Tested
| Automatic
| [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=92731]
| [http://software.cristianoleoni.com/tiki-index.php?page=Moodle]
| Padlock Icons
| hide section
| Yes
| Yes
| No
|
|
|
|-----
| AL for 1.9.4+
| 1.9.4+
| Cristiano Leoni
| Tested
| Automatic
| [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=92731]
| [http://software.cristianoleoni.com/tiki-index.php?page=Moodle]
| Padlock Icons
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-----
| AL for 1.9.3+
| 1.9.3+
| Cristiano Leoni
| Tested
| Automatic
| [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=92731]
| [http://software.cristianoleoni.com/tiki-index.php?page=Moodle]
| Padlock Icons
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-----
| AL 3.0
| 1.5.2
| Stuart Mayor
| not finished
|
|[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=46863]
| [http://moodle.org/file.php/5/moddata/forum/678/214752/Activity_Locking_20060317.7z]
|
|
|
|
| Yes
|
|
|
|-----
| AL 2.5 ?
| 1.9
| Chardelle Busch, ProMoodle.com
| Enhanced
| Automatic
| [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=92731]
| [http://promoodle.com/courses/course/view.php?id=5]
| Padlock Icons
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| see above
|
|
|-----
| AL 2.4
| 1.6
| John Gschnaidner
| released
| manual
|[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=50835]
| [http://moodle.org/file.php/5/moddata/forum/678/241994/ALv2.4.7z]
| Tabs
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| looks good
|
| [http://moodle.org/file.php/5/moddata/forum/678/244338/locking.php]
|-----
| AL 2.3
| 1.6
| Stuart Mayor
| Testing
|
| [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=35488]
| [http://moodle.org/file.php/5/moddata/forum/678/164285/activitylocking20051201.zip]
|
|
|
|
| Yes
|
|
|
|-----
| AL 2.2
| 1.6
| Gschnaidner, Mayor, Busch
| Testing
|
| [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=47906]
|
| Tabs
|
|
|
| Yes
| almost
|
|
|-----
| AL 2.0
| 1.8.2+
| Stuart Mayor, Bernard Boucher
| Updated
| Automatic
| [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=77907]
| [http://206.167.134.155/bb/authoring1/Activity_Locking_V2_0_for_182_Sept25_07.zip]
| Padlock Icons
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| see above
|
|
|-----
| AL 2.0
| 1.8.2
| Stuart Mayor, Bernard Boucher
| Updated
| Automatic
| [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=77907]
| [http://206.167.134.155/bb/authoring1/Activity_Locking_V2_0_for_182_August13_07.zip]
| Padlock Icons
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| see above
|
|
|-----
| AL 2.0
| 1.8.1
| Stuart Mayor, Bernard Boucher
| Updated
| Automatic
| [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=74477#p332097]
| [http://206.167.134.155/bb/authoring1/Activity_Locking_V2_0_for_181_June22_07.zip]
| Padlock Icons
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| see above
|
|
|-----
| AL 2.0
| 1.7.1
| Stuart Mayor, Bernard Boucher
| Updated
| Automatic
| [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=65175#p300414]
| [http://206.167.134.155/bb/authoring1/Activity_Locking_V2_0_for_171_Feb1907.zip]
| Padlock Icons
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| see above
|
|
|-----
| AL 2.0
| 1.7
| Stuart Mayor, Chris Throup
| Updated
| Automatic
| [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=65175#p300414]
| [http://moodle.org/file.php/5/moddata/forum/678/302505/Activity_Locking_for_Moodle_1.7_.zip]
| Padlock Icons
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| see above
|
|
|-----
| AL 2.0
| 1.6
| Stuart Mayor, Bernard Boucher
| Updated
| Automatic
| [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=31627#152788]
| [http://206.167.134.155/bb/authoring1/activityLocking2_0_for_1_6_july1006.zip]
| Padlock Icons
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| see above
|
|
|-----
| C A 1.0
| 1.5.2
| Borja Rubio Reyes, David Delgado
|
|
| [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=36697]
|
|
|
|
|
| Yes
|
|
|
|}

=General installation instructions DRAFT=
==Short instructions==
#Find and download the correct version of AL for your version of Moodle. This is a zip file.
#Extract the zipped file's folders and files in you Moodle root directory. This will put the right files in their proper directory.
#As Administrator, go to the admin block for the Moodle site. This should start the automatic install process.

==Tips and FAQs==
*Activity Locking (AL) is a non-standard Moodle feature. Testing on a Moodle that is similar to your production Moodle is advisible. For example, a localhost installation.
*Since all versions of AL change the Moodle MySQL file structure, it is advisable to do a backup before installing AL.
*Upgrading either Moodle or AL and things don't work? A common forum suggestion is to reinstall AL with the proper version that is designed for the Moodle version.
*AL installs but does not seem to lock? Be sure you are logged in as a student. Logging in as a teacher and then "viewing as as student" or changing roles to a student, will not give consistant results in Activity Locking.
*AL icons initially show in edit mode but then disappear. It has been reported that this occurs when AJAX is enabled in 1.8 - disable AJAX and they should reappear. (.../admin/settings.php?section=experimental)

==See also==
*[[Adding_activity_locks]] will give the reader an idea of what one of the flavors of Activity Locking looks like for a student and teacher setting it up.

Please visit the Moodle Forum for more information concerning Activity Locking and Conditional Activities-

*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=35488#220984: AL v2.1-M1.6] titled Activity Locking v2.1 (for Moodle 1.6)
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=46863: AL v3.0-Mx] titled Activity Locking v3
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=36697 AL v3.0-DD] titled NEW research on CONDITIONAL ACTIVITIES in Moodle
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=31627&parent=152788: AL v2.1 LALR] titled Latest Activity Locking Release started 19 October 2005
* http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=4295
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=47906&parent=221613 AL v2.1 wH1.6] titled Re: Certificate for 1.6 with security in Activity Modules forum

There is a very specialized-limited type of activity locking under a lesson (activity) setting called dependency in 1.6. See: *https://docs.moodle.org/en/Adding/editing_a_lesson#Dependent_on .

*[http://www.moodleblog.org/?p=110 How to use the Activity Locking course format] blog post with video

User talk:ECONCIENCIA PERU GO GREEN

2010-07-26T12:14:11Z

Rcollman: This user should be in the es space?

This user might be better placed in the es MoodleDoc. Not sure how to do that. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 12:14, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Moodle 2.0 Preview 1 release notes

2010-06-25T12:09:41Z

Rcollman: Add link s to refer to latest releases.

Please also see [[Moodle 2.0 Preview 3 release notes]] or the list of [[:Category:Release notes]] for the lastest Moodle 2.0 release notes.

==How to get it==

# Download it from the [http://download.moodle.org/download.php/moodle/moodle-latest.zip Moodle download server] (built nightly) or
# Get the latest HEAD version from [[CVS_for_Administrators|CVS]], or
# Try it out on [http://qa.moodle.net qa.moodle.net] (updated daily and reset hourly)

==What this Preview is==

The current version of [[Moodle_2.0_release_notes|Moodle 2.0]] is getting to the point where we are feeling comfortable inviting experienced Moodle users to try it out and start giving us more detailed feedback.

==What this Preview is not==

This is not finished code. This is not for production servers. Do not use it for production. '''DO NOT USE IT FOR PRODUCTION!''' :-)

Software is complex stuff. A quick line count of the whole of 2.0 (including libraries but not HTML, JS, CSS or 3rd party modules) comes to over a million lines of PHP scripts.

We are on the home stretch for this thing now but it's going to be a VERY busy next few months for us at Moodle HQ and all the others helping with Moodle development in various capacities.

==Moodle 2.0 features==

For more details about what is actually in Moodle 2.0, see the [[Moodle 2.0 release notes]].

==Development/Testing Focus for this week!==

===Usability===

A lot of the new features have early-quality development interfaces that still need to be improved a lot for general use. This is mostly a mix of new core renderers and styling in themes.

Particular areas include:
* Community hub publishing and downloading
* User profiles
* Enrolment interfaces
* Navigation and blocks in all pages
* Messaging
* Backup/restore user interfaces

====How you can help====

# Use current versions of 2.0 on your own server or [http://qa.moodle.net qa.moodle.net], and if you notice particular pages that need improving, then
# Search the [http://tracker.moodle.org Tracker] for an existing issue, and make a new one if required
# Post a description of the issues, and using the mockup tool there to describe solutions
# Start a discussion about the bug in the [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=7229 Usability forum], linking to your issue by mentioning the bug ID, and make some noise :)

===Themes===

Our plan is to get 20 themes in Moodle 2.0. This is accelerating now the new Themes system has stabilised and Moodle is starting to look very nice indeed.

[http://moodle.org/user/view.php?id=93470&course=5 Patrick Malley] is our Themes manager and is working hard right now on developing more core themes that you can use to base your themes on.

====How you can help====

# Read the [https://docs.moodle.org/en/Development:Themes_2.0 Themes 2.0 docs] and improve them if you notice issues.
# Join in with the discussion on the [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=46 Themes forum]
# Start some cool 2.0 themes!

===Performance and upgrade===

We plan to do all kinds of testing on different types of sites, to help ensure that everyone's upgrade from 1.9 goes smoothly, and then Moodle runs faster after the upgrade.

====How you can help====

We would really love those of you with big sites to help us with this. Try upgrading a COPY of your production sites from Moodle 1.9 to Moodle 2.0, and give us data about:

* What environment was Moodle running in? (DB etc)
* How long did the upgrade take?
* Were there any serious errors? (and what did you do to fix them :) )
* Can you compare the performance of your 1.9 site to 2.0?

Please post your results in the [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=56 Testing and QA forum] and join in!

If you find bugs, please make sure they are in the tracker against 2.0.

==Remaining new features==

There are also still a couple of biggish patches that will be ready in the coming weeks, such as:

* Restore for 2.0 and 1.9 backups MDL-21432 (Only 2.0 backups currently working)
* Enrolments rewrite MDL-21782 Mostly done, just needs UI work
* Plagiarism API MDL-13680 ready to drop in after another review
* Text formats as plugins

However the July deadline is important, so some of these may not make it into 2.0 if time is too tight.

Look out for Moodle 2.0 Preview 2 in a week or so!

[[Category:Release notes]]

User talk:Chris collman

2010-06-11T09:38:36Z

Rcollman: /* GIFT examples? */ Thks Tim

Please add new comment sections at the top.
== File Upload Size ==
Hi Chris,

I noticed that you made some changes to the [[File_upload_size]] page.

I have been thrashing a few ideas about this page round with Marc and Colin for a while ([[Talk:File_upload_size]]) and I think I am getting close to a format that will help users first discover the info they need before they ask the question "How do I increase the file upload size in Moodle?"

Anyway, I have finally found some time to have a look at it again. I have started a re-working of it from my user area on the docs. I am trying to take into account the idea of the matrix of questions Marc discussed. Have a look at it here [[User:Jon_Witts/file-upload-v2]] and leave any comments in the talk page and make any additions you see fit to make too.

Cheers

[[User:Jon Witts|Jon Witts]] 19:55, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
::Thanks Jon. Great use of a subpage. I jumped right in when I saw you added links, and left comments. I think we should be able to sift this out for the experienced and new user. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 13:26, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

== New Hampshire Moodlers ==
Way back when, Don S down in Nashua way asked me if I would like to talk about a New Hampshire Moodle user's group. Interesting. That was a small group at that time. Since then the list is really growing.

For example some overall agencies using/promoting/customizing Moodles in NH:
*Exeter Professional Development Center is developing the Portfolio module and trains K-12 Moodlers and does Moodle hosting for their stakeholders,
*North Country Educational Services (NCES in Gorham) promotes and trains North Country K-12 schools, and
*UNH Cooperative Extension is looking at it
*Other Professional Development Centers (groups of School Administration Units, funded in part by NH's Dept of Education) may also be promoting Moodle.
*The State Higher Ed (USNH) colleges and universities, along with the state community college system (NHCCS, formerly NHCTCS) all use Bb. Some individual teachers may use Moodle.

So I would guess as of October 2007 there are at least 15 to 25 schools and agencies using Moodle in New Hampshire.

==Changes to Development:Usability/Improve_Moodle_User_Experience_Consistency==
Hi Chris,

I appreciate you working on the docs, and thanks for adding a common GSOC 09 tag to [[Development:Usability/Improve_Moodle_User_Experience_Consistency]]. Is there a page which links all the pages tagged this way?

However, I am not so sure about your newer changes. Are these changes made according to a Moodle docs convention, or based on your own user research? I assume you have changed the other GSOC pages accordingly, too, but just mentioning you are making it more user friendly does not mean much. Mostly your changes are okay (though you haven't really communicated what are the users/usage scenarios you are aiming to make it more useful for so it is hard to tell if it is more "user friendly" [usable?] or not). To have the navigation to other related documents seems important to me to keep at the top of the page, and the "up to usability" link was there to make the hierarchical relationship to the more general Usability page clear (and as such "additional documentation" is not really appropriate).

--[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 12:34, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Having not heard from you, reverted the "up to usability" link back to how it was. --[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 09:59, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

Hm, I am not sure why Development:Usability also has the GSoC template - I am not really working on that this summer - is some other GSoCcer?

Would you like me to edit the template so that it would be a link to the GSoC'09 page itself - this way it would be easier to browse around the different GSOC sites with the help of the template?
Thanks.--[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 15:07, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

::Hi Olli, been flat out with other stuff and have not checked "my watchlist" in a few days. It was my understanding that someday some of the GSoC projects would become part of Moodle, thus my interest. I respect your changes.

::I thought you were working on this as a [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=121585 project for '09],and/or [[GSOC/2009#Improve_Moodle_user_experience_consistency]] my apologies. I usually stay away from the Development: stuff but am peeking in on the GSoC 09 forum this year to watch process.

::Usual MoodleDoc format is to put brief intro, then first heading, so TOC automatically inserts itself before the first heading and after the intro. Usual MoodleDocs convention is to put "See also" at bottom of page with links to outside sources, or internal page links that may also be useful but not clearly linked in the body of the page. I personally like to see functionality come before setup instructions in mature MoodleDoc pages used by teachers, but in the development space, I think anything goes. I can see where those links serve as history or precedent which is useful for developers. And not something teachers really care about, so different needs for different users :)

:: The reason for the Template is to alert people that this is '09 project. There is a [[:Category:GSOC]] a sub category of [[:Category:Project]] that seems to list student projects/. I thought about creating a template with links but most users do not flit between the projects. I was wondering if a sub category 09 might be better but decided that also too elaborate for the number of users who really were involved. I was going to go back and tag all the GSoC '09 projects with a category but ran out of time and put it on the potential roundtuit list.

:: Appreciate your comments, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Thanks for all your contributions to Moodle, as well. Best --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 18:49, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

::: Hi Chris,

::: I realize now that I was overtly harsh about your changes. Sorry about that. My project indeed is a GSoC project, and it makes sense to have the GSoC template on it. But Development:Usability is not directly related to this usability project, except by its subject area.

::: I find it fascinating that you know so much about Moodle Docs conventions. The reason for this is that my project is, in essence, a project to create easy-as-possible content to the Docs: UI guidelines. So I would really like to learn from you.

::: Oops, gotta go, will respond to the rest later. --[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 08:42, 27 May 2009 (UTC)
::::I have been mentored by Helen :) [https://docs.moodle.org/en/Special:Contributions/Rcollman Trial and error], watching our community edit and discuss pages, and paying attention to repeating issues raised in a couple of forums also has influenced my knowledge of what seems to work. We all live in ruts that we can not see out of without help, some of us know it and some of us don't :) Cultural Anthropology with 5 years of what might be called field experience taught me that before my brain became frozen at 25. Best --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 10:03, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

::::: Great :). As I am creating content on docs, too, do you think it might be possible to document, just briefly, the conventions we already use, and the relationship to other recommendations for using wikis, such as Wikipedia's? Or would you like to participate in the discussion, once we get that far, on [[Development:Usability/Improve_Moodle_User_Experience_Consistency/Detailed_project_plan#Examine_pattern_libraries_and_guidelines_for_content_and_information_architecture_.28week_24.29|the design of the future guidelines]] - which, although they are mostly for developers at this point - must critically be ''very'' easy to read, since usability is typically strange land for many developers. --[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 11:22, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

::::: If you have time, please have a look at Development:Progressive_Disclosure and comment. Thanks :) --[[User:Olli Savolainen|Olli Savolainen]] 11:41, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

==Beginning Administration FAQ==
I liked your comments about the question:
Why am I just not getting how Permissions and Roles work?

This section really jumps around in my logic and needs more links. The intro is good because it addresses a problem I had/have :) But after that I would delete the rest. At a certain point the words revert to a description of a process, where authentication is mixed in with front page roles and terms of teacher, course creator and such and what happens when a user comes back from a course..... I think more links will help and maybe ask another question (or more) to focus upon why the mental block about permissions, contexts, capabilities, and roles. --chris collman 12:37, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes, you are probably right Chris, but my initial concern was to get the question up. Just go for it, I am not in the position I can spend a lot of time doing this until the end of September now. Cheers..

Your comment : (→How do I restore an older graphics course that is way over he file upload limit?: why someone would do this) It was worded the way it was for two reasons, first I rushed it and did not really think too hard about it, sorry, but then later when I realized it, and had time to fix it, you had already done so, thank you, saves me from looking like a complete blockhead..:) [[User:Colin Fraser|Colin Fraser]] 09:04, 12 December 2009 (UTC)Colin Fraser
::Hey Colin, that is why MoodleDocs is collaborative, we help the process along as we are able and so inclined. I saw that because I am recreating a 1.5.3 site on a new 1.9.7 server. I decided I better review the Beginning Admin FAQs for any hints about backups and users. I had just finishing reinventing the wheel using WinSCP, when I saw your FAQ which was one of the issues I had to deal with. I will confess that I tend not to look at those pages to edit, but obviously find them useful as I am sure others do as well. Thanks for your continued contributions to Moodle, especially on behalf of the new users! --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 11:59, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

== Thank you for catching my typo ==

https://docs.moodle.org/en/index.php?title=Unit_tests&diff=65278&oldid=65277 did rather change the meaning ;-)--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 14:51, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Keep doing the heavy lifting, sometimes I will find a grain of sand to put in the right place. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 11:39, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

== GIFT examples? ==

Chris, have you carefully tested the GIFT examples in Moodle. I am very inclined to say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" with these.--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 13:40, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

:Thank you Tim. I will check all of them this morning. I like humor but the subject of Grant's Tomb could be culturally inappropriate and the difference between being entombed above ground and buried will not be obvious many speakers of English. Of course any changes had better work :) --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 09:38, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Moodle 2.0 Preview 3 release notes

2010-06-07T11:49:46Z

Rcollman: /* Upgrade notes */ The upgrade of a Preview 3 acts slightly different

==How to get it==

# Download it from the [http://download.moodle.org/download.php/moodle/moodle-latest.zip Moodle download server] (built nightly) or
# Get the latest HEAD version from [[CVS_for_Administrators|CVS]], or
# Try it out on [http://qa.moodle.net qa.moodle.net] (updated daily and reset hourly)

==Upgrade notes==
The upgrading user interface process is being changed in Preview 3. As a site administrator you will notice some differences after replacing Moodle code with a Preview 3 version. A clean install using Preview 3, will ask you fewer questions and basically assumes you want an "unattended" install and loads all code.

===Upgrading from Preview 1 or 2===
If you are upgrading from a Preview prior to 3.0 then:

* If you can, then drop the tables and '''REINSTALL YOUR TEST SITE FROM SCRATCH.'''
* If you want to adjust your upgraded site to make it like a new site, then edit the Authenticated User role and change all the repository/xxxx:view capabilities to ALLOW.

===Upgrading from previous 3.0 version===
If you are upgrading from an earlier Preview 3.0, your site may automatically upgrade when the web server starts Moodle. Attempting to login may present a "Site Upgrading" message, wait and try again. This is another difference from previous version, when the admin would log in, then go to site administration>notifications to start to the upgrade process.

==What this Preview is==

The current version of [[Moodle_2.0_release_notes|Moodle 2.0]] is getting to the point where we are feeling comfortable inviting experienced Moodle users to try it out and start giving us more detailed feedback.

This is the third Preview release in a series of about eight before the final release.

==What this Preview is not==

This is not finished code. This is not for production servers. Do not use it for production. '''DO NOT USE IT FOR PRODUCTION!''' :-)

Software is complex stuff. A quick line count of the whole of 2.0 (including libraries but not HTML, JS, CSS or 3rd party modules) comes to over a million lines of PHP scripts.

We are on the home stretch for this thing now but it's going to be a VERY busy next few months for us at Moodle HQ and all the others helping with Moodle development in various capacities.

==Moodle 2.0 features==

For more details about what is actually in Moodle 2.0, see the [[Moodle 2.0 release notes]].

==Improvements since Preview 2==

# More navigation improvements, including faster-looking easier-implementing dock
# Hub-related interface improvements for publishing and searching
# New repository "private files" just shows user files (same as the private files block)
# Security improvements in ratings
# Assignment quick grading now works again
# Single-discussion forums work again
# New theme Serenity
# Many other small fixes for bugs and regressions

==Development/Testing Focus for this week!==

===Community hub===

Try out the new community hub features! Full docs are still being written, but here are some thing you might like to try.

# Try the (still very plain) interface at http://hub.moodle.org/
# Use the Admin registration page to register your own site with http://hub.moodle.org.
# Add the "Community" block to your site, and use it to search moodle.org for courses, either to enrol in or to download. Note that you can't yet restore downloaded courses in Moodle 2.0.
# If you are interested in playing with the hub software, get the plugin from [http://download.moodle.org/download.php/plugins/local/hub.zip] and unzip it into the "local" directory of an up-to-date Moodle 2.0 site, then visit admin page to install it.

Come and discuss what you see in the [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=7330 Hub servers] forum on moodle.org.

===Usability===

A lot of the new features have early-quality development interfaces that still need to be improved a lot for general use. This is mostly a mix of new core renderers and styling in themes.

Particular areas include:
* Community hub publishing and downloading
* User profiles
* Enrolment interfaces
* Navigation and blocks in all pages
* Messaging
* Backup/restore user interfaces

====How you can help====

# Use current versions of 2.0 on your own server or [http://qa.moodle.net qa.moodle.net], and if you notice particular pages that need improving, then
# Search the [http://tracker.moodle.org Tracker] for an existing issue, and make a new one if required
# Post a description of the issues, and using the mockup tool there to describe solutions
# Start a discussion about the bug in the [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=7229 Usability forum], linking to your issue by mentioning the bug ID, and make some noise :)

===Themes===

Our plan is to get 20 themes in Moodle 2.0. This is accelerating now the new Themes system has stabilised and Moodle is starting to look very nice indeed.

[http://moodle.org/user/view.php?id=93470&course=5 Patrick Malley] is our Themes manager and is working hard right now on developing more core themes that you can use to base your themes on.

====How you can help====

# Read the [https://docs.moodle.org/en/Development:Themes_2.0 Themes 2.0 docs] and improve them if you notice issues.
# Join in with the discussion on the [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=46 Themes forum]
# Start some cool 2.0 themes!

===Performance and upgrade===

We plan to do all kinds of testing on different types of sites, to help ensure that everyone's upgrade from 1.9 goes smoothly, and then Moodle runs faster after the upgrade.

====How you can help====

We would really love those of you with big sites to help us with this. Try upgrading a COPY of your production sites from Moodle 1.9 to Moodle 2.0, and give us data about:

* What environment was Moodle running in? (DB etc)
* How long did the upgrade take?
* Were there any serious errors? (and what did you do to fix them :) )
* Can you compare the performance of your 1.9 site to 2.0?

Please post your results in the [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=56 Testing and QA forum] and join in!

If you find bugs, please make sure they are in the tracker against 2.0.

==Remaining new features==

There are also still a couple of biggish patches that will be ready in the coming weeks, such as:

* Restore for 2.0 and 1.9 backups MDL-21432 (Only 2.0 backups currently working)
* Enrolments rewrite MDL-21782 Mostly done, just needs UI work
* Plagiarism API MDL-13680 ready to drop in after another review
* Text formats as plugins

However the July deadline is important, so some of these may not make it into 2.0 if time is too tight.

Look out for Moodle 2.0 Preview 4 in a week or so!

[[Category:Release notes]]

Moodle 2.0 Preview 3 release notes

2010-06-01T11:29:42Z

Rcollman: /* Upgrade notes */ put in CAPS :) Not my usual edit style

<p class="note">Currently being edited! Come back in a few hours!</p>

==How to get it==

# Download it from the [http://download.moodle.org/download.php/moodle/moodle-latest.zip Moodle download server] (built nightly) or
# Get the latest HEAD version from [[CVS_for_Administrators|CVS]], or
# Try it out on [http://qa.moodle.net qa.moodle.net] (updated daily and reset hourly)

==Upgrade notes==

If you are upgrading from an earlier preview of 2.0, then please note that the upgrade this week slightly differs from a clean install.

* If you can, then drop the tables and '''REINSTALL YOUR TEST SITE FROM SCRATCH.'''
* If you want to adjust your upgraded site to make it like a new site, then edit the Authenticated User role and change all the repository/xxxx:view capabilities to ALLOW.

==What this Preview is==

The current version of [[Moodle_2.0_release_notes|Moodle 2.0]] is getting to the point where we are feeling comfortable inviting experienced Moodle users to try it out and start giving us more detailed feedback.

This is the third Preview release in a series of about eight before the final release.

==What this Preview is not==

This is not finished code. This is not for production servers. Do not use it for production. '''DO NOT USE IT FOR PRODUCTION!''' :-)

Software is complex stuff. A quick line count of the whole of 2.0 (including libraries but not HTML, JS, CSS or 3rd party modules) comes to over a million lines of PHP scripts.

We are on the home stretch for this thing now but it's going to be a VERY busy next few months for us at Moodle HQ and all the others helping with Moodle development in various capacities.

==Moodle 2.0 features==

For more details about what is actually in Moodle 2.0, see the [[Moodle 2.0 release notes]].

==Improvements since Preview 2==

Coming soon...

==Development/Testing Focus for this week!==

Coming soon...

==Remaining new features==

There are also still a couple of biggish patches that will be ready in the coming weeks, such as:

* Restore for 2.0 and 1.9 backups MDL-21432 (Only 2.0 backups currently working)
* Enrolments rewrite MDL-21782 Mostly done, just needs UI work
* Plagiarism API MDL-13680 ready to drop in after another review
* Text formats as plugins

However the July deadline is important, so some of these may not make it into 2.0 if time is too tight.

Look out for Moodle 2.0 Preview 4 in a week or so!

[[Category:Release notes]]

Moodle 2.0 Preview 3 release notes

2010-06-01T11:19:31Z

Rcollman: /* Upgrade notes */ yeah FROM SCRATCH

<p class="note">Currently being edited! Come back in a few hours!</p>

==How to get it==

# Download it from the [http://download.moodle.org/download.php/moodle/moodle-latest.zip Moodle download server] (built nightly) or
# Get the latest HEAD version from [[CVS_for_Administrators|CVS]], or
# Try it out on [http://qa.moodle.net qa.moodle.net] (updated daily and reset hourly)

==Upgrade notes==

If you are upgrading from an earlier preview of 2.0, then please note that the upgrade this week slightly differs from a clean install.

* If you can, then drop the tables and '''reinstall your test site from scratch.'''
* If you want to adjust your upgraded site to make it like a new site, then edit the Authenticated User role and change all the repository/xxxx:view capabilities to ALLOW.

==What this Preview is==

The current version of [[Moodle_2.0_release_notes|Moodle 2.0]] is getting to the point where we are feeling comfortable inviting experienced Moodle users to try it out and start giving us more detailed feedback.

This is the third Preview release in a series of about eight before the final release.

==What this Preview is not==

This is not finished code. This is not for production servers. Do not use it for production. '''DO NOT USE IT FOR PRODUCTION!''' :-)

Software is complex stuff. A quick line count of the whole of 2.0 (including libraries but not HTML, JS, CSS or 3rd party modules) comes to over a million lines of PHP scripts.

We are on the home stretch for this thing now but it's going to be a VERY busy next few months for us at Moodle HQ and all the others helping with Moodle development in various capacities.

==Moodle 2.0 features==

For more details about what is actually in Moodle 2.0, see the [[Moodle 2.0 release notes]].

==Improvements since Preview 2==

Coming soon...

==Development/Testing Focus for this week!==

Coming soon...

==Remaining new features==

There are also still a couple of biggish patches that will be ready in the coming weeks, such as:

* Restore for 2.0 and 1.9 backups MDL-21432 (Only 2.0 backups currently working)
* Enrolments rewrite MDL-21782 Mostly done, just needs UI work
* Plagiarism API MDL-13680 ready to drop in after another review
* Text formats as plugins

However the July deadline is important, so some of these may not make it into 2.0 if time is too tight.

Look out for Moodle 2.0 Preview 4 in a week or so!

[[Category:Release notes]]

User:Chris collman/sandbox2

2010-05-11T12:54:37Z

Rcollman: for "Updating lesson" page that turned into redirect

{{Moodle 2.0}}
Settings block>Lesson administration>Settings

The updating a lesson window is show when adding a lesson for the first time or by following links in the "Settings block" while in a Lesson. By clicking on "Advanced features" button, more options can be displayed.

==General==
*Name
*Time limit - if enabled, set time in minutes
**Available from - if enabled
**Day Month Year Hour Minute - set when lesson can be seen by students
**Enable - check if you want this feature
*Deadline - if enabled
**Day Month Year Hour Minute - set when lesson is closed for students
**Enable - check if you want this feature
*Maximum number of answers/branches - set number (2-20)

===Advanced general options===
*Password protected lesson - Yes/No
**Password, with mask unmask

==Grade options==
*Practice lesson - Yes/No
*Custom scoring - Yes/No
*Maximum grade - set value
*Re-takes allowed - Yes/No
*Handling of re-takes - if allowed then use either mean score or max score
*Display ongoing score - Yes/No

===Advanced grade options===
None
==Flow control==
*Allow student review - Yes/No
*Display review button - Yes/No
*Maximum number of attempts - set number of attempts before lesson automatically advances to "next page".
*Display default feedback - Yes/No
*Progress bar - Yes/No
*Display left menu - Yes/No

===Advanced flow control options===
*Action after correct answer - "Normal", "Show unseen", "Show unanswered"
*Display left menu only if grade greater than - select number from 0% - 100%
*Number of pages to show- Number of pages to show when slideshow is enabled
*Slideshow - Yes/No
*Link to and activity - pull down list with all course activities

==Popup==
Pop-up to file or web page - Choose a file or page
===Advanced popup options===
None

==Dependent on==
Dependent on - select lesson this lesson is dependent upon
Time spent - set minimum number of minutes in dependent lesson to enter this one
Completed - check if must complete dependent lesson to enter this one
Grade better than - set minimum percentage grade in dependent lesson to enter this one
===Advanced dependent on options===
None

==Common module settings==
Visible - Check if visible to students
ID Number - Field to put id number used in grading

===Advanced common module options===
Grouping - Yes/no, must be enabled in course settings
Available for group members Available for group members only

==Save-Cancel options==
You can cancel any changes you made, or save them and return to the course, or save them and display the current lesson.