Moodle Mobile custom apps

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Overview

You will need a custom app if you want:

• Force the users to log in to your site URL
• Custom corporate image (name, app icon, theme, store entry)
• Add additional features or static pages
• Remove or change existing features
• Custom translation of the app
• Use your own notifications infrastructure

Requirements

• Code editor (Sublime, WebStorm, Eclipse, Netbeans...)
• Github account (http://github.com/)
• Github desktop app (http://windows.github.com/)
• PhonegapBuild account (https://build.phonegap.com/)
• Chromium browser as described here: Moodle Mobile development using Chrome or Chromium

Steps for creating your Custom App

Setting up your computer

Follow these guides:

• Setting up your development environment for Moodle Mobile 2
• Moodle Mobile development using Chrome or Chromium

Fork the app

Use the Fork tool in: https://github.com/moodlehq/moodleapp (You must be logged with your Github user!)

Clone the repo in your desktop

You can use your favourite GIT client (or GitHub Desktop clients)

Create a new branch

Having the code in a separate branch in the forked repository will make very easy to maintain our customizations using git tools (merge, rebase)

Edit the app settings file

/config.xml

• Change the widget id value (instead com.moodle.moodlemobile your own id)
• Change the app name and description

/www/config.json

• Change versionname
• Add a pre-fixed URL: Adding a field like “siteurl”: “http://mysite.abc”
• Change gcmpn (if you are using your custom Google Push infrastructure)
• Change the appid (required for making Push notifications work)
• Remove demo sites (“demo_sites”: “”)

Edit another app files

/www/core/component/settings/lang/x.json (x means all the languages)

• Change the “appname” string to match your custom app name (Not necessary in latest version Moodle Mobile 3.1.3), you can change it in config.json

/www/errorreport.js

• Change: var reportUrl to point to your custom error reporting system (if you want to use your custom one)
• Same for appVersion

Replace the app icons, splashscreen

• Replace the resources/ icon.png and splash images
• Replace also the www/img/moodle.png with an image matching your logo
• In a console:
  • cd mycustomappdir/
  • ionic resources

This will create your custom icon and splash images in all the required sizes

More information about Ionic’s image generation: http://ionicframework.com/docs/cli/icon-splashscreen.html

Add your custom styles

• Add your custom styles in scss/app.scss
• Sample theme available at: Moodle Mobile Themes

Building your Custom App

There are two options for building the app:

• Ionic CLI
  • Local building (require installation of Android and iOs SDK and emulators)
  • See http://ionicframework.com/docs/cli/run.html
• Phonegap Build
  • Remote building (cloud service)
  • This is the recommended way because it doesn’t require to install all the SDK, emulators (or having to buy a Mac for developing)

Building with Phonegap Build

GitHub

• First of all, you need to create a new repository in GitHub. This is because Phonegap Build requires a different directory structure than Ionic CLI and we need a branch per platform.
• In your forked repository, run gulp so the build files are updated.
• Copy all the code inside the www/ in your forked repository directory to this new repo/branch.
• Also copy the /resources directory from the ionic project to a new /resources directory in the phonegap build repository
• You also have to place the /resources/icon.png and /resources/splash.png you used to create your resource files in the root folder in the phonegap build repository
• Use this repository as an example: https://github.com/moodlehq/moodlemobile-phonegapbuild/tree/learn-moodle
• In the Phonegap Build repo root folder you need to add a special config.xml file (different to the Ionic one), use this file as a template. Please, replace there the app name, versions, etc.
• Then, in the Phonegap build repo you need two create two additional branches based on master: android and ios
• In the android and ios branch you need to apply these changes:

Disable debugging in the app:

Add android or ios base class (so the app use native style widgets):

• The rest of the commits can be safely omitted:
  • Add reporting library
  • Add official tag

Phonegap

• Create an account in: https://build.phonegap.com/
• For iOS you need to create certificates/provisioning files: http://docs.build.phonegap.com/en_US/
• For Android, you can download and install the .apk for testing, for production follow the previous guide.
• In order to build, add your repository https link and also the branch in the Phonegap Build settings (you will have to do two different builds: one for the android branch and another one for the ios branch)
• In order to update your app for phonegap build you have to (this will apply all the specific android/ios commits to your master branch):
  • Upload new versions of the app to the www/ directory and then execute the commands:
  • git rebase master android
  • git push -f
  • git rebase master ios
  • git push -f

Remove existing features

• You can only remove add-ons.
• In order to disable an add-on you need to delete the folder.
• Add-ons are located in the www/addons folder.
• In case you want to remove a particular functionality of an add-on you will need to edit the files inside the addon. Please notice that removing a state is not enough for a feature to be disabled, you also need to remove all the links to that state to prevent errors.
• Then run gulp or ionic serve in the project root folder so the build files are created.

Change the app strings

• Language strings are located in:
  • www/core/lang folder (a different file for each language)
  • www/core/components/COMPONENT_NAME/lang folder
  • www/addons/ADDON_NAME/lang folder
• Language files are .json files, you can edit it using a text editor. Please, use jsonlint.com to validate that the new language file is correct.
• Then run gulp or ionic serve in the project root folder so the build files are created

Change the initial screen (add site)

• To make the app use a fixed site URL you need to add a new setting in the config.json file: “siteurl”: “http://yourmoodle.com”
• Then run gulp or ionic serve in the project root folder so the build files are created.

You can see an example from our Learn Moodle app (that is a custom version of Moodle Mobile) here: https://github.com/jleyva/moodleapp/blob/learn-moodle/www/config.json

Keep your custom version up2date

• Sync your fork: https://help.github.com/articles/syncing-a-fork/
• Rebase your changes (and resolve conflicts):
  • git rebase master yourcustombranch
• Upgrade your version number
• Commit your changes
• Apply the changes in your Phonegap Build specific repository
• Rebuild with Phonegap build for both android and ios branches
• Publish in the store