Activity dates tool
| Activity dates tool | |
|---|---|
| Type | Admin tool |
| Set | N/A |
| Downloads | https://moodle.org/plugins/tool_activitydates |
| Issues | https://github.com/adamjenkins/moodle-tool_activitydates/issues |
| Discussion | https://moodle.org/plugins/tool_activitydates |
| Maintainer(s) | Adam Jenkins (WiseCat) |
Activity dates is an admin tool that schedules the open and close dates of many activities at once. A teacher picks an activity type, such as quizzes, chooses a start date and a session length, and the tool sets each activity's own dates, session by session: week 1's quiz opens on Monday and closes a week later, week 2's quiz opens then, and so on. On the same page it can also schedule when each activity's grades are locked in the gradebook, and tell students about it.
Because the tool writes each activity's own dates, students see the usual "Opens" and "Closes" dates and calendar events. No access restrictions are added.
Installation
Install the plugin from the Moodle plugins directory, or download the ZIP file and follow Installing plugins. The files go in the folder admin/tool/activitydates. The plugin supports Moodle 5.0 to 5.3.
Scheduling activity dates
In a course, go to More > Activity dates.
- Choose the Activity type. The list shows the types in the course that have open and close dates (for example quizzes, choices, feedback and SCORM packages), and graded types such as assignments, for their grade-lock dates only.
- Set the Start date of the first session, and optionally a Finish date (off by default; sessions that start after it are not scheduled).
- Set the Session length (days) and the number of Activities per session.
- Choose the Close dates: After a number of days (after opening), At the end of this session (when the next session opens), All on a date, or No date.
- For activity types that also have a due date (in standard Moodle, the quiz from Moodle 5.3), choose the Due dates the same way. A due date must be after the open date and no later than the close date.
- Tick the activities to schedule in the table, and click Preview.
The tool splits the ticked activities into sessions in the order they appear on the course page, and gives each one an open date at the start of its session.
The table
The table's Dates column shows each activity's Open, Due, Close and Locked dates. When the page opens, they are the activity's current dates. Preview replaces them with the proposed dates and saves nothing.
- Every date can be edited, or emptied to remove it.
- Hold keeps a date as it is through later previews, even when the settings change. "After a number of days" counts from a held open date.
- Filter by name shows only the activities whose name contains the text you type. The select-all boxes then act on those rows only.
- If you change a setting after previewing, a bar asks you to click Preview again before you can save.
Click Save and display to write exactly what the table shows. Every row is checked first (close after open, due after open and no later than close); if any row fails, nothing is saved and the errors are marked in the table. Saving straight after the page opens changes nothing.
Activities you did not tick are left alone, unless you choose Hide unselected or Reset unselected (which clears their dates) in the Advanced section.
Saved configurations
Under Saved configurations, Save configuration keeps a named copy of the whole page for the course: settings, ticks, dates and Hold ticks. Load fills the page from it without changing the course, so you can check the dates and then save. Delete removes a saved configuration.
Grade locks
The Grade locks section of the same page schedules when each activity's grades are locked in the gradebook. Lock grades has the same options as the close date (After a number of days, At the end of this session or All on a date), plus No lock, the default, which leaves existing locks alone. The Locked date in the table shows each activity's current lock date, read from the gradebook. Moodle's own scheduled task locks each grade item when its date passes.
The table's Grade-lock note column has two boxes for each activity:
- Activity page: students see a note on the activity, "Grades lock after date" before the lock date, and "Grades were locked on date" afterwards.
- Course page: the same note also appears next to the activity on the course page (in course formats that use Moodle's standard activity layout).
Clear the locks of unselected activities removes the lock date of every activity of the type that you did not tick.
Settings
In Site administration > Plugins > Admin tools > Activity dates you set the defaults that the page starts with for a new course:
- Session length (days) and Activities per session.
- Enable the session finish date by default.
- Due dates and Days until due, Close dates and Days until close.
- Hide unselected.
- Under Grade locks: Lock grades and Days until locked, Show student note and Also show notes on the course page.
Capabilities
- tool/activitydates:manage (Manage bulk activity dates): schedule activity dates.
- tool/activitydates:managelocks (Manage bulk gradebook lock scheduling): schedule grade-lock dates and notes.
Both are given to editing teachers and managers by default. The page opens with either one, and shows and saves only the parts the user may change.
Privacy
The plugin stores only course settings: the activity type, the session settings, which activities are selected, their note settings and which dates are held. It stores no personal data. Deleting a course deletes its settings, and deleting an activity deletes its selections.
Credits
The plugin was inspired by Driprelease by Marcus Green and adapts its session-scheduling approach. Where Driprelease controls access with access restrictions, Activity dates sets each activity's own dates.
