MoodleDocs - User contributions [en]

Wiki

2006-05-05T17:22:08Z

Dagza: added a bullet

A '''Wiki''' enables documents to be authored collectively in a simple markup language using a web browser.

== Meaning of Wiki ==

"Wiki wiki" means "super fast" in the Hawaiian language, and it is the speed of creating and updating pages that is one of the defining aspects of wiki technology. Generally, there is no prior review before modifications are accepted, and most wikis are open to the general public or at least to all persons who also have access to the wiki server.

The Moodle wiki module enables participants to work together on web pages to add, expand and change the content. Old versions are never deleted and can be restored.

This module is based on ErfurtWiki (Ewiki), a WikiWikiWeb hypertext language, all open source.

== MoodleDoc Wiki ==
There are certain ways (standards, conventions, best practices) we should use when creating and editing these MoodleDoc pages. They are simple.

*[https://docs.moodle.org/en/MoodleDocs:Guidelines_for_contributors Guidelines for contributors]

*[https://docs.moodle.org/en/MoodleDocs:Style_guide A style guide]

== How to Build a Wiki ==

Here is the help link with the basics of creating a Wiki.
*Instructions for E-wiki [http://moodle.org/help.php?module=wiki&file=howtowiki.html creating pages]

Here is the section in help that talks about editing Wike page content. Markups is another word for formating.

*Instructions for E-wiki [http://moodle.org/help.php?module=wiki&file=howtowiki.html#wikimarkup markup]

*Here is another help file that is very useful as well. [http://moodle.org/help.php?file=markdown.html markdown]
Confused about the difference? Well a markdown is a type of markup notation. "A rose by any other name is still a rose." Yeah, we did not invent this stuff, we just use it OK? :)

== Screen Shot of Wiki Page ==
Editing a Wiki page is easy. Notice the HTML tool bar at the top of the content section.

[[Image:Wiki_4.png|frame|left|you can use CamelCase notation to create new pages]]
 

== CamelCase Notation ==

*What is a CamelCase notation? Your very first CamelCase notation you will create will look like:
<nowiki>[Create wiki page]
Anything inside the square brackets is the page name</nowiki>
When this is placed on the first Wiki Page, a "?" that is a link appears. Clicking on the link in this example will take us to a new blank page called "Create wiki page".

*CamelCase notations allows pages to be linked, indexes created for catagories, and all sorts of other organizational tools to make connections. Here is the help section on CamelCase: [http://moodle.org/help.php?module=wiki&file=howtowiki.html#CreatePages Create pages section]

*CamelCase describes what WikiWords look like. Multiple words, joined together without spaces, separated by changes in case. The uppercase and lowercase letters show up like the humps of camels. This linking scheme is often also called BumpyText because it could look like CaMeL_CaSe.

== See also ==

*[http://download.moodle.org/docs/using_moodle/ch11_wikis.pdf Using Moodle Chapter 11: Wikis]
*[http://moodle.org/help.php?file=richtext.html RichText]- help file on some format icons
*[[Wiki requirements]] - developer documentation
*[[Dfwiki]] - an alternative wiki language to ErfurtWiki, both used in Moodle.
*[http://meta.wikimedia.org Wikimedia]- MoodleDocs is a version of WikiMedia. Note WikiMedia is not used in Moodle (see ErfurtWiki or Dfwiki).

[[category:Teacher]]
[[category:Module]]
[[category:MoodleDocs]]

Category:Tutorial

2006-05-01T17:14:02Z

Dagza: added description

These articles provide step-by-step instructions for common Moodle tasks

Drag and Drop question tutorial

2006-05-01T17:12:47Z

Dagza: Added tutorial category

''Tutorial: A simple example''

I want to make a drag and drop question
for a beginning french class - to test the knowledge of the words pomme(apple), orange, and grenouille(frog). To do so, I will use a background image with these words, and images of an apple, orange, and frog. I create the images and upload them to my moodle course files.

[[Image:Words.jpg]]

[[Image:Frog.gif]] [[Image:Orange_transparent.gif]] [[Image:Apple_transparent.gif]]

Then I edit a new drag and drop question. For this example, I've left the "Text" field
empty. If some text is entered here, it will be shown under the initial
position of the drag and drop image during the quiz.

[[Image:Editing_screen1.jpg|thumb|300px|center]]
(Note that the fields "Image: X, Y, Width, Height:", " Hotspot: X, Y,
Width, Height :", and " Alternative hotspots :" can be ignored. These
are for advanced usage - when you need to align images accurate to the
pixel, or when you need to have more than one possible "correct" hotspot
for an image. The x,y,width,height values will automatically be filled
in when graphically positioning the images/hotspots in the second step.)

Then I click on "Position the hotspots" to proceed to the second step.

Initially, the images are underneath the background image:

[[Image:Editing_screen2-1.jpg|thumb|300px|center]]

I drag and drop the images to where they should be:

[[Image:Editing_screen2-2.jpg|thumb|300px|center]]

Now, I want to position the hotspots. When the student answers the
question, if any part of the drag and drop image overlaps it's hotspot,
it will be considered correctly positioned. I click the button "Snap
hotspots to all images". The hotspots are the red boxes that appear:

[[Image:Editing_screen2-3.jpg|thumb|300px|center]]

I'd like to position the hotspots so that they cover each word, but not
any of the empty space around each word. With the images and the
hotspots both visible, it's hard to see what I need to see - the words
on the background image. It could also be a little difficult to
reposition and resize the hotspots, because it is easy to click on the
drag and drop image instead of the hotspot. To make life easier, I
click on the button "Hide images".

[[Image:Editing_screen2-4.jpg|thumb|300px|center]]

Now I can see the background image without the drag and drop images getting in the way.
By holding down the shift key as I click and drag on the lower-right
side of the hotspots, I can resize the hotspots. Without the shift key
pressed, I can position the hotspots by dragging them. When I'm done,
it looks like this:

[[Image:Editing_screen2-5.jpg|thumb|300px|center]]

Satisfied, I click on the button "Save and continue". This finishes the
editing of the question.

When added to a quiz, the question looks like this:

[[Image:Quiz_view.jpg|thumb|300px|center]]

[[Image:Quiz_view-2.jpg|thumb|300px|center]]

[[Category:Quiz]]
[[Category:Teacher]]
[[Category:Tutorial]]

Adding/editing an assignment

2006-04-25T17:04:38Z

Dagza: revert

{{Assignments}}

==Assignment name==

Give your assignment a name (e.g. “Report on Topic Content”). The name entered here will be the name that learners see in the course content area. Learners will click on this name to view the details of the assignment and, if applicable, submit their work.

==Description==

The description of the assignment, which should include precise instructions for students regarding the subject of the assignment, the form, in which it should be submitted, the grading criteria etc.

Use this area to describe the assignment and explain what learners are expected to do to complete this task. The assignment description can be as brief or as expansive as you feel is necessary to meet the needs of your learners. However, it is to your benefit to provide as much detail and information as possible, especially at the start of the course while you are still establishing procedures. Generally, the more information you are able to provide here the fewer questions and problems your learners will have completing the task.

The assignment description field can also be used to provide information or resources related to the assignment. An instructor, for example, could provide some literature, a video clip, an image, or a link to a webpage, and then ask the learners to use these materials in completing the task. (Alternatively, the instructor could post these items using the Resource Module and refer students to them in the assignment details. See the section titled Resource Module for more information.)

Finally, if you are adding rich content, tables, etc. to your description, it is best to expand the HTML editor into full screen mode so you can make your webpage document look nice when participants view it.

==Grade==

The grade for the assignment is specified here. Choosing a number will become the maximum grade for this assignment. Apart from the numbers, one of the descriptive grades which have been defined for this course can also be picked.

If you will not be giving a grade for the assignment, choose No Grade.

==Available from==

Setting this date prevents students from submitting their assignments before this date.

The Available from date setting allows an instructor to set a day and time at which learners can begin submitting the assignment. This setting does not, however, hide the activity from the learners. Instead, the learner will see the activity, be able to view the instructions and use any materials you have include in the description, but the learner will not be able to submit or complete the assignment until the Available from date.

To activate the Available from date, make sure that the check box is marked. Then, use the drop down menus to choose the day, month and year. You can also set a time with the last two fields on the line. Note: the time is based on a 24 hour clock or “military time,” so 14:00 refers to 2:00 p.m.

If you do not wish to use the Available from option, just remove the check from the checkbox by clicking on it; the rest of the field will turn gray and the date will be ignored.

==Due date==

And this prevents students from submitting their assignments after this date.

The Due date field works in much the same way as the Available from field with a few small differences. The checkbox activates the Due date option and you have the same ability to select a day, month, year, and time. If the checkbox is empty, then the due date will be not be applied.

As with the Available from setting, the Due date defines when learners are able to submit their assignment. However, with the Due date settings, you also have the Prevent late submissions option (below the date and time fields). Setting Prevent late submissions to Yes will prevent learners from being able to submit this assignment after the Due date. If you set Prevent late submissions to No, then learners can submit the assignment as long as the assignment is visible or accessible to them.

Both the Available from and Due dates are displayed for learners in the assignment details, but the Due date is also marked in the course Calendar as a visible reminder for participants. Furthermore, the indicator on the calendar will actually link learners directly to the activity!

Your use of the Available from and Due date settings will probably be dependent on the overall structure of your course. If you are facilitating an open ended course or a course with rolling enrollment, then you might find it easier to not apply the Available from and Due date settings (uncheck the boxes). This arrangement will allow the learners to access the assignments according to their own schedule and progress within the course. Alternatively, if you are working within a more structured format or adhering to a timeline, the Available from and Due date settings are useful for keeping learners on schedule. Using the Available from setting will make it possible for learners to preview upcoming activities, while at the same time, prevent them from finishing the course in the first week and not returning for additional activities or information. Likewise, the Due dates help keep the learners from lagging too far behind and decrease the likelihood that the learner will become overwhelmed by having to complete several weeks worth of work at once.

==Prevent late submissions==

Set to "No", assignments submitted after the due date will be marked as late, but students will still be able to submit them. Set to "Yes", assignment submission will be blocked after the due date.

==Assignment type==

With the Assignment type setting, you will define how learners will complete the assignment and turn it in to the instructor. Assignments can be set up as offline activity, online text, or upload a single file.

;Upload
:A student can upload a single file. This could be a Word document, spreadsheet or anything digital. Multiple files could be zipped and then submitted.After learners upload their files in this arrangement, the instructor will be able to open the submission and then use the Moodle interface to assign a grade and offer comments as feedback.

:In addition to using this activity to collect work from learners, some instructors and learners use this module as a tool for transferring projects from one location to another. For example, if an instructor offered learners an assignment of this form, the learner could upload a file he was working on at school and then, once home, retrieve it from the assignment screen to continue his work. With the right settings (offered on the next screen), the learner can then submit the new file from home to use at school again.

;Online Text
:This assignment type asks users to compose and edit text, using the normal editing tools. The online text assignment can be set up to allow learners to compose, revise and edit over time or such that the learner only has one opportunity to enter his or her response. Furthermore, with the online assignment, instructors can grade the work online and even edit and/or provide comments within the learner’s work.

:The online text assignment is ideal for journaling and composition work.

;Offline assignment
:This is useful when the assignment is performed outside of Moodle. It could be something elsewhere on the web or face-to-face. Students can see a description of the assignment, but can't upload files. Grading works normally, and students will get notification of their grades.

:The offline activity has a number of different applications. In general, the offline activity is designed for activities completed outside of the online environment. Additionally, if you are using the Moodle gradebook, the offline activity gives you the capability to add gradebook entries for assignments completed outside of Moodle or for non-graded activities within Moodle.

:Specifically, an instructor in a hybrid or blended environment (combination of face-to-face and online instruction) may use the offline activity type of assignment to assign a project that the learner will physically present to the instructor at a face-to-face session. This arrangement allows the instructor to communicate the project expectations online while creating an entry for the project in the Moodle gradebook.

:In another example, consider the instructor who gives reading assignments or assigns problems for practice. These activities wouldn’t necessarily be turned in for a grade, but the instructor needs a tool for communicating the assignment details. The offline assignment, with its unique icon, could be used as a consistent visual cue for the learners; learners would come to know that they can always look for the assignment icon to see what work they need to complete.

:Finally, the offline assignment, as mentioned previously, is a tool for making entries in the Moodle gradebook. Perhaps an instructor wants to assign a grade for contributions to a class wiki; however, the wiki itself is an ungraded activity. The instructor could use an offline assignment to create an entry for the wiki contribution grade in the Moodle gradebook. In this example, however, the instructor may choose to hide the actual listing of the assignment in the Moodle course since it is primarily being used for the purpose of making a gradebook entry.

After filling in all of the data above, click Next to proceed to the [[mod/assignment/details|assignment details]] page.

[[Category:Teacher]]

Navigation bar

2006-04-25T14:50:47Z

Dagza: this time .... :-)

The navigation bar is the row of links you will find at the top left of you Moodle site.

The navigation bar is sometimes (mistakenly) refered to as breadcrumbs.

{{stub}}
[[Category: Teacher]]

Navigation bar

2006-04-25T14:50:28Z

Dagza: stubs: think i have sussed it now

The navigation bar is the row of links you will find at the top left of you Moodle site.

The navigation bar is sometimes (mistakenly) refered to as breadcrumbs.

[{{stub}}
[[Category: Teacher]]

Navigation bar

2006-04-25T14:49:47Z

Dagza: stubs

The navigation bar is the row of links you will find at the top left of you Moodle site.

The navigation bar is sometimes (mistakenly) refered to as breadcrumbs.

[[Category: Stubs]]
[[Category: Teacher]]

Navigation bar

2006-04-25T14:48:58Z

Dagza: stub

The navigation bar is the row of links you will find at the top left of you Moodle site.

The navigation bar is sometimes (mistakenly) refered to as breadcrumbs.

[[Category: Stub]]
[[Category: Teacher]]

Talk:Marking block

2006-04-24T14:55:08Z

Dagza: forgot sig

Hi, is this page aimed at teachers, administrators (developers) or both?

We would like to direct tutors to Moodle Docs as a user guide, and the installation details are likely to cause confusion. Should there be two pages, or would it just be easier to have something along the lines of "This is a non-standard block and which can be installed by an administrator as below" before the "technical" aspects of it. Standard block pages seemed to be split into different pages for different users (teacher/admin).

Any thoughts or is it just me ??
[[User:James Ballard|James Ballard]] 21:28, 24 April 2006 (WST)

:Most of the non-standard blocks are not categorised as either teacher or admin so it will be interesting to see what others think. As for not confusing teachers then perhaps a page for installing non-standard blocks and then the instructions don't need to be repeated for every block anyway? As for a user guide. Hmmmm. I think there is a fine line between explaining what something does (documentation) and showing how to use it. These pages should, IMHO, explain how what something does but I can see there would be overlap. --[[User:Darren Smith|Darren Smith]] 22:55, 24 April 2006 (WST)

Talk:Marking block

2006-04-24T14:54:42Z

Dagza: response

Internalmail module

2006-04-22T13:05:27Z

Dagza: a couple of tweaks

'''What is Internalmail?'''

Internalmail is a internal email system that works within Moodle. Each user can have his or her own internal mailbox to send and receive messages from the moodle site users.

Why would one use internalmail?
* Because Moodle providers don't have to provide internet email acounts to their users.
* Beacuse if email is to be used as a tool for education there has to be a way to track the status of the messages.
* Because internalmail provides course contextual folders.
* Because Internalmail is trully spam free

[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=22744 Internalmail Discussion @ Moodle.org]

[http://appserv.lsi.upc.es/palangana/moodle/course/view.php?id=18 InternalMail Home Page]

[[Category:Teacher]]
[[Category:Module (non-standard)]]

Cookieless Sessions

2006-04-22T12:17:26Z

Dagza: some formating

In Moodle 1.6 we've added support for cookieless sessions to Moodle. The code will need testing in the different modules to check that it works in all areas of a site. You can test it by turning cookies off in your browser or disallowing cookies just for your Moodle site. Post any bugs you find here : http://moodle.org/bugs/bug.php?op=show&bugid=4504&pos=1

Cookieless sessions work by appending a session id to every url or to hidden form fields in forms in html pages so that php can track sessions. When cookieless sessions are turned on then code in lib/cookieless.php will automatically add session ids in the absence of cookies. ''The code will fail though when javascript is used to jump from page to page.'' So when using javascript to jump to a new page then you can call a function in lib/cookieless.php to add session ids to the URL, as follows :

if (!empty($CFG->usesid) && !isset($_COOKIE[session_name()])) {
$attempturl=sid_process_url("attempt.php?id=$cm->id");
} else {
$attempturl="attempt.php?id=$cm->id";
};

You don't need to include cookiless.php it will have been included already if needed.

Enable cookieless sessions by including $CFG->usesid=true; in config.php.
Based on code from php manual by Richard at postamble.co.uk

Attempts to use cookies if cookies not present then uses session ids attached to all urls and forms to pass session id from page to page.
If site is open to google, google is given guest access as usual and there are no sessions. No session ids will be attached to urls for googlebot.
This doesn't require trans_sid to be turned on but this is recommended for better performance you should put '''session.use_trans_sid = 1''' in your php.ini file and make sure that you don't have a line like this in your php.ini: '''session.use_only_cookies = 1'''

author Richard at postamble.co.uk and Jamie Pratt
license http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU Public License

[[Category:Developer]]
[[Category:Administrator]]

Teacher documentation

2006-04-21T09:35:17Z

Dagza: links in advice

__NOTOC__

==Getting started==

This article is for teachers wanting an overview of the Moodle features that will be used in the day to day running of a course.

We are assuming that your site administrator has set up Moodle and given you new, blank course to start with. You will need to be [[Log in | logged into]] the course using an account that has been assigned [[Teacher|teacher status]] (with editing rights) on that course to use most of the features below. We have some tips if you are having [[Can not log in | trouble logging in]].

Now onto the nitty gritty. You will find the [[Course homepage|course homepage]] is broken down into [[Course sections]]. A course is created by [[Adding resources and activities|adding resources and activities]]. When writing text in Moodle you have a range of [[Formatting options]] including using [[HTML in Moodle]]

==Editing A Course==

To add or alter activities or resources you will need to [[Turn editing on|turn editing on]]. You can do this by pressing the button at the top right of the course homepage or following the turn editing on link in the administration block. You can turn editing off again by pressing the button or the admin block link again (now renamed turn editing off)

When editing is on you will see the following icons:

:[[Image:Edit.gif]] - the edit icon lets you alter/upadate whatever resource or activity it is next to.

:[[Image:Help.gif]] - the help icon will popup a relevant help window

:[[Image:Open.gif]] - the open-eye icon means an item is visible to students. It will close when you click on it

:[[Image:Closed.gif]] - the closed-eye icon means an item is hidden from students. It will open when you click on it.

:[[Image:Right.gif]] - the left icon is used to indent course elements. There is also a right icon.

:[[Image:Move.gif]] - the move icon allows course elements to be placed anywhere

:[[Image:Movehere.gif]] - the move here icon appears when moving a course element.

:[[Image:Delete.gif]] - the delete icon will permentantly delete something from the course

:[[Image:Marker.gif]] - the marker icon allows you to make a section current

:[[Image:One.gif]] - the one icon hides all other sections

:[[Image:All.gif]] - the all icon redisplays all sections in a course

If you are running version 1.6 or above you will see a '''Student View''' toggle button at the top right of the course homepage. This allows you to see the course exactly as your students will see it.

==Activity modules==

There are a number of interactive learning [[Modules (teacher)|activity modules]] that you may [[Adding_resources_and_activities | add to your course]].

Communication and collaboration may take place using [[Chats]] and [[Forums]] for conversational activities and [[Choices]] to gain group feedback. Adding [[Wikis]] to your courses is an excellent way to allow students to work together on a single piece.

Work can be submitted by students and marked by teachers using [[Assignments]] or [[Workshops]]. Automatic marking can be achieved by using [[Quizzes]]. You can even integrate your Hot Potato quizzes by adding a [[Hotpot]] activity.

Content may be delivered and supported using [[Lessons]] and [[SCORM]] activities. Key words can be added to [[Glossaries]] by yourself of, if you allow it, your students.

[[Surveys]] and [[Database module|Databases]] are also very powerful additions to any course.

If all of that isn't enough for you then you can also [[Non-standard modules|add other modules]] that are not part of the official Moodle release!

==Resources==

Moodle supports a range of different [[Resources|resource types]] that allow you to include almost any kind of digital content into your courses. These can be added by using the [[Adding_resources_and_activities | add a resource]] dropdown box when editing is turned on.

A [[Text page]] is a simple page written using plain text. Text pages aren't pretty, but they're a good place to put some information or instructions. If you are after more options for your new page then you should be thinking about adding a [[Web page]] and making use of Moodle's WYSIWYG editor.

Of course the resource may already exist in electronic form so you may want to [[File or website link|link to an uploaded file or external website]] or simply display the complete contents of a [[Directory|directory]] in your course files and let your users pick the file themselves. If you have an [[IMS content package]] then this can be easily added to your course.

Use a [[Label|label]] to embed instructions or information in the course section.

==Blocks==

Each course homepage generally contains blocks on the left and right with the centre column containing the course content. Blocks may be added, hidden, deleted, and moved up, down and left/right when editing is turned on.

A [[Blocks (teacher)|wide range of blocks]] exist that provide additional information or functionality to the learner or teacher. These are included with the standard Moodle package but a range of [[Non-standard blocks]] exist which an administrator can add.

===Administration Block===

All of the links in the administration block are only available to teachers of the course. Students will receive their own version of the block which will display a link to their own gradebook and, if enabled, their own course logs.

Features in the administration block allow teachers to manage [[Students | student]] and [[Teachers | teacher]] enrollments and their [[Groups | groups]], view the course [[Grades | gradebook]], create custom [[Scales | grading scales]] and access the Teacher forum. The teacher forum is a private forum only available to teachers of that course. It can be used to discuss the course content, the direction the course could take or even to attach files to that can be shared among the course teachers.

You can change the way students (and other teachers) access and view your course by exploring the [[Settings]] option in the [[Administration | administration block]].

There are lots of possible ways to set up a course using the but teachers may be particularly interested in [[Settings#Format | course formats]] which change how the course is presentated the learner. The weekly format is suitable for courses that have a clear start date and activities are presented in weekly blocks. Topic formatted courses are actually presented in a similar way but with the dates removed so activities can belong to general or specific areas of study. The social format doesn't use much content at all and is based around just one forum which is displayed on the main course page.

In the course homepage there is a white square icon on the top right of a [[Course_sections | section]] which can be used to expand and collapse sections. You can also use the lightbulb icon to mark a topic as current.

Another much used feature of the adminstration block is the [[Files]] link. From here you can upload any digital content for inclusion in an activity, resource, course section or for a direct download. These files can be moved, renamed, edited directly on the server (if they are HTML or text) or deleted. You can also create a directory and display the whole contents of that directory to course students using the add resource drop down in any course section.
Of course if your content resides out on the web then you don't need to upload the files at all - you can link directly to them from inside the course using the link to file or website option.

==General Advice==

* Subscribe yourself to all the [[forum| forums]] so you keep in touch with your class activity.
* Encourage all the students fill out their [[Edit_profile|user profile]] (including photos) and read them all - this will help provide some context to their later writings and help you to respond in ways that are tailored to their own needs.
* Keep notes to yourself in the private "Teacher's Forum" (under Administration). This is especially useful when team teaching.
* Use the [[Logs]] link (under Administration) to get access to complete, raw logs. In there you'll see a link to a popup window that updates every sixty seconds and shows the last hour of activity. This is useful to keep open on your desktop all day so you can feel in touch with what's going on in the course.
* Use the [[Recent_activity|Activity Reports]] (next to each name in the list of all people, or from any user profile page). These provide a great way to see what any particular person has been up to in the course.
* Respond quickly to students. Don't leave it for later - do it right away. Not only is it easy to become overwhelmed with the volume that can be generated, but it's a crucial part of building and maintaining a community feel in your course.
*Don't be afraid to experiment: feel free to poke around and change things. It's hard to break anything in a Moodle course, and even if you do it's usually easy to fix it.
* Use the [[Navigation bar|navigation bar]] at the top of each page - this should help remind you where you are and prevent getting lost

== See also ==
*[[Teaching with Moodle]]
*[[Teaching do's and don'ts]]
*[[Teaching FAQ]]
*[[Tips and tricks]]
*[[Student FAQ]]
*[[Presentations]]
*[[Moodle manuals]]
*[[Using Moodle book]]

[[Category:Teacher]]
[[es:Documentación para Profesores]]
[[fr:Documentation enseignant]]
[[nl:Documentatie voor leraren]]

Common acronyms

2006-04-19T17:15:32Z

Dagza: FE and HE

An alphabetical list of '''common acronyms''' that you may encounter when reading about or discussing Moodle, with links to more information where appropriate. Some of these are purely technical, with software development, open source origins; some are creations of the e-learning community, and others are part of online culture.

== A to E ==

* '''CMS''' - Course Management System (or more generally [[Wikipedia:Content management system|Content Management System]]), is the term for the category of software that Moodle belongs to. Some people prefer the terms Learning Management System or Community Management Systems to shift the focus from things to people, their interactions and aims.
* [[Wikipedia:Cascading Style Sheets|CSS]] - Cascading Style Sheets, used to control the way web pages look.
* [[CSV]] - Comma Separated Values, a simple text format for tabular data. Can be created and edited with [[Microsoft Excel|Excel]] or, if done with care, any text editor.
* [[CVS]] - Concurrent Versioning System, a software tool that allows many people to collaborate on and access program code over the internet.

== F to H ==

* '''FE''' - Further Education in the UK is post-16 non-compulsory education where institutions offer anything from low level basic training through to foundation degrees
* '''FLOSS''' - Free, Libre and Open Source Software, an inclusive term that encompasses both Free Software and Open Source Software while emphasising that Free is intended to represent Freedom (Libre in Spanish) and not without cost (Gratis in Spanish).
* [[Wikipedia:GNU|GNU]] - Gnu's Not Unix - a unix-like operating system. Most "Linux" distributions are actually GNU/Linux. Moodle's "GPL" licence (see below) is based on the GNU GPL licence.
* [[Wikipedia:GPL|GPL]] - General Public Licence, [[Licence | the software licence under which Moodle is made available]]. Its intention is to ensure that people who sell or distribute Moodle (or other GPL software) share any modifications.
* '''HE''' - Higher Education in the UK is post 18 non-compulsory education where students tend to study academic degrees at universities although other options are available
* '''HTH''' - Hope that helps. Usually appears at the end of a post offering advice
* [[HTML]] - HyperText Markup Language, which is used to write web pages.

== I to M ==

* '''IE''' - Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser
* '''IMHO''' - In My Humble Opinion, a polite yet brief way to indicate in text communication that the preceding or following statement is not a statement of fact but merely expressing an opinion.
* [[K-12]] - Kindergarten through 12th grade, a North American term inclusive of both primary and secondary education, roughly encompassing students from age 4 to 18.
* '''LAMP''' - Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. This is a very common set up for Moodle and indeed most webservers
* [[About Moodle|MOODLE]] - Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, though over time it has become common to treat Moodle as a simple name and verb e.g. "let's Moodle" or "I've been Moodling" or "He's a Moodler". In fact in big dictionaries you can find it as a word meaning roughly a cross between musing and doodling.

== N to Z ==

* [[RSS]] - Really Simple Syndication is a family of XML web feeds and can be used to receive forum posts and podcasts
* [[Wikipedia:SQL|SQL]] - Structured Query Language, used to describe the information you wish to retrieve from a database.
* '''TCO''' - Total Cost of Ownership, a measure of cost that aims to be more comprehensive and useful than purchase price by including many other costs over time. Unfortunately while purchase price is usually factual and objective, a TCO necessarily relies on assumption, projections and estimates. This leads to them being highly subjective and you should evaluate the methodology applied in any such calculation before concluding if it applies to your own situation.
* [[Wikipedia:PHP|PHP]] - PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, a programming language used extensively in the creation of Moodle. That the P in PHP also stands for PHP is an obscure programmer in-joke.
* [[Wikipedia:Virtual learning environment|VLE]] - Virtual Learning Environment, a term popular in the UK which is roughly interchangeable with Course Management System, Learning Management System, Learning Platform or Online Learning Environment.
* '''XML''' - Extensible Markup Language

[[Category: Teacher]]
[[Category: Administrator]]
[[Category: Developer]]

Talk:Student tutorials

2006-04-19T11:49:01Z

Dagza: sig

==Naming convention==
Is there any special way we should name the tutorial pages to separate them from the other content? I can see possible issues when we get to the tutorials for the modules as those pagenames already exist for documentation. --[[User:Darren Smith|Darren Smith]] 19:49, 19 April 2006 (WST)

Talk:Student documentation

2006-04-19T11:47:43Z

Dagza: Ready For Prime Time

I really need documentation for my students. Any word on a schedule for this?

:Please could you state which areas in particular you think it would be helpful to have student documentation for. Thanks! -- [[User:Helen|Helen]] 16 January 2006 11:14 (WST)

::I would love to be able to link to a student document when students are first learning to use Moodle. Content would include navigation, how-to use modules like assignment, chat, lesson, etc. I'll think about this more. I can help with this project. I thought this project must be well underway - no? Cheers.

:::Perhaps you could check the student manual on the [[Moodle manuals]] page. You're welcome to [[Guidelines_for_Contributors|contribute]] to MoodleDocs. -- [[User:Helen|Helen]] 18 January 2006 22:54 (WST)

==Prime Time?==
Any chance this page could be linked in the documentation block under developer and on the front page? I know it's not quite ready for prime time but if people don't know the student stuff is here they can't contribute to it. --[[User:Darren Smith|Darren Smith]] 19:47, 19 April 2006 (WST)

Talk:Student tutorials

2006-04-19T11:45:58Z

Dagza: naming convention for student tutorials?

Student documentation

2006-04-19T11:42:05Z

Dagza: removed tutorial list

Producing student documentation is difficult as each establishment has very specific ideas and requirements for their student body.

We are currently working on a range of generic [[Student tutorials|student tutorials]] and also a
[[Student FAQ | student FAQ]].

==Student Familiarisation Courses==
You can find some student familiarisation courses available for free download at the course exchange area of moodle.org.

==Student manuals==

*[http://download.moodle.org/docs/user_manual_es.pdf Moodle User Manual (Spanish)] - by '''Enrique Castro''' (PDF, 3.1MB)
*[http://moodle.de//file.php?file=/1/Bestellblatt.pdf Teilnehmerhandbuch (German) Info und Bestellformular] - von Ralf Hilgenstock und Renate Jirmann (gedruckt 63 Seiten)

[[Category: Student]]

Student tutorials

2006-04-19T11:35:46Z

Dagza: moved from student documentation

=Student Tutorials=
The following student tutorials are being worked upon:

==Access and Navigation==
* Loging in
* Site Navigation
* Finding a course
* Enrolling and Unenrolling

==Settings==
* Your Profile
* My Moodle
* Gradebook

==Course Content==

* Using the Participants block
* Using the Activities block
* Using messaging

===Activities===
* Assignments
* Chat
* Choice
* Glossary
* Forums
* Lesson
* Quiz
* Wiki
* Workshop

==See Also==

* [[Student FAQ]]
* [[Student documentation]]
[[Category: Student]]

Case for Moodle

2006-04-19T11:33:17Z

Dagza: /* See also */ comparison forum

{{About Moodle}}

== High availability ==

''The LMS must be robust enough to serve the diverse needs of thousands of learners, administrators, content builders and instructors simultaneously.''

Usage patterns will vary strongly with the specific context of the deployment. But in general, Moodle presents a high-availability web-based interface, allowing learners, tutors, and administrators routinely to log in and carry out their daily taks. See the ''scalability'' section for other relevant information.

== Scalability ==

''The infrastructure should be able to expand or scale to meet future growth, both in terms of the volume of instruction and the size of the student body.''

Moodle runs on a wide variety of webservers/database technologies. As with any installation of a server-based software system, it is crucial to refine carefully the choice of hardware, operating system, and database system, to ensure that the system can cope with a high throughput. The largest live Moodle installation at time of writing (Open Polytechnic of New Zealand) handles 45,000+ students and 6,500+ courses registered. There is a page about other [[Large installations|large installations]].

The consensus in the Moodle community seems to be that a Linux-based webserver running Apache, with PHP installed as well as a PHP accelerator, is commonly the best choice, and that the webserver and database server should sit on separate machines.

It should be possible to load-balance a Moodle installation, for example by using more than one webserver if necessary. The separate webservers should query the same database and refer to the same filestore area, but otherwise the separation of the application layers is complete enough to make this kind of clustering feasible. Similarly, the database could be a cluster of servers (e.g. a MySQL cluster).

All this implies that Moodle's architecture makes it easy to respond to future demand, by adapting the technologies upon which it runs. This should be possible even in a live setting, to improve the service without major disruption.

== Usability ==

''To support a host of automated and personalized services, such as self-paced and role-specific learning, the access, delivery and presentation of material must be easy-to-use and highly intuitive — like surfing on the Web or shopping on Amazon.com.''

Perhaps the best sentence to short Moodle usability is: "simple and powerful".

There is some talk about [[Usability|Moodle usability]].

The [[Interface guidelines]] aim to help developers work towards a highly usable system. And the general consensus is that Moodle excels in this area.

== Interoperability ==

''To support content from different sources and multiple vendors' hardware/software solutions, the LMS should exchange data using open industry standards for Web deployments.''

* For '''authentication''', Moodle supports authenticating against LDAP, which is the most widely-used standard protocol for this purpose. It also supports authentication based on direct database lookup (e.g. in an external Oracle database), or on the Shibboleth protocol, or alternatively using IMAP, NNTP, CAS or FirstClass.
* For '''enrolment''', Moodle supports the use of an LDAP server (e.g. Active Directory), and the [[IMS Enterprise]] standard (via a downloadable plugin).
* For '''content''', there are a number of aspects:
** Moodle supports the import/export of Reusable Learning Objects packaged according to the SCORM / IMS Content Packaging standards.
** Quiz questions can be exported in the international standard IMS QTI 2 format.
** RSS newsfeeds can be integrated into a Moodle site or course.
** Forum discussions can be accessed as RSS newsfeeds, and therefore integrated into other RSS-capable websites or systems.

The use of XML for import/export is standard in Moodle. The "web services" method of exchanging data with other systems (e.g. via SOAP or XML-RPC) is not yet standard - but is in active development.

== Stability ==

''The LMS infrastructure can reliably and effectively manage a large enterprise implementation running 24x7.''

This is the same issue as discussed in ''Availability'' and ''Scalability'' above.

== Security ==

''As with any outward-facing collaborative solution, the LMS can selectively limit and control access to online content, resources and back-end functions, both internally and externally, for its diverse user community.''

Moodle's current system of roles includes administrators, teachers, teachers without editing privileges (sometimes called teaching assistants), students, and guests. Each has a clearly defined set of privileges and cannot act beyond those privileges.

The basic unit of organisation is the ''course''. An administrator can assign any number of teachers (with or without rights to edit content) to a given course, which has its own file area as well as its own discussions forums and other activities. Teachers can decide whether content is visible or hidden to students.

Moodle is designed and audited to be secure for its purpose. A security issues/announcements site exists at http://security.moodle.org

== See also ==

*[[Decision FAQ|FAQ for people deciding on whether to install Moodle]]
*[[Top 10 Moodle Myths]]
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?f=485 Comparison and Advocacy forum] at moodle.org
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=33200 Building the case for Moodle Document] forum discussion which was the original basis of this article
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=35845 Why switch to Moodle when the university already supports BlackCT] forum discussion

[[Category:Administrator]]

[[es:A favor de Moodle]]

Case for Moodle

2006-04-19T11:31:32Z

Dagza: removed top credit as all pages could risk going this way - also credit at botton

{{About Moodle}}

== High availability ==

''The LMS must be robust enough to serve the diverse needs of thousands of learners, administrators, content builders and instructors simultaneously.''

Usage patterns will vary strongly with the specific context of the deployment. But in general, Moodle presents a high-availability web-based interface, allowing learners, tutors, and administrators routinely to log in and carry out their daily taks. See the ''scalability'' section for other relevant information.

== Scalability ==

''The infrastructure should be able to expand or scale to meet future growth, both in terms of the volume of instruction and the size of the student body.''

Moodle runs on a wide variety of webservers/database technologies. As with any installation of a server-based software system, it is crucial to refine carefully the choice of hardware, operating system, and database system, to ensure that the system can cope with a high throughput. The largest live Moodle installation at time of writing (Open Polytechnic of New Zealand) handles 45,000+ students and 6,500+ courses registered. There is a page about other [[Large installations|large installations]].

The consensus in the Moodle community seems to be that a Linux-based webserver running Apache, with PHP installed as well as a PHP accelerator, is commonly the best choice, and that the webserver and database server should sit on separate machines.

It should be possible to load-balance a Moodle installation, for example by using more than one webserver if necessary. The separate webservers should query the same database and refer to the same filestore area, but otherwise the separation of the application layers is complete enough to make this kind of clustering feasible. Similarly, the database could be a cluster of servers (e.g. a MySQL cluster).

All this implies that Moodle's architecture makes it easy to respond to future demand, by adapting the technologies upon which it runs. This should be possible even in a live setting, to improve the service without major disruption.

== Usability ==

''To support a host of automated and personalized services, such as self-paced and role-specific learning, the access, delivery and presentation of material must be easy-to-use and highly intuitive — like surfing on the Web or shopping on Amazon.com.''

Perhaps the best sentence to short Moodle usability is: "simple and powerful".

There is some talk about [[Usability|Moodle usability]].

The [[Interface guidelines]] aim to help developers work towards a highly usable system. And the general consensus is that Moodle excels in this area.

== Interoperability ==

''To support content from different sources and multiple vendors' hardware/software solutions, the LMS should exchange data using open industry standards for Web deployments.''

* For '''authentication''', Moodle supports authenticating against LDAP, which is the most widely-used standard protocol for this purpose. It also supports authentication based on direct database lookup (e.g. in an external Oracle database), or on the Shibboleth protocol, or alternatively using IMAP, NNTP, CAS or FirstClass.
* For '''enrolment''', Moodle supports the use of an LDAP server (e.g. Active Directory), and the [[IMS Enterprise]] standard (via a downloadable plugin).
* For '''content''', there are a number of aspects:
** Moodle supports the import/export of Reusable Learning Objects packaged according to the SCORM / IMS Content Packaging standards.
** Quiz questions can be exported in the international standard IMS QTI 2 format.
** RSS newsfeeds can be integrated into a Moodle site or course.
** Forum discussions can be accessed as RSS newsfeeds, and therefore integrated into other RSS-capable websites or systems.

The use of XML for import/export is standard in Moodle. The "web services" method of exchanging data with other systems (e.g. via SOAP or XML-RPC) is not yet standard - but is in active development.

== Stability ==

''The LMS infrastructure can reliably and effectively manage a large enterprise implementation running 24x7.''

This is the same issue as discussed in ''Availability'' and ''Scalability'' above.

== Security ==

''As with any outward-facing collaborative solution, the LMS can selectively limit and control access to online content, resources and back-end functions, both internally and externally, for its diverse user community.''

Moodle's current system of roles includes administrators, teachers, teachers without editing privileges (sometimes called teaching assistants), students, and guests. Each has a clearly defined set of privileges and cannot act beyond those privileges.

The basic unit of organisation is the ''course''. An administrator can assign any number of teachers (with or without rights to edit content) to a given course, which has its own file area as well as its own discussions forums and other activities. Teachers can decide whether content is visible or hidden to students.

Moodle is designed and audited to be secure for its purpose. A security issues/announcements site exists at http://security.moodle.org

== See also ==

*[[Decision FAQ|FAQ for people deciding on whether to install Moodle]]
*[[Top 10 Moodle Myths]]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=33200 Building the case for Moodle Document] forum discussion which was the original basis of this article
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=35845 Why switch to Moodle when the university already supports BlackCT] forum discussion

[[Category:Administrator]]

[[es:A favor de Moodle]]

Talk:Case for Moodle

2006-04-19T11:26:21Z

Dagza: aimed at?

==target audience?==
This is tagged as administrator and is mainly technical. Should we start another page for teachers / non-techies or put it all into one page? Also an interesting thread is starting here: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=44032

Common acronyms

2006-04-18T18:55:34Z

Dagza: rss and xml

An alphabetical list of '''common acronyms''' that you may encounter when reading about or discussing Moodle, with links to more information where appropriate. Some of these are purely technical, with software development, open source origins; some are creations of the e-learning community, and others are part of online culture.

== A to E ==

* '''CMS''' - Course Management System (or more generally [[Wikipedia:Content management system|Content Management System]]), is the term for the category of software that Moodle belongs to. Some people prefer the terms Learning Management System or Community Management Systems to shift the focus from things to people, their interactions and aims.
* [[Wikipedia:Cascading Style Sheets|CSS]] - Cascading Style Sheets, used to control the way web pages look.
* [[CSV]] - Comma Separated Values, a simple text format for tabular data. Can be created and edited with [[Microsoft Excel|Excel]] or, if done with care, any text editor.
* [[CVS]] - Concurrent Versioning System, a software tool that allows many people to collaborate on and access program code over the internet.

== F to H ==

* '''FLOSS''' - Free, Libre and Open Source Software, an inclusive term that encompasses both Free Software and Open Source Software while emphasising that Free is intended to represent Freedom (Libre in Spanish) and not without cost (Gratis in Spanish).
* [[Wikipedia:GNU|GNU]] - Gnu's Not Unix - a unix-like operating system. Most "Linux" distributions are actually GNU/Linux. Moodle's "GPL" licence (see below) is based on the GNU GPL licence.
* [[Wikipedia:GPL|GPL]] - General Public Licence, [[Licence | the software licence under which Moodle is made available]]. Its intention is to ensure that people who sell or distribute Moodle (or other GPL software) share any modifications.
* '''HTH''' - Hope that helps. Usually appears at the end of a post offering advice
* [[HTML]] - HyperText Markup Language, which is used to write web pages.

== I to M ==

* '''IE''' - Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser
* '''IMHO''' - In My Humble Opinion, a polite yet brief way to indicate in text communication that the preceding or following statement is not a statement of fact but merely expressing an opinion.
* [[K-12]] - Kindergarten through 12th grade, a North American term inclusive of both primary and secondary education, roughly encompassing students from age 4 to 18.
* '''LAMP''' - Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. This is a very common set up for Moodle and indeed most webservers
* [[About Moodle|MOODLE]] - Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, though over time it has become common to treat Moodle as a simple name and verb e.g. "let's Moodle" or "I've been Moodling" or "He's a Moodler". In fact in big dictionaries you can find it as a word meaning roughly a cross between musing and doodling.

== N to Z ==

* '''RSS''' - Really Simple Syndication is a family of XML web feeds and can be used to recieve forum posts and podcasts
* [[Wikipedia:SQL|SQL]] - Structured Query Language, used to describe the information you wish to retrive from a database.
* '''TCO''' - Total Cost of Ownership, a measure of cost that aims to be more comprehensive and useful than purchase price by including many other costs over time. Unfortunately while purchase price is usually factual and objective, a TCO necessarily relies on assumption, projections and estimates. This leads to them being highly subjective and you should evaluate the methodology applied in any such calculation before concluding if it applies to your own situation.
* [[Wikipedia:PHP|PHP]] - PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, a programming language used extensively in the creation of Moodle. That the P in PHP also stands for PHP is an obscure programmer in-joke.
* [[Wikipedia:Virtual learning environment|VLE]] - Virtual Learning Environment, a term popular in the UK which is roughly interchangeable with Course Management System, Learning Management System, Learning Platform or Online Learning Environment.
* '''XML''' - Extensible Markup Language

[[Category: Teacher]]
[[Category: Administrator]]
[[Category: Developer]]

Home

2006-04-17T15:07:55Z

Dagza: Added book image as requested - Check upload log for some alternatives

==Welcome==

[[Image:426539 books.jpg|right]]

Welcome to '''Moodle Docs''', the documentation for Moodle that everyone may [[MoodleDocs:Guidelines for contributors|contribute]] to. In this English version, officially launched on 26 January 2006, we are currently working on [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles, including the documentation of [[Special:Whatlinkshere/Template:Moodle_1.6|Moodle 1.6 features]].

''Would you like Moodle Docs in another language?'' If so, please read the information on [[MoodleDocs:Starting MoodleDocs|starting Moodle Docs in another language]].

It's easy to [[Help:Editing|edit]] pages - have a play in our [[Sandbox|sandbox]]!

==Moodle documentation==

* [[About Moodle]]
* [[Teacher documentation]]
* [[Administrator documentation]]
* [[Developer documentation]]

====Featured pages====

*For teachers: [[Blocks (teacher)|Blocks]] and [[Teaching Do's]]
*For administrators: [[1.6 theme upgrade]] and [[Filters]]
*For developers: [[UTF-8 migration]] and the [[Roadmap]]
*For everyone: [[MoodleDocs:Guidelines for contributors|Guidelines for contributors]]

<hr style="margin:1em 0" />

'''Moodle''' - the open-source software for collaborative learning

* Free software, community, information: [http://moodle.org moodle.org]
* Commercial support and other services: [http://moodle.com moodle.com]

[[es:Portada]]
[[fr:Accueil]]
[[nl:Hoofdpagina]]

File:426539 books.jpg

2006-04-17T15:05:38Z

Dagza: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/426539

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/426539

File:444216 dl ob.jpg

2006-04-17T15:00:25Z

Dagza: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/444216

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/444216

File:480759 book.jpg

2006-04-17T14:59:29Z

Dagza: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/480759

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/480759

File:486861 the good book.jpg

2006-04-17T14:58:34Z

Dagza: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/486861

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/486861

File:211776 books pile.jpg

2006-04-17T14:52:48Z

Dagza: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/211776

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/211776

Blogs

2006-04-16T17:39:05Z

Dagza: basic description

{{Template:Blogs}}
{{Moodle 1.6}}

Blogs allow students, teachers and administrators to have a public web log. This online journal has various settings to control who can read them.

Many companies and organisations on the web provide blog sites and they are generally free. The largest company to do this is blogger which is owned by Google. There are also many Open Source web applications that can be downloaded and installed freely. The most common other these is Wordpress.

==See Also==

*[http://www.blogger.com Blogger.com]
*[http://www.wordpress.org Wordpress]
*[http://www.elgg.net Elgg]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weblog Wikipedia on Blogs]

[[Category:Teacher]]
[[Category:Blog]]

Overview of my courses

2006-04-16T13:14:22Z

Dagza: expanding a bit - can somebody improve the code part please

{{Moodle 1.6}}

Moodle 1.6 and onwards includes My Moodle, a dashboard for Teachers and pupils to customise their own area of the site.

The My Moodle page allows the user to add and customise blocks that have been specified as available to My Moodle.

The users courses appear as a list of sections and show recent activity.

Blocks can be configured to appear in My Moodle by using similar code as below:

function applicable_formats() {
return array('all' => true, 'my' => true);
}

==See also==

* Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=39161 Version 1.6 and My Moodle Page] forum discussion

[[Category:Developer]]

[[Category:Administrator]]

Create your own course

2006-04-16T13:02:37Z

Dagza: pointing to course sections

To create a new course you will need to be set up as a Course Creator by the Moodle admin.

==Starting out==

Log in to Moodle and go to the section you would like the new course to appear in.

In the Course categories section choose the 'Add a new course' button

==Settings==

Give your course a title.

Give your course a short name. This will be the name that appears on the button to bring students back to your course main page. It will also appear in the navigation [[breadcrumbs]] at the top of the page.

The summary appears on the list of courses.

===Format===

[[Course sections | Course Format]] defines the type of course you have.

[[Social Format]] creates a course based on a message forum on the main page.

[[Topics format]] creates a number of sections that can contain resources and activities that make up the course.

[[Weekly format]] is similar to topics but creates a separate section for each week beginning with the course start date.

You can swap back and forward between the different types of formats to see how they work. In an existing course you have access to the same settings you have here when you create a course.

For this course we are choosing Topics format as we want a number of sections to put content in.

===Dates & Times===

You can select the start date for a course.

By default, the course start is the day after you create the course.

You can also select the period of time you would like students to be enrolled on this course. Note that is you set this to 14 days, students will be removed from the course 14 days after they enroll.

===Access Control===

You can set up groups in your course and there is a separate topic dealing with how to do this.

Because it will take a week or two to get all the resources and activities set up, it is worth hiding it from students until it is ready.

The [[Enrolment key]] is given to control access to courses. It is a one time password given to students. If you use Groups in a course, you will also need to set a different Enrolment key for each of the groups. There is more information in the Groups information about this.

If your students are being automatically enrolled onto courses using the correct course number they will not need to be given the Enrolment key, although it is still set to keep the 'lost' out of your course.

Allowing [[guest access]] will let people come in and view your course. You could allow guest access using the Enrolment key, but generally we would expect to restrict guest access.

==Other Settings==

There are a number of other options you can choose.

You can hide sections from students, this option defines how they appear.

You can choose to show or hide grades from students.

There is also the option of showing reports of all Activity in the course.

You can define the words you use in the course for teachers and students

When you have set the options, clicking 'Save changes' will create your new course.

Remember that you can access all these setting again from your course administration panel.

==Your course & Default Blocks==
[[image:Course11.png]]

This is a new blank course

This course has 4 empty topics.

You get a '[[Latest news]]' [[block]]. These are items from the News Forum of your course

You also get '[[Upcoming Events]]', with a link to the [[Calendar]]

The '[[Recent Activity]]' is a list of changes and additions to the course

Clicking on 'Paricipants' will show a list of participants.

Remember, this link could be called 'Students' if you did not change it in your course settings.

There is also a tool to search messages in forums within your course.

The [[administration block]] contains a number of tools for making the most of your course.

Administration tools are covered in a separate topic.

This is the button to [[turn editing on]] in your course. You need to be in 'edit mode' to change elements in your course.

There is a separate topic covering editng your course.

By default, courses are created with a list of the course categories.

Students will see a list of the other courses they are enrolled on

This concludes the overview of setting up a course.

It is easy and safe to do.

{{Resources}}
[[Category:Teacher]][[Category:Administrator]]

Sticky blocks

2006-04-16T12:57:15Z

Dagza: stub

{{Moodle 1.6}}

Sticky blocks can be accessed from the admin page. It is a method of forcing a block to appear site wide. They can be configured for either courses or MyMoodle pages.

If you add a block which is already present in a particular course of MyMoodle page then it will result in a duplicate. Te sticky block will be non-editable whilst the duplicate will still.

[[Category:Administrator]]
[[Category:Block]]

Talk:Configuration file

2006-04-15T11:53:28Z

Dagza: good point

Actually I'm not sure we need this page now I've checked. The [http://cvs.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.py/moodle/moodle/config-dist.php?view=markup config file] is well documented (which is what I intended to do here. I guess we could copy the relevant bits over here but is that necessary? We could just explain what the file as and why it is important. --[[User:Darren Smith|Darren Smith]] 02:11, 15 April 2006 (WST)

:I added a mention of the fact that this file doesn't exist in the download packages. This has sometimes cause mild confusions. [[User:Samuli Karevaara|Samuli Karevaara]] 17:26, 15 April 2006 (WST)
:: Excellent point. --[[User:Darren Smith|Darren Smith]] 19:53, 15 April 2006 (WST)

Talk:Configuration file

2006-04-14T18:11:55Z

Dagza: Already well documented elsewhere

User talk:Chris collman

2006-04-14T16:27:41Z

Dagza: Hi chris - Not sure I follow

Hi,
I am a newbie. No idea where "Editing User talk:chris collman 2" is, but that is my name so why not create a page? I first put a little bio here, then did a copy and paste to the user page.

Worked. I guess I could add some graphics, and make the user page more interesting. Time is my short resource today because of my Honey Dew list. Hey the wife can wait. Added a broken PDF comment, and put in a link, and bolded my comment. That was easy.....yes dear I will be there in a second. :)

The real question is how to Moodle my way back here after the days chores are done.

Let me see what happens! - Chris

==I don't follow==
Hi Chris. Firstly these talk user pages are for ... ummm .. well, leaving messages like this :-). Secondly I'm not sure I follow the two moodles on one computer issue. Perhaps you are trying to do somehting more complex but why not have one in <nowkiki>http://localhost/moodle15/ and one in http://localhost/moodle16/ ? You should then create two different databases and point moodle15 at one and moodle16 at the other or are you wanting both moodles to use/share the same database table? I can't see how that would work. --[[User:Darren Smith|Darren Smith]] 00:27, 15 April 2006 (WST)

Talk:Home

2006-04-14T15:00:12Z

Dagza: forgot to sign in

==Feedback==
Very interesting wiki site!... Thanx! --[[User:HarryRens|HarryRens]] 15 October 2005 23:42 (WST)

== Discussions ==
There is very little discussion about MoodleDocs that I can find. I know there used to be a whole course at moodle.org dedicated to discussions about documentation, but that appears to have vanished. Is there a substitute for it? Where can I ask questions about this wiki? For example: How do I change my username from Delius to Gustav? --[[User:Delius|Delius]] 09:41, 26 January 2006 (WST)

:Thanks for your comments. Please note that [[User:Martin|Martin]] will make an announcement about the documentation very soon. Re. changing your username, the easiest way to achieve this is to re-register with username Gustav then add a redirect <code><nowiki>#REDIRECT [[User:Gustav]]</nowiki></code> to your old user page. -- [[User:Helen|Helen]] 17:59, 26 January 2006 (WST)

::Thanks Helen. I have done that. My username looks more friendly now. --[[User:Gustav|Gustav]] 18:10, 26 January 2006 (WST)

==Main page links==
I'd strongly recommend adding the panel of links from [[About Moodle]] to the [[Main Page]] as well - they're incredibly important. I'm talking about the "Introduction | Background | Philosophy | License | Features | Release Notes | Future | Credits" links. --[[Dan]]

:Hi Dan, thanks for your recommendation. The main page content definitely needs a re-think. -- [[User:Helen|Helen]] 02:31, 27 January 2006 (WST)

I would like to see a reference to the Moodle Community and the collaborative aspects of learning about both Moodle as a product and as a process. I am not sure where would be the best place to anchor that page. --[[mburnet]]

Just a brief thought re: "featured pages" and "Teaching Don'ts" link--could we also add "Teaching Dos" so that the focus is balanced and a little more positive for newbies stumbling into this page for the first time? --[[User:Lesli Smith|Lesli Smith]]

:Hi Lesli, as requested, [[Teaching Do's]] is now a featured page. Apologies for the delay. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 04:31, 1 April 2006 (WST)

== Fantastic Stuff ==

Just wanted to pop in quickly and say a huge thankyou to Helen for this fantastic resource.

Your work here is looking fantastic. So much for adding your time and expertise to this community. I know what it is like to juggle many hats. If you ever need a hand you need only ask :)

Looking forward to seeing this integrated into 1.6.

Julian

: I second that. Great job, Helen! :-) --[[User:Art Lader|Art Lader]] 01:56, 23 February 2006 (WST)

:: Thanks guys, though it's everyone's contributions that will make Moodle Docs into a great resource! --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 03:57, 23 February 2006 (WST)

I'm a little late, but I also want to thank you so much for this wonderful resource. :-D --[[User: Lesli Smith|Lesli]]

== Add links to international versions (es,...) ==

Since https://docs.moodle.org is the main site for Moodle Documentation, there must be links to the different international versions, such as the Spanish one: https://docs.moodle.org/es . Maybe something similar to the Wikipedia home page: http://www.wikipedia.org . If not, just links to international versions in the main English page.

:Hi David, you're very welcome to add inter-language links - please check the [[MoodleDocs:Guidelines for contributors|guidelines for contributors]] for more details. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 05:54, 18 February 2006 (WST)

== Upload Flash ==

Is it possible to upload Flash files? I tried to do so via the same interface we use for uploading images, but had no luck. --[[User:Art Lader|Art Lader]] 19:10, 22 February 2006 (WST)

:Hi Art, sorry it's not possible to upload Flash files for security reasons. Please could you explain what you would like to do, and perhaps send me a sample file, then I'll investigate alternative options. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 03:53, 23 February 2006 (WST)

: That is not a probelm, Helen. I have upgraded to SnagIt 8.0 and can add tooltips to screen captures. Just wanted to see if that improved the documentation. No big deal, though. --[[User:Art Lader|Art Lader]] 06:28, 23 February 2006 (WST)

== Image on the front page ==

Can we have a nice image somewhere on the front page, something documenty like books maybe? Just to make the home page stand out a little from the subpages. [[User:Martin Dougiamas|Martin Dougiamas]] 22:26, 14 April 2006 (WST)
: How about some free stock photography? I tend to use http://www.sxc.hu/ --[[User:Darren Smith|Darren Smith]] 23:00, 14 April 2006 (WST)

Talk:Home

2006-04-14T14:59:37Z

Dagza: /* Image on the front page */ stock photography?

Talk:Common acronyms

2006-04-14T12:51:24Z

Dagza: /* Wikipedia links */ links to other sites

==Wikipedia links==

A good page, thanks David and Darren :-) Let's add Wikipedia links for acronyms which don't require specific Moodle definitions e.g. [[Wikipedia:PHP|PHP]]. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 20:45, 14 April 2006 (WST)
: Links to other acronym sites would also be useful so people don't get carried away and try and list all of the TLAs they can think of. --[[User:Darren Smith|Darren Smith]] 20:51, 14 April 2006 (WST)

Configuration file

2006-04-14T12:48:10Z

Dagza: stub

You may need to edit the config.php file if, for example, you change you database password or change servers completely.

[[Category: Administrator]]

Installation Quickstart

2006-04-14T12:45:16Z

Dagza: config.php page link

This guide is designed for administrators who have installed Moodle before and need a quick recap to jog their memory. It could also be useful for those administrators who wish to have an overview of the installation procedure before they start with our [[Installing Moodle| more detailed installation guide]].

===Preparation===

* Install PHP and required extensions, a supported database such as MySQL and a webserver on the target computer
* Create a blank database (call it moodle if you like) and create a database user with the appropriate permissions
* Create a data directory (call it moodledata if you wish) outside of the webserver.
* Ensure the webserver is the owner of the data folder and give the owner read, write and execute permissions
* Download Moodle

===Installation===

* Extract the files and place them in the documents folder on the webserver (or any webserver subfolder)
* Go to <nowiki>http://yourserver/install.php</nowiki> or <nowiki>http://yourserver/subfolders/install.php</nowiki> to start the installation
* Download the [[Configuration file | config.php]] file from your webserver and place in the moodle root if prompted

===Configuration===

* If you agree with the [[License | GPL license]] you will be allowed to continue
* Give your site a name and description
* Configure an admin account

===One last thing===
Once you have finished setting up moodle you need to set up [[Cron|cron]].

'''That's it! Well done :-)'''

==See Also==

* [[Installing Moodle]] A more detailed installation guide
* [[Installation FAQ]]

[[Category: Administrator]]

Installation Quickstart

2006-04-14T12:38:26Z

Dagza: License link

This guide is designed for administrators who have installed Moodle before and need a quick recap to jog their memory. It could also be useful for those administrators who wish to have an overview of the installation procedure before they start with our [[Installing Moodle| more detailed installation guide]].

===Preparation===

* Install PHP and required extensions, a supported database such as MySQL and a webserver on the target computer
* Create a blank database (call it moodle if you like) and create a database user with the appropriate permissions
* Create a data directory (call it moodledata if you wish) outside of the webserver.
* Ensure the webserver is the owner of the data folder and give the owner read, write and execute permissions
* Download Moodle

===Installation===

* Extract the files and place them in the documents folder on the webserver (or any webserver subfolder)
* Go to <nowiki>http://yourserver/install.php</nowiki> or <nowiki>http://yourserver/subfolders/install.php</nowiki> to start the installation
* Download the config.php file from your webserver and place in the moodle root if prompted

===Configuration===

* If you agree with the [[License | GPL license]] you will be allowed to continue
* Give your site a name and description
* Configure an admin account

===One last thing===
Once you have finished setting up moodle you need to set up [[Cron|cron]].

'''That's it! Well done :-)'''

==See Also==

* [[Installing Moodle]] A more detailed installation guide
* [[Installation FAQ]]

[[Category: Administrator]]

Common acronyms

2006-04-14T12:33:10Z

Dagza: GNU

Common acronyms

2006-04-14T12:30:48Z

Dagza: HTH, LAMP and IE

Administrator documentation

2006-04-14T09:26:46Z

Dagza: installation quickstart link

== '''Installation''' ==

*[[Installing Moodle]]
*[[Installing AMP|Installing Apache, MySQL and PHP]]
* [[Installation Quickstart]]
*[[Installation FAQ]]
*[[Upgrading|Upgrading Moodle]]

==Security and performance==

*[[Security]]
*[[Performance]]

== Configuration ==

*[[Variables]]
*[[Site settings]]
*[[Themes]]
*[[Language]]
*[[Modules (administrator)|Modules]]
*[[Blocks (administrator)|Blocks]]
*[[Filters (administrator)|Filters]]
*[[Backup (administrator)|Backup]]
*[[Editor settings]]
*[[Calendar (administrator)|Calendar]]
*[[Maintenance mode]]

==Users==

*[[Authentication]]
*[[Edit user accounts]]
*[[Edit profile|Add a new user]]
*[[Flat file|Upload users]]
*[[Enrolment plugins]]
*[[Courses (administrator)|Enrol students]]
*[[Courses (administrator)|Assign teachers]]
*[[Assign creators]]
*[[Assign admins]]

==Other==

*[[Courses (administrator)|Courses]]
*[[Logs]]
*[[Site files]]
*[[Moodle database|Database]]
*[[Environment]]

==See also==

*[[CVS (administrator)|CVS documentation]]
*[[Email processing]]
*[[Search engine optimization]]
*[[Messaging]]
*[[Migration]]
*[[Metacourses]]
*[[Block layout]]
*[[Backup FAQ]]
*[[Administration FAQ]]
*[[Administrator do's and don'ts]]
*[http://download.moodle.org/docs/using_moodle/ch16_server_admin.pdf Using Moodle Chapter 16: Moodle Administration]

[[Category: Administrator]]
[[es:Documentación para Administradores]]
[[nl:Documentatie voor beheerders]]

Installation Quickstart

2006-04-14T09:24:37Z

Dagza: see also and minor edits

This guide is designed for administrators who have installed Moodle before and need a quick recap to jog their memory. It could also be useful for those administrators who wish to have an overview of the installation procedure before they start with our [[Installing Moodle| more detailed installation guide]].

===Preparation===

* Install PHP and required extensions, a supported database such as MySQL and a webserver on the target computer
* Create a blank database (call it moodle if you like) and create a database user with the appropriate permissions
* Create a data directory (call it moodledata if you wish) outside of the webserver.
* Ensure the webserver is the owner of the data folder and give the owner read, write and execute permissions
* Download Moodle

===Installation===

* Extract the files and place them in the documents folder on the webserver (or any webserver subfolder)
* Go to <nowiki>http://yourserver/install.php</nowiki> or <nowiki>http://yourserver/subfolders/install.php</nowiki> to start the installation
* Download the config.php file from your webserver and place in the moodle root if prompted

===Configuration===

* If you agree witht he GPL license you will be allowed to continue
* Give your site a name and description
* Configure an admin account

===One last thing===
Once you have finished setting up moodle you need to set up cron

'''That's it! Well done :-)'''

==See Also==

* [[Installing Moodle]] A more detailed installation guide
* [[Installation FAQ]]

[[Category: Administrator]]

Installation Quickstart

2006-04-14T08:26:31Z

Dagza: Inspired by the nice and simple wordpress installation instructions

This guide is designed for administrators who have installed Moodle before and need a quick recap or for those administrators who wish to have an overview of the installation procedure before they start getting deeper into it.

Here are the steps

===Preparation===

* Install PHP and required extensions, a supported database such as MySQL and a webserver on the target computer
* Create a blank database (call it moodle if you like) and create a database user with the appropriate permissions
* Create a data directory (call it moodledata if you wish) outside of the webserver.
* Ensure the webserver is the owner of the data folder and give the owner read, write and execute permissions
* Download Moodle

===Installation===

* Extract the files and place them in the documents folder on the webserver (or any webserver subfolder)
* Go to <nowiki>http://yourserver/install.php</nowiki> or <nowiki>http://yourserver/subfolders/install.php</nowiki> to start the installation
* Download the config.php file from your webserver and place in the moodle root if prompted

===Configuration===

* If you agree witht he GPL license you will be allowed to continue
* Give your site a name and description
* Configure an admin account

===One last thing===
Once you have finished setting up moodle you need to set up cron

'''That's it! Well done :-)'''

==See Also==

[[Category: Administrator]]

MoodleDocs:Searching

2006-04-13T18:31:41Z

Dagza: Search moodledocs block

= Searching MoodleDocs =

There is a seach facility located in a block on the left hand side of every MoodleDocs page. You can enter your search text and then click either 'Go' or 'Search'.

== Go button ==

If you select Go, or press Enter, it first looks for an article with exactly the given string as its title, and if one is found immediately goes to the indicated article. If Go fails to find an article, it then automatically executes Search.

== Search button ==

Search is a full-text search for the given words listing Articles with titles that match first, then articles with matches in the main body of the text.

Note that this search method currently ignores words of three letters or less.

= Searching MoodleDocs and Moodle.org forums with Google =

The search box at the top right of the [http://moodle.org Moodle.org homepage] will search both the contents of the Moodle.org forums and the MoodleDocs wiki at the same time. This search is powered by [[Google]] which has some unique search features but this means the results are not updated immediately when the content changes.

= Firefox search plugin =

You can seach MoodleDocs from the search box in the Firefox browser by downloading a search plugin from [http://mycroft.mozdev.org/download.html?name=docs.moodle.org&category=all&Xlanguage=all&country=all&submitform=Search&skipcache=yes here]

= Mac OS X Widget =

A dashboard widget for Mac OS X that searches MoodleDocs wiki is also available. See [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=39894#183260 this forum post].

= Searching MoodleDocs from your Moodle site =

You can serach this site from your own moodle site by using the [[Search_Moodle_Docs_block | Search MoodleDocs]] Block

[[Category:MoodleDocs|Searching]]

Common acronyms

2006-04-13T18:19:50Z

Dagza: /* N to Z */ learning platform

An alphabetical list of '''common acronyms''' that you may encounter when reading or discussing Moodle, with links to more information where appropriate. Some of these are purely technical, with software development, open source origins; some are creations of the e-learning community, and others are part of online culture.

== A to E ==

* [[CMS]] - Course Management System (or more generally Content Management System), is the term for the category of software that Moodle belongs to. Some people prefer the terms Learning Management System or Community Management Systems to shift the focus from things to people, their interactions and aims.
* [[CSS]] - Cascading Style Sheets, used to control the way web pages look.
* [[CSV]] - Comma Separated Values, a simple text format for tabular data. Can be created and edited with [[Microsoft Excel|Excel]] or, if done with care, any text editor.
* [[CVS]] - Concurrent Versioning System, a software tool that allows many people to collaborate on and access program code over the internet.

== F to H ==

* [[FLOSS]] - Free, Libre and Open Source Software, an inclusive term that encompasses both Free Software and Open Source Software while emphasising that Free is intended to represent Freedom (Libre in Spanish) and not without cost (Gratis in Spanish).
* [[GPL]] - General Public Licence, the software licence under which Moodle is made available. Its intention is to ensure that people who sell or distribute Moodle (or other GPL software) share any modifications.
* [[HTML]] - HyperText Markup Language, which is used to write web pages.

== I to M ==

* [[IMHO]] - In My Humble Opinion, a polite yet brief way to indicate in text communication that the preceding or following statement is not a statement of fact but merely expressing an opinion.
* [[About Moodle|MOODLE]] - Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, though over time it has become common to treat Moodle as a simple name and verb e.g. "let's Moodle" or "I've been Moodling".

== N to Z ==

* [[PHP]] - PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, a programming language used extensively in the creation of Moodle. That the P in PHP also stands for PHP is an obscure programmer in-joke.
* [[VLE]] - Virtual Learning Environment, a term popular in the UK which is roughly interchangeable with Course Management System, Learning Management System, Learning Platform or Online Learning Environment.

[[Category: Teacher]]
[[Category: Administrator]]
[[Category: Developer]]

Import questions

2006-04-12T16:41:30Z

Dagza: added categories

If you have questions from a textbook question bank, or if you don’t want to use the web interface to create your questions, you can import them from a text file. Moodle supports eight formats natively, and provides an easy way of creating new importers if you know a little PHP.

Once you get to know a format, it may be easier to simply type them into a text file than to use the web interface. You can just keep typing instead of waiting for new web pages to load for each question.

The formats available by default include:
;GIFT
:With GIFT format you can write multiple-choice, true-false, short answer, matching and numerical questions.
[[Image:Gift.jpg|frame|left|screen shot from quiz help file documentation]] 

;Aiken
:Aiken format is an easy way of writing multiple-choice questions for import. It’s a very easy, readable format.[[Image:Aiken_format.gif|frame|left|screen shot from quiz help file documentation]] 

;Missing Word
:If you’re going to write a lot of missing word multiple choice questions, the missing word format is an easy way to create them.
[[Image:Missing_word.jpg|frame|left|screen shot from quiz help file documentation]] 

;AON
:The same as the missing word format, except it creates matching questions from the multiple choice questions
;Blackboard
:If you’re converting from Blackboard to Moodle, you can export your course and then import the question pools into Moodle using the Blackboard format
;WebCT
:Currently, the WebCT format only supports importing multiple-choice and short answers questions
;Course Test Manager
:This will enable you to import questions from the Course Test Manager from Course Technology
;Embedded Answers (Cloze)
:The Cloze format is a multiple question, multiple answer question with embedded answers. They can be a bit tricky to develop, but they are a unique way of asking questions

The help file available from the help button next to the import file button gives a lot of detail about each format.

[[Category:Teacher]]
[[Category:Quiz]]