MoodleDocs - User contributions [en]

Development talk:Course completion

2008-07-23T05:11:01Z

Taatparya: multiple course completions

Many of the users that ask about this also bring up wanting to be able to set resources viewed as a criteria for course completion. Can this be added as one of the features for course completion?

----

I think the same course should have multiple completions because that means that even a single course can be offered as a short course as well as a full course. One way of doing it could be having multiple grades for the same activity. This will allow activities / resources to be more usable

--[[User:vikram solia|vikram solia]] 00:11, 23 July 2008 (CDT)

Development talk:Grades

2008-03-09T07:00:08Z

Taatparya:

Regarding course completion, there could be multiple course completions e.g. crash course, full-time course and so on, in the same course.

This will allow using a single course area for better interaction among experts and novices without requiring reproducing the learning objects (activities and resources) in separate courses for the two.

[[User:vikram solia|vikram solia]] 01:00, 9 March 2008 (CST)

Development talk:Events

2007-10-25T20:51:14Z

Taatparya:

Is Gradebook actually using events API? If not, then is the example appropriate? It tends to imply that events are being used in the Gradebook.

[[User:vikram solia|vikram solia]] 15:50, 25 October 2007 (CDT)

Development talk:Events

2007-10-25T20:50:31Z

Taatparya: Appropriate Example

I Gradebook actually using events API. If it is not, then is the example appropriate? It tends to imply that events are being used in the Gradebook.

[[User:vikram solia|vikram solia]] 15:50, 25 October 2007 (CDT)

Development:Implementation of true negative marks in MC-type questions

2007-10-25T14:41:36Z

Taatparya: Modified raw score calculation

== Purpose ==

The purpose of this development project is to implement true negative marks for multiple choice-type questions in quiz. Up to now (1.8+), negative marks for incorrect answers are offered in the configuration options of individual multiple choice questions but are not reflected in the calculation of final quiz scores. Instructors wishing to use negative marking in their quizzes cannot do so or must rely on a potentially harmful hack to achieve the desired result.

'''Example:''' An instructor might wish to design a quiz consisting of 20 multiple choice questions with four options each (one correct, three incorrect, only one option selectable). An incorrect response on one question should, for example, lead to the subtraction of one full mark (-100%) from the final score so a student making five correct responses, two nonresponses and 13 incorrect responses should obtain a final raw score of 5x1 + 2x0 + 13x-1 = 5 + 0 -13 = -8 Marks.

'''Note:''' True negative marks are conceptually different from penalties applied in '''adaptive mode'''. The latter allows a quiz taker to make multiple attempts on the same quiz, obtain feedback and change his/her answers. Penalties are the "price" quiz takers pay for obtaining additional information and changing their responses. '''Confidence Based Marking (CBM)''' is a didactically much more refined approach to obtaining valid quiz scores which encourages quiz takers to critically reflect on their abilities. However, CBM is not the object of the present proposal. This simpler form of negative marks is required if we are to reporduce various existing paper-based quizzes in Moodle.

Please make suggestions & comments here: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=82402#p366487

== Requirements ==

* full implementation of true negative marks in multiple choice questions,
* correct calculation of final quiz scores and scaling to percentages,
* appropriate representation of the negative marks in the various report formats,
* clean integration with multiple attempts and at least the option set "each attempt builds on the last" & "highest grade"

== Design ==

This section is work in progress. Developers are cordially invited to make suggestions and bids.

* separation and mutual exclusion of a "true" or "simple", the adaptive and (potentially)a CBM mode,
* modification to the table structure to reflect this (input needed)
* code changes (branching, calculation modes)
* small changes to UI and documentation - Quiz Settings (addition of a quiz marking mode selector "simple/true"; "adaptive"; (confidence-based)); greying out of options incompatible with the chosen marking mode, e.g. penalty factors, to avoid confusion.

== Terms & Conditions ==

Limited funding is available to support the project. The exact status of the solutions (core, patch/hack, add-on) is immaterial as long as it is GPLd, designed for 1.9 and back-portable to 1.8+

I am very much looking forward to estimates of the workload and bids.

Pete

Development:Calculated question improvements

2007-02-07T17:52:18Z

Taatparya:

{{Calculated question dev docs}}
I will use this page to describe the various improvements I will try to develop related to the calculated questions.

==Creation and modification of calculated questions==
See the [[Development:Calculated question bugs and new features proposal]]

See the [[Calculated question actual 1.7 interface summary]]

See the [[Calculated question 1.7 bugs solving proposal]]

==A more FOOL-PROOF code proposal ==
The code can be improved
* by allowing user to do normal browser operations like a click on the BACK button to comeback at the first step and correct the question text
If the HTML editor of the question text is activated, '''all''' the text already written will be lost.
If the HTML editor is not activated (ex. on MACs with OS 9) and the simple HTML textarea is used, the text already written is not lost.
* by checking ALL the content of the first form elements (i.e. name, question text, answer formula etc.) when the user click the '''SAVE CHANGES''' button.
If the javascript perform all the tests done in the PHP code before saving the calculated question parameters, we eliminate almost all the possibility of loosing the work when clicking the ADD button in the third form.
The editquestion.html being specific to each questiontype can perform tests specific to the calculated question which are known to the developers of the calculated question PHP code.

==Full proof and clearer creation process==
Actually the creation or edition of calculated question is a three steps process ( 3 different pages) where the user can make errors that he cannot readily recuperate.
* Identify the steps and renaming the save changes or continue buttons.
* Using javascript to correct for errors or non valid values in each steps before going to the next step.[[Calculated question js validating forms]]
* Creating buttons to access the previous steps for corrections.
* Creating a table showing the variables used by the other calculated questions in the same category.
* Allowing to create or delete data items by 1, 10, 20 etc in one step.

==Import and export of calculated question==
Actually there is no import or export mudle that works for calculated questions
====Import from webct====
At Uqam we are migrating to Moodle from Webct.
====Export and import in moodle format====
==Moving calculated questions to another category==
Actually the code (Moodle 1.7) for moving questions to another category means simply to change the category field in the database question record.
Although this is correct for most questions types, this is not the right way to do it with calculated questions because the same category field is also used in the datasets records.
A dataset can be shared by questions of the same category.
To search if there is a already sharable dataset in a category, the parameters used are the dataset->name and the dataset->category.
The possibilities are
#All the dataset used by the question to be moved are reserved for this question (dataset->category=0). The calculated question can be moved to another category '''without restriction'''.This is the actual implementation.
#At least one of the dataset used by the question to be moved is sharable (dataset->category = actual question category)
## If '''all''' the sharable dataset are '''only''' used by the question to be moved, the calculated question can be selected to move to the other category .
## If '''all''' the questions that are selected to be moved, and '''all''' the sharable datasets are only used by these questions to be moved, this set of questions can be selected to move to the other category .
## In the case that there are questions not selected that could used a sharable dataset, this dataset cannot be moved in the another category.
###Notify the user that another questions in the initial category share a parameter with this category.
####The user can choose to cancel the move and select all the other questions (Case 2.2).
####The user can choose to keep the question in the selected questions to be moved. In this case, the dataset should be duplicated when moving the another category.
===Duplicate datasets?===
If a similar sharable dataset already exists in the moveto category ( identical dataset->name and dataset->category = movetocategory).
Notify the user and giving information on the
#sharable dataset in selected questions to be moved
#already existing sharable datasets in the move_to_category.
The user should be able to select which dataset will be used in move_to_category.

To implement these choices we need to add new functions in default questiontype class.
===function movable_to_category(&$questions,$categoryid)===
default return null
$questions contain all the question records data for all the selected questions
so that qtype implementation could test <br>if the selected questions satisfy option 2.2
a $questions->notify can be added to be used by showbank.php and move_to_category.
===function move_to_category($question,$tocategory)===
the default implementation should something like the actual code
{
if (!set_field('question', 'category', $tocategory->id, 'id', $question->id)) {
error('Could not update category field');
}
return null;
}
the calculated question implementation should be able to duplicate the datasets in the new category

==Improvements in general question editing interface==
*Showing the text of the questions

==Creation of a short (simple) calculated question==
The actual calculated question allows for calculated params that can be shared by different problems.
This could lead to a somewhat cloze used of calculated questions.However the questions cannot migrate individually to another category.
A short calculated question that just allow for calculated parameters reserved for this question will allow use of this question in drag and drop cloze lesson.
==Manipulating data items==
Actual functions and propôsal for new ones for manipulating data items are discussed in [[Data_Item_Functions]]
==Side effects to other modules==
* Modification of the question type to allow moving of calculated question to another category.
* Creation of general functions to standardize the import or export process.

[[User:Pierre Pichet|Pierre Pichet]] August 2006 (WST)
[[Developer_notes]]
[[Calculated question creation developper docs]]

Development:Calculated question improvements

2007-02-07T17:52:03Z

Taatparya:

{{Calculated question dev docs}}
I will use this page to describe the various improvements I will try to develop related to the calculated questions.

==Creation and modification of calculated questions==
See the [[Development:Calculated question bugs and new features proposal]]

See the [[Calculated question actual 1.7 interface summary]]

See the [[Calculated question 1.7 bugs solving proposal]]

==A more FOOL-PROOF code proposal ==
The code can be improved
* by allowing user to do normal browser operations like a click on the BACK button to comeback at the first step and correct the question text
If the HTML editor of the question text is activated, '''all''' the text already written will be lost.
If the HTML editor is not activated (ex. on MACs with OS 9) and the simple HTML textarea is used, the text already written is not lost.
* by checking ALL the content of the first form elements (i.e. name, question text, answer formula etc.) when the user click the '''SAVE CHANGES''' button.
If the javascript perform all the tests done in the PHP code before saving the calculated question parameters, we eliminate almost all the possibility of loosing the work when clicking the ADD button in the third form.
The editquestion.html being specific to each questiontype can perform tests specific to the calculated question which are known to the developers of the calculated questiont PHP code.

==Full proof and clearer creation process==
Actually the creation or edition of calculated question is a three steps process ( 3 different pages) where the user can make errors that he cannot readily recuperate.
* Identify the steps and renaming the save changes or continue buttons.
* Using javascript to correct for errors or non valid values in each steps before going to the next step.[[Calculated question js validating forms]]
* Creating buttons to access the previous steps for corrections.
* Creating a table showing the variables used by the other calculated questions in the same category.
* Allowing to create or delete data items by 1, 10, 20 etc in one step.

==Import and export of calculated question==
Actually there is no import or export mudle that works for calculated questions
====Import from webct====
At Uqam we are migrating to Moodle from Webct.
====Export and import in moodle format====
==Moving calculated questions to another category==
Actually the code (Moodle 1.7) for moving questions to another category means simply to change the category field in the database question record.
Although this is correct for most questions types, this is not the right way to do it with calculated questions because the same category field is also used in the datasets records.
A dataset can be shared by questions of the same category.
To search if there is a already sharable dataset in a category, the parameters used are the dataset->name and the dataset->category.
The possibilities are
#All the dataset used by the question to be moved are reserved for this question (dataset->category=0). The calculated question can be moved to another category '''without restriction'''.This is the actual implementation.
#At least one of the dataset used by the question to be moved is sharable (dataset->category = actual question category)
## If '''all''' the sharable dataset are '''only''' used by the question to be moved, the calculated question can be selected to move to the other category .
## If '''all''' the questions that are selected to be moved, and '''all''' the sharable datasets are only used by these questions to be moved, this set of questions can be selected to move to the other category .
## In the case that there are questions not selected that could used a sharable dataset, this dataset cannot be moved in the another category.
###Notify the user that another questions in the initial category share a parameter with this category.
####The user can choose to cancel the move and select all the other questions (Case 2.2).
####The user can choose to keep the question in the selected questions to be moved. In this case, the dataset should be duplicated when moving the another category.
===Duplicate datasets?===
If a similar sharable dataset already exists in the moveto category ( identical dataset->name and dataset->category = movetocategory).
Notify the user and giving information on the
#sharable dataset in selected questions to be moved
#already existing sharable datasets in the move_to_category.
The user should be able to select which dataset will be used in move_to_category.

To implement these choices we need to add new functions in default questiontype class.
===function movable_to_category(&$questions,$categoryid)===
default return null
$questions contain all the question records data for all the selected questions
so that qtype implementation could test <br>if the selected questions satisfy option 2.2
a $questions->notify can be added to be used by showbank.php and move_to_category.
===function move_to_category($question,$tocategory)===
the default implementation should something like the actual code
{
if (!set_field('question', 'category', $tocategory->id, 'id', $question->id)) {
error('Could not update category field');
}
return null;
}
the calculated question implementation should be able to duplicate the datasets in the new category

==Improvements in general question editing interface==
*Showing the text of the questions

==Creation of a short (simple) calculated question==
The actual calculated question allows for calculated params that can be shared by different problems.
This could lead to a somewhat cloze used of calculated questions.However the questions cannot migrate individually to another category.
A short calculated question that just allow for calculated parameters reserved for this question will allow use of this question in drag and drop cloze lesson.
==Manipulating data items==
Actual functions and propôsal for new ones for manipulating data items are discussed in [[Data_Item_Functions]]
==Side effects to other modules==
* Modification of the question type to allow moving of calculated question to another category.
* Creation of general functions to standardize the import or export process.

[[User:Pierre Pichet|Pierre Pichet]] August 2006 (WST)
[[Developer_notes]]
[[Calculated question creation developper docs]]

User talk:Helen Foster

2007-02-07T17:45:26Z

Taatparya: /* "Development:" Prefix */

==Thanks==
Helen, Just a thanks for your wonderful edits which make things look good and are reminders to me to hit that show preview button..again... and again....and then review the whole page. But I have so little to do, so much time :) Bless you.--[[User:chris collman 2|chris collman 2]] 21:13, 28 June 2006 (WST)

:Hi Chris, your kind words are much appreciated :-) Thanks for your contributions to the documentation. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 06:50, 29 June 2006 (WST)

== Documentation for different versions ==

Helen

Is there a mechanism for specifying which version of Moodle a particular document refers to? If, for instance, a feature is only available in version 1.6, how would a 1.5.3 user know they couldn't follow these instructions?

Equally, if something is done differently in two versions, how would we stop an edit war breaking out between 1.5.3 and 1.6 users?

I appreciate this probably isn't an issue just yet, but it's possible it may become one in later versions.

Cheers,

[[User:CHRISF|CHRISF]] 19:20, 1 February 2006 (WST)

:Hi ChrisF, thanks for highlighting the issue of differences in Moodle versions. Perhaps a Moodle 1.6 template, inserted using the code <code><nowiki>{{Moodle 1.6}}</nowiki></code>, may be used to show features specific to Moodle 1.6. What do you think? --[[User:Helen|Helen]] 04:22, 4 February 2006 (WST)

::Good idea. I think that would clear it up nicely. [[User:CHRISF|CHRISF]] 18:08, 7 February 2006 (WST)

== Template styles ==
Hi Helen! I noticed that you reverted my edits on [[Template:Book]] and [[Template:Assignments]]. You were right -- I didn't realise that the [[MoodleDocs:Styling|style]] doesn't match [[MoodleDocs:Style guide|moodle.org style]]. However, the current template doesn't look right either. It should float to the right instead of occupying a substantial part of the upper screen (for eg. on [[Calculated question developer docs]] page) -- this wil provide easier navigation. Also, the tempalate should be colorful and/or bordered -- this looks more attractive and the reader can understand that it is not a part of the article. May be we can have orange or similar colored templates (such as [[Template:Large Installations]] and [[Template:excerpted from Jason Cole]]) that match with moodle.org style? Is there any official style documentation? Is there a moodle.org style guide which describes styles for templates -- I couldn't find one? [[User:Utkarshraj Atmaram|Utkarshraj Atmaram]] 17:40, 30 March 2006 (WST)

:Hi Utkarshraj, thanks for your contributions to Moodle Docs. As you've found, [[MoodleDocs:Style guide]] and [[MoodleDocs:Styling]] contain all the Moodle Docs styling documentation to-date. Please add your comments about template styling to [[MoodleDocs talk:Styling]]. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 17:26, 31 March 2006 (WST)

::Thank you! I've started the discussion at [[MoodleDocs talk:Styling]]. [[User:Utkarshraj Atmaram|Utkarshraj Atmaram]] 19:14, 31 March 2006 (WST)

:::LoL, I just realized that the problem is not with the templates, but with themes. Templates just look find with the MoodleDocs theme, but when I am logged in, I use MonoBook theme -- it doesn't display them as right-aligned (at Wikipedia, we explicity make the templates right-aligned). Sorry for wasting your time! [[User:Utkarshraj Atmaram|Utkarshraj Atmaram]] 14:44, 18 April 2006 (WST)

== Removing erroneous pages ==

How can unsuitable pages be removed? I just found [[RHLANGUAGE]] which is not documentation-quality...
Maybe you could do it (please) Helen? Not sure.

Best, Dan
--[[User:Dan Stowell|Dan Stowell]] 04:24, 4 May 2006 (WST)

:Thanks Dan, for future reference please add the deletion template, <code><nowiki>{{Deletion}}</nowiki></code>, to any unsuitable page you find. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 04:45, 5 May 2006 (WST)

== Moodle Doc Is Great ==

You have done a great job and inspired me to use Media Wiki!

:Thanks Martin, though it's everyone's contributions that make Moodle Docs a great resource! --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 06:36, 24 May 2006 (WST)

== tr wiki ==

Hi Helen,

Can you arrange for a wiki https://docs.moodle.org/tr (Türkçe) to be set up.

:Thanks Ethem, I'll do so as soon as possible. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 17:12, 15 June 2006 (WST)

== Word Censorship Page ==

Hi Helen,

Note sure why you deleted some of this page. The idea is (partly) to provide instructions on how to use the settings page of the filter. You also removed the 'see also' back to the main filters administration page. I'm not sure what's wrong with that either. Your advice appreciated :-)

--[[User:Howard Miller|Howard Miller]] 22:54, 20 June 2006 (WST)

:Oh, sorry Howard for not explaining my changes to [[Word censorship]]. I deleted text duplicated on the Word censorship settings page in Moodle and removed the See also link since [[Filters (administrator)]] is listed in [[:Category:Filter]]. However, please feel free to revert any/all of my changes. Your contributions to the documentation are always appreciated :-) --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 17:03, 21 June 2006 (WST)

::That's cool Helen. So is that the rule - don't put stuff in the docs that is already in the built-in help?? --[[User:Howard Miller|Howard Miller]] 18:15, 21 June 2006 (WST)

:::The [http://moodle.org/help.php?file=index.html Moodle help files] will remain in each language pack and so it is not necessary to include their text in this documentation, however sometimes it makes things clearer to do so, at least to start with. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 15:46, 22 June 2006 (WST)

== Contrib code documentation ==

Hi Helen,

Where would you suggest I document contrib code. I have some documentation for the Moodle for Mobiles project which installs in {yourmoodleroot}/mobile The code is in cvs in contrib/mobile. It is general documentation about what MFM does.

I guess the place to put it would be https://docs.moodle.org/en/mobile

Jamie

:Hi Jamie, actually the project already has a page, [[Moodle for Mobiles]] ;-) though [[mobile]] could redirect to it. You're also welcome to use any documentation pages linked to Moodle for Mobiles pages in Moodle 1.6. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 15:56, 22 June 2006 (WST)

::Thanks Helen!! Adding the documentation now. Will redirect from mobile as well. [[User:Jamie Pratt|Jamie Pratt]] 16:08, 22 June 2006 (WST)

:::Cool Helen you did the redirect for me. Thanks for your very speedy response to my enquiry and all your help! -- [[User:Jamie Pratt|Jamie Pratt]] 16:22, 22 June 2006 (WST)

== Chinese Moodle Documentation==
Hi Helen,

I'd like to launch the Chinese Moodle Documentation translation. As I know, MediaWiki has the function that convert charset between Simplified Chinese(GB2312, GB18030) and Traditional Chinese(BIG5). So maybe it's no need to create two.

Now I'm a translator of moodle and maintain a special moodle Chinese version.

--[[User:Sun Sunner|Sun Sunner]] 21:31, 22 July 2006 (WST)

:Hi Sun, thanks for your offer. I'll be in touch soon. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 19:42, 23 July 2006 (WST)

== Spam or what ever you call it in MoodleDocs ==

Yikes, I just looked at Tips and Tricks and your reversal a while back. I am too lazy/dumb to look, how often do you have to do that? That is not nice. And since I can never give you enough praise, THANKS ! --[[User:chris collman 2|chris collman 2]] 02:08, 31 July 2006 (WST) today and yesterday

== Brazilian Portughese Documentation ==

Hi Helen, we have met at MoodleMoot - i am coordinating the PT_BR translation and would like to launch the Wiki version in Português Brasileiro, starting with the documentation files. No problem with Wikis, i am already the admin of another wikimedia site. Our Moodle.org site has more than 400 people collaborating and i hope to get everybody involved in this new project!
--[[User:Paula de Waal|Paula de Waal]] 02:02, 1 August 2006 (WST)

== Went through teacher documentation links ==
Hi Helen, before I ran off on vacation (holiday to you :) for a week ) you will notice I did some editing and adjusting. My focus was on what I consider the first impression a new teacher gets when they enter MoodleDocs. Thus I went through most of the links in the text in the teacher documentation page. I also put in some cross links via "see also" and added some images (yeah not real happy see below).

I would really like us (notice that pronoun) to think about how to made the teacher documentation page look like the administrator documention or developer documentation pages. I would copy the entire contents of the current teacher doc page to a new "course documentation" page. The major task is figuring out the sections for the new teacher doc page, so they function like the admin doc page. That kind of big thinking is just a bit beyond me before vacation perhaps you know of someone who would love that task?

Changing the teacher doc page also means doublechecking other pages that were linked to it and figuring out it they should point to the new course doc page. I could do that.

Images, I am still feel akward. I tried a floating table. I tried using thumb, resizing the images with a px and alignment. I still can't figure out an easy way to force a section break so it will not appear to one side of the image, but rather below it. I used a lot of br . The thumb resize method works but the quality of the image is not so hot. Better to have the file the correct size to begin with, but then we might have to have multiple files of the same image in different sizes.

Keep up the great work. --[[User:chris collman 2|chris collman 2]] 22:43, 11 August 2006 (WST)

== Thanks for sorting out the question type documentation ==

That really needed doing. --[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 11:28, 11 September 2006 (CDT)

'''Wowie Zowie Helen '''- oh yeah, that is what we are talking about! And ditto the thanks to Tim, it will take me a while to switch my head to having lesson questions and quiz questions able to come from the same place (bank). I will be checking and changing links, away from Question types to specific pages on the Question Bank list. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 05:33, 12 September 2006 (CDT)

:Thanks Tim, and a big THANK YOU for your work on the [[Quiz module]]. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 03:04, 12 September 2006 (CDT)

Joseph and Chris, thanks for your additional comments, which I've moved to [[Talk:Question types]] --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 02:23, 9 October 2006 (CDT)

==mod/helps and redirects in MoodleDocs==
Hi Helen, I need some big picture confirmation, the view wiki page comment raised a little red flag ontop of my Marblehead as dawn seemed to break here in the Great Granite State once again.

I try to not get into help pages because I understood those were "Please don't edit" pages (and responsibility of developer), which makes a lot of sense, especially with new features. Also Help files have a different format (for example no images or examples of use) because of their in context purpose. What are my guidelines when something is redirected from what I assume is an online help page link like "mod/wiki/helpsome topic" ?

I am happy to edit and reorganize and add screen shots etc because I am pretty confident now in my edits and reformats (thank you very much and others who follow me around teaching me where to pay attention). When I see a redirect from help, I would like to assume somebody is going to write the help page after the MoodleDoc page has been created. The redirect is the as a sort of "in the meantime". Same question: is this a good assumption to guide my editing?

I confess, reading some Moodle help pages causes me to wince, and (just like that pesky
version of the lesson demo with the innapropriate cluster) they keep returning like an old
tooth ache. One of my todo's is to figure out the priorities of rewriting help pages on our
production Moodles . So in the meantime, I pretend all tooth aches are in another world :)

I am having entirely too much fun this morning, sorry for the lengthy post--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 06:28, 7 November 2006 (CST)

==Quizzes and Questions==
Hi Helen, this could me being confused, but if I am confused......
Example scenario, you go to the Quiz page and you wanted to know about quiz import/export (or worse still you didn't know it existed) that option doesn't exist on the menu. I know why - it's because that isn't part of the Quizzes 'group' (is that the right word? those double squiggly bracket things at the top of the page). It's part of the Questions group. I'm struggling big time to see how the two knit together - I'm not sure that they do! --[[User:Howard Miller|Howard Miller]] 10:42, 1 December 2006 (CST)

:Hi Howard, the reason why quiz and question pages have different templates is because questions may be used in [[Lesson module|lessons]] as well as quizzes. I've started adding a few question links to the page [[Editing a quiz]]. Please feel free to add more links wherever appropriate, thanks :-) --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 12:45, 3 December 2006 (CST)

== Those squiggly bracket thingies ==
Actually I can't find any documentation *anywhere* for those double-squiggly-bracket things at the top of many pages. Can we get something in the edit instructions please :-) --[[User:Howard Miller|Howard Miller]] 11:09, 1 December 2006 (CST)
Oh they're templates - I'll shut up now !!!! --[[User:Howard Miller|Howard Miller]] 11:12, 1 December 2006 (CST)

:Hi Howard, glad you found the templates info in [[MoodleDocs:Style guide]]. Please feel free to add something on templates to [[Help:Editing]] too ;-) --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 12:35, 3 December 2006 (CST)

== Page rename please ==

Helen, please can we rename [[Numerical_question_units_and_intervals]] to have a Development: prefix please. Thanks.

:Done, thanks Tim. Any more pages to be renamed? --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 01:02, 2 December 2006 (CST)

Yes please, another one: can we rename [[Development:OM Protocol]] to [[Development:Open protocol for accessing question engines]], and change [[Development:Opaque]] to point to the new name too. Thanks 08:30, 4 December 2006 (CST)

Wow! That was fast![[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 09:22, 4 December 2006 (CST)

Another one please: [[Cleanups_required_in_the_quiz_and_question_bank]] -> [[Development:Required quiz cleanups]] or similar.

== MoodleDocs in Arabic ==

Hi Helen,

I'm Intrested in starting MoodleDocs in Arabic ... would you please provide a directory for Arabic (ar) language

Many Thanks

:Hi, thanks for your offer. Assuming you've read [[MoodleDocs:Starting MoodleDocs|starting Moodle Docs in another language]], please email ''docs@moodle.org'', stating how many people are interested in contributing and who is willing to be an administrator. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 10:15, 12 December 2006 (CST)

==template of templates ==
Hi wonderful Helen,
https://docs.moodle.org/en/User:chris_collman/sandbox1#Given_the_above

*I tried creating the above template, which I thought might be useful in Teacher Documentation.
*I am also playing around in my sandbox1 with formating a page of templates that will automatically adjust. This might be beyond my skill at the moment but why not? I am looking at the difference between the administrator page and the teacher page off the documentation link. Think the "Given the above" might be useful for those one step beyond not 'noing
anything. I was thinking of sub title (which would have an index) for each module, that would show the template.

* where or how can I find a list of templates in MoodleDocs.

Best Chris--[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 20:42, 23 December 2006 (CST)

:Hi Chris, here's a list: [[Special%3AAllpages&from=&namespace=10|All pages (Template namespace)]]. Thanks, as always, for your contributions :-) --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 16:44, 25 December 2006 (CST)
::I am surprised that there are not more. I will try to create one but only put it "off the beaten track" and will ask your opinion. Thanks, and I appreciate all YOUR work. Happy Holidays. --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 16:55, 26 December 2006 (CST)

=== How about this ===
*[[:Template:Teacher documentation]]
I first thought this would be a list of other templates. Now it it more than that. Not sure, seems to long.

I would put this on the [[Teacher documentation]] page for starters. If you think this is too long then there are 3 options. 1) don't use it, 2)Keep it as is and see what reaction is, 3) Only have Resources, Activities and Teacher Admin template links (for lack of a better name, to contain course, reports, enrollment, maybe blocks), showing up here. There is already a resources template. I could create a Resources and Teacher Admin templates.

Hope you are having a nice holiday --[[User:chris collman|chris collman]] 13:57, 28 December 2006 (CST)

:Hi Chris, sorry I didn't see your Teacher documentation template before now. It looks great :-) Please go ahead and put it on the [[Teacher documentation]] page. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 04:07, 16 January 2007 (CST)

== Please revert ==

The changes by Cherane Pefley on 5th Jan 2007 need to be reverted.--[[User:Tim Hunt|Tim Hunt]] 09:37, 6 January 2007 (CST)

:Done, thanks Tim. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 05:33, 9 January 2007 (CST)

== SUSE Linux Server 10 shell script ==
https://docs.moodle.org/en/SUSE_Linux_Server_10 by Alex Inman contains a link to whitfieldschool.org which downloads a shell script. The script looks like it requires root priviledges to run. From a security point, this is worrying - is there anything that can be done to quarantine the page until someone can verify (or preferably ask Alex if the install can do without the script altogether)? --[[User:Ken Wilson|Ken Wilson]] 17:24, 7 January 2007 (CST)

:Hi Ken, thanks for your comments which have been moved to [[Talk:SUSE Linux Server 10]]. Hopefully Alex will respond soon. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 05:30, 9 January 2007 (CST)

== Norwegian version ==

Hi!
Could you make a /no/Hovedside site where we could start editing Norwegian documentation.
I've sent you a message in the Moodlesystem as well.

KR
John Harald

:Hi John Harald, thanks for your offer. I'll be in touch soon. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 04:15, 16 January 2007 (CST)

== "Development:" Prefix ==

I have noticed that names many of the articles in the Developer Category are prefixed with the word Development while others are not. Ain't this inconsistent?

[[User:vikram solia|vikram solia]] 20:53, 6 February 2007 (CST)

:Hi Vikram, thanks for your comments. There are no doubt more pages in [[:Category:Developer]] which require the Development prefix - the documentation wiki is a work in progress ;-) However, I don't think that all pages should be prefixed, as some pages are of interest to non-developers too, for example [[Themes]]. --[[User:Helen Foster|Helen Foster]] 03:54, 7 February 2007 (CST)

::In fact, wouldn't it be better if Development was a suffix and not a prefix as that would allow articles to be listed under their appropriate alphabet instead of getting aggregated under 'D' due to the 'Development' prefix. -- [[User:vikram solia|vikram solia]] 11:45, 7 February 2007 (CST)

Development talk:Quiz rewrite

2007-02-07T02:59:49Z

Taatparya:

Shouldn't the name of the article have a "Development:" prefix. Took a lot of time to reach. I see some of the articles in this category are prefixed with "Development:" while others are not. Any special significance.

[[User:vikram solia|vikram solia]] 20:59, 6 February 2007 (CST)

User talk:Helen Foster

2007-02-07T02:53:26Z

Taatparya: /* Norwegian version */

Development:Quiz rewrite

2007-02-07T02:44:44Z

Taatparya: Restored in Development Category

Below are some details of the rewrite that the quiz module code received in early 2005. These notes were written while the work was in progress and I intend to go through them soon and update them --[[User:Gustav|Gustav]] 19:34, 28 January 2006 (WST)

===Question sessions and question states===

The concept of a question session is made much more explicit. The question session runs from the moment the student first sees the question in a quiz attempt to the close of the attempt (or the close of the quiz in the case where further attempts at the quiz are allowed and are set to build upon previous attempts). Every interaction the student makes with the quiz can update the question sessions, creating a new question state. These question states are also saved in the database. The quiz_responses table has been renamed and adapted for this; it is now called quiz_states. It is possible to load a quiz attempt with the questions in any of the saved states.

The question types are now asked to save any session information, including the most recent student responses, which may be specific to them via some new methods. The newly saved state is passed so that the question type may define its own tables to save this information in using the state id to reference which attempt and state the information is for. This deprecates the response answer field mechanism for response storage (although the field remains and can be used if desired).

===Creating new question states===

New states can be created without a question being graded. This occurs for example when a student navigates between pages (when the quiz is set to display a limited number of questions per page). Therefore another state object is loaded giving the most recent state for which grading occurred (or the initial state if grading has not occurred yet). Some parts of the rendered output for a question will depend on the current state while others will depend on the most recently graded state. For example the feedback (if any), grading details and correct answers (if any) will depend on the most recently graded state whereas the answer filled into any interactions will depend on the current state. The state object for the current state contains the most recently graded state.

Note that grading always occurs and the raw grade (the grade for the individual submission ignoring any previous attempts at the question and any penalties incurred for them) and penalty are always saved. This information has been found to be useful in the past; eg. credit can be awarded when a student saves the correct answer but never submits it for grading and they have a good reason why they were unable to. Each state indicates the kind of event which occurred to create it. As well as the obvious events (creation of the question session, navigating between pages, saving the answers and grading the answers) we also provide support for question types which want to implement validation (where the syntax of an answer is checked and any syntax errors are displayed but the question is not graded and no feedback is displayed) with a validation event. Furthermore, the immediate resubmission of the same (or an equivalent) answer is checked for using a question type specific comparison method (which might ignore whitespace changes for example). In this case the submission is not graded (a new state is created as for a save but with a special event code) and a warning is printed (unless the question type overrides the print_question method). A quiz option has been added which causes the entire history of states for which marking was requested to be walked with the same behaviour if a match is found.

===Question object and State object===

We are attempting to keep the question information and the session (runtime) information clearly separated in the code. Many of the question type object methods have been changed to accept a question object and a state object (giving the most recent state of the session). These are passed by reference in most cases allowing any updates to the information to be made and retained between method calls. In particular the question type specific question information is loaded once for each page by a new get_options method (a counterpart to save_options) so that the database query need not be repeated in every method call. As part of the separation the responses are put in the state object rather than the question object.

===Towards question type objects===

We are attempting to make it easier to change the object model used to one where the question type objects are used directly. In other words the question object parameter could be removed and changed to to $this in the code. Then each question type would define the data elements it requires and would inherit standard ones from the default question type. PHP class support is probably not ready for this change yet though.

===Towards dropping the quiz questions field===

We will not be dropping the quiz questions field yet as this requires too much work to update the editing interface etc. However we will be making the code ready for this change by using the legacy field only for the order of the questions. The quiz_question_grades table (which really defines the question instances, i.e. which questions are used in each quiz) is used to load the question ids for the quiz and the maximum grades which have been assigned to them. The array is then ordered using the quiz questions field. In the future a field could be added to the quiz_question_grades table which we could order by in the database query and then the quiz questions field could be removed.

===Towards sections and subquestions===

The work towards allowing question types which wrap a number of others and display all of them (eg. to create sections) has been incorporated so that the methods to print a question / part of a question are now passed either an index to the wrapped question to print or two indices indicating the range of questions to be printed.

The improved support for questions of different lengths will allow question types to be developed to provide sections (eg. to group a description and a question so that they are always displayed together and in the same order even when shuffling is enabled), subquestions (i.e. a question type with length one which wraps multiple questions and numbers them "1. a)", "1. b)" etc.) and question types for using a sequence of questions from a content package (note that the quiz object containing all the settings is now passed to many of the question type methods so that they can adapt to the quiz settings - in this case the order could be shuffled if shuffling is enabled for the quiz with the order chosen saved as part of the question session). Note that we shall not actually implement any of these!

The length of a question (i.e. how many question numbers are to be assigned to the question - this can be zero, eg. for the description type) has been made question specific (to allow for question types which wrap a variable number of questions into one unit) by adding a field to the quiz_questions table. The actual_number_of_questions method remains in the question types and is called by the default implementation of the save_question method to set the new field.

===Quiz navigation===

The code to display a limited number of questions on each page has also been improved. When each attempt is started the question order and page breaks are worked out (the questions are shuffled if this is turned on for the quiz). This information is saved when the attempt is created. Hence the same order is used when the student returns to the attempt and when the student or the teacher reviews the attempt (at present the review page order changes every time when the quiz is set to shuffle). Questions with length greater than one are allowed to span page breaks (using the new indices to the question type printing methods). In other words the "questionsperpage" property is taken to mean the number of question numbers per page and so questions with length zero do not count.

Once the layout of every page has been calculated (or reloaded), only those questions which are required for the current page are loaded. Those question objects then have the question type specific information loaded into them and the question sessions are restored to the relevant state. The state objects are given the question number assigned and the name prefixes at this stage so there is no need to calculate them later. The maximum available grades are also loaded into the question object (actually the "instance" objects - i.e. rows from the quiz_question_grades table - are loaded first but the effect is the same). The currently obtained grades are already stored in the database for each state.

Having restored the attempt and the question sessions, grading (if required) and printing can occur. Since all the required data is already loaded and made available the code in the question types to do this can be simplified slightly and the process is made more efficient (especially since only those questions which are used are considered).

[[Category:Developer]]

Development:Quiz rewrite

2007-02-07T02:40:47Z

Taatparya: Changed Category

Groups FAQ

2006-06-04T12:48:02Z

Taatparya: /* What is the 'force' setting? */

==General==
===What is the 'groups mode' setting?===

There are three different groups mode – No groups, Separate Groups, Visible Groups. In ‘Separate groups’ mode, each group can only see their own group – other groups are invisible. In ‘Visible groups’ mode, each group works in their own group, but can also see other groups.

===What is the 'force' setting?===

If force is set to yes, then all activities are group activities. This overrides any settings for individual activities. If force is set to no, then activities are only group activities if they have been set to group mode. In this case, each activity requires to be set to group mode individually.

===How do I assign a teacher to a group? Can a teacher be in more than one group?===

You can assign a teacher to a group in exactly the same way that you assign a student to a group. In 1.5, a teacher cannot be in more than one group. This will change in 1.6.

===How do I restrict a teacher to view only information about the groups that they are in?===

For Separate Groups mode, if a teacher has edit rights set to yes, then they can see all groups. If a teacher has edit rights set to no, then they can see only the groups of which they are a member.

===What determines whether students can see a teacher's profile?===

A student can see the profile of all teachers that are members of their group or that have edit rights.

===I have two groups that meet on different days. Can I set up activities for different times for the two groups?===

Not currently. You can create a separate course for each class using backup and restore, though you do then have to update both courses.

===Can I use the same groups for more than one course?===

Not currently. There are two possible workarounds for this. The first is to give the students group enrolment keys, so they enrol themselves into the right group for each course. The other alternative is to create a master course with all the students enrolled and in the correct groups, and then to make each of the courses a metacourse (link) based on that master course (although the metacourse documentation claims that metacourses do not preserve groups, this seems to have been used by some people). See the documentation on [[Metacourses]].

===Can a student be a member of more than one group? Is it possible to have students not in any group?===

In 1.5, a student cannot be a member of more than one group. This will change in 1.6. A student does not need to be in a group.

===If I have several groups, can I make a specific activity visible to just one of those groups?===

Not currently. You can however make a forum post visible to just one group.

===Can I have one set of groups for Activity A and another set of groups for Activity B?===

Not currently.

===Is it possible to view all the groups in a course as a list to print out?===

Not currently.

===When I try to add a student, they are always added to the first group, whichever group I select?===

Make sure that the students name does not include any punctuation. There is also a workaround – give each group a temporary name at the start of the alphabet, put your students in the group and then rename the group.

==Activity modules and groups==

Different activity modules vary as to how they treat groups – some have better support for groups than others! In general if you have questions about how an activity supports groups, you’re advised to post in the forum for the activity module, and not the groups forum.

===What happens if I switch an activity from being in non-groups mode to being in groups mode?===

This depends on the activity module in question.

For forums, posts made before the forum is put into groups mode are visible to all students after you have put the forum into group mode. However students cannot reply to these posts if they have no group (i.e. blank).

===What happens if I change the groups for an activity in groups mode e.g. if I move a student from one group to another?===

Again this depends on the activity module. You may find that grades or activity logs are lost, so check for the specific activity module first.

===How do I post a message in a forum that only one group can see?===

Before you click 'Add a new topic', you need to choose the group from the Separate groups drop-down menu at the top left.

===As a teacher I want to put the same post in each group's forum with students able to reply to that post. How can I do this?===

You need to post the same message into the forum for each group. There is currently no way to do this in one go if you want students to be able to reply to your post. If you don't mind students not being able to reply, then you can of course just post the message to all participants.

[[Category:Teacher]]
[[Category:Groups]]
[[Category:FAQ]]

User:Vikram solia

2006-02-22T08:41:39Z

Taatparya:

co-Founder of vidyaweb.com

MoodleDocs talk:Authentication

2006-02-20T02:49:30Z

Taatparya:

Looks like we are on the way to having a common login for moodle.org and moodle docs. Though the username and password are same, the transition is not automatic, should we look forward to that in the short term? <br />
[[User:vikram solia|vikram solia]] 10:49, 20 February 2006 (WST)