I've been working on a Help Desk solution that would integrate nicely with Moodle and is structured to be plug-in based.
What is this "Help Desk" block?
It is an add-on for Moodle that will allow institutions to have a Help Desk solution right in their CMS. This benefits users by having a support desk very close to the environment that (in our case, a virtual school,) our students and instructors use very often, Moodle.
In addition to putting this Help Desk closer to our users, a contributed block would allow us implement what our paid service would not provide, such as multiple-assigned users per ticket.
Why a block for the Help Desk?
A block is the only plug-in for Moodle where would could have the Help Desk show up on the front page and for all course pages. My goal is to make the Help Desk as easy to use for users submitting tickets. Although the block itself may look basic, it is a very small portion of the Help Desk itself.
Why can't I use multiple instances of the Help Desk?
This is because this block is designed to service an entire Moodle website. Access comes from the context of the System, not individual courses. That way a single Help Desk Answerer can look at tickets submitted from any user regardless of the course that it was submitted in.
Plug-in Link
The link has an error, because it has not been approved yet.
Jonathan, thanks for adding your Help Desk block to our modules and plugins database. The entry has now been approved and so is viewable by everyone http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=13&rid=4086. (Apologies for the delay Claire.)
Hello Helen,
I submitted a new authentication plugin a few days ago and did not receive any response of approval yet.
Can you see what is going on or give me the contact of the person who manages these issues?
The plugin name is uniquelogin and the link in Modules is
http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=13&rid=4060
Tks,
ED
I submitted a new authentication plugin a few days ago and did not receive any response of approval yet.
Can you see what is going on or give me the contact of the person who manages these issues?
The plugin name is uniquelogin and the link in Modules is
http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=13&rid=4060
Tks,
ED
Loaded the unzipped file to Block area and it will not display. Running Moodle 1.9.9. No Readme file to reference on installing.
Also running 1.9.9 and followed the same procedure. Copied the unzipped helpdesk folder into the blocks folder. Nothing showed up under Modules \ blocks and nothing in the add block drop down menu.
I did also try in the modules (mod) folder but this caused the error:
Module "helpdesk" is not readable - check permissions
OK I had to try - no installation instructions and the structure looked similar to other modules.
Anyone got this working yet?
DavidR
Well I am not sure how helpful this is but I just uploaded it to a Moodle 1.9.3 (first one that came to hand) and it worked perfectly. Did you make sure you were uploading the helpdesk folder INSIDE the other one and not all of it? And once uploaded into the blocks directory did you go to site admin>notifications to set the tables up?
Hi David,
I just installed it in Moodle 1.9.9 with no problems.
But when I log in as a student I don't see it on the front page.
Cheers,
Glenys
I just installed it in Moodle 1.9.9 with no problems.
But when I log in as a student I don't see it on the front page.
Cheers,
Glenys
Hi there,
Screenshots of what I see as admin logged in and when not logged in.
The ticket you can see, I sent as admin.
If I log in as a student I don't see anything either.
Cheers,
Glenys
Screenshots of what I see as admin logged in and when not logged in.
The ticket you can see, I sent as admin.
If I log in as a student I don't see anything either.
Cheers,
Glenys
Hi Glenys
I had the same problem as you, but ran out of time to test it this afternoon. I noticed that there are two permissions associated with this block - 'helpdesk asker' and 'helpdesk answerer'. Both are set to 'not set' for the student role.
Tomorrow I was planning to set the permission for 'helpdesk asker' to 'allow' in the student role (although I would have thought that would have been set as default). So try that and see if it makes a difference... it will save me doing it tomorrow
I had the same problem as you, but ran out of time to test it this afternoon. I noticed that there are two permissions associated with this block - 'helpdesk asker' and 'helpdesk answerer'. Both are set to 'not set' for the student role.
Tomorrow I was planning to set the permission for 'helpdesk asker' to 'allow' in the student role (although I would have thought that would have been set as default). So try that and see if it makes a difference... it will save me doing it tomorrow
Hi Jon,
I changed the permissions and that did the trick - but I've always been told not to change permissions at site level.
I also feel the interface is overly techie for the people it's meant to help. The big problem my users have is working out how to login to Moodle - it's an open site I want people to login to freely. The people who would be interested in it: primary school teachers, language teachers, learning to read teachers, special eduction teachers... are not a very techie lot. I already have tutorials on the frontpage but people have so many unforeseeable problems: trying to login with their husband's email address, changing their email address, thinking that the password proposed by Firefox must be correct, etc. etc.
This block could be really useful if it were more orientated to people like that.
Cheers,
Glenys
I changed the permissions and that did the trick - but I've always been told not to change permissions at site level.
I also feel the interface is overly techie for the people it's meant to help. The big problem my users have is working out how to login to Moodle - it's an open site I want people to login to freely. The people who would be interested in it: primary school teachers, language teachers, learning to read teachers, special eduction teachers... are not a very techie lot. I already have tutorials on the frontpage but people have so many unforeseeable problems: trying to login with their husband's email address, changing their email address, thinking that the password proposed by Firefox must be correct, etc. etc.
This block could be really useful if it were more orientated to people like that.
Cheers,
Glenys
Hi,
I went ahead and reloaded the the Helpdesk folder. It worked this time and I reveiwed the Admin>notification and it stated no warnings.
I then proceeded to the Modules>Blocks>Manage Blocks to confirm it was shown.
I still do not see it in the admin site or the student login in.
I am also looking for the permisions that you were talking about and still can not find it.
Thanks,
Doug
Hi,
I was able to turn on the Helpdesk block but the students testing it are still having an issue. I belive that the permissions is to blame.
Thanks,
Doug
Assuming you want all your Authenticated users to have access, go to Admin > users > Permissions > Define role and click on Authorised user click the radio button that allows check Helpdesk asker and answer as appropriate save.
The block will be visable to all authorised (logged in) users. If you want to make it appear in all courses then make it sticky.
John
The block will be visable to all authorised (logged in) users. If you want to make it appear in all courses then make it sticky.
John
Thank you all for your help.
Notification "registered" the new block and I was able to add the block to the front page.
I went to permissions and created a new role called "technician" into which I placed the people who will be answerers and gave this role the "answerer" right. All authenticated users were given the help desk Asker roles.
I will see how the users take to it.
Is there a way to generate a report of the number of issues a technician has cleared, the number of issues a user has created?
DavidR
Notification "registered" the new block and I was able to add the block to the front page.
I went to permissions and created a new role called "technician" into which I placed the people who will be answerers and gave this role the "answerer" right. All authenticated users were given the help desk Asker roles.
I will see how the users take to it.
Is there a way to generate a report of the number of issues a technician has cleared, the number of issues a user has created?
DavidR
It would also be nice if the helpdesk mailed the support people to let them know a ticket has been lodged. Beats having to check all the time. Still a very useful block. Thank you. 
John
John
Hi there,
What am I doing wrong?
I know I shouldn't modify the original roles at site level, so :
Cheers,
Glenys
What am I doing wrong?
I know I shouldn't modify the original roles at site level, so :
- I followed the instructions at http://docs.moodle.org/en/admin/roles/manage#Creating_a_duplicate_role and created a duplicate guest role : Guest copy 1
- I modified Guest copy 1 as in the screenshot below.
- In Frontpage settings, I set the Default frontpage role to Guest copy 1 and saved the changes.
- I logged out as admin and then in again as a Guest but I don't see the Help Desk block. (I did when I modified the original Guest role).
Cheers,
Glenys
Glenys,
I changed the Authenticated user role mainly because of the restrictions on the guest role.
One idea to help the first time users might be to do a book on the front page that has short help topics. I know of one CA site that does it that way.
John
I changed the Authenticated user role mainly because of the restrictions on the guest role.
One idea to help the first time users might be to do a book on the front page that has short help topics. I know of one CA site that does it that way.
John
Hi John,
Thanks for the idea of using Book. At the moment, I have the help in the form of several PDFs because they're easy do download and print out. I've also been considering Flash videos.
90% of people manage to login no problem, but the 10% that have problems, seem always to have different problems - ones that I haven't foreseen. I can often see that they've been trying over and over again to no avail so a help desk would be really useful.
Could you give me a link to the site uses Book?
Cheers,
Glenys
Thanks for the idea of using Book. At the moment, I have the help in the form of several PDFs because they're easy do download and print out. I've also been considering Flash videos.
90% of people manage to login no problem, but the 10% that have problems, seem always to have different problems - ones that I haven't foreseen. I can often see that they've been trying over and over again to no avail so a help desk would be really useful.
Could you give me a link to the site uses Book?
Cheers,
Glenys
I cant remember the site 
and I cant remember which forum the post was in!!
From memory the book had a lot of graphical content. It was certainly aimed at those who where new to the online learning scene. Hopefully someone else reading this has a better memory than I.
John
and I cant remember which forum the post was in!!From memory the book had a lot of graphical content. It was certainly aimed at those who where new to the online learning scene. Hopefully someone else reading this has a better memory than I.
John
Hi John,
I work with Jon. We've added email notifications for ticket updates to the current version we're running; I think Jon might get that into CVS tomorrow.
We have lots more plans for enhancing the features and customizability of the block, so we'll see how soon we can get the work done.
Cheers,
Matt
I work with Jon. We've added email notifications for ticket updates to the current version we're running; I think Jon might get that into CVS tomorrow.
We have lots more plans for enhancing the features and customizability of the block, so we'll see how soon we can get the work done.
Cheers,
Matt
Hi!
Yes, I will have this up on the CVS server as soon as I finish cleaning up a couple things including adding a README.
To clarify any issues with the roles for the Help Desk, it is dependent on system roles. Giving Authenticated Users access as a Help Desk Asker will give all users the ability to submit tickets. There is a risk of spam so I decided not to make that a default. I'm considering adding anti-spam checks so I feel better about making it a default.
I'll try to have this all up by the end of the day.
Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it.
-Jon
Yes, I will have this up on the CVS server as soon as I finish cleaning up a couple things including adding a README.
To clarify any issues with the roles for the Help Desk, it is dependent on system roles. Giving Authenticated Users access as a Help Desk Asker will give all users the ability to submit tickets. There is a risk of spam so I decided not to make that a default. I'm considering adding anti-spam checks so I feel better about making it a default.
I'll try to have this all up by the end of the day.
Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it.
-Jon
Hey there,
Great block - very useful indeed.
I just downloaded the block and installed, no problems, but I'm not sure how to set up the email notifications....???
Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks
Great block - very useful indeed.
I just downloaded the block and installed, no problems, but I'm not sure how to set up the email notifications....???
Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks
hi,
I'm having problems running helpdesk. I install it unzipped in the blocks, run notifications and nothing happens. You said you reloaded and it run for you. What to you mean 'reload' it?
Thank you,
Ale
Alex - It sounds like you may be trying to install the 1.9 version of the helpdesk block in a 2.0+ version of Moodle which will not work. Micahel de Raadt and I presented a workshop at the recent Sydney describing how to upgrade a block and hope to share our work with the primary maintainer of that code. Folks here may be interested in following the issue I created in the tracker for updating the block at CONTRIB-3039 and commenting/voting for it. Peace - Anthony
Hi Glenys,
This is a comment I've heard more than once, and this has only been out for 2 days.
One suggestion I've heard is to replace 'ticket' with 'request' in the lang file, but that's surely just a start. What specific suggestions do you have to make the interface more user-friendly?
Patches are very welcome!
Cheers,
Matt
This is a comment I've heard more than once, and this has only been out for 2 days.
One suggestion I've heard is to replace 'ticket' with 'request' in the lang file, but that's surely just a start. What specific suggestions do you have to make the interface more user-friendly?
Patches are very welcome!
Cheers,
Matt
One additional feature that could be good is a field to enter a computer name that relates to the issue. A field for categories of problems could help.
As a manager of technicians I have to follow a number of pages to see the issues that they are dealing with. A display on the block showing the number of open tickets would be helpful.
I also mentioned a reporting function. Issues resolved per technician. Issues per users. Issue per cumputer. Issues per category.
DavidR
Hi Matt,
Yes, "request" instead of "ticket is a good idea, or maybe "question". Not all users are native English speakers and "question" is a more common word.
Here are my suggestions for the wording:
My Submitted Tickets > My Questions
View all Tickets > View all Questions
Submit a new ticket > Ask a new Question
Submitted By > Asked by:
Issue Details > Details:
Summary > My Question:
Submit Ticket > Send Question (or Save Question)
I'll be happy to translate it into French when it's stable.
Something different.
in "Asker" role, if I click on "View all tickets", there seems to be no way to get back to main help desk page.
Thanks to you and Jon for your work on this.
Cheers,
Glenys
Yes, "request" instead of "ticket is a good idea, or maybe "question". Not all users are native English speakers and "question" is a more common word.
Here are my suggestions for the wording:
My Submitted Tickets > My Questions
View all Tickets > View all Questions
Submit a new ticket > Ask a new Question
Submitted By > Asked by:
Issue Details > Details:
Summary > My Question:
Submit Ticket > Send Question (or Save Question)
I'll be happy to translate it into French when it's stable.
Something different.
in "Asker" role, if I click on "View all tickets", there seems to be no way to get back to main help desk page.
Thanks to you and Jon for your work on this.
Cheers,
Glenys
Hi Glenys,
I agree, less abrasive and simple terminology will go a long way here. I tend to think on the technical end and I think less about the little niceties that this block should have. This is something I do plan to do at some point in the near future. I appreciate any input you have to give. I know that what I think may be good, may not be what we want.
Thanks,
Jon
I agree, less abrasive and simple terminology will go a long way here. I tend to think on the technical end and I think less about the little niceties that this block should have. This is something I do plan to do at some point in the near future. I appreciate any input you have to give. I know that what I think may be good, may not be what we want.
Thanks,
Jon
Hello Glenys (and Jon),
I tried substituting 'ticket' with 'question', though I didn't make all the changes you suggested...I should've re-read your post first. I'm pleased with the results.
Anyhow, I've attached a patch to http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/CONTRIB-2288 so you can see what you think of those changes.
--matt
I tried substituting 'ticket' with 'question', though I didn't make all the changes you suggested...I should've re-read your post first. I'm pleased with the results.
Anyhow, I've attached a patch to http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/CONTRIB-2288 so you can see what you think of those changes.
--matt
Hi Jon and Matt,
I downloaded the latest version today and have been experimenting with it. As a not very techie admin it's been a bit of a challenge. I'm not sure I'm using it correctly.
There are some things I don't understand: as Answerer I replied to a Guest User's question and changed the status to "Work in progress". In the screenshot below you can see that in the Question overview the status is now "Work in progress" but in the Update history on the right the status is successively "Question status updated" and "Comment". Is that what it's supposed to be? I don't understand what information they give an ordinary user.
I particularly don't understand "Comment". As an answerer, there's a dropdown menu "Update status" but the only option is "Comment".
Is there a way to delete questions? At my first try, I created a complete mess but the only way I could get rid of it all was by deleting and reinstalling the block.
Here are a couple of typos I, or rather my Firefox spell checker, noticed:
I downloaded the latest version today and have been experimenting with it. As a not very techie admin it's been a bit of a challenge. I'm not sure I'm using it correctly.
There are some things I don't understand: as Answerer I replied to a Guest User's question and changed the status to "Work in progress". In the screenshot below you can see that in the Question overview the status is now "Work in progress" but in the Update history on the right the status is successively "Question status updated" and "Comment". Is that what it's supposed to be? I don't understand what information they give an ordinary user.
I particularly don't understand "Comment". As an answerer, there's a dropdown menu "Update status" but the only option is "Comment".
Is there a way to delete questions? At my first try, I created a complete mess but the only way I could get rid of it all was by deleting and reinstalling the block.
Here are a couple of typos I, or rather my Firefox spell checker, noticed:
-
You are being notfified because one of your questions have been updated and may require your attention.
-
Recieve Questions from Email
Oooo - I like 'Helper' instead of 'Answerer'.
There is not currently a way to delete questions, but we should add that. In addition, we should go through careful reviews of workflows for both users and helpers.
We are using this block in our school now, and we are migrating from our old helpdesk system to this one. The weaknesses of this block are becoming very apparent very quickly, but that's part of why we're switching to it right now. We need to know what we need to fix.
When I say "workflows", I'm thinking of what you see in various question lists and how easy it is to navigate in a natural flow. Right now, you see 5 of your submitted questions (sorted by what?) in the Help Desk block without regard to whether they're open, in progress, closed, etc.
If closed tickets were invisible unless you asked to see them, I expect you wouldn't be so worried about "deleting" them. This is at the top of our TODO list for this block at this point.
Regards,
Matt
There is not currently a way to delete questions, but we should add that. In addition, we should go through careful reviews of workflows for both users and helpers.
We are using this block in our school now, and we are migrating from our old helpdesk system to this one. The weaknesses of this block are becoming very apparent very quickly, but that's part of why we're switching to it right now. We need to know what we need to fix.
When I say "workflows", I'm thinking of what you see in various question lists and how easy it is to navigate in a natural flow. Right now, you see 5 of your submitted questions (sorted by what?) in the Help Desk block without regard to whether they're open, in progress, closed, etc.
If closed tickets were invisible unless you asked to see them, I expect you wouldn't be so worried about "deleting" them. This is at the top of our TODO list for this block at this point.
Regards,
Matt
Hi Matt and Jon,
I'm very keen to be able to use this with a course starting end of September so please tell me how I can be useful.
Yes, if closed tickets were invisible unless the user asked to see them that would be fine.
Cheers,
Glenys
I'm very keen to be able to use this with a course starting end of September so please tell me how I can be useful.
Yes, if closed tickets were invisible unless the user asked to see them that would be fine.
Cheers,
Glenys
HI Glenys,
We're under some significant pressure to add new features as well as to make some more fundamental design improvements, so I can't promise they'll be delivered in your time-frame, but I certainly hope they will be.
Here's a rough idea of what Jon's working on now:
I hope that helps to give some idea of where we're going now. What do you think?
--matt
We're under some significant pressure to add new features as well as to make some more fundamental design improvements, so I can't promise they'll be delivered in your time-frame, but I certainly hope they will be.
Here's a rough idea of what Jon's working on now:
- ticket status properties in database (so new statuses will someday be addable through the configuration interface)
- adding 'triage' role
- adding a mechanism to hold the first-contact Helper accountable to see the issue resolved, even if it gets handed off
- a configurable idling system to automatically change a ticket status and/or send email notification if a ticket has been unchanged in any unsolved status for a certain length of time (For example: we'll configure this here to nag ourselves every two days about open tickets, to nag users whom we've asked for more information, and to automatically close tickets when a user is unresponsive for two weeks.)
I hope that helps to give some idea of where we're going now. What do you think?
--matt
Hi Matt,
I think points 3. and 4. are useful; I don't understand the first two.
You're obviously aiming this at a large school or university; I'm thinking of a small association or graduate school where I would be the only, or maybe one of two Helpers. Many of my users are barely computer literate - and I'm no star myself. But this is probably not the case in Western universities?
I'm happy to throw out suggestions for making the language more user-friendly - no problem if they're not accepted.
Cheers,
Glenys
I think points 3. and 4. are useful; I don't understand the first two.
You're obviously aiming this at a large school or university; I'm thinking of a small association or graduate school where I would be the only, or maybe one of two Helpers. Many of my users are barely computer literate - and I'm no star myself. But this is probably not the case in Western universities?
I'm happy to throw out suggestions for making the language more user-friendly - no problem if they're not accepted.
Cheers,
Glenys
Hi Gennys,
We're moving the statuses into the database so users in the future will be able to add their own statuses to suit their own institutional needs. Matt wanted a "Triage" capability so a/multiple user(s) could be responsible for handing off tickets. This person would be the first person new tickets come to. I've been thinking about this one lately and I think there may be a better way to handle this, I'm just not quite sure how yet.
-Jon
We're moving the statuses into the database so users in the future will be able to add their own statuses to suit their own institutional needs. Matt wanted a "Triage" capability so a/multiple user(s) could be responsible for handing off tickets. This person would be the first person new tickets come to. I've been thinking about this one lately and I think there may be a better way to handle this, I'm just not quite sure how yet.
-Jon
I agree with Glenys
point 3 and 4 would be worthwhile.
point 3 and 4 would be worthwhile.
I just downloaded the latest from Moodle downloads and installed I have the following error when I go to Blocks >> Helpdesk >> Settings "Section Error" and the link points to http://docs.moodle.org/en/error/admin/sectionerror
Any suggestions?
John
Any suggestions?
John
John,
I'm getting this same error????
I'm getting this same error????
It looks like a file called helpdesk.php is missing from the ../moodle/admin/settings directory.
Seems the Moodle module at moodle.org has not been updated. Hopefully this will trigger the maintainer to intervene.
John
Seems the Moodle module at moodle.org has not been updated. Hopefully this will trigger the maintainer to intervene.
John
As described below, CVS didn't have the settings.php file in the block's directory. So I added it. It should be all set and ready to go now.
-Jon
-Jon
Thanks for the great block (YOU HAVE A FAN!).
One problem if a student submits a question no e-mail is sent to the Moodle administrator to say a question is waiting for a reply?
I have checked our servers and e-mails are being pushed through manually but when a person creates a question using this block through moodle, it submits to the block but no e-mail generates.
could you shed some light?
One problem if a student submits a question no e-mail is sent to the Moodle administrator to say a question is waiting for a reply?
I have checked our servers and e-mails are being pushed through manually but when a person creates a question using this block through moodle, it submits to the block but no e-mail generates.
could you shed some light?
I also think this block is very useful. However, the lack of email is a large problem.
I see from the tracker why it is that this is currently not implemented. May I suggest that we have at least the option to enable it?
In some situations (like ours), it is more useful to have the email generated than be concerned about the group of Answerers it is going to.
Just a thought...
Thanks
I've created another tracker issue with another patch that makes quite a few changes to the breadcrumbs and headings, and generally (I think) makes navigation significantly easier.
Comments are welcome: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/CONTRIB-2290
Cheers,
Matt
Comments are welcome: http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/CONTRIB-2290
Cheers,
Matt
One more -- this time to gather the current URL and course name into the ticket as tags.
http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/CONTRIB-2292
Is that something helpful to others?
--matt
http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/CONTRIB-2292
Is that something helpful to others?
--matt
I just downloaded and installed. Notifications ran fine, but many errors appeared after the block was added to the my courses page:
Warning: it's not recommended to use $text parameter in helpbutton ($page=, $module=block_helpdesk) function
I should note that I am running Postgres 8.1 and Moodle 1.9.9
Warning: it's not recommended to use $text parameter in helpbutton ($page=, $module=block_helpdesk) function
- line 5951 of lib/weblib.php: call to debugging()
- line 182 of blocks/helpdesk/lib.php: call to helpbutton()
- line 105 of blocks/helpdesk/block_helpdesk.php: call to helpdesk_simple_helpbutton()
- line 317 of blocks/moodleblock.class.php: call to block_helpdesk->get_content()
- line 341 of blocks/moodleblock.class.php: call to block_base->is_empty()
- line 338 of lib/blocklib.php: call to block_base->_print_block()
- line 270 of index.php: call to blocks_print_group()
I should note that I am running Postgres 8.1 and Moodle 1.9.9
Hi Drew,
I see what you're saying -- would you mind creating an issue in tracker.moodle.org for this bug?
Thanks,
Matt
I see what you're saying -- would you mind creating an issue in tracker.moodle.org for this bug?
Thanks,
Matt
I've been testing the block a bit today and have run across another issue. Apparently, my theme is not interacting with the block in the way that I would expect it to. I am using the Piranah theme, but also tested the Power of Science theme. In both cases, the information contained when a specific ticket is clicked on, goes beyond the footer. In the case of my theme, I couldn't click on "Assign a User" or "Add New Tag" and when using Firebug, those two areas of the block are being registered inside of the footer.
I tried a few other themes, and it seems to work fine on others... Any thoughts?
I tried a few other themes, and it seems to work fine on others... Any thoughts?
I found that if I removed the "float: right" and "float: left" from the styles.css, everything lands up working correctly in my theme.
Hi Drew,
I took care of the notification about how the helpbutton was being used in a deprecated way, I have it up on the CVS server. Many of the CSS attributes were to get each part of the ticket display to work properly on multiple browsers. I always tested this with Moodle's standard theme and everything seemed to work well there.
-Jon
I took care of the notification about how the helpbutton was being used in a deprecated way, I have it up on the CVS server. Many of the CSS attributes were to get each part of the ticket display to work properly on multiple browsers. I always tested this with Moodle's standard theme and everything seemed to work well there.
-Jon
Which browser(s) do this?
-Jon
-Jon
hi
ty 4 block
same problem as trina and mike
when I tried to go to Manage Blocks > Settings, I get a section error in line 15 of admin/block.php: call to admin_externalpage_setup()
tried to uninstall - re-download - reinstall and found no version,php file either in latest zip or cvs ...
any help?
t
ty 4 block
same problem as trina and mike
when I tried to go to Manage Blocks > Settings, I get a section error in line 15 of admin/block.php: call to admin_externalpage_setup()
tried to uninstall - re-download - reinstall and found no version,php file either in latest zip or cvs ...
any help?
t
ok, sorry, this is a block not an activity module!
same problem in settings
trace:
ty
same problem in settings
trace:
- line 5835 of lib\weblib.php: call to debugging()
- line 4261 of lib\adminlib.php: call to print_error()
- line 15 of moodleadmin\block.php: call to admin_externalpage_setup()
ty
my moodle version is
1.9.8. (test server) &
1.9.9. (production server)
still havent tried 1.9.9.,
normally only install in production server after sucessfull testing in test server
1.9.8. (test server) &
1.9.9. (production server)
still havent tried 1.9.9.,
normally only install in production server after sucessfull testing in test server
Hi Filipe,
It may be an issue with 1.9.8. I've tested the settings with 1.9.5, 1.9.6, and 1.9.9 with no issues in any of them. Do you have an archive the the particular version of Moodle I can use to test this? (Please make an issue in the Moodle Tracker and provide the archive there.)
Thank you,
Jon
It may be an issue with 1.9.8. I've tested the settings with 1.9.5, 1.9.6, and 1.9.9 with no issues in any of them. Do you have an archive the the particular version of Moodle I can use to test this? (Please make an issue in the Moodle Tracker and provide the archive there.)
Thank you,
Jon
Filipe and Jonathan,
I'm getting the same Section Error! (Admin > Modules > Blocks > Settings) in Moodle version Moodle 1.9.9+ (Build: 20100825)
Any thoughts?
I'm getting the same Section Error! (Admin > Modules > Blocks > Settings) in Moodle version Moodle 1.9.9+ (Build: 20100825)
Any thoughts?
Hi Chris
Jonathan is already informed on this, hopefully we'll have a solution or correction really soon.
Jonathan is already informed on this, hopefully we'll have a solution or correction really soon.
You should be able to pull the fix off of CVS now.
-Jon
-Jon
Is there a way to pretty up the block a little - maybe add a helpdesk image or similar?
I haven't thought about improving the look of the block. Is there anything you would recommend or something you would like to be able to do to improve the look of the block?
-Jon
-Jon
Initially I was thinking just the ability to edit the block and add an image.
I've since hidden the block and linked directly from my navigation menu.
Cheers
I've since hidden the block and linked directly from my navigation menu.
Cheers
Hi Jonathan,
I just downloaded the zip and installed version 2010083100.
I can't see any Help Desk's settings.php file neither config_global.html in the helpdesk.zip.
And so I'm also getting the Section Error! when I try Admin > Modules > Blocks > Helpdesk Settings (Moodle 1.9.9+)
I can't see these configuration files neither at http://cvs.moodle.org/contrib/plugins/blocks/helpdesk/
Helena
I just downloaded the zip and installed version 2010083100.
I can't see any Help Desk's settings.php file neither config_global.html in the helpdesk.zip.
And so I'm also getting the Section Error! when I try Admin > Modules > Blocks > Helpdesk Settings (Moodle 1.9.9+)
I can't see these configuration files neither at http://cvs.moodle.org/contrib/plugins/blocks/helpdesk/
Helena
That is because when I commited to CVS today I noticed that settings.php was one of the files that wasn't commited yet (!!, was never added!) So I went ahead and added it along with other uncommitted files. I haven't archived this up yet to download, but I will after the next set of major revisions.
-Jon
-Jon
Thanks Jon,
Happy to report that I downloaded the latest version yesterday, tested and all seems to be working ok. Including email notifications etc
Using Moodle v1.9.9
Thanks for a great block!
Happy to report that I downloaded the latest version yesterday, tested and all seems to be working ok. Including email notifications etc
Using Moodle v1.9.9
Thanks for a great block!
Hi Jon,
i've installed the block today and everyhting works fine (Version: 1.9.9, test server).
What do you think, will it be possible in future version, having multiple instances of the Help Deks? Unfortunately we don't want to use it in the context of the complete system, but just in one course it would be very nice.
What do you guess?
Greetz from Germany
Jan
I've picked up this block but am struggling to do something simple with Roles (Moodle 1.9.7).
I want students to be Askers only, but nonediting-teachers and above to be able to Answer. My Permission settings are below but what I get is Students only able to Ask (which is OK), but NE Teachers also can only Ask -- but they should be able to Answer too.
How should these settings be used?
Settings are:
Auth user: Ask=Allow; Answer=Not Set
Student: Ask=Allow; Answer=Prevent
NE Teacher (and above): Ask=Allow; Answer=Allow
I just installed the Helpdesk in my Moodle 1.9.10 and was wondering where is the email being sent to and how to set it? Can I receive a notice when a ticket has been placed? Where is that setting?
Thanks,
Hello,
I have installed Helpdesk and noticed that the file version.php is not present.
I received this error when I tried to configure some of the Helpdesk settings:
"Module helpdesk: /var/www/mod/helpdesk/version.php was not readable"
Am I missing something?
I used Moodle version Moodle 1.9.9+ (Build: 20100811)
Thank you,
Max
A quick work around to that which may work.
As root/admin/toor whoever is applicable from a shell prompt execute the following
touch /var/www/mod/helpdesk/version.php
Re-Run Notifications.
It creates a null file and stops the complaint from the php script.
Courtesy of the smoke an mirrors dept Dorset Learning.
Love this block, but I can't seem to get it working. Couldn't get it to display for users who had non-Admin roles. Followed the instructions someone posted earlier about changing Permissions, but that didn't work.
So I decided to update the block with a new version, which made the problem worse. Now when adding the block, I get a message where the Help Desk block would display that says, "Invalid status id on ticket 1." Not only is there no way to get rid of the message, but the Blocks drop-down menu no longer displays on the page where I added the Help Desk blockdespite Editing being turned on. There was test ticket present before we updated the Help Desk block. The message must be referring to that ticket.
Any ideas on how to fix this?
Ignore the "Invalid status" message problem. Forgot about going to Notifications, which updated everything. Now the block is showing up.
Still need to figure out how to get the block to display for non-Admins. We're running 1.9.4
HI Everyone,
Great block, thank you. But I've got one strange problem, when I try to assign a ticket to a user (the user is an administrator and help desk answerer) I get "404-file not found" error, apart from that everything seems fine. Can anybody point me in a right direction on how to fix this? Thanks.
The block is working splendidly. I'm thankful for the creators and the suggestions found in this discussion especially the choice of linking the submit a request and putting it where I want it. The only issue that I seem to have a problem with is the email notification. I've setup an email address in the Help Desk Settings. How soon does it send the notification? or to make sure that I've setup the email account correctly, how is that done?
Hi there!
I'm using Windows Server 2003, Apache2.2.14, PHP 5.3.1, MySQL 5.1.41 and latest Moodle. When I copy the helpdesk folder to the blocks directory and try to login either with IE8 or Firefox after entering the password I just see a blank page. Also if I use an empty version.php-file. Any idea ?
how far is the future away from today?
I couldn't find "2.0" in this forum - so I think its too early to ask. right?
hello!!!
Can´t you do a duplicate of the module "help desk" to moodle 2.0???
Sorry for my english because my native lenguage is spanish!
i hope a very soon answer!
Hello everyone,
As many have started asking, where is the Help Desk block support for Moodle 2.x? Well, that is because it hasn't been finished yet. I do plan on updating the block as well as adding more features, however other priorities in life and work require me to refocus my efforts elsewhere.
With that said I suspect that the Help Desk block should be updated and hopefully ready to be pulled around December when Moodle 2.2 is set to release. However, this is a very tenative date, but since the insitution which I work may be switching to Moodle 2.2 before the end of the year (December?), that this would be a requirement for the upgrade.
I will notify everyone when I or someone else begins working on 2.x support.
(With that said I believe Michael De Raadt has already started porting it since the block was used at MoodleMoot earlier this year.)
EDIT: Also for any feature requests or bugs to report I highly recommend using Moodle's tracker at http://tracker.moodle.org.
Cheers,
Jon
Durig our recent migration from Moodle 1.9 to Moodle 2.1 I needed to port Help Desk to new Moodle API. Apart from this I managed to add ticket numbering, coloring for different ticket statuses, I added status for hiding resolved tickets and group for showing them, also changed CSS a bit to be more useable for our library staff which use helpdesk block.
Here's the result: http://ics.p.lodz.pl/~wiktorw/moodle-blocks/helpdesk-2.1.0.tar.gz
If you find this code useful, please post comments, ideas, etc. on this forum. I'd love to help with incorporating these changes into mainline version too.
Dear Wiktor,
I have installed your block on one of our test-servers and my first impression is very positive. I will test the block more extensively in the next few weeks and I will give feedback on my experiences.
Again, my compliments for the work.
Regards,
Sam
May you live in peace Wiktor!
Thanks for your update for Help Desk. I am having a installation of Moodle 2.0.3+ and cannot upgrade right now as my host does not offer php 5.3.
I tried to install the block. It showed that block installed successfully but then a blank page appeared. Can you please suggest what changes to current file can make it work for Moodle 2.0.3+?
After turning on Debugging and then visiting notification page, I got this fatal error.
"Fatal error: Class 'admin_setting_confightmltextarea' not found in /home/mobileap/public_html/classroom/blocks/helpdesk/plugins/native/helpdesk_native.php on line 549"
We are starting a beta test of our site tomorrow. It will be great if someone can quickly resolve our issue.
Thanks.
Recently I have fixed some minor issues in helpdesk (and one error in using database API which I omitted somehow), during our Moodle 2.1 -> to Moodle 2.2 upgrade.
Updated version can be found here:
http://ics.p.lodz.pl/~wiktorw/moodle-blocks/helpdesk-2.1.3.tar.gz
Could you please test this to see if the problem persists? I remember fixing several things in helpdesk_native.php, so maybe the problem is fixed as well.
Hi Wiktor,
I downloaded your help desk block today and very easy to install. But I am unable to assign helpers. Can you please advise what I am doing wrong.
Sharon
There must be users with permission 'HelpDesk answerer', then you would be able to assign them to questions/tickets.
To do so, edit permissions for a role or create a new role and set 'HelpDesk answerer' permission to 'Yes'. Then assign user(s) the modified/created role and you are done.
This block is a great idea, still needs some work in Moodle 2.x but would be great if it could work like the software Zendesk.
Can't wait for this to be fully functioning, it would help so many....Thanks guys.
Could you please define what areas still need work in Moodle 2.x? Maybe then I will be able to look at them, if I know what you mean.
And Zendesk... You must ask them to port their product to Moodle. Help Desk has rather basic functionality, and not much more.
hello,
i have an issue with implementing this block in moodle Moodle 2.2.2+ (Build: 20120315).
it installed smoothly, and when i log in as the site admin i can see the block and work with it, but when i log in as a student i cant see the block.
furthermore, i tried to change the permissions to "allow" so the student can be a "help desk askerer" but it wont change.
also, i get this error "TODO: missing help string [pref_help, block_helpdesk]" when i click on the question mark next to the "perferences" on the bottom of the block.
does this problem have a solution?
thank you!
Dear Mr. Jonathan Doane
I installed Helpdesk block on moodle 2.5
It's working as will just I had a debug error message :
The block helpdesk does not define the standard capability block/helpdesk:addinstance
- line 606 of \blocks\moodleblock.class.php: call to debugging()
- line 584 of \blocks\moodleblock.class.php: call to block_base->has_add_block_capability()
- line 1090 of \lib\blocklib.php: call to block_base->user_can_addto()
- line 1047 of \lib\blocklib.php: call to block_manager->user_can_delete_block()
- line 256 of \blocks\moodleblock.class.php: call to block_manager->edit_controls()
- line 951 of \lib\blocklib.php: call to block_base->get_content_for_output()
- line 1003 of \lib\blocklib.php: call to block_manager->create_block_contents()
- line 353 of \lib\blocklib.php: call to block_manager->ensure_content_created()
- line 7 of \theme\leatherbound\layout\frontpage.php: call to block_manager->region_has_content()
- line 847 of \lib\outputrenderers.php: call to include()
- line 777 of \lib\outputrenderers.php: call to core_renderer->render_page_layout()
- line 99 of \index.php: call to core_renderer->header()
This is a common error. In Moodle 2.4 onward, plugins like blocks and activity modules need to declare an addinstance capability. Please see http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Blocks#db.2Faccess.php for information about this. It is easy enough to fix but if you have questions just let us know. Peace - Anthony
hi,,
how to add sections in quiz,,,like section1 will have 30 question,,,,,section2 has 30 and so,,in one quiz,,,and i want 90 question in one quiz having 3 section of 30 questions in each section,,is it possible in moodle????plz help me
Split your quiz into three pages. I suggest putting a description at the top of each page that states the section. Is that what you mean or do you need some other special requirement of the sections?