Fresh Moodle 1.9.7 All OK except Layout (XAMPP)

Fresh Moodle 1.9.7 All OK except Layout (XAMPP)

by Marcos Chimenti -
Number of replies: 7

Dear friends:

I am testing 2 Moodle installations (a machine for each), one with wpp_pampa and another with XAMPP. The wpp_pampa installation is 100%, but, in spite of flagging no erros or alerts during the installation process, the XAMPP one does not show the correct layout when visited from a client. It looks OK when accessed from the server, though (same computer where Moodle XAMPP resides).

All machines are running Windos XP SP2. Both installations ran without any problems. Both run Moodle 1.9.7 (fresh install). The XAMPP package was downloaded from the Moodle site. Both are running Firefox 3.5.6.

We have modified the entry in the "config.php" file from "localhost" to the correct (public) IP (the other entries were untouched). The page can be accessed by using either the IP or the machine name, but it looks as if the CSS is not read.

Is there something else we forgot to set? The systems are OK, since PAMPA runs smoothly.

Thanks in advance,

Marcos Costa e Silva

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In reply to Marcos Chimenti

Re: Fresh Moodle 1.9.7 All OK except Layout (XAMPP)

by Colin Fraser -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Testers
I am going to assume you are looking at one or the other as a production site, and right now the Xampp is not looking good. Well, leave it that way. The Xampp installer is something created for standalone machines - for Teachers to use on their home computers to create courses that can be uploaded to the production server. It is easy to install, simple to use, but it is severely limited in a number of ways, resource usage being but one.

I am also assuming that your Xampp machine has a static ip, in which case there is probably an unknown issue relating to the installation, which happens from time to time but is actually unusual if you have configured the ip. Best just to drop it and start again - otherwise it is so time consuming trying to fix it.

I do not know a lot about wpp_pamp, but that is a portable web server on a stick, a WOS, so I can't see that being too helpful in an intense usage situation either. It will not run if the computer that you plug into already has a web server running, btw.

I suspect these are both minor installations, limited in capability, and considered for ease of installation rather than end use. This is not a good starting position unless you are looking for something to give people to take home with them. Bear in mind that the Xampp it is capable of handling up to about 20-25 simultaneous connections, but any more than that, performance falls away rather rapidly apparently. Do not know about wpp_pamp but I suspect a similar sort of thing as well.

So what is your end use, production site likely to have more than 25 people on it at any one time? Or simple internal training network for fewer people? If the wpp_pamp is working, use it, see what performance hits you get as more people log on, test it - and please, let us know how you get on. Add to the knowledge we have. If it is a larger site, you really need to install the stand alone versions of things, their capabilities are not so curtailed.
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In reply to Colin Fraser

Re: Fresh Moodle 1.9.7 All OK except Layout (XAMPP)

by Marcos Chimenti -

Dear Colin:

your assumptions are correct. This is a test drive for an upcoming distance learning site a school will be offering. I´m training a group of 15 teachers to use Moodle, so, I figured it would be interesting if they could simulate creating lessons and tests and posting them in a test environment. A Production Moodle Server will be in place and will be configured accordingly, in the near future.

As far as a training experience goes, I would like them to download and install Moodle themselves. The most intuitive way would be by using the "oficial" download from Moodle.org.

The PAMPA installation is quite simple, but it will require a couple more stops in the process. Still, I was puzzled by that problem since I have already seen the official installation work the way I want it to.

Would you know of any reasons why the CSS can't be read? Is there some different settings (in XAMPP) that I could try?

Thanks in advance.

Marco Costa e Silva

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In reply to Marcos Chimenti

Re: Fresh Moodle 1.9.7 All OK except Layout (XAMPP)

by klebe stift -

I am having a similar issue. Have the xampp release of 1.9.7 installed. When I change the wwwroot in config.php (or comment it out, or even delete the whole contents of the file), the changes are ignored. All links still point to the old wwwroot and the css is not found (I assume because it is looking at the old wwwroot for the css and not the new).

Does this version have some kind of php caching turned on? I don't know...

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In reply to klebe stift

Re: Fresh Moodle 1.9.7 All OK except Layout (XAMPP)

by Jon Witts -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers
I think it has a php accelerator enabled which might have the same effect...
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In reply to Jon Witts

Re: Fresh Moodle 1.9.7 All OK except Layout (XAMPP)

by klebe stift -
That was it, disabling (commenting) the eAccelerator section in php.ini has fixed it. Thanks.
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In reply to klebe stift

Re: Fresh Moodle 1.9.7 All OK except Layout (XAMPP)

by Colin Fraser -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Testers
Missed this one, should have followed up. Thanks Jon, I would not have considered the eAccelerator at all.
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In reply to Colin Fraser

Re: Fresh Moodle 1.9.7 All OK except Layout (XAMPP)

by Jon Witts -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers
For my money; the PHP accelerator in the xampp download of Moodle for Windows causes the majority of issues for people editing files and then not seeing the changes. Perhaps it should be turned off by default?

Jon
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