A few years a go when I first tried Moodle I ran into the problem of sharing resources between courses, e.g. a doc/.flv/.xls/.jpg, etc., that I wanted to be able to store in one place (so I could easily maintain it, i.e. update it in one place and update all instances where the resource was used) but make them available for use in several courses. I first made comments in Moodle Tracker 3 years ago:-
MDL-9143 on 24/07/07 & 17/12/07
MDL-13767 in on 29/04/08
I've barely used my Moodle installation since then because of this problem. I've just updated my site to 1.9.8 and can't see any sign of changes to the way resources are handled - you still seem to have to upload them to folders specific to the course they are used on and duplicate the act every time you want to reuse a resource somewhere else.
Can someone update me on the situation?
At one time I was looking at seeing if anyone had hooked up a server side document management application (I looked at Kordil) to Moodle but I couldn't find any evidence of that having been tried.
Apologies if this is not the right place to ask (please point me somewhere better!) - I didn't think asking on Tracker was the best place and I find the whole moodle application and community large and difficult to get my head around.
regards
Neil
This should be possible in Moodle 2. Have you had a look at the pre-release versions?
I hadn't looked. Frankly I don't think it will be time well spent as I want a web based platform I can build on and use now. I really wanted and needed it up and running 3 years ago. It's disappointing that the requirement was missing in the first place and that it has taken so long to get where Moodle is now. I read somewhere that they are at release candidate 3 in a possible series of 8 ATM but I didn't come across anything suggesting any kind of target release date. I know how difficult it can be, not just to predict any release date with any certainty but to actually get the product ready for release - I used to work on mass spectrometry software - a codebase of 2G built up over 20 years. I guess it could easily be 1-2 years before version 2.0 is available.
I know this will sound like caustic sarcasm but it's not meant to - does anyone know if there are there any other missing major features that are going to take 3-5 years to introduce?
I know this will sound like caustic sarcasm but it's not meant to - does anyone know if there are there any other missing major features that are going to take 3-5 years to introduce?
>I know this will sound like caustic sarcasm but it's not meant to - does anyone know if
> there are there any other missing major features that are going to take 3-5 years to introduce?
Most certainly yes.
On a more serious note, have you looked into metacourses? Is expanded libraries similar to what you'd like to achieve?
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Metacourse_examples_of_use#Expanding_the_library_concept
> there are there any other missing major features that are going to take 3-5 years to introduce?
Most certainly yes.
On a more serious note, have you looked into metacourses? Is expanded libraries similar to what you'd like to achieve?
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Metacourse_examples_of_use#Expanding_the_library_concept
That sounds like a workable solution for now Steven 
You are very right to be cautious about software release dates but based on the buzz version 2 is much closer than 1 -2 years.
I suggest you have a look at the article and videos i did here:
http://moodle.drupalgardens.com/article/sun-05022010-2103/repositories
and today here
http://moodle.drupalgardens.com/article/tue-06152010-1918/ftp-files-moodle-20-repository-api
Manging your content in a distinct repository, like aflresco, and copying latest versions into Moodle is a good solid way to work.
You can also (where appropriate) just link to the file rather than copy it.
However as someone once said to me, if i use the same resource in same course two years in a row, it may be updated, but I dont want to change the first years version.
This is why copying the "latest" available version in works well, but from a shared repository.
http://moodle.drupalgardens.com/article/sun-05022010-2103/repositories
and today here
http://moodle.drupalgardens.com/article/tue-06152010-1918/ftp-files-moodle-20-repository-api
Manging your content in a distinct repository, like aflresco, and copying latest versions into Moodle is a good solid way to work.
You can also (where appropriate) just link to the file rather than copy it.
However as someone once said to me, if i use the same resource in same course two years in a row, it may be updated, but I dont want to change the first years version.
This is why copying the "latest" available version in works well, but from a shared repository.
Hi Cavin
It seems that Moodle 2.0 have a better contol of repository, but I've a question on this.
By viewing your video, bascially you can link the file repository by creating a linking (eg a file link, label link) in a particular course, but for some people they may not want to just add a file link, instead of it, for example in Moodle 1.9, teacher will upload the file into that particular course first, then create a table and places the file link (such as : http://www.domain.com/moodle/file.php/6/321.doc ) into the table and format the table with a good look. By using this way, they can customize the resource look within the course page and can also protect the file .
I'm not sure if Moodle 2.0 can work like this? Or can be done in another way? Thanks very much!!
Lawrence