Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Jade Tippett -
Number of replies: 18

The problem: The HTML editor disappears, leaving a simple text box in its place.  This occurs in editing courses, creating assignments, and for students, in completing text assignments.  For a while, the Editor appears when needed, and then this stops and the text box appears in its place.  If the user is editing something that has already been saved, HTML code is displayed in the text box.

It also occurs in both Internet Explorer and Firefox.

The work-around in Firefox is to clear the cache and cookies (Tools|Clear Recent History), and reload the page and log in again.

Attempts to solve the problem: I had turned on AJAX for course editing and thought it might be the problem, so I disabled it, but no changes.  I haven't tried disabling AJAX for the whole site.  That may be next, but the temporary server is enough slower that I need all the speed I can eak out of it.

The History: Our sysadmin needed to pull down our Moodle server for repairs - failed RAID  with complications.  He built a new temporary server using Moodle 2.0 over Debian, Apache, and MySQL.  Unfortunately, Moodle 2.0 will not restore courses from Moodle 1.x backups, so he removed the Moodle 2.0 installation and installed Moodle 1.9.11 so I could move the courses to the temporary server.

The course moves were all successful, using Backup and Restore.  All of the student work, user data, etc. is there and students can use the new temporary Moodle.

The plan is to rebuild the old production server with Moodle 2.0, back the courses up on the temporary server, upgrade the temporary server to Moodle 2.0, and use Back-up and Restore to move the courses back to the new production server using Moodle 2.0.

I just need to know if there is a quick fix for the disappearing HTML editor in the meantime.

Thanks in advance.

--j

Jade Tippett

Business and Computer Applications Teacher

Ukiah High School

1000 Low Gap Road

Ukiah, CA 95482

Classroom: 707-463-5253 Ext. 1124

Cell: 707-489-4986

 

 

"Like the mirror said,

'It’s all done with people.'”

--W. Gravy
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In reply to Jade Tippett

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by chees trees -

This is similar to a problem I had.  The fancy word style button menu keeps disappearing? leaving you to add your text with html code only.. ? i think its something to do with safari, moodle detects your browser as safari and then turns off the buttons as a precaution.   I was forced to used different browsers for editing/viewing (maxathon browser works well).  Theres a fix somewere, you change the code to ignore the browser detection? then it stays up... are you using chrome?

Thats the extent of my answer unfortunately, im actually on the forum to sort out my own problems.  I just know how fustrating it is not to get a answer on a forum when your stuck!

if ive described your problem, its solvable and the answers here somewere.  right, now im off to get my own answers.. good luck!

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In reply to chees trees

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Jade Tippett -

This problem occurs in both Firefox 3.x and Internet Explorer 8.x.  I have not tried Safari.  It also occurs inter both Trend Micro and McAfee AntiVirus Plus, so I don't think it's a virus scanner problem.

In addition, I just moved my courses to a new installation of Moodle1.9.11 on a newly built server and the same thing happens.  That server is Ubuntu

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In reply to Jade Tippett

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Helen Foster -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers Picture of Translators

Sorry I can't help either, however I'm just moving this thread to the HTML editor forum and deleting your duplicate post to keep all discussion in one place.

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In reply to Helen Foster

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Nikki T -
The HTML Editor is nowhere to be found in Moodle 2.0. It is not even in the demo moodle site either. It does not appear in Safari or Firefox. It is a bug, even if you clear the cache. The "Preview" button disappeared also.
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In reply to Nikki T

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Mauno Korpelainen -

Nikki,

what kind of device are you using?

Editor of moodle 2 does not support mobile devices and IPads but otherwise you should see editor (TinyMCE) in all modern browsers including Safari and Firefox.

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In reply to Mauno Korpelainen

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Nikki T -
It does not even work with http://demo.moodle.net/
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In reply to Nikki T

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Mauno Korpelainen -

Nikki,

as far as I can see http://demo.moodle.net renders editor just fine with all the  browsers I tested (FF, IE, Safari, Chrome, Opera) but you did not tell which device you are using... you can see the browsers that editor of moodle 2, TinyMCE supports from

http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/wiki.php/Browser_compatiblity

On the other hand if you use some mobile phone, Ipad or similar tablets or if javascript is disabled in your browser you won't be able to see editor that is using javascript. Usually the reason for missing editor is that "something" breaks javascripts or other source of page. This "something" can be on server side or on device side, some script blocking the code or timning out the page load. In theory it could be some virus scanner or some performance testing tool - or some malware, some weird browser plugin etc

Which role, browser & language did you use in http://demo.moodle.net testing? There is one known Chrome bug - http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDLSITE-1136 - and some special cases where moodle 2 does not render editor ( for example when new students are not enrolled to any courses or when you are editing a field that is not set HTML format by default )

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In reply to Jade Tippett

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Mauno Korpelainen -

Jade,

is your site online? I could visit your site and check the source...

The most common reasons for missing editor in moodle 1.9.X are listed in

http://docs.moodle.org/en/HTML_editor_FAQ#The_HTML_Editor_does_not_appear

and this sounds like those old GoDaddy hosted site issues but some script on your site or in your PC might have similar effect (malware or adware or some free "ad" on your site)

Do you see editor here (moodle.org) ?

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In reply to Mauno Korpelainen

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Jade Tippett -

Our Ukiah High Moodle is self-hosted at htp://moodle.uusd.net

The server is a recently created Dell 64 bit quad core, running the latest versions of MySQL, PHP, and Apache over Ubuntu.

I noticed the same exact pattern on another temporary server running Moodle 1.9.11 in the same configuration.

The Editor disappears in both Firefox 3.x and Internet Explorer 8, whether you have a single tab or many tabs open.

I have have experimented with having multiple tabs open with instances of Moodle in them.  If the Editor fails to open in one tab, and I go back to another tab that shows the editor and attempt to open a full-screen Editor window, the window opens but there is no Editor.

This happens with both Trent Micro running and McAfee Virus Scan Plus.

It "feels like" the Editor has some corrupt code in it that is triggering some protective function in the browser or through the OS or the virus protection.  I haven't counted the number of times you can get the Editor to open before it fails, but I would venture it is four or five.

Hope that helps.

--j

 

 

 

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In reply to Jade Tippett

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Mauno Korpelainen -

This might be some new issue - but I can't reproduce it with any of my test servers and the source of your site looked normal. Sounds like some server setting could cache files multiple times (four or five) and after that final cached content some server misconfiguration or bug ... or virus scanner/Firewall could break things ???

I could try 64 bit Windows7 tomorrow.

You could post the issue to tracker with some detailed data - I must say I am just as confused as you are. wide eyes

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In reply to Mauno Korpelainen

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Jade Tippett -

All of the clients are Windows XP machines with up-to-date OS software.

The issue seems oddly intermittent.  While I was grading student work, the Editor appeared normally for quite a while.  Then I moved to create a new assignment and it disappeared. Once it fails to display, it generally does not come back without clearing the cache and cookies and logging in again.

Equally puzzling is the fact that the same glitch occurs from two different servers with separate instances of Moodle, using the same database and data files.  Both servers have the same configuration: latest MySQL, PHP, Apache, over Ubuntu on both.

I'll put it on the Tracker tomorrow from school.

I'll also mention the caching issue to our SysOp

 

Thanks,

--j

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In reply to Jade Tippett

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Jade Tippett -

Further digging and a possible cause, but I don't understand where to go from here:

Rather than dig through the code on a full page, I waited for the editor to fail in the grading pop-up.  Then I saved the complete web page so I could look at the dependencies.

When the Editor is working, the dependency file list look like this:

Dependencies when Editor Works

When the Editor fails, the dependencies list is a lot shorter:

Looking a little deeper, the file size of the file htmlarea.js when the editor works is 103 kb.  when it fails, htmlarea.js is only 68 kb, but is a complete file and not a file fragment.

Digging deeper still, in the fail case, which I have duplicated, htmlarea.js ends at the same place, line 1724:

HtmlAreaFail

To dig farther, I need to work with the sysop, who is ferociously busy.

Any pointers in a useful direction would be helpful.  I have included a complete copy of the failed htmlarea.js file as an attachment.

Additional info:

We upgraded a testing server to Moodle 2.0 and it has the same problem.  I have not had the time to dig into the file dependencies for that server, but it is clear that the server is the issue. We did not have this problem until we rebuilt the servers using this Debian/Ubuntu/ISPConfig configuration.

The server is running ISPConfig to manage several sites on a single IP address.

Thanks for all your help.  Moodle is essential to my courses.

--j

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In reply to Jade Tippett

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Richard Ackland -

I can confirm that this is happening on our Moodle 2.0.3+ installation with TinyMCE as well.

We are using an Xserve with a straightforward single IP address. It is internal to the site. This is a nice fast server with loads of memory, so performance is not an issue.

Loosing the editor is a real pain!

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In reply to Richard Ackland

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Sebastian Martínez -

html editor disappeared.
only appears after I refresh the cache.
show in the picture below the error htmlarea

htmlareahtmlarea1

Saludos. Sebastián

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In reply to Sebastian Martínez

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by Mihir J -

Hi, I am having same issue in Moodle 1.9.11

I am getting exactly the same error given in screenshot above by Sebastian

anybody got any solution to this.

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In reply to Mihir J

Re: Disappearing HTML Editor in Moodle 1.9.11

by paul dubois -

The HTML Bar has dissapared. When I want to create a web page I don't see the bar.

I used Safari and Firefox and the problem still persists.

My hosting company is Hostgator. They got a nice Tech Support.

When I installed my moodle I had a configuration problem with the php. folders and I needed to upgrade it to 5.3. Hostgator tech did that for me.

It seems that this problem can't be fixed. I do not want to reinstall the moodle again.

Please HELP!

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