Hi folks,
Is it possible to link to certain pages within a PDF using moodle. I have tried to link via page number and destination but with no joy - It continues to open at page 1.
My examples:
pdfs/mydocument.pdf#nameddest=TOC
pdfs/mydocument.pdf#page=4
Is this possible in moodle or am I making a basic mistake? I have tried to search the Forums for this but to no avail. I hope I am posting in the correct area.
Thanks.
Hi Johnathan,
Before someone here mentions Javascript, I thought I'd point you in the direction of this very interesting article: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030714.html It could solve all your problems at a stroke.
Good luck!
From the document that Matt points to above:
Summary:
Users get lost inside PDF files, which are typically big, linear text blobs that are optimized for print and unpleasant to read and navigate online. PDF is good for printing, but that's it. Don't use it for online presentation.
That is both right and wrong. Where a PDF is large, I will not argue, but where it is just one or two pages maximum, PDFs are a valid form of presenting information. Don't dismiss something because it is being abused by a lot of authors. I suggest we must also acknowledge that PDFs were originally developed to provide security that most word processing documents of that time just could not offer. They were also used as a method of transporting documents that a lot of printers could take and use as printable documents - or so I am given to understand.
In the event of a PDF of several mb and larger, I would suggest that, in Moodle at least, a Book would be a far better option. If for anything other than Moodle, there is the possibility of a *.chm file for Windows, which can be viewed in Linux with KchmViewer on KDE, ChmSee for Gnome or the CHMViewer plugin for all flavours of Firefox. How this works with the newer *.hxs help file types, I just do not know. This, of course, assumes you are interested in using a product from the Dark Side...
Yes, I do accept that using Word, or Indesign, or Excel, or Acrobat Pro to create a PDF is probably a lot easier than using most other tools to protect the inegrity of your work. Just be aware, bigger does not always mean better. Breaking larger files down into smaller, more specific topics and then turning each one into a smaller PDF presents a better outcome that having just one large PDF.
Thanks for your reply but unfortunately I have no choice in this one instance. I was expecting the PDF usability arguement to creep up, which I was hoping to avoid.
If anyone can provide me with a technical answer I would be grateful.
Thanks again.
I am not real sure, but there is a possibility that you can use a PHP document to access existing links inside a PDF file. I am not that au fait with PHP that I can code it, but there is bound to be some information somewhere about it - I seem to recall seeing it somewhere a long time ago and being amazed at the possibilities of PHP. Alternatively, you may get away with adding a heap of bookmarks and resave the PDF. If the security coding of the PDF is not real strong, then this is a viable proposition if you have Acrobat Pro..
Thanks for the input. I have decided to build the link manually using a label and hard coding the link to document. Not a clean solutions but time to move on!
Thanks everyone.
Even though I agree with previous statements about going lightly on the use of pdfs, I vote Frank's message useful because I had not heard of this feature before either.
Thanks!
Thanks Frank.
For some reason when I tried this using moodles 'link to a file' option this did not work, I then created a label and manually hard coded the link using the technique it worked perfectly.
Thanks again.
