Moving Courses

Moving Courses

by Jason Press -
Number of replies: 6

Hello,

I am hoping for some assistance with a re-structuring project. I am working with a program containing 12 modules, with 2-3 courses within each module. I would like to spread the program out over 24 modules, with only 1-2 courses within each module. To do this I will need to create modules 13-24 and then move (backup & restore) many of the existing courses into these new modules.

I have attempted this backup & restore several times and have had success except for one issue: the formatting of the pages is not transferred correctly.

Here is an example of a page before and after it was backed up and restored to a new course:

Before:
"Dear John,

I just have a few moments and thought I would share some thoughts with you. I want to share what my commitment is and what the word means for me. I am committed to a Love that..." (continues on as a normal, formatted letter)

After:
"!--[if gte mso 9]xml w:WordDocument w:ViewNormal/w:View w:Zoom0/w:Zoom w:TrackMoves/ w:TrackFormatting/ w:PunctuationKerning/ w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/ w:SaveIfXMLInvalidfalse/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid w:IgnoreMixedContentfalse/w:IgnoreMixedContent w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderTextfalse/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText w:DoNotPromoteQF/ w:LidThemeOtherEN-US/w:LidThemeOther w:LidThemeAsianX-NONE/w:LidThemeAsian w:LidThemeComplexScriptX-NONE/w:LidThemeComplexScript w:Compatibility w:BreakWrappedTables/ w:SnapToGridInCell/ w:WrapTextWithPunct/ w:UseAsianBreakRules/ w..." (continues on with strange code)

Is there a solution for this issue or a pre-existing discussion?

Thank you,
Jason Press
Moodle 1.9.7+

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In reply to Jason Press

Re: Moving Courses

by Colin Fraser -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Testers

Yes there is a number of solutions

Absolutely #1: DO NOT USE WORD and copy/paste Word text directly into Moodle.

#2: If you have Word docs that you want in Moodle then either copy the text, paste it to a UTF-8 compliant text editor then re-copy and paste into Moodle.

OR

Use the File option and upload the whole file, but I suggest not do this, save it as a PDF first then upload it if the file must be downloaded. If you have Acrobat Professional, you can make PDF files editable and then when edited, they can be uploaded by students.

Word insists on pasting its own code, but it is just rubbish in Moodle. Here is a test I have used for teaching writing web pages. Write your name in a Word doc and save it. Do the same in a text document complete with HTML header and formatting. Compare the sizes. You might be surprised.   

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In reply to Colin Fraser

Re: Moving Courses

by Jason Press -

Thanks Colin,

I'm referring more to moving an entire course all at once as opposed to working with specific pages. The example I gave was just what one of the pages looked like after the course was moved.

In other words, I would like to make use of the backup & restore method to relocate an entire course from one module to another within my program. However, when I do so, every single page and activity that is moved seems to lose all of its formatting.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Jason Press

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In reply to Jason Press

Re: Moving Courses

by Colin Fraser -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Testers

The strange code you show in the example is from MS-Word. There is nothing else like it. The only way I can think of to rid yourself of that code on a course by course basis is to open the xml file of the backup and edit the code, deleting it, manually. Either that or work with every page of every course this comes into it.

I do not understand how the code appears in a restored backup unless it existed in the original file, which should have appeared in the original file. ..mmm Perhaps someone opened the file, and as they have Word as the default editor of xml files, it has kindly deposited its own version of html into the backups. Did you write these courses? Or have other people done this? In either case, there is no shortcut to remedying this issue, all you can do is work through it as best you can. The only tool I know will help is the Paste from Word button, it strips out any added code. Paste from Word button    

 

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In reply to Colin Fraser

Re: Moving Courses

by Jason Press -

Thanks so much for looking at this Colin. I don't think we quite have found the issue yet.

Yes, I have written these Courses and have made sure to strip all text that goes into the program. I don't believe there is any way MS-Word could be involved with this (I am on a Mac and don't even use MS-Word). Most pages are written directly in the program itself, without any external applications/programs.

As a test, I just created a brand new Course and made a new web page from scratch. I then did a "backup & restore" and moved this Course to a different, newly created Module. Here are my results:

Before:
"Mysticism- Transitioning to Abstract Oneness

The mystical transition happens prior to mystical Oneness. Resurrection is when Christ is recognized. This is the completion called the mystical State, the gateway to Eternity. No longer is there a person, for Spirit is forever One with God.

Before the..."

After:
"Mysticism- Transitioning to Abstract Onenessbr /br /The mystical transition happens prior to mystical Oneness. Resurrection is when Christ is recognized. This is the completion called the mystical State, the gateway to Eternity. No longer is there a person, for Spirit is forever One with God.br /br /Before the..."

As you can see, the formatting still did not transfer correctly. My thought was that this must be some kind of bug or glitch. Surely, this isn't the way the "backup & restore" method is supposed to function. Can you (or anyone) think of any other tests I can do (or simple workarounds) to pinpoint the issue? It would be extremely time consuming to complete this restructuring project if I need to do it page by page.

Thanks so much,
Jason Press

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In reply to Jason Press

Re: Moving Courses

by Colin Fraser -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Testers

You never use Word, you are on a Mac..mmmm then you used Pages? I didn't know that did the same thing, but is probably making it compatible with WordHTML. if youlook at the rubbish you will see it says "!--[if gte mso 9]xml w:WordDocument w:ViewNormal..." that is what has mislead me... I must admit to not understanding too much about Macs though...  Hopefully, you have a better outcome.

You are right, this is not the way it is supposed to work, have a look at Site administration > Server > HTTP and check to make sure that the Slash Argument checkbox is checked. If it is not then check it, if it is, then uncheck it. Try the backup again, see what happens... Different server environments can cause different problems because of slash argument.

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In reply to Colin Fraser

Re: Moving Courses

by Jason Press -

Problem solved. There is a very easy way to move Courses. You can click on the Module that contains the Course that will be transferred ("turn editing on"), select/check the Course, and from the dropdown menu below, choose the Module which you would like the Course moved to.

Thanks Colin, for your support with this. I'm glad there turned out to be a simple solutionbig grin

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