Courses and course formats

Dear Gareth,

As noted here: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=191481&parent=857536 I also had that problem. I was trying to restore a course and it did not let me. Error message:

"Restore method process_grid is missing. It must be defined by a developer."

The problem disappear right after deleting GRID FORMAT. BTW, the pictures part of the summary disappear when using this format.

Saludos,
Carlos

Hi Gareth,

I have been meaning to try Grid format out, and so managed to do this just now.

The date of the download in the Plugins DB is 22 January 2012 this is the only download anyone should use as the alternative cannot be guaranteed correct, but if it is a newer version, then the Plugin DB download for Grid format should be updated.

I have added Grid format to my localhost/moodle/course/format directory and systematically looking at all the places which need 'grid' adding like all the 'callback' functions.

So this is what I have found so far.

1. found .git which should not be there
2. of the 6 'callback functions' in grid/lib.php NONE have been renamed to 'grid'.

If you look at the Course formats Moodle Doc guidelines, it states...

"...Rename callback functions in lib.php. The names of the functions is formed as callback_FORMATNAME_CALLBACKNAME() ..."

which makes me think that Julian has not checked this major part of grid/lib.php. Either that or the Plugin's DB has not been updated?

I'll let you know how I get on testing this in Moodle 2.2.1

Cheers

Mary

Dear Tina,

No worries.  TBH I don't know the Grid format all that much, but from what you describe it sounds like a theme and / or css issue.

Cheers,

Gareth

Dear James,

I do believe that Moodle does treat it's teachers as teachers and not IT Specialists in the way it is used - it is incredibly user friendly - however this is discusion on new ways of working and can be techy.  It was not clear from your original post what professional background you were coming from and hence I gave a 'mild' form of techy answer.

I am both a full blown 'speak a different language' techy and also an ICT Teacher with seven years experience so can target my answers accordingly.  However, the forums are frequented by all and I consider that techy answers help other techy's solve problems for non-techy's to reap the benefit of.  Do not make the mistake that because an answer is techy that Moodle is non-techy friendly, but rather look at all the hard work that has been done on this front, the new icons in Moodle 2.4 being an example.

It is a popular misconception that adding new things to software is 'easy' / 'trivial' or as you indicate 'not a big drama' - it is and does depend on the power of the requirement stated.  For example 'We will go to the Moon before the end of the decade is out' cannot be achieved sat down on a saturday afternoon after a few beers, but 'change this colour to that on a web page' can.  It is a matter of perspectives and profressional understanding.  On the flip side, I imagine that non-teachers think that teaching is just a matter of walking into a classroom, saying what you know and then going home at the same time as the students with thirty minutes of marking to do.  Having consistently worked seventy / seventy five hour weeks during term time and a substantial amount of my 'holidays' I know that this is not the case.

Imagine the pages that Moodle presents are like the exposed portion of an Iceburg.  It's not what is on the surface that matters, it's what's underneath that counts.  The same is true of all software, for your requirements adding the form is fairly trivial, making it work correctly under multiple web browsers (especially Internet Explorer) under all circumstances is the tricky bit.  I could bore you to the point where you would rather spend your entire weekend marking on what needs to happen.

So, to answer your original question:

1. No it is not possible at the moment.
2. It is a good idea.
3. It will require a code change for which I currently estimate of between 8 and 24 hours work depending on how complex the 'at least' component is and what version of Moodle (2.3- will require a custom settings page etc. and the 2.4 version is yet to be created before the enhancement is made).
4. I charge 35GBP per hour for software work, would you like to fund the enhancement?  Or I would do this at an indeterminate date in the future in my own time.

Kind regards,

Gareth

I will update the code in the DB in the next 24 hours

Julian

What's the status of the grid format plugin now? I'm running 2.2 and want to know if I should remove the 'backup' folder before adding it to our Moodle.

Thanks

Dear David,

No problem, thanks for the praise .  The term 'front page' is perhaps technical.  When students log in they will be directed to what page is set up for them.  But they have to click on a course to have it laid out by the Grid format.  So indeed I think of it as the 'course page' - so many concepts to learn!

The look and feel of the forthcoming version can be seen in the screen shots and screen cast of the two links I gave.  So, yes, once the boxes run out of space then they flow to the next line and are automatically centred.  What you are saying is correct.

In editing mode you can make section 0 go into the grid and be shown in the same way as other sections in the grid.

Also the next version will have a highlight of the current section too as well as accessibility.  Everything you can see in the screen cast.

When the new version is released, your administrator should see a notification when they log in - possibly having to go to 'Notifications' - that a new version is available.

Cheers,

Gareth