STACK 3.2 released

STACK 3.2 released

by Tim Hunt -
Number of replies: 9
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

I have just tagged the latest version of all the STACK add-ons as version 3.2, and uploaded them to the add-ons directory. I don't think there is anything radically new in this release, just a whole bunch of bug-fixes and a few minor features/improvements.

The main improvement is that this version has been tested and works with Moodle 2.6.

Remember that STACK comprises 4 'required' add-ons:

and two optional add-ons

You will need to update all the addons that you are using.

Would be great if the first person to upgrade could report back here to reassure me that it all works for you, and that I have not made a silly mistake along the way. Thanks.

As an aside, a new OU maths module using STACK has just started. Well, it starts in Feburary, but the web site open yesterday. In the first 24 hours , 145 students started Pracitice quiz 1, generating ~2,500 attempts at STACK questions. That compares with a total of 20,000 STACK questions attempted in the whole of 2013 at the OU. You will be pleased to hear that so far STACK and our servers have been hadling the load just fine. Sorry to brag, but it is very exciting to see something you have worked on getting used like that. I hope the students are appreciating the feedback.

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In reply to Tim Hunt

Re: STACK 3.2 released

by Kees Koopman -

Hi Tim,

I just discovered Stack and I love it.

There is a little disign question.

I type the question:

.

and I get this:

.

How do I get the correct lettersize for "1" and "2"?

 

In reply to Kees Koopman

Re: STACK 3.2 released

by Tim Hunt -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

I think it depends which maths output method you are using. The Moodle maths (TeX) filter always outputs things at a fixed size.

I think it you use MathJax instead, the display is nicer.

In reply to Tim Hunt

Re: STACK 3.2 released

by Greg Padberg -

According to the documentation, this version is said to work with Maxima versions 5.25.1 to 5.31.3.

As our current Moodle runs on Ubuntu Server 12.04LTS (Maxima version 5.24.0-1), I accept that we will need to upgrade first.

Our proposed Moodle installation will be moved to Ubuntu Server 14.04LTS (Maxima version 5.32.1-1), is STACK able to work with this version?

 

In reply to Greg Padberg

Re: STACK 3.2 released

by Christopher Sangwin -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers

Hi there,

Thanks for your interest in STACK.  Certainly the current code will work with this version of Maxima and I'm not aware of any really major changes in Maxima between these versions which affect STACK.  Your version of Maxima won't be listed in the STACK install menu, so just choose the latest one. If you have any problems, let me know.  

Chris

In reply to Christopher Sangwin

Re: STACK 3.2 released

by Greg Padberg -

OK thanks for replying, I expect to start building up a new Moodle server later this month (using Ubuntu Server 14.04 LTS) and move it into production before July.  I don't expect any issues with using a newer version of Maxima but I will reply here in this forum if I encounter any such issues.

In reply to Tim Hunt

Re: STACK 3.2 released

by James Choi -

I am in the process of setting up the server to use STACK.  I have a very basic question.

In which directory should I store those Maxima's .rpm files and run rpm command so that they work flawlessly with STACK?  Could it be anywhere?  Or has to be in the same directory as STACK's?

Thank you.

James Choi

In reply to James Choi

Re: STACK 3.2 released

by Tim Hunt -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

You can install Maxima anywhere. I mean, just use the default location.

Then make sure you can run Maxima from the command-line.

In the Moodle settings page for STACK, you need to tell it the path for Maxima, which you can get by typing

which maxima

Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Tim Hunt

Re: STACK 3.2 released

by James Choi -

Ah, you explicitly specify the path later.  I got it.  Thank you.

James Choi

Average of ratings: Useful (1)