replying to this thread, beyond tracker and/or some other place (not sure where)
spending roughly 3 to 5 days dealing with moodle 2.8, and then 2.7... and then third party plugins via moodle.org/plugins some issues that have came up.
1) WAY WAY TOO MANY STEPS to install third party plugin (manual or auto through moodle.org/plugins -> sites
once initial moodle is installed, and turning on "developer debugging" via "site admin menu" -> developer... and then going to "site admin menu" -> plugins -> "install plugins" you are down to "right click open in new tab" and clicking back and forth. more than i care to remember.
2) data i want to view, is separated on different tabs / pages
3) too many checks and balances on different pages if not same page, just stepping through steps within the code.
4) no easy / quick way to uninstall multiple plugins at one time.
5) currently no "install option" for old plugins for newer versions of moodle. instead forced to download and manually upload / install plugin. i would prefer to see a "WARNING" something like "NOT SUGGESTED"
the above sentence i have issues with both ways. pro's / con's but still it was painful. seeing all these other plugins for other moodle versions. but then not an option to install them easily.
6) there needs to be a way to "order" stuff. from name, to amount of downloads, to recently uploaded / updated. to installed, and like.
7) additional plugin required, for XYZ plugin.
this one is a big one. while hosting provider is partial to be blamed. i have experienced this on local test computer setup as well. if i go and try to install 3 or more plugins at a time. and 1 to 2 or more require an additional plugin, that is not yet uploaded into yoursite.com/moodle/*were ever additional plugin needs to be* everything slows down to a snail pace, and some issue start coming up. of html 500 error server not responding, or no data sent from server (not even sure if there is a custom 404, 500, 301 like html errors for this). due to no data is sent from the server and obtained at the browser. at times i had to settle to install 1 or 2 plugins at a time. vs running up say 10 to 40 plugins. due to issues of "required additional plugins" for XYZ plugin.
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what i want / need. to help speed things up.
1) MAJOR WANT abilty to compare what is currently installed and what is avilable at moodle.org/plugins
2) i want a spread sheet, with column / rows.
- row 1
- name (is it part of a set)
- total amount of downloads
- add favorite
- check box to include in install
- plus sign, (see row1.1) that expands downwards. (think vertical menus aka "site admin menu") that reveals extra information.
- row 1.1
- short description
- support thread notation
- currently installed or not installed
- if installed ( version #, and uninstall button with an option multi uninstall "check box" )
to above i need information to STAY VISIBLE. and not have to click back and forth between current (description, download, stats)
i do not care if i send my "moodle plugin info" to moodle.org or if i download something from moodle.org and everything happens within my site, or moodle.org site and/or both. i want a spreadsheet like notation or drop down vertical menu, that i can click "check boxes" and then at bottom of page click "next" to install multi plugins at one time, and/or uninstall multi plugins at one time.
www.phpbb.org and www.joomla.org, and maybe www.zencart.com, come to mind as a nice uninstall / install options
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below notations / pages major issues with.
- yoursite.com/moodle/admin/index.php
- yoursite.com/moodle/admin/upgradesettings.php
- logging into moodle at yoursite.com/moodle and then trying to expand the "site admin menu" you had to type in something like yoursite.com/moodle/admin/plugins.php (anything but... yoursite.com/moodle/admin/ or yoursite.com/moodle/admin/index.php) to gain access to to the site admin menu. and avoid checks and gain access to uninstall plugins, or turn on/off features to see what was going on.
90% if not 100% of above was due to a third party plugin causing issues to above. and this was for both moodle 2.7 and 2.8 versions.
some hassles may have been less, if there was a "file manager" something like "file explorer / windows explorer" via third party plugin for moodle. to access physical site files at yoursite.com/moodle/*these files* there was a couple "sql buddy, and one other plugin" do not remember right off. that dealt with database access, that made some things a bit easier / faster, than trying to go through hosting provider / and/or local test computer database pages.
some extra issues. if moodle.org/plugins loaded up in an "iframe" or like within mysite.com/moodle/admin/plugins/yada_yada to much time passing between mysite and moodle.org website.
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while the install from moodle.org/plugins works, and allows for multipuple installs of moodle to happen. just way too many steps, and no easy way to sort stuff. and install / uninstall stuff easily. more so on the uninstall stuff, more so uninstalling when there are errors due to bad third party plugins and breaking moodle site admin menu "menu itself" and notification / install plugin pages.
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overall issues that came up...
to many redirect issues, blank pages, language $strings, ?> after it, use of echo and other notations of pushing info to the browser, additional plugin required, issues with local plugins, and admin tools plugin types, i had more trouble with. though plenty of other type of plugins had issue with. most plugins went easy, but the handful of plugins. when install in batches of 5 to 20 at a time of third party plugins... and then going back and trying to uninstall stuff a couple at a time to narrow down problem plugin...
off to make individual notes on various plugins.