New features

New features

by Williams Castillo -
Number of replies: 20

Hello people...

Well.. I'm closing some open points here and there.. Let's see:

  • As I said yesterday, entries can now by commented (optional)
  • The automatic linking could now be customized (not fully, but I think it's enough for now):
    • Case sensitive match
    • Whole words match
    • No match at all (a bit rude (you have to get down to the HTML code), no GUI so far either)
  • Categories are now linked too (I forced to be a case sensitive match)
  • You can automatically link one or several glossaries at once no matter if it is a main one or not.

KNOWN BUGS SO FAR: Comments are not restored... I need someone's  to help me here... wink

As far as I now, the only open point I currently have (beside the bug) is the one about the synonyms or alias... Am I wrong?

I want to express my gratitute to all those people who has help me on this module. It has been quite a good way to learn PHP and Moodle at the same time!.. Thanks to Eloy, Martin, Przermek, Murdock, Ger, etc.. Sorry if I left someone out or if I mispell his name.

See ya!

Will

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In reply to Williams Castillo

Re: New features

by Tom Murdock -
Will, it looks beautiful. Great job.

A question for you. Until activities are drag and drop from Moodle, it might be nice to export and import categories via XML. That way we could quickly share glossaries with each other.

For example, Martin's glossary on Computing terms is already really helpful. I imagine that we all could trade good glossaries on biology terms, historical figures, author biographies, etc..

(I think this can be done with backup/restore, but this might be easier). Attached are the .php files that do this in library. They may (or may not) be of use to you.


(You might also double-check category linking because Computing terms on this page seems to error out).
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In reply to Tom Murdock

Re: New features

by Williams Castillo -

Until activities are drag and drop from Moodle

Hey... You almost can do that! Don't you know the second best feature ever created in a computing program??? Copy & Paste! (the first one is the Undo feature).

Serious... smile

That was one of the first features I though for the glossary but I have always put it aside... In that time I though that a more "terrenal" format (CSV, for instance) should be used for user easeness sake (god, did I spell it or wrote it gramatically correct? anyway, I bet most of this post is not correct either!).

Perhaps a teacher wants the entries to be used in, let's say, a MS Word document, etc... And there's a chance that XML could not be recognized.. I know.. It is an standard that SHOULD be accepted everywhere... But I was just a bit skeptical about it. What do you think?

Well... Enough for today... Going to bed. G'night.

Will

 

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In reply to Williams Castillo

Suggested New features

by Timothy Takemoto -

 would be even better. Oops, I see you are using alt alread, but only for "Glossary of Common Terms: entryname," rather than putting the entry there on the page.  

  • An easy way of creating a glossary entry box popup window  would encourage students to make glossary entries, and approach the functionality of Tom's Library. Perhaps this can be done already. I would like to add it to all my resources. Perhaps even a frame with the entry box at the right.

  • If you do away with the make entry button and simply add a entry text field box that would make one less click to make an entry. Admittedly there may be a confusion with the search entry box, but I can't see many people searching the glossary now there is dynalinking, so I would rather that the entry field be to insert a entry, than search field.

  • The possibility of "teacher approved posting" rather like a mailing list. When a student posts a glossary entry it might be checked by the teacher, ideally via email. I am not sure that this is essential but I can see my students adding a lot of incorrect entries if the next feature is added.

  • Evaulation for entries. Many of my students (rats?) don't do anything unless they are evaluated for it. And I would like to reward them for helping each other.  

  • Settable defaults for the entry (dynalink etc) properties. At the moment it is set to "don't dynalink." I would like to set the default to dynalink. Perhaps I should just hack the file. Which one please? 

     
  • Minor issue, when you jump to a category (e.g. to Computing terms) the terms link to themselves, such as the word "CSS" in the entry for CSS links to the entry for CSS.

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In reply to Timothy Takemoto

Re: Suggested New features

by Williams Castillo -

Ok.. One at a time:

Perhaps even a frame with the entry box at the right.

I DO really like the idea of having the "add entry" feature in a new frame... I REALLY like it. But not today... It's almost midnight..


but I can't see many people searching the glossary now there is dynalinking, so I would rather that the entry field be to insert a entry, than search field.

Nah.. I don't think so... Everything has its uses... I think the "new frame" approach is far more better... smile
The possibility of "teacher approved posting" rather like a mailing list.

I like it too. But not by email... It will need an email account almost reserved for this kind of uses in each site and to code a cron that fetch and parse emails... Too much work that could be far more simple: A couple of buttons will be fine... smile
Evaulation for entries.

This one... and the exporting feature are the two older features I have in mind for glossary.. smile

Settable defaults

Yeah... But not just for the autolinking feature... Every switch...
Minor issue, when you jump to a category (e.g. to Computing terms) the terms link to themselves, such as the word "CSS" in the entry for CSS links to the entry for CSS.

BINGO!! I knew someone would come up with it.. sooner or later! 8D For the same reason that I explained early this evening, the answer is it can't be possible as it is currently coded (not even with an easy/moderate hack I think): The parsing function does not know who or what is calling it so I can't prevent it from parse a specific text. Even more when glossary could accept duplicated concepts, or being showing concepts from different glossaries, etc. It could be linking CSS from the same glossary (it means, calling itself) or be calling a concept in other glossary. I don't know if I made this clear.. :/

Two questions:

1) Are dynalinks working properly in japanese? What about the searching functions?

2) Could you please fill all this suggestions in the bug tracker (http://moodle.org/bugs/)? Sometimes (well.. most of the time) I forgot the requests...

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In reply to Williams Castillo

Re: Suggested New features

by Williams Castillo -

The possibility of "teacher approved posting" rather like a mailing list

It is now possible with the lattest version in CVS.

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In reply to Williams Castillo

Re: Suggested New features

by Martin Dougiamas -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers
A little suggestion for removing self-links in glossary definitions ... for each entry, just before sending it to format_text ... replace conceptword with conceptword with the str_ireplace() function (see weblib.php).
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In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: Suggested New features

by Williams Castillo -

(not even with an easy/moderate hack I think)

I think I must eat my own words... smile

You are the man!

EDIT: But this prevent smaller concepts to be linked... i.e., constructivism and social constructivism wideeyes.gif

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In reply to Williams Castillo

Re: New features

by Williams Castillo -

A couple of nice new features:

  • I added a couple of new display formats: FAQ and Continuous. FAQ just add the words QUESTION and ANSWER to every entry shown. Continous is more interesting, I think. It shows the entries continously, one after the other... It would be great to write articles, histories, etc... in a cooperative environment. Even the categories could be named Chapter I, II, etc... I really like this new display format.
  • Added two new ways to browse the entries: Chronologically. By last update time and by creation time (ascending or descending). This fixed bug number 818. By the way.. the new format, Continuously, only use this sorting.

 BTW: I would like if someone could correct my help files... sad

Attachment shot.jpg
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In reply to Williams Castillo

Re: New features

by Martin Dougiamas -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers
Good news about the two new sorting methods, but shouldn't these be on a new tab? (Sort by date)

You might want to look at the glossary view in English, because I simplified the tab names (a week ago) that I don't think you've noticed yet ... they're probably out of synch with Spanish now.

I'll look at the help files right now.
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In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: New features

by Williams Castillo -

I don't think so.. They are, and the end, just two more ways to display the entries and as all the display ways are in the first tab (Special, letters, All) I though it is the logical place for them to be.

Let's see what other thinks about... One of the things I liked the most about this community is its openness (is it right?). Oh God!. I think I should go to bed right now.. I'm becoming romantic... biggrin.gif

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In reply to Williams Castillo

Re: New features

by Tom Murdock -
1 vote for additional tab. browse by date.
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In reply to Tom Murdock

Re: New features

by Williams Castillo -

New frame added: Browse by date.

Not bad at all!

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In reply to Williams Castillo

Re: New features

by Martin Dougiamas -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers
Beautiful - thanks!
Attachment glossary-tabs.jpg
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In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: New features

by Williams Castillo -

Thanks to you...

and... Wow! That rounded corner tabs looks... beautiful! I want those styles in IE!!!!

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In reply to Williams Castillo

Re: New features

by Martin Dougiamas -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers
You can! Just change to Firebird and tell yourself that it's IE!
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In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: New features

by Williams Castillo -
Well... Now I'm using an IE which could shows that rounded corner tabs... How a little thing could dramatically change the whole thing... smile
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In reply to Williams Castillo

Re: New features

by Williams Castillo -

Well... 100% of the voters set the decision... A new frame will be created... smile Although I keep thinking that its place should be its current one.

Even more now with the "Awaiting Approbal" frame... smile

Comments are welcome.

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In reply to Martin Dougiamas

Re: New features

by Williams Castillo -

they're probably out of synch with Spanish now.

Perhaps... But I have a deal with Claudio: I won't touch spanish language files anymore. biggrin.gifbiggrin.gifbiggrin.gifbiggrin.gif

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In reply to Williams Castillo

Re: New features

by koen roggemans -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Translators

Inventing new features is far more easy than programming them, I know blush.gif, but what about

  • the integration of a glossary and a quiz ? (difficult to post in the right forum smiley.gif)Looks like a nice feature to me that a 'missing word' quiz or 'matching' could be generated from random entrys from a glossary for drill and practice purposes.
  • export and import 'entry, definition, category' in down- or uploadable CSV-file for using the glossary in off-line drill and practiceprograms or importing from existing glossaries in other software ? This way the input of large glossaries can also go a lot faster by typing

    entry1, definition1, category
    entry2, definition2, category

    in a textfile and upload it.
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