Does/Will Moodle make use of presetable templates for resources?

Does/Will Moodle make use of presetable templates for resources?

by Steve Ambro v3.8 -
Number of replies: 4

I would like to see a discussion in using presetable templates to change settings in assignments and other resources.

I made the design of a new course much easier by creating a token week and imported it 15 times.  After it was done, I found an error in my token week settings and had to go back in and make changes in many assignments.  Dumping and remaking the list was not an option by now.

To really bring in the cheese here, my course was changed to a new time slot…. Imagine the number of clicks I had had to do for 120 entries not to mention the ones that I accidentally re-opened by mistake. Duplicating an assignment then moving it to the appropriate location is not really an option as I had modified many titles and descriptions by now. 

Since a list of fields can be set when I create a new assignment, why not have the option to save it as a template and identify it by name or number? 

This way, when I create a new assignment, I can use a pull-down menu to select the appropriate template and I am done and can still make changes if I want for that assignment.

Now if the course is changed, I can make the adjustment in the template and have all associated assignments update only those fields where the template has changed will be updated in the assignment.  IE: unique settings will be retained.

Now that I have put up with all this work in creating this course, not to mention the brain cells to write all this, I almost expect someone to say “Did you not know about the template plugin?”

(:

Thoughts?
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In reply to Steve Ambro v3.8

Re: Does/Will Moodle make use of presetable templates for resources?

by Marcus Green -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

Are you thinking of something like my idea here

https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=316902#p1273596


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In reply to Marcus Green

Re: Does/Will Moodle make use of presetable templates for resources?

by Steve Ambro v3.8 -

I guess I see no similarity with what I am trying to say and what you are. 

Your reference seems to imply that a course is used as a template for others to adapt.  MY idea is for the individual course that has a repeating structure.  I have two assignments for each of two classes and copied into 15 weeks.  There are others but I will keep it to that.

Every time I create an assignment, I would like to look at a menu of templates that have already been filled out to select for each one.  After all 90 entries have been made, and a significant change has to be made or entered, all one would have to do is go to  the template and make one change which would cascade out to all assignments assigned to that template.

Suppose that I wanted to allow the student to submit two files instead of one..  In one case it would be Click on Edit for the assignment, click on edit from the pull down list, scroll to the section where I can select files, click to open it, make the change, scroll to the bottom, close and save.  Rinse and repeat for all assignments of that type.

One major problem is that once I exit, I tend to forget which assignment I just edited.

If I had assigned a template to that type of assignment, then I would go through those steps and all associated assignments would update eliminating the rinse and repeat cycles.






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In reply to Steve Ambro v3.8

Re: Does/Will Moodle make use of presetable templates for resources?

by Marcus Green -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers
Yes, my idea is for simple templates with content. Moodle currently has nothing similar to what you would like. I suspect your idea would not be trivial to implement. 
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In reply to Marcus Green

Re: Does/Will Moodle make use of presetable templates for resources?

by Steve Ambro v3.8 -

First let me point out that my "MY" was supposed to be the not-so arrogant "My".  It was the result of a sticky shift key and missed when proofreading.

OK, so I guess we are on the same track.  I read your idea as being a template for an entire course.

I think a lot of the work is done.  When you create an assignment and set up all the fields, you can duplicate the assignment. (I never understood why grade category always reset to "Uncatagorized"...) so from there, all of the fields are being copied already.

This can, instead, be saved as a template with a title or number.

When creating an assignment one would have a new field, being a pull down menu, of all the template numbers or names.  When selected, that template gets loaded. So far, all this does in make the duplicate and move operation easier.

The real complication is the time saver itself.  Once a few assignments are created and placed, one can then  update the template and the changes are applied to all copies of that template automatically.  A field in an assignment that has been changed or customized would not be affected by the update.

Of course, once done then the idea can be applied to all other resources using a matching template.

If we refine the definition of this template idea, then I believe that someone who might want to tackle it would have the best idea on what to do.

Do you see any changes or clarifications to make to be sure that we have the best description.  Of course, maybe a programmer might chime in with some pointers (no pun intended).

I figure it might be there in v4.8 or so,,,,










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