Dear Derek
I have tried to be polite (please re-read my emails its there throughout) but suggesting "titchiness" does tend to make me slightly tetchy (the word I think you meant). Let me explain why...
As developers we/they/you will always see the solution incredibly simply, "ask and ye shall receive" in the same way if you're holding a hammer everything looks like a nail. If you're a developer, then everything looks like a straightforward "just allow people to help you Dom" solution if "you can just be bothered to put in the work" (or in your own words "
if you don't want to put in the time here to make some posts and work on the issues")
If I had a car problem, and I was in a Vauxhall engineers discussion forum, or a CORGI gas engineers - you can imagine the temptation of offers to have a fiddle with the gas regulators "go on just listen to what people are saying" -- changing your locked differential and big end are a simple 19 step process....
Let's go back to first principles. The reason for setting up this project was because there is a major problem in the field of moving image education, This is it :
http://tinyurl.com/zr4grq7
Can you image having maths teachers teach maths who don't know how to add up a shopping bill? Or a French teacher trying to teach a language that they have never spoken? Thats why we exist.
But that's something you're trying to suggest here. "Just ask the questions, follow the steps and fix the problems one by one" Speak French- stop being lazy, I know you dont speak French but just ask someone and they will give you the right translation. Problem is its not just French, theres french where any spelling mistake is critical, where you need know the exact location, line and spelling for each surgical correction. - Where every phrases interconnects with another and where you need special understanding of a number of different other tools to make each change.
I could go on.
So its not "if you don't want to put in the time here to make some posts and work on the issues" That makes me tetchy yes (when I keep being told that by developer after developer)
Thats why I am asking to find someone willing to help, I have a series of Ancient Greek texts that I dont just need to understand, but need to surgically correct / insert - and get it 100% (and doing so requires a clear knowledge of the Aramaic, Hebrew and Phoenician which are the other interconnecting languages that go with it (PHP, javascript, Responsive CSS object models, FTP tools, cpanel, the list is not completely endless) , And it is ironically exactly why you then suggest "why don't you can find a local PHP friend to help. "
Thats just my point, the Moodle forums ARE that local friend. A community which is local by understanding, local by conceptual grounding, and technical experience.
"He's just too lazy"
When someone says - with enough clear headedness - they know enough to know they don't know enough, and are looking for a specific, time limited, problem fixed investment of time - that should be a very reasonable outlook, that should be laboured with accusations of laziness (which I do get bothered by as I have managed to create the UK's largest single online learning space, with more high definition masterclasses than anywhere else (thats a paraphrase description by the Director of Education at the British Film Institute) - completely on the good will of 12,500 man hours of film industry expert time from practitioners willing to give up their time to explain in great detail how their role works, often in great detail - so that teachers and students have more than "here's a camcorder - go and figure it out" Every one of those masterclasses I have booked, sought permissions, filmed, produced, edited, and added text graphics, photos and assessments to. And i have done it with almost no funding, certainly for the last five years So you can understand why I push back just a little against ideas of "just get on with it" with a degree of resistance. I'm not generally a "lazy person who cant be bothered to do things"
Could I have "had a go" at presenting some of those tutorials. Of course. But as someone who has a national qualification in the training of teachers, who train teachers, I know how much having an Oscar winning cinematographer explain a process - is much more meaningful than "me or my mate having a go" the web is full of that sort of content. Not this site.
Ok so having addresses why I shouldnt "just have a go" for quite a few different reasons, let me finally speak to the suggestion of moodle bashing.
I love Moodle, its clear there is little competition. Martin did something I believe in myself when we both decided to undertake a major project in the hope it would impacts kids lives. Sure it has its faults, I personally think (please dont have a go here) that it has very limited multi-site client functionaility (Martin freely admits that) and using groups for a resource aimed at delivering a small number of courses to a large number (100,000) doesnt work wel.. (Unlike Tim's incredible work for the OU where he h]has a different challenge, loads of different courses to loads of learners - what moodle works well at - and no - I dont feel ELIS or IOMAD and the other projects really help much as those "multi-tenancy" implementations dont address the need for "small numbers of courses" used by vast numbers (I wont get ibto that debate - thats for another thread) I also feel therefore that the relentless multiple updates every year adding certain features might be better addressed on such issues Ive just raised, or making moodle easier for people to look nice without a lot of technical knowledge. But I do love moodle, thats why I use it, thats why every months we see BB buying up another chunk of moodle real estate (because blackboard makes learning hard work, like using a telephone directory - with the same excitement, thats why as a former teacher, head of department, senior lecturer, adjunct professor, BBC producer (but NOT coder) I often see posters at schools and uni's pleading with kids "lets have a blitz on blackboard" because no one likes it. And if Blackboard can beat moodle, it has to buy it.
So I like Moodle, for all its faults. Just like the EU, modern democracy, and even myself, all have faults.
Mine is simply that as Alexander Pope once said "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing", and that is never more true of website tinkering, and Moodle is a rich and complex beast.
So I appreciate all the contributions. I'll go back to posting on the jobs website, and (ironically on Drupal where I have rarely had many problems recruiting short term help - dont ask me why - and dont beat me over the head)
But as i conclude my last comment (and it really will be my last comment on this discussion) let me make a passing suggestion to any lurkers, to the wonderful and transformational Martin, or core developers like Mike or anyone that wants a view from someone who works in hammers not drills. In the world of legal help, non profits have LawWorks, in the world of Accounting the ICAEW has a dating agency for non profits seeking / desperate for accounting help. With Drupal - well they dont have a volunteers section as for whatever reason, through a very active IRC channel and through the Drupal community - there are local groups across the UK and beyond where you really can (please believe me) find Drupal gurus. And I hope that saying that - doesnt make me a moodle basher _ I hope Ive addressed that too.
So to end where i began - with not too much luck but certainly plenty of debate - some criticism and some considered suggestions also - if there is anyone willing to say "Hey Dom - I get it - you just need some Moodle CSS / jscript / responsive HTML on a few areas - lets talk" - please do send me a PM / DM (whichever it the correct word)
But as my plate is really quite full juggling more plates that an social entrepreneur should have to - you'll understand that continuing the debate about "whether Dom should be asking" instead of "how Can I help Dom" means I have to step out, unsubscribe from the thread, and thank all those for their kind - though yes occasionally misplaced suggestions and debates. I cam looking for help, and ended up instead with a debate. Thats no bad thing. Most people agree it has been illuminating, but I have to get back to finding SOMEONE willing to reach out and help.