Completion date versus Issued Date

Completion date versus Issued Date

by Tiffany Morgan -
Number of replies: 14
I am testing this in the custom (new) certificate, but fwiw have the same issue in the old certificate. 


 I presumed "issued date" would mean the date/time on which the student accessed/downloaded the certificate and "completed date" would mean the date/time on which the certificate criteria/restrictions were met by the student. That does not seem to be the case. 

To test this I created two certificates each tied to a different quiz. Certificate A is set to issued date. Certificate B is set to completion date. The student reached the grade threshold for each quiz. 

I checked each certificate as a teacher. Both show no certificate issued. 

Once the student downloaded each certificate, it then showed as issued via the teacher view. The date/time on the certificate both reflect the download date/time, not the date on which the criteria was met. 

My questions are:

  • Can someone clarify the expected behaviors for completion date versus issued date?
  • How do I ensure the date on the certificate reflects the date the criteria was met rather than the date on which the certificate was downloaded?

Thanks!



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In reply to Tiffany Morgan

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Mark Nelson -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

Thanks for the report Tiffany.

Seems like there is a bug going on somewhere.

Are you -

1) Downloading the certificates for the user on the reports page.
2) Downloading the certificate on the user's my certificate page (link via their profile).
3) Previewing the certificate as a teacher/admin.
4) Logging in as the student and downloading the certificate via the activity page.

I recently fixed a bug in the last release (released last week) that fixes an issue with 1-2 where the wrong course was being used. In step 3 the date is always the current time as it is simply a preview.

I would also like to mention that completion date relies on the cron being run frequently to calculate this value.

Also, since you state this is a bug in the old module there may be some existing logic I copied that is flawed or it could also be a bug in core where the calculation date is being set incorrectly via the cron task. I will need to investigate this.

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In reply to Mark Nelson

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Tiffany Morgan -

Hi Mark, thanks for the reply. I'll try and address each of your questions in caps below. thanks again!


1) Downloading the certificates for the user on the reports page. LOGGING IN AS THE STUDENT CLICKING ON THE CERTIFICATE AND THEN DOWNLOAD. AS THE TEACHER I'M CLICKING ON THE CERTIFICATE AND THEN REPORTS. 


2) Downloading the certificate on the user's my certificate page (link via their profile). I HAVE NOT TRIED THIS METHOD, RATHER IVE BEEN ACCESSING AND DOWNLOADING VIA THE MAIN COURSE PAGE > CERTIFICATE > DOWNLOAD BUTTON. THAT SAID, I CAN RETRY VIA PROFILE AND SEE IF HAVE DIFFERENT RESULTS


3) Previewing the certificate as a teacher/admin. I HAVEN'T PREVIEWED THE CERTIFICATE AS AN ADMIN OR TEACHER, BUT RATHER LOOKED AT THE REPORT PAGE FOR THE CERTIFICATE. I DIDN'T REALIZE THERE WAS A PREVIEW ONLY OPTION SO I'VE ONLY BEEN DOWNLOADING. I'M NOT CLEAR THE STEPS I WOULD USE TO PREVIEW A CERTIFICATE VERSUS DOWNLOAD BUT HAPPY TO TRY IF I KNOW THE STEPS.  


4) Logging in as the student and downloading the certificate via the activity page. THIS IS THE PROCESS I HAVE BEEN USING. 

I recently fixed a bug in the last release (released last week) that fixes an issue with 1-2 where the wrong course was being used. I HAVEN'T SEEN THIS SPECIFIC ISSUE WITH THE WRONG COURSE NAME. 

In step 3 the date is always the current time as it is simply a preview. IF YOU CAN LET ME KNOW THE STEPS FOR PREVIEW VERSUS DOWNLOAD I'M HAPPY TO TRY THAT. ALSO I DIDN'T REALIZE A NEW VERSION OF THE CERTIFICATE WAS RELEASED LAST WEEK SO I CAN TRY TO UPDATE TO THAT AND SEE IF IT RESOLVES THE ISSUE. 

I would also like to mention that completion date relies on the cron being run frequently to calculate this value. CURRENTLY THE CRON RUNS EVERY 5 MINUTES. 

Also, since you state this is a bug in the old module there may be some existing logic I copied that is flawed or it could also be a bug in core where the calculation date is being set incorrectly via the cron task. I will need to investigate this.



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In reply to Tiffany Morgan

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Tiffany Morgan -

Apologies for my delay, but I was finally able to test the recommendations. 

1. I created a new quiz and certificate. The certificate date setting was set to issue date. Student completed the quiz and met the certificate requirements at 8:26am 6-16-17. Logged in as the student and viewed profile > my certificates. This new certificate was not listed. Logged in as admin and viewed my certificates for this student. The new certificate was not listed. Checked the issued certificates list and no certificates were listed. 


I have tested this both with the new certificate module and the old certificate module, with the same results. Also I have verified the cron is running. 

Any other recommendations you might have would be great--thanks!

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In reply to Tiffany Morgan

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Tiffany Morgan -

Apologies for my delay, but I was finally able to test the recommendations. 

1. I created a new quiz and certificate. The certificate date setting was set to issue date. Student completed the quiz and met the certificate requirements at 8:26am 6-16-17. Logged in as the student and viewed profile > my certificates. This new certificate was not listed. Logged in as admin and viewed my certificates for this student. The new certificate was not listed. Checked the issued certificates list and no certificates were listed. 


I have tested this both with the new certificate module and the old certificate module, with the same results. Also I have verified the cron is running. 

Any other recommendations you might have would be great--thanks!

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In reply to Tiffany Morgan

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Emma Richardson -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers

Did the student click on the certificate?

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In reply to Emma Richardson

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Tiffany Morgan -

Hi Emma

In this testing they did not. However, when I do test this, once the student does click the certificate the result is the date on the certificate and the date recorded for in the list of issued certificates is the time/date the student downloaded (not the time/date they earned the certificate by virtue of meeting the requirements)


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In reply to Tiffany Morgan

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Emma Richardson -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers

I think you will find that until the certificate is clicked on, it is not considered completed.

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In reply to Tiffany Morgan

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Mark Nelson -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

In the activity settings have you specified that you wish the certificate to be emailed to students? If not, then it won't be issued until the student clicks to download it.

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In reply to Mark Nelson

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Tiffany Morgan -

Thanks Mark--I hadn't tried adjusting anything related to emailing the student as I didn't realize that would be related. I'll give that a try and post the results. 

Thanks again

Tiffany

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In reply to Tiffany Morgan

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Tiffany Morgan -

Hi Mark

1. Using the new certificate module, I don't see that I have an issue method option in the certificate settings. Were can I find the option to set the email delivery option in the new certificate?

2. I tried in the old certificate and do have a issue options of email. I selected that option, along with save certificate, as it was listed as a requirement for emailing. I had a student meet the grade criteria of the quiz. The certificate was not automatically issued upon the required grade being earned. It was successfully emailed once the student clicked on the certificate activity link AND clicked Get your certificate. The issue date/time is when the certificate activity was accessed, not the quiz completed.


Backstory: The issue we are trying to solve is we have time sensitive state required courses. Though we tell students in the instructions to down the certificate immediately after completing the quiz, some students are not following that instruction. They may download it months later, the result of which is a certificate the reflects that later date they downloaded it (possibly past the state required date rangee) and not the date on which they actually successfully completed the required quiz. The goal we are trying to reach is, regardless of student taking action of downloading or not, the date on the certificate will reflect the date the requirement for the certificate was met (ie passing the quiz)-not the download date. Is this possible?


Thanks again for your help with this!



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In reply to Tiffany Morgan

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Mark Nelson -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

Hi Tiffany

1. The setting I am referring to is described in the docs. The certificate is emailed when the cron is run.

2. The old certificate activity doesn't have a task that ran during cron so it never automatically sent the certificate, it was only sent when the student downloaded the certificate.

3. If you have selected that you want the completion date on the certificate and it isn't displaying that date then that is a bug that needs fixing. Please create an issue https://github.com/markn86/moodle-mod_customcert/issues with replication steps. Also, please note, the dates are calculated during cron (see https://github.com/markn86/moodle-mod_customcert/issues/113). If you are able to replicate this issue with a test certificate and test data and then write down the steps you took so I can try on my site that would be great. I can then work on a fix if I am able to replicate it. smile

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In reply to Mark Nelson

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Tiffany Morgan -
THanks Mark

Appreciate the reply again and sorry my delay while I was away. 


I'm using the new custom certificate but still do not see that option of notifying the user. Am I missing something (attached)?

Attachment Screen Shot 2017-07-13 at 2.30.41 PM.png
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In reply to Tiffany Morgan

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Tiffany Morgan -

Disregard--I upgraded to a version that was slightly newer and the options were there--I'll continue my testing smile

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In reply to Tiffany Morgan

Re: Completion date versus Issued Date

by Tiffany Morgan -

Thanks for all of your help! I think installed the most recent version for my version of Moodle (3.2.2) did the trick. I set the setting to email the student and the date to the issue date. When the cron ran it emailed the student and updated the issue information including date in the student profile for earned certificates and as well as the list of issued certificates, visible for the teacher. 


Thanks again!

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