Hi James
That is a solid plan. I have seen many such instructions fail because the "visions" of the different authors differ. So people move the goal posts during the game. The "collective writing" as propagated in
Moodle Docs is an illusion for anything flexible, open.
The five rules you stipulate are clear and defines the scope and limitations of the tutorial. I hope, you'll pull through. If you need any input from the community, discuss them here for sure, but ultimately filter the differing opinions and edit the tutorial yourself for consistence.
One point that reminded me of my similar work in the past. It is this:
> 5. The guide should presume a production
server suitable for student input is to be installed. Encrypted https,
A production Moodle needs to be HTTPS. To get a free TLS certificate from Let's Encrypt the site must be reachable in the Internet. Or, one could get commercial ones even without the web server being on-line (I think, it's a long time since). For local, LAN or localhost, installations one could use self-signed certificates. But all that is complicated for the novice.
I know, you were clear:
> 1. [..] It is not the place to learn Linux or
git commands as users of the page simply want to install Moodle.
i.e. the target is a production server. I tend to be biased on learning, fearing that quick entry leads to time-consuming support sagas later. A compromise I made in a course for aspiring Moodle admins was to offer my own "hosting", a Linux server prepared to run a Moodle instance mysite/siteXYZ per participant. "mysite" had TLS configured. Of course, my preferred approach is to start with old-school Unix shell, hands-on. I think I gave you access to my "playful intro to the shell" some time ago. I know, people don't want to learn, they want results.