It's very early (it doesn't actually do anything yet!) but you can
define groups and get an idea of how the interface is shaping up.
I also wanted to show that I have actually done something on this! :-)
From here my plan is to add group support to the modules, one by one
(forums first), then go back and clean up some of the central interfaces,
graphics etc.
Finally, test, test, test and get 1.2 out well before the end of February.
Starting with v. 7.4 postgres is returning default-values with datatype in form:
'default value'::data type
This cannot be inserted back to database so DEFAULT keyword must be used.
for recording the last access to the COURSE.
This is updated at the same time as add_to_log and is now used instead
of user->lastaccess when course user listings are required.
This means course listings now show what you expect and open up the way
for a "current users" listing and instant messaging etc ...
- small numbers of courses (less than 8) are displayed in full,
unless the creator or admin is editing.
- course counts are now accurate when all courses are removed from
a category
- can search for full words or non words with +word -word
- no longer groups by category, sorts by full name
- prints paging as well as total number
- search help
that is much better than the proposal to change the role of course creators.
There is a new field in user_teachers called "editall", which is
ON BY DEFAULT, and allows teachers to edit courses. It can be modified
on the teacher editing screen (formerly assign teachers).
The value is cached in the session.
To test for it, there is a new function isteacheredit($course->id)
which works much like isteacher did.
I'm going through now and applying this new function wherever
it is needed.
OK, this is a big check-in with some big changes, and needs work still.
It seems relatively stable, but I need help identifying the rough patches.
1) First grading scales support. There is a now a new table called "scale"
that contains grading scales. There can be site scales (course=0) and
custom course scales. These can be used in modules - I've only done
forums for now but that was the hard one. Scales can be edited via
the new item in the course admin menu.
There is one default scale - the connected/separate knowing one that used
to be in forum. To build this I pull data from the language packs
to create one during the upgrade, or anytime a scales menu is called
and no scales are found.
2) New roles for course creator and teachers. I've fixed up the course
menus and some other things but there's a lot left to do on this to
make it all smooth. The idea is that teachers no longer can edit courses
unless they are also course creators. The interface for this needs to
be smoothed out a fair bit and I need help with this.
The upgrade will upgrade all teachers to be creators, but will default
the new site config "creatornewcourses" to "no", so that effectively
these new teachers have the same privileges.
3) Simplified teacher management. There is no longer an "assign teachers"
and a "teacher roles" page - it's all on one page in course/teacher.html.
Phew ... time for a shower and then back into it.
This includes some significant cleanups to the new course categories
system. The basic idea is that the categories/course browser is now
unified under one system, and admin features related to that have
all been moved into the browser (as little icons).
I'm much happier with this as a foundation that can scale and be
built upon.
Still to go:
- searching
- paging
- polishing
Also in here are a lot of little cleanups around the place, such as
the initial setup process.
