This is the HowToMoodle blog maintained (in the very loosest sense of the word) by Ray Lawrence.
HowToMoodle is a specialist provider of Moodle services and solutions.
You can find out more at www.howtomoodle.com
Do you ever get the feeling that you're living in a cave? Screenr http://screenr.com/ just came into view in the Articualte Rapid Elearning Blog newsletter.
How long has that been out there?
It's really neat, works on PC and Macs, zero install. Posts to Twitter with other sharing options too.
Had a bit of confusion on publishing (RT wen not tweeted yet) but got there in the end.
This tip helps direct new users on your site who self enrol in courses to support information e.g. a page where they can test for prerequisites such as Flash, Adobe Reader etc.
First of all set up your support page somewhere where it is readily accessible e.g. using the "Compose a web page" resource from the Main Menu block on your Moodle site's front page. Copy the URL of this page, you'll need it later. Ensure that a welcome email is sent out when the user self enrols in a course. This is the default position, you can check it on your site from the Site Administration block at Courses -> Enrolments -> Common settings. The Send course welcome message setting should be set to “Yes”. To direct users to the support page we are going to modify the welcome message that users receive by email when they self enrol in a course. From the Site Administration block visit Language -> Language editing. Check that the language pack that you want to edit is selected in Current language and then click the Edit word or phrases link above it. From the drop-down select moodle.php Search for /welcometocoursetext/ and change the text in the text box on the right to include a suitable message and the url of the support page. Save changes. Once a user enrols on a course, they are now sent a customised message that includes a link to the support page. One thing to bear in mind is that the url may not always appear neatly in the users email. This depends upon the email client used by the recipient.
Here's a tip contributed by our client Karen Shackleford.
Multiple choice questions are probably the most frequently used question type in quizzes. One of the issues is that the answer in the choices presented to the candidate.
Karen suggests using "None of the above" as the final choice in the question and also that quizzes using questions constructed in this way should contain questions where the answer (key) is present and also where it isn't (Sneaky, or what!).If you use this suggestion make sure the "Shuffle the choices?" checkbox is not ticked when you set up the question.Thanks, Karen!If you would like to see your tip here email us on tips@howtomoodle.com
Not really had chance to blog about this since we put it on the website last week, but have been delighted with the repsonse so far.
Full details over at: http://www.howtomoodle.com/seminars
Places are limited and there's an early bird discount.
Here's a simple way to generate a complete template for your bulk user CSV file.
In a 1.9 series Moodle site, log in as an administrator and find the following location on the site administration menu:
Users > Accounts > Bulk user actions.
Select a user in the "Available" column (any account will do) and click the "Add to selection" button. With this user in the "Selected" column move down the page to the "With selected users..." drop-down, select "Download" and click the "Go" button.
Next click the "Download in text format" link and save the CSV file generated.
You now have a complete CSV file ready for populating with user details (you'll still need need to add a "password" column, and don't forget to remove the details of the user you selected earlier to generate the file).
If you've added bespoke User Profile fields to your site these are also included with the correct field names.
Just a quick "thanks" for everyone who's been in touch with feedback about the tips on this blog. The Moodle Tips item was the most clicked item on our recent email newsletter! www.howtomoodle.com/newsletter
If you have any tips you'd like to see here email me at tips@howtomoodle.com
Following on from my recent post on this I've been asked about information that appears in users' profiles that's not in the list on the User policies page.
The chances are that this is a bespoke field set up with User profile fields. (Login in as an administrator - Site administration > Users > Accounts > User profile fields.
Open the field for editing and change the "Who is this field visible to?" to suit your needs.
When participants with "student" level access view each others user profiles they see most of the information entered. As this could include a
range of contact, address and access information there may be concerns about privacy and compliance with data protection legislation.
When you're using group enrolment keys users are normally given a prompt if they enter the wrong enrolment key on attemptng to enter a course. The issue is that the enrolment key prompt refers to the course enrolment key not a group enrolment key. This can cause confusion and a fair amount of frustration too.
If you're not using course enrolment keys, or you are and can live without a prompt, you may find it useful to disable the enrolment key prompt option at:
Site Administration > Course > Enrolments > Internal Enrolment - Edit.
Set "enrol_manual_showhint" to "No".
(You'll need to be logged in a as an administrator to change this).
Most people are aware that the Short Answer question type allows checking of submissions on a case sensitive basis. The short answer element in the Embedded Answer (Cloze) question type can incorporate case sensitive matching too!
Simply use "SHORTANSWER_C", or "SAC" instead of "SHORTANSWER" or "SA" when constructing your question.
