Moodle

Upon restore, association of "owner" of single simple discussion forum type defaults to user completing restore, not user associated with "teacher role" in the course

Details

  • Type: Bug Bug
  • Status: Open Open
  • Priority: Major Major
  • Resolution: Unresolved
  • Affects Version/s: 1.9.3, 1.9.4
  • Fix Version/s: STABLE backlog
  • Component/s: Administration, Forum
  • Labels:
    None
  • Environment:
    Hosted MoodleRooms installation
    Moodle 1.9.4+ build 20090129
    PHP: 5.2.4
    MySQL: 5.0.54
  • Database:
    MySQL
  • Affected Branches:
    MOODLE_19_STABLE

Description

This is a tracker submitted as a follow-up to a discussion on Moodle.org boards: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=92396#p522335 in reference to the problem that if a user other than the original course creator (the faculty member) restores a course, then in the restored shell, the user associated as the creator of any single simple discussion type threads defaults to the user who performed the restore rather than the user who is associated as the teacher in the course. To quote Howard Miller the problem is, "As you no longer have any users in the course the "owner" of the posting cannot be the original teacher as they are no longer in the course."

------------------------

We are using Moodle 1.9.4+ and are experiencing the "owner" issue associated with the single simple discussion forums. (We experienced this on 1.9.3 version as well...)

At an institutional level, the "rollover process" from semester to semester is defined to meet the needs of the institution and this does not necessarily mesh with the default Moodle functionality, as many are discovering. There are generally 2 paths for "rollover" that we've discovered:

1. Use of RESET of Same Course Shell for Semester to Semester Rollover Process
If a user triggers "reset" within a course and reuses the course in this manner semester to semester, then tie-in to an enrollment system (LDAP, External Database, Message Broker) does not work as the course naming conventions are not altered so enrollments cannot be automated.

2. Use of Backup and Restore to New Shell for Semester to Semester Rollover Process
If a team of systems administrators has a process whereby new shells are created semester to semester and backup files from existing courses are restored to the new course shell then enrollment system tie-in functions work (naming conventions are mapped to the new shell, just content is reused in new shell), the prior semester shells are available for archiving and/or re-opening to limited students for incomplete makeups, and there is less possibility of corruption of the database associated with a course due to consistent yearly reset.

  • The problem with this new course shell restore process comes because currently the only users who can restore a course to a new shell or to an existing shell other than the one they are CURRENTLY IN are users in the role of admin or course creator - not teacher. Hence, the only users who can complete this process are the user not associated with the course shell - so in the scenario of the single-simple discussion forum, the sys admin or course creator is assigned as the creator of the single-simple forum rather than the faculty member associated with the new shell.

<Possible solution:>
Upon restore by sys admin and assignment of the faculty member to the role of "teacher", then the system should update the user associated as the creator of the single simple discussion thread - even if it means the faculty member needs to login to the new shell and trigger a "reset" in order to re-associate the faculty user as the creator of the single-simple discussion thread.

Many thanks to all who participated in the discussion forum on these reports...

  • Mary

Activity

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Permalink
Martin Dougiamas added a comment - - edited

OPTION 1)

How about if we just make so that whoever edits the "single discussion forum" activity becomes the owner of the first post?

So for the case above, the teacher could go and update each of the forums (no changes needed in the form) and then upon saving it becomes the owner of the post.

The patch is simple (below). Only problem is that it COULD be confusing if the two teachers are editing the activity, in which case the name on the post would keep changing. But at least the changes would be predictable and people could use it easily.

Index: lib.php
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/moodle/moodle/mod/forum/lib.php,v
retrieving revision 1.609.2.93
diff -r1.609.2.93 lib.php
100a101,102
>     global $USER;
> 
153a156
>         $post->userid   = $USER->id;    // MDL-18599, so that current teacher can take ownership of activities

OPTION 2)

We just don't show any name and picture at all for that first post? It's always been a bit awkward for this case, especially with multiple teachers

OPTION 3)

Some sort of admin script that a teacher would use to force the ownership of all those discussion starters. I guess it could be on the forum index page, or a link at the top of the single discussion pages (only).

It could even be a small link right after the name printed in the first post (like "Set this post to be from me"), that only appears when the person there is different to the current user AND the current user has forum management capabilities.

Show
Martin Dougiamas added a comment - - edited OPTION 1) How about if we just make so that whoever edits the "single discussion forum" activity becomes the owner of the first post? So for the case above, the teacher could go and update each of the forums (no changes needed in the form) and then upon saving it becomes the owner of the post. The patch is simple (below). Only problem is that it COULD be confusing if the two teachers are editing the activity, in which case the name on the post would keep changing. But at least the changes would be predictable and people could use it easily. 
Index: lib.php
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/moodle/moodle/mod/forum/lib.php,v
retrieving revision 1.609.2.93
diff -r1.609.2.93 lib.php
100a101,102
>     global $USER;
> 
153a156
>         $post->userid   = $USER->id;    // MDL-18599, so that current teacher can take ownership of activities
OPTION 2) We just don't show any name and picture at all for that first post? It's always been a bit awkward for this case, especially with multiple teachers OPTION 3) Some sort of admin script that a teacher would use to force the ownership of all those discussion starters. I guess it could be on the forum index page, or a link at the top of the single discussion pages (only). It could even be a small link right after the name printed in the first post (like "Set this post to be from me"), that only appears when the person there is different to the current user AND the current user has forum management capabilities.
Hide
Permalink
Ben Reynolds added a comment -

OPTION 3)

Some sort of admin script that a teacher would use to force the ownership of all those discussion starters. I guess it could be on the forum index page, or a link at the top of the single discussion pages (only).

It could even be a small link right after the name printed in the first post (like "Set this post to be from me"), that only appears when the person there is different to the current user AND the current user has forum management capabilities.

This option would be useful in situations other than Q&A forum. For example, we have a generic instructor who posts discussion prompts in the other forum types. We then duplicate the template classroom anywhere from once to 20 times a term. It would be useful to then have the instructor of the course be able to set all the premade prompts as being from themselves.

Show
Ben Reynolds added a comment -
OPTION 3) Some sort of admin script that a teacher would use to force the ownership of all those discussion starters. I guess it could be on the forum index page, or a link at the top of the single discussion pages (only). It could even be a small link right after the name printed in the first post (like "Set this post to be from me"), that only appears when the person there is different to the current user AND the current user has forum management capabilities.
This option would be useful in situations other than Q&A forum. For example, we have a generic instructor who posts discussion prompts in the other forum types. We then duplicate the template classroom anywhere from once to 20 times a term. It would be useful to then have the instructor of the course be able to set all the premade prompts as being from themselves.
Hide
Permalink
Mary Parke added a comment -

Thank you all for your feedback.

Hmm...let's see...

Option 1 - also looks promising, but requires the instructor to go in and "edit" each semester - an extra step for them, but a work-around option nonetheless.

Option 2 might be an issue if an instructor wants to use the "subscription" option in the forum, no? However, I really like this option from an administrator point-of-view - the ease for the rollover process is great.

Option 3 - I agree with Ben's comments.

Show
Mary Parke added a comment - Thank you all for your feedback. Hmm...let's see... Option 1 - also looks promising, but requires the instructor to go in and "edit" each semester - an extra step for them, but a work-around option nonetheless. Option 2 might be an issue if an instructor wants to use the "subscription" option in the forum, no? However, I really like this option from an administrator point-of-view - the ease for the rollover process is great. Option 3 - I agree with Ben's comments.
Hide
Permalink
Martin Dougiamas added a comment -

I've checked in option 1 to 1.9.6 (released very soon).

I tried to make option 2 work but it's messy and needs more thinking. We really need to keep that thing looking like a real post, with all the little things like attachments, searching etc that it entails. Leaving this to later.

Option 3 requires some development still.

Show
Martin Dougiamas added a comment - I've checked in option 1 to 1.9.6 (released very soon). I tried to make option 2 work but it's messy and needs more thinking. We really need to keep that thing looking like a real post, with all the little things like attachments, searching etc that it entails. Leaving this to later. Option 3 requires some development still.
Hide
Permalink
Martin Dougiamas added a comment -

So, just to be clear, the workaround in 1.9.6 is to edit the activity and re-save it. The owner of the first post will be set to the user currently editing.

Show
Martin Dougiamas added a comment - So, just to be clear, the workaround in 1.9.6 is to edit the activity and re-save it. The owner of the first post will be set to the user currently editing.

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Dates

  • Created:
    Updated:
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