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Grid course format

A topics based format that uses a grid of user selectable images to select a section.

Required release of Moodle

This version works with Moodle 4.5 version 2024100700.00 (Build: 20241007) and above within the MOODLE_405_STABLE branch until the next release.

Please ensure that your hardware and software complies with 'Requirements' in 'Installing Moodle'.

Free software

The Grid format is 'free' software under the terms of the GNU GPLv3 License, please see 'COPYING.txt'.

The primary source for downloading this branch of the format is https://moodle.org/plugins/view.php?plugin=format_grid with 'Your Moodle version:' set at 'Moodle 4.5'.

The secondary source is https://github.com/gjbarnard/moodle-format_grid/tags

If you download from the development area - https://github.com/gjbarnard/moodle-format_grid - consider that the code is unstable and not for use in production environments. This is because I develop the next release in stages and use GitHub as a means of backup. Therefore the code is not finished, subject to alteration and requires testing.

You have all the rights granted to you by the GPLv3 license. If you are unsure about anything, then the FAQ - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html - is a good place to look.

If you reuse any of the code then I kindly ask that you make reference to the format.

If you make improvements or bug fixes then I would appreciate if you would send them back to me by forking from https://github.com/gjbarnard/moodle-format_grid and doing a 'Pull Request' so that the rest of the Moodle community benefits.

Support

Please see Support.md.

Installation

  1. Ensure you have the release of Moodle as stated above in 'Required release of Moodle'. This is essential as the format relies on underlying core code that is out of my control.
  2. Put Moodle in 'Maintenance Mode' (docs.moodle.org/en/admin/setting/maintenancemode) so that there are no users using it bar you as the administrator - if you have not already done so.
  3. Copy 'grid' to '/course/format/' if you have not already done so.
  4. Go back in as an administrator and follow standard the 'plugin' update notification. If needed, go to 'Site administration' -> 'Notifications' if this does not happen.
  5. Put Moodle out of Maintenance Mode.
  6. You may need to check that the permissions within the 'grid' folder are 755 for folders and 644 for files.

Uninstallation

  1. Put Moodle in 'Maintenance Mode' so that there are no users using it bar you as the administrator.
  2. It is recommended but not essential to change all of the courses that use the format to another. If this is not done Moodle will pick the last format in your list of formats to use but display in 'Edit settings' of the course the first format in the list. You can then set the desired format.
  3. In '/course/format/' remove the folder 'grid'.
  4. In the database, remove the row with the 'plugin' of 'format_grid' and 'name' of 'version' in the 'config_plugins' table and drop the 'format_grid_icon' and 'format_grid_summary' tables.
  5. Put Moodle out of Maintenance Mode.

Upgrade instructions

  1. Ensure you have the release of Moodle as stated above in 'Required release of Moodle'. This is essential as the format relies on underlying core code that is out of my control.
  2. Put Moodle in 'Maintenance Mode' so that there are no users using it bar you as the administrator.
  3. In '/course/format/' move old 'grid' directory to a backup folder outside of Moodle.
  4. Copy new 'grid' to '/course/format/'.
  5. Go back in as an administrator and follow standard the 'plugin' update notification. If needed, go to 'Site administration' -> 'Notifications' if this does not happen.
  6. If you have upgraded from Moodle 1.9 and were using the Grid format there, please follow 'Upgrading from M1.9' below and then return back here.
  7. If automatic 'Purge all caches' appears not to work by lack of display etc. then perform a manual 'Purge all caches' under 'Home -> Site administration -> Development -> Purge all caches'.
  8. Put Moodle out of Maintenance Mode.

Downgrading

If for any reason you need to downgrade to a previous release of the format then the procedure will inform you how to do so:

  1. Put Moodle in 'Maintenance Mode' so that there are no users using it bar you as the administrator.
  2. In '/course/format/' remove the folder 'grid' i.e. ALL it's contents - this is VITAL.
  3. Put in the replacement 'grid' folder into '/course/format/'.
  4. This step depends on if you are downgrading to a version prior to 15th July 2012, this should therefore only be for Moodle 2.3.x and below versions. If you are, perform step 4.1 otherwise, perform step 4.2. 4.1 In the database, remove the row with the 'plugin' of 'format_grid' and 'name' of 'version' in the 'config_plugins' table and drop the 'format_grid_icon' and 'format_grid_summary' tables. If automatic 'Purge all caches' appears not to work by lack of display etc. then perform a manual 'Purge all caches' under 'Home -> Site administration -> Development -> Purge all caches'. 4.2 In the database, change the row with the 'plugin' of 'format_grid' and 'name' of 'version' in the 'config_plugins' table to have the same 'value' as '$plugin->version' in the 'grid/version.php' file i.e. like '2013083000'. Then perform a manual 'Purge all caches' under 'Home -> Site administration -> Development -> Purge all caches'.
  5. Go back in as an administrator and follow standard the 'plugin' update notification. If needed, go to 'Site administration' -> 'Notifications' if this does not happen.
  6. Put Moodle out of Maintenance Mode.

Reporting issues

Please see Support.md.

File information

Languages

The grid/lang folder contains the language files for the format.

Note that existing formats store their language strings in the main moodle.php, which you can also do, but this separate file is recommended for contributed formats.

Of course you can have other folders as well as English etc. if you want to provide multiple languages.

Styles

The file grid/styles.css contains the CSS styles for the format which can be overridden by the theme.

Backup

The files:

grid/backup/moodle2/backup_format_grid_plugin.class.php grid/backup/moodle2/restore_format_grid_plugin.class.php

are responsible for backup and restore.

Backup and restore run automatically when backing up the course. You can't back up the course format data independently.

Roadmap

  1. Maintenance of issues.
  2. Ongoing structured walk through and refactoring.
  3. Updates to support major releases when they happen.

Parked

  1. Improved instructions including Moodle docs.
  2. User definable grid row icon numbers - https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=196716

Known issues

Listed on: https://github.com/gjbarnard/moodle-format_grid/issues

History

Please see Changes.md

Developed and maintained by

G J Barnard MSc. BSc(Hons)(Sndw). MBCS. CEng. CITP. PGCE.