Re: [Self-platform-dev] Feedback from using beta.selfplatform.eu

[David Jacovkis]

Hi Ciaran,

your detailed feedback is indeed very useful. Thanks a lot for taking the time
of writing this down. Some of these things should end up as bugs or feature
requests in savannah. You can add them to the tracking system in

https://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/self-platform

If I don't see them there in a few days, when I have some time, I'll add them
myself.

Best regards,
David

Ciaran O'Riordan wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I started putting material on beta.selfplatform.eu for a licences course
> that is given by FSFE's Freedom Task Force.  There are some glitches that
> make using the platform frustrating, so I documented the experience.  I know
> it's only in beta, so bugs are normal at this stage, but I hope this
> feedback is useful anyway.
> 
> ======================
> 
> I made an account ("ciaran") and logged in.
> 
> First time I added a resource, I got a "programming error" because of an
> unallowed character before the word "Riordan" at character 216 (i.e. it
> barfed when it saw an apostrophe in my name in the copyright field).
> 
> So I hit the back button and filled in everything again, minus the
> apostrophe.  This time I was brought to the "My Resource Pool" which just
> showed me a box saying "File already exists..." - which leaves me wondering
> where the file is.
> 
> I click on "Add resource" (to add the same file again with a new name), but
> then I change my mind and I go back to "My Resource Pool" to ensure I've
> tried all available options to see the file I uploaded.  Instead of the
> previous "File already exists..." message, I now get "Resources Not
> Found..." (so where's the "already exsting" file that I've uploaded twice
> now??)
> 
> Back to "Add resource", choose to upload a file with a different name, all
> works.  Yay.
> 
> Next, I wonder if my uploaded material is public, so I search for the title
> in the search box and I find it.  The "LO Information" is available, showing
> title, date, etc. but I don't see any way to download the file that I
> uploaded.
> 
> Maybe I have to add it to my bookshelf?  Try that, no.  I still don't see
> how I can download the file I uploaded.
> 
> After some more clicking around, I find myself on the "Collection Manager"
> page.  There's an "Add Course" button - maybe I have to add my material that
> way?  No, that button doesn't do anything.  I wonder why I can't add course
> material.  I don't see any information about what authorisations I have or
> what authorisations are needed.
> 
> I look at some of the content listed in the lefthand box of the "Course
> Manager".  I click on a course "Hardware Manager" and I see a sentence about
> learning objectives and a sentence about content, but I don't see what I
> have to do to look at or download this course.  Maybe it doesn't exist or
> it's empty, but there's nothing to tell me this.
> 
> I see two dots in their own box below, also on the lefthand side, under the
> box which lists the courses.  I click them and the page reloads but I don't
> see that anything has changed.
> 
> I log out, to see what a non-logged-in person would see.  I search for my
> project, and now in the "LO Information" box I get a URL instead of the
> previous message which was something like "No URL available".  I click on it
> and it's my file.  Yay.
> 
> I log in to check if the link will still be available when I'm logged in,
> and it is.  Yay again.
> 
> Later, while reading a course, I click the "Add Content" button.  The main
> window displays a text area where I can enter a title, course objective, and
> content.  The title in the main window is "Afegir Contingut" (which I don't
> understand - a web search suggestions it's Catalan for "add content").  On
> another page I get "Afegir curs", so I'm sure now that this translates to
> "Add course".
> 
> =========
> 
> Later, while logged out, I search for my course.  When the search results
> are displayed, there's a button "Add Selected to my Bookshelf".  Since I'm
> not logged in, I wonder what this does.  I click it and get the "Loading..."
> animation.  30 minutes later, it's still loading.  (I guess it's stuck in an
> infinite loop doing nothing.)
> 
> ========
> 
> After I made the empty project, I sent someone the URL:
> http://beta.selfplatform.eu/SELF/lessonsview?ssid=20397
> 
> Then I uploade some content, and I noticed the URL had changed:
> http://beta.selfplatform.eu/SELF/lessonsview?ssid=20409
> 
> And going to the old "20397" URL continues to show a project with no
> content.  So, I see that each URL is tied to a certain version of the
> course.  I need to give someone a URL that will always point to the most
> recent version.  I couldn't find any usable URL.
> 
> This is a big practical problem.  The other problems I found are problems
> for me, and I will accept them, but this is something that makes a problem
> for readers of the website, and we can't be sure they'll accept it.
> 
> (The current best workaround is to send them to one of the versioned URLs
> and tell them to click on the rightmost dot in the rectangular box below the
> lefthand menubox - or tell them to start from the home page and select the
> right category and then select the course.)
> 
> ========
> 
> Hope that helps!

-- 
David Jacovkis
Free Knowledge Institute
http://freeknowledge.eu
Wibautstraat 150, 0 1 Vloer
1091GR Amsterdam, Nederland
+31208910319
+31628861410