introduction to moodle development

Introduction to Moodle Development

Jonathan MooreFounder

Oklahoma Moot 2010 Edition

Background and context

● Managed thousands of Moodle sites● Managed millions of Moodle user accounts● Over 10 years experience with Moodle● Dozens of Moodle dev and reporting projects● Tuning, scalability, and performance expert● Author of Moodle Module Development

Things you need

● Local Moodle installation

– https://download.moodle.org/macosx/– https://download.moodle.org/windows/

● Text editor● Thinking cap!

Format / objectives

● Create a 'Hello World' block● Use language files for localization● Implement capabilities● Scheduled execution● Ask questions!● Share your tips

Getting to know you

● How many new developers?● How technical are you?● Are you new to Moodle?● Does anyone know PHP already?

Getting to know you

● What are you hoping to learn today?● What is your ultimate goal?

What is a block?

Moodle source folder

Finding your source folder

Hands-on

● Install local Moodle● Find source code folder

Minimal block requirements

● Choose a block name (ex helloworld)● Block folder in /block (ex /block/helloworld)● block_name.php (ex block_helloworld.php)

– Extend block class

– Define init()

– Define get_content() function

● Create language file

Language files

● Moodle supports unicode for localization / multi-language support

● Stored in /lang folder of module● Each language gets its own folder

ex/lang/en_utf8● Assigns to global $string hash

Hands-on

● Download newblock template– https://github.com/danielneis/moodle-

block_newblock

● Rename references from newblock to helloworld● Install into Moodle

Settings

● Stores individual block instance configuration● Requires

– Settings.php– edit_form.php

Hands-on

● Create configuration option to set block text

Hands-on

● Display user's firstname in block

Capabilities

● Define access limits / powers for users● Modules can check for capabilities and limit access● Can use built-in and custom created capabilities

Hands-on

● Add capability to view block

Scheduling execution● Update init() function

– $this->cron = 5; //where 5 is minutes between runs● Define cron() function

Hands-on

● Add a cron call for our block

Developer tools

PhpStorm IDE

More tools

● Git – code management

– see github and bitbucket services● Xdebug – debugger● Code checker – style checker● PHP Unit – code level testing● Behat – browser automation

And more dev tools

● Moodle Development KIT (MDK)● MOOSH● XHProf● GRUNT – Bootstrap tool● Shifter – Javascript compiling

What we do

● Expert advice and eLearning program review● Evangelism and training● Instructional design● Custom development● Reporting● System tuning● Performance assessment

Questions?

● http://elearningconsultancy.com● jonathan@elearningconsultancy.com● Twitter: @moorejon● Skype: moorejon07