Forum .LRN Q&A: Some parameters not honored

Posted by Deds Castillo on 07/24/02 01:16 PM

DB: Oracle
OpenACS and dotLRN: HEAD revisions as of this post

I haven't looked at the code yet and I'm playing with some parameters. I've noticed that the parameter dotlrn_class_instance_folders_to_show for the dotLRN FS applet seems ignored. I've trimmed down the default to "Assignments" but whenever I create a new class and try to customize the layout, I can always add "Lecture Notes" as well as "Handouts" eventhough it's broken.

user_portal_pages_csv seems to be ignored also as the user portal pages are always named "MySpace-Calendar..."

Another question I have is regarding the default portlets shown on the classes and communities. I don't want to show an FAQ for classes so I tried to remove dotlrn_faq from the default_class_instance_applets of the dotlrn parameters, but it persists on installing anyway. Is this a bug? Or are the parameter values misleading in some way?

2: Response to Some parameters not honored (response to 1)

Posted by Arjun Sanyal on 07/24/02 04:51 PM

<blockquote> I've trimmed down the default to "Assignments" but whenever
I create a new class and try to customize the layout, I can always
add "Lecture Notes" as well as "Handouts" eventhough it's broken.
</blockquote>

Are you editing the dotlrn-fs.info file or setting the dotLRN File Storage Applet's param through /admin/site-map? Editing the .info file will not work except at installation time. Using the site-map
works ok for me.

<blockquote> user_portal_pages_csv seems to be ignored also as the user
portal pages are always named "MySpace-Calendar..."
</blockquote>

This parameter sets up the pages and layouts for the _user portal template_ at dotlrn installation time. Each time a (full) user is
added to dotlrn, a one-time copy from the user template to the user's template takes place. If you edit the user portal template at /dotlrn/admin/portal-templates, then create users they will get the new values.

default_class_instance_applets may be buggy. I'm looking into it. As a workaround, you can hide the FAQ portlet from the class portal template (/dotlrn/admin/portal-templates) or the specific class's portal ("Customize layout").

3: Response to Some parameters not honored (response to 1)

Posted by Deds Castillo on 07/25/02 04:05 AM

Arjun,

I'm setting the dotlrn_class_instance_folders_to_show parameter via the site-map and it doesn't work for me. I'll pull up HEAD sources again and try reinstalling as I need to do it anyway.

Thanks for clearing up that bit about user_portal_pages_csv and default_class_instance_applets.

4: Response to Some parameters not honored (response to 1)

Posted by Arjun Sanyal on 07/25/02 08:42 PM

My answer was a bit misleading about the copy from the portal template. You can force a re-copy (re-sync) from the portal template using the "revert" button at the bottom of portals that have templates.

So, if you want to hide the FAQ portlet in all groups, but you already created some that have the FAQ portlet:

1. Hide the faq portlet in the portal templates
2. for all already created groups (and maybe users), revert them to the template, then re-customize them

I might add a "revert all portals using this template" button, if it would be useful.

5: Response to Some parameters not honored (response to 1)

Posted by Caroline Meeks on 07/25/02 11:01 PM

Hi Arjun,

A revert all portals button is on Sloan's wish list.

Or perhaps more usefull would be a "add/remove this portlet to all portals of this type". It would be good to be able to add a new portlet without distroying all the user's customizations.

Use Case: A new package (say events) becomes available and each community now needs a portlet to access it.