Navigation

index

next |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

Mahara documentation

This is the documentation for Mahara 1.5. When you see the “New in Mahara 1.5” icon , a feature was introduced or changed from Mahara 1.4.

Note

You can also go to the index, look for the entry “New in Mahara 1.5” and then explore the features from there.

You can reach another version of the Mahara documentation by hovering over the “Read the Docs” image at the bottom of the page and then selecting the version you would like to view.

Table of contents

1. Introduction

1.1. What is Mahara?

1.2. The Mahara framework

1.3. How does Mahara fit in to the e-learning landscape?

1.4. What if Mahara does not support a feature I want?

1.5. Other things to do

1.6. Where can I get ideas of how to use Mahara?

1.7. Getting help

2. Dashboard

2.1. Login

2.2. Overview

2.3. Quick links

2.4. User-specific information

3. Content

3.1. Profile

3.1.1. About me

3.1.2. Contact information

3.1.3. Messaging

3.1.4. General

3.2. Profile pictures

3.2.1. Pictures uploaded to Mahara

3.2.2. Remote avatars

3.3. Files

3.3.1. Upload a file

3.3.2. Upload multiple files

3.3.3. Create a folder

3.3.4. Delete a file or folder

3.3.5. File quota

3.4. Journal

3.4.1. Change your journal settings

3.4.2. Add a journal entry

3.4.3. Add a file as attachment to a journal entry

3.4.4. Add an image to a journal entry

3.5. Résumé

3.5.1. Introduction

3.5.2. Education and employment

3.5.3. Achievements

3.5.4. Goals

3.5.5. Skills

3.5.6. Interests

3.6. Plans

3.6.1. Create a new plan

3.6.2. Add tasks to a plan

3.6.3. Edit tasks in a plan

3.7. My notes

4. Portfolio

4.1. Pages

4.1.1. Overview page

4.1.2. Create a new page

4.1.3. Edit an existing page

4.1.4. Copy a page

4.1.5. View a page

4.1.6. Give others access to your page

4.2. Page editor

4.2.1. Editor navigation

4.2.2. Artefact chooser

4.2.3. Page layout area

4.2.4. Optional theme chooser

4.3. Collections

4.3.1. Manage your collections

4.3.2. Add a collection

4.3.3. Copy a collection

4.3.4. Add collection pages

4.3.5. Manage collection pages

4.3.6. Give others access to your collection

4.4. Share

4.4.1. Edit access for users with an account

4.4.2. Edit access to your profile page

4.4.3. Restrict access based on time

4.4.4. Choose advanced options

4.4.5. Edit access for users with no account

4.5. Export

4.6. Feedback

4.7. Feedback for assessment

4.7.1. Submit a page for assessment

4.7.2. Instructor feedback

4.8. Tags

4.8.1. Tag cloud

4.8.2. My tags

4.8.3. Edit tags

5. Groups

5.1. My groups

5.2. Find groups

5.3. Set up a group

5.3.1. Create a group as a user

5.3.2. Create a group as staff member or institution admin

5.3.3. Create a group as a site admin

5.3.4. Edit general group settings

5.4. Inside a group

5.4.1. Group homepage

5.4.2. Members

5.4.3. Forums

5.4.4. Pages

5.4.5. Files

5.5. My friends

5.6. Find friends

5.6.1. Send a friend request

5.6.2. Accept a friend request

5.6.3. Deny a friend request

5.7. Institution membership

5.8. Shared pages

5.9. Topics

6. Blocks

6.1. Files, images and video

6.1.1. File(s) to download

6.1.2. Folder

6.1.3. Image gallery

6.1.4. Some HTML

6.1.5. Image

6.1.6. Embedded media

6.2. Journals

6.2.1. Display an entire journal

6.2.2. Display one journal entry

6.2.3. Display recent journal entries

6.2.4. Display tagged journal entries

6.3. General

6.3.1. Creative Commons license

6.3.2. Navigation

6.3.3. Plans

6.3.4. Recent forum posts

6.3.5. Text box

6.3.6. My inbox

6.3.7. Latest pages

6.3.8. My watched pages

6.3.9. Group info

6.3.10. Group members

6.3.11. Group pages

6.4. Profile

6.4.1. Contact information

6.4.2. My friends

6.4.3. My groups

6.4.4. My pages

6.4.5. Profile information

6.4.6. Wall

6.5. Résumé

6.5.1. Display your entire résumé

6.5.2. Display one résumé field

6.6. External content

6.6.1. External feed

6.6.2. External media

6.6.3. Google Apps

6.7. Blocks in various pages

6.7.1. Files, images and video

6.7.2. Journals

6.7.3. General

6.7.4. Profile

6.7.5. Résumé

6.7.6. External content

7. Settings

7.1. Account settings

7.1.1. New password

7.1.2. Change username

7.1.3. General account options

7.1.4. Delete account

7.2. Notifications

7.3. Inbox

8. Site administration

8.1. Overview

8.1.1. Navigation

8.1.2. Warnings

8.1.3. Register your Mahara site

8.1.4. Site information

8.1.5. Site statistics

8.1.6. Close site

8.2. Configure site

8.2.1. Site options

8.2.2. Edit site pages

8.2.3. Menus

8.2.4. Networking

8.2.5. Pages

8.2.6. Share

8.2.7. Files

8.3. Users

8.3.1. User search

8.3.2. User account settings

8.3.3. Suspended and expired users

8.3.4. Site staff

8.3.5. Site admins

8.3.6. Admin notifications

8.3.7. Add user

8.3.8. Add and update users by CSV

8.3.9. Change the authentication method and remote username in bulk

8.4. Groups

8.4.1. Administer groups

8.4.2. Manage a group

8.4.3. Manage group categories

8.4.4. Add and update groups by CSV

8.4.5. Update group members by CSV

8.5. Institutions

8.5.1. Overview

8.5.2. Add an institution

8.5.3. Edit an institution

8.5.4. Members

8.5.5. Institution staff

8.5.6. Institution administrators

8.5.7. Institution pages

8.5.8. Share institution pages

8.5.9. Files

8.5.10. Pending registrations

8.6. Extensions

8.6.1. Plugin administration

8.6.2. HTML filters

8.7. Experimental features

8.7.1. Bulk export of Leap2A files

8.7.2. Bulk import of Leap2A files

8.7.3. usersuniquebyusername variable

9. Institution administration

9.1. Manage users

9.1.1. User search

9.1.2. User account settings

9.1.3. Suspended and expired users

9.1.4. Add user

9.1.5. Add and update users by CSV

9.1.6. Change the authentication method and remote username in bulk

9.2. Manage groups

9.2.1. Add and update groups by CSV

9.2.2. Update group members by CSV

9.3. Manage institutions

9.3.1. Settings

9.3.2. Members

9.3.3. Institution staff

9.3.4. Institution administrators

9.3.5. Admin notifications

9.3.6. Institution pages

9.3.7. Share

9.3.8. Institution files

9.3.9. Pending registrations

10. Staff access

10.1. Searching for institution members

10.2. Viewing user reports

11. Mahoodle

11.1. Moodle to Mahara

11.2. Mahara to Moodle

12. Mobile Mahara

12.1. MaharaDroid

12.2. PortfolioUp

For documentation writers

1. ToDo list

2. Information for Mahara documentation writers

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

1. Introduction

Welcome to the Mahara User Guide. This user guide is designed to provide documentation for people who will use Mahara on a day-to-day basis. This document is designed to be read by any user of Mahara, as most users will have access to the features documented here. Site and Institution Administrator functionalities are covered in a separate section of this guide.

Without any further ado, let’s begin!

1.1. What is Mahara?

If you’re wondering what Mahara or an ePortfolio is, why you might want one and what it can do for you, then read on – you’re about to find out.

At the simplest level, Mahara is two things: an ePortfolio [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eportfolio] and a social networking [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network] system combined. An ePortfolio is a system in which students can record “evidence of lifelong learning” – such as essays, artwork or other such things they produce that can be stored digitally. Such things are known as artefacts in Mahara. Social networking systems need little introduction – think Bebo [http://bebo.com/], Facebook [http://facebook.com/] or MySpace [http://www.myspace.com/]. Basically, they give a way for people to interact with their friends and create their own online communities.

But Mahara is much more than just a place to store files. Mahara also includes blogging, a résumé builder, and Moodle [http://moodle.org/] integration.

1.2. The Mahara framework

With Mahara, you control which items and what information within your portfolio other users see. Such items and information are termed artefacts. To facilitate this access control, all artefacts you wish to show to other users need to be arranged into one area. In Mahara this compilation of selected artefacts is called a ‘page’. You can have as many pages as you like, each with a different number of artefacts, intended purpose and audience. Your audience, or the people you wish to give access to your page, can be added as individuals or as a member of a group. It can even be made publicly available.

For example you could create:

a page for your friends and family that includes holiday photos and a personal journal

a page for your tutor, which includes assessments and your reflective learning journal

a page to showcase your best pieces of work and your résumé for potential employers

...

A single page or a collection of pages can make up your portfolio. Unless artefacts are placed in a page, they are not visible to anybody but you. You can use files that you uploaded or journal entries you wrote in as many pages as you wish. You only need one copy of your artefact.

Imagine you collected all your artefacts in a shoe box. Whenever you have a new artefact, you add it to the shoe box. When you are ready to create your portfolio, you take a look at the artefacts in your shoe box and choose those that you want to make available on a portfolio page. You can arrange the artefacts on that page to your liking.

Portfolio work with Mahara

The diagram below of example artefacts, pages and groups illustrates how content in Mahara can be shared and reused in different contexts and for different audiences.

Mahara framework

1.3. How does Mahara fit in to the e-learning landscape?

If you think of LMSs [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_Management_System] such as Moodle, Sakai and Blackboard as the formal, structured side of e-learning, then Mahara is the social, reflective side. An LMS and an ePortfolio complement one another in an online learning environment.

In particular, while Mahara’s APIs are open to all, Mahara can integrate with Moodle natively to provide a streamlined user experience. Since Moodle 2.0 this is not only limited to SSO via MNet, but students are able to export assignments, blogs and much more straight into Mahara to use as artefacts – which can then, of course, be placed into pages.

1.4. What if Mahara does not support a feature I want?

Mahara has been designed from the ground up to be an open, pluggable system. Creating new artefacts, authenticating against a custom system and much more can be implemented simply through writing a plugin that uses the appropriate core API. What this means is that it is free and easy for you to customise almost anything about Mahara to suit your needs – and paid support is available [http://www.mahara.org/partners] through a network of Mahara Partners should you require it.

1.5. Other things to do

Now you have a basic idea of what Mahara is, you could:

Read the list of features that Mahara comes with.

Explore the demo [http://demo.mahara.org/] or download Mahara [https://launchpad.net/mahara/] for yourself to play with.

Sign up to the mahara.org community [http://mahara.org/registration.php] and begin asking questions and contributing in the forums [http://mahara.org/interaction/forum/index.php?group=1].

Continue reading this user guide.

1.6. Where can I get ideas of how to use Mahara?

The Mahara 1.4 Cookbook [http://www.packtpub.com/mahara-1-4-cookbook-for-training-education/book] by Ellen Marie Murphy was published in September 2011. It has over 50 ideas of how to use Mahara in different settings. The book can be purchased in PDF and paper formats.

The Mahara E-Portfolios: Beginner’s Guide [http://www.packtpub.com/mahara-e-portfolios-beginners-guide/book] by Derrin Kent and Richard Hand is the updated edition of the Mahara 1.2 E-Portfolios: Beginner’s Guide [http://www.packtpub.com/mahara-12-e-portfolios-beginners-guide/book] and a great reference for step-by-step instructions on how to create a portfolio and perform other tasks.

1.7. Getting help

Contextual help in available throughout Mahara. Watch out for the Help icon help. Click on it to find out more about the action you are about to perform.

You can also ask questions in the forums [http://mahara.org/interaction/forum/index.php?group=1].

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

2. Dashboard

2.1. Login

You always need a login to authenticate yourself and access your personal information, portfolio pages and groups that you belong to. You can log in on the Mahara homepage.

Login form

Username: Type your username in this field.

Password: Provide your password. If you enter your password incorrectly 5 times in a row during one session, access is locked for 5 minutes before you can try again.

Click the Login button to access your account.

BrowserID login: If you log in via BrowserID [https://browserid.org/], please use this link instead of the login form.

SSO login: If you log in via your institution’s SSO account, please use this link to be taken to the SSO login.

Register: If you do not have an account, and your institution allows self-registration for an account, use this link and follow the instructions on the next page.

Lost username / password: If you do not remember your username or password to your account, click this link to be taken to a page where you can request a new password.

Note

The “Lost username / password” link only works for internal accounts where you use the regular login form. If you log in via BrowserID, SSO or Moodle for example, you must retrieve your password directly from these services. If you do not know how to do that, please ask your administrator.

After you successfully logged in to Mahara, you see your Dashboard. This is your homepage where you can see the latest activity of you and other users on Mahara. You can customise the dashboard so that you always see the items that are most important to you.

Only you can see your dashboard. Nobody else has access to it.

2.2. Overview

You can change certain aspects of your dashboard, namely the user-specific information, but a lot of what you see is static to allow you to quickly access other parts of Mahara.

Your homepage is your dashboard from which you can access a number of areas in Mahara conveniently.

General navigation bar: Move from one area of Mahara to the next. This can be done by having a second-level navigation that is tabbed or a drop-down menu.

User name: The user name is displayed to indicate who is logged in esp. when viewing portfolio pages where the profile block is not visible. This feature is only present when small headers are not turned on.

Settings: This link gives you access to your account settings and notifications.

Inbox: Go to your Mahara inbox to check for new messages. When you have unread messages, the counter displays the number of unread messages.

Logout: Link to log out of your current session.

User search: Search for users who have an account to view their profile page and check which pages they have made accessible to you.

Personal information: In this box a number of constant and dynamic information is displayed:

Your name is linked to your profile page.

Your profile picture is linked to your profile page.

If you are a member of any groups, they are displayed here.

Pending friend requests and group invitations are displayed.

If you tagged artefacts or pages with the tag “portfolio”, a link to them is placed here.

Quick links: These quick links take you to certain areas of Mahara quickly.

Online users: If this sidebar block is enabled, you see users who have been logged in during the last 10 minutes. Depending on the settings for your institution that the administrator chose, you may see all users, only users from your institution(s) or no users at all.

Links and resources: List of links to web sites or documents that are visible to all logged-in users or the public.

User-specific information: You can customise this area on your dashboard to put blocks there that you want to see every time you log in.

2.3. Quick links

When you log in to Mahara for the first time, you see three boxes with quick links:

Create and Collect: Develop your portfolio

Organise: Showcase your portfolio

Share and Network: Connect with friends and collaborate in groups

Mahara information

With the help of these quick links you can reach the different parts of your portfolio directly from your dashboard.

Note

If you removed these boxes from your dashboard but want to get them back at a later point, you can re-active them under Settings -> Homepage information.

2.4. User-specific information

The default dashboard includes the following blocks:

Latest pages

My pages

Recent activity

Topics I’m following

These areas are filled with content once you start using Mahara and create pages, receive messages from other users, have access to others’ portfolio pages and use the forums for discussions. You can customize this area to your liking by editing your dashboard in Portfolio -> click the Edit button edit next to the dashboard page -> change the blocks like you would change them on any page in Mahara.

See also

Refer to the page editor for more information on adding and removing blocks from a page.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

3. Content

3.1. Profile

3.1.1. About me

3.1.2. Contact information

3.1.3. Messaging

3.1.4. General

3.2. Profile pictures

3.2.1. Pictures uploaded to Mahara

3.2.2. Remote avatars

3.3. Files

3.3.1. Upload a file

3.3.2. Upload multiple files

3.3.3. Create a folder

3.3.4. Delete a file or folder

3.3.5. File quota

3.4. Journal

3.4.1. Change your journal settings

3.4.2. Add a journal entry

3.4.3. Add a file as attachment to a journal entry

3.4.4. Add an image to a journal entry

3.4.4.1. Link to an image online

3.4.4.2. Add an image from Mahara

3.5. Résumé

3.5.1. Introduction

3.5.1.1. Write your cover letter

3.5.1.2. Provide personal information

3.5.2. Education and employment

3.5.3. Achievements

3.5.4. Goals

3.5.5. Skills

3.5.6. Interests

3.6. Plans

3.6.1. Create a new plan

3.6.2. Add tasks to a plan

3.6.3. Edit tasks in a plan

3.7. My notes

The Content tab holds all artefacts that you can create or upload for use in your portfolio. All information and files you provide here are initially only visible to you. Exceptions are:

your display name or if you don’t have one your real name

your profile picture

Both these are visible in the Online Users side bar if that is activated. Your display name, but not your profile picture, is also visible on your profile page per default.

Only when you put artefacts into your portfolio pages or share them in a group will they be visible to others.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

3. Content »

3.1. Profile

Content -> Profile

Your profile page is visible to other users on Mahara by default. If your administrator allowed it, you can also make it visible to anybody on the Internet.

Per default only the following information is put onto your profile page:

Your display name (or real name if you do not have a display name)

Your pages that are visible to the person viewing your profile page

Your groups

Your wall

Your friends

We advise you not to use your profile page as your portfolio because you cannot control who can look at the information you make available on your profile. At minimum it is everybody who has an account on Mahara. At maximum it can be everybody online. Always remember to think about your own personal security before releasing contact information on a publicly available page or even just for other Mahara users.

Note

Once you have made your profile page or any portfolio page public, Google and other search engines can index and cache it. Even if you take the public access away at some point, the cached version may still be available online. Pages that are made available via a secret URL are not found by search engines unless you link to them from another page.

Use regular pages to create your portfolio, and then use your profile to make these pages accessible to other people and to establish your digital identity.

Your Profile area stores your contact and personal information. Each of the profile fields can be considered separate artefacts which you can add independently to your profile page or any portfolio page. Thus, you can reveal as little or as much information about yourself to others as you wish.

See also

You can edit your profile page like any other page. You can find more information about editing a page in the page editor.

3.1.1. About me

Content -> Profile -> About me

You must provide a first and last name. All other information is optional. You name is visible to other Mahara users. You may choose to have a Display name. You can change the information here at any time unless an administrator locked certain fields.

Profile: about me

First name: Your real given name

Last name: You real last name

Student ID: Fill it in if it is required

Display name: The name by which you want to be known around Mahara. If you have a display name, your real name will not be visible to regular Mahara users. Only administrators can see your real name and your username at all times.

Introduction: You can write about yourself. This text is placed onto your profile page automatically unless you take the introduction out of your profile page.

Click the Save profile button to save your changes.

3.1.2. Contact information

Content -> Profile -> Contact information

You may wish to provide some of your contact information for later use in a page. All details you fill in here are only visible to other users when you put them into a page. Until then only you can see them.

Profile: Contact information

Provide as much or as little contact information as you wish to be able to use in your portfolio.

Click the Save profile button to save your changes.

The email address with which you registered on Mahara is displayed. You can add other email addresses to your profile so that you can use them later on.

Note

When you add a new email address, make sure that you do not only click the Add button next to the field where you enter your address, but also the Save Profile button at the bottom of the page. Once you have added an email address, it needs to be verified. You will receive an email and need to follow the instructions to fully add your address to your Mahara account.

3.1.3. Messaging

Content -> Profile -> Messaging

If you use instant messaging services, you may wish to provide the details here so you can use them in your portfolio later easily.

Profile: Messaging

Provide the usernames for as many messaging services as you wish to display in your portfolio.

Click the Save profile button to save your changes.

3.1.4. General

Content -> Profile -> General

This tab is primarily for adult users who wish to use their portfolio in an employment context.

If you wish to use information about your occupation and / or industry repeatedly in your portfolio, you may wish to consider filling in the information here. You can then easily pull that information into your portfolio pages.

Click the Save profile button to save your changes.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

3. Content »

3.2. Profile pictures

Content -> Profile pictures

Your profile picture may be a picture of yourself or an avatar image of your choice.

3.2.1. Pictures uploaded to Mahara

You can upload up to 5 profile pictures into Content -> Profile Pictures. Alternatively, you can use a Gravatar [http://gravatar.com] if you have one and if the site administrator allows its use.

The pictures you wish to use must be between 16x16 and 1024x1024 pixels in size. Ideally, your profile pictures are square. Please use an image editing software before you upload your pictures to reduce a photo’s dimensions to the required ones.

Note

The recommended size of your profile picture is 100x100 pixels. Then the picture looks good on your profile when you want to include it there and also in the smaller sizes around Mahara.

The profile pictures that you wish to upload to Mahara must be available on your computer. Choose one picture at a time to upload. You can also give it a title.

Click on the Browse button to navigate to your picture on your computer.

Click Open.

Optional: Enter a title for your picture.

Click Upload.

Your picture appears in the list of profile pictures. You can now choose it as default picture. It also appears in your Files area in the images folder.

List your profile pictures

When you have more than one profile picture uploaded, you can decide which one to make your default picture that will appear around Mahara in user searches and in the Online users sidebar.

You can delete any of your profile pictures at any time. If you have 5 pictures uploaded and want to upload another one, you have to remove one of the first 5.

Warning

If you use a profile picture in a portfolio page, e.g. chosen via the “Image” block, you do not get a warning upon deletion of the picture from the Profile pictures page.

Note

Please make sure that you have the right to upload these pictures.

3.2.2. Remote avatars

If the site administrator allowed users to display remote avatars such as a Gravatar [http://gravatar.com] and you have signed up to that service, your default picture will be this remote avatar until you make one of your uploaded pictures the default picture.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

3. Content »

3.3. Files

Content-> Files

The Files area is a repository, i.e. a document storage for folders and files, that you can use within your portfolio. Both folders and files are considered artefacts and as such can be added to a page. You may create any number of folders or sub folders. To view which sub folders and files sit within a folder, click on the folder name. Use the Home link to return to the top level folder directory.

You can arrange files and folders by dragging and dropping the icon in front of the file / folder name onto another folder icon. A suitably named and organised filing structure will help you with the long term organisation and retrieval of your artefacts. If you want to move a file or folder out of a sub folder, move it onto the parent folder icon parentfolder.

You will find that some folders are automatically created by the system such as viewfiles. This folder includes files from imported pages. As with any other file, you can move them out of this folder and store them in a different folder.

Note

You can move files and folders to your heart’s content without having to re-link them in the pages where you use them. Also renaming them will not have a negative impact on links.

3.3.1. Upload a file

Before you upload a file, make sure that you are allowed to do so. For any artefacts that you publish in your portfolio, you must have the sufficient rights. That means:

the artefact is your own or

you are allowed to reproduce and distribute it -> it does not violate any copyright legislation and

the artefact also adheres to the Terms and Conditions of the Mahara site you are using

It can be that you have to agree to an upload agreement before you can upload any files to your files area. The site administrator decides about that in Site Administration -> Extensions -> Plugin Administration -> Plugin type: artefact: file.

You can select a file from your computer to upload by clicking on the Browse button. Make sure that the file is not larger than the allowed upload size.

When the file was uploaded successfully, it appears in your file list. You can edit it by clicking on the Edit button to:

change its file name (but leave the file extension)

add a description which will help you to identify the file easily

add tags which you can use to search your portfolio content

allow comments directly on the artefact

Upload a file.

Type the folder name and click the Create folder button.

Click the Edit button edit to edit folder or file properties (continue with Step 5).

Click the Delete button delete to delete a file or folder.

Name: Change the name of the file. It is not necessary to keep the file extension as Mahara stores it internally. However, it can be good to leave it in case somebody has problems opening the file as no default programme is associated after downloading the file.

Description: Give the file a description to find it again more easily.

Tags: Give the file one or more tags. You can choose from your existing tags if you wish by clicking on the Show my tags link and then selecting the tags. Separate your tags with commas.

Allow comments: Decide if users should be allowed to comment directly on the file.

Click the Save changes button to keep your changes or click the Cancel button to abort the action.

Note

You can move your file to a folder by clicking on the icon before the file’s name and then dragging and dropping it onto a folder icon.

3.3.2. Upload multiple files

You can upload multiple files at once in two different ways:

You can upload multiple files when you are browsing for them. Hold down the Ctrl key (or Command key on a Mac) and click on all the files that you wish to upload at once.

You can also place all files into a compressed file, a .zip file, and upload that to Mahara. This method allows you to upload multiple files from different folders on your computer at once. You can create a zip file from any number of files that you have selected in your document management program by making a right mouse click and selecting Compress... (or something similar).

Zip files in the Finder under MacOSX

Zip files in Ubuntu’s Nautilus

Zip files in Windows Explorer

Once you have uploaded your zip file to Mahara, you can unzip it there. Click on the Unzip button unzip next to the Edit button edit. Please follow the on-screen instructions.

3.3.3. Create a folder

Type the name of the folder into the text field and click the Create folder button. You can edit the properties of the folder by clicking on the Edit button edit. You can:

change its name

add a description which will help you to identify the folder easily

add tags which you can use to search your portfolio content

allow comments (this setting can be overwritten for the artefact on a page)

3.3.4. Delete a file or folder

You can delete a file or an entire folder and its content by clicking on the Delete button delete at the end of the line of the file or folder.

If you use a file in a journal entry and / or on a page, you are warned before deleting the file so that you don’t delete it by accident.

3.3.5. File quota

The site administrator of your Mahara site decides how much space you can have to store files. This can vary across institutions. You can check your file quota in the sidebar in your ‘Files’ area.

File quota

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

3. Content »

3.4. Journal

Content -> Journal

The Journal is a tool with which you can record your thoughts and experiences online. By adding your journal or individual posts of it to a page you can allow other users to place feedback and comments on it. Thus, you can create a dialogue with your audience.

Per default, every user has one journal available.

Tip

If you wish to use more journals, e.g. to put your writing into categories for making all posts from one category available in a page without having to select each journal entry, you can go to your Settings and select Enable multiple journals.

Note

If you already have multiple journals enabled, you do not see this option on your Settings.

3.4.1. Change your journal settings

You can change the title of your default journal (and all others if you have enabled multiple journals) and add a description as well as tags.

Journal settings

Click on the Settings button for your journal.

Change the title.

Add a description for your journal. You can format it as you wish.

Add tags to your journal for easier searching later on. You can choose from tags that you have already used and / or enter new ones. Separate each tag with a comma. You may also choose tags from the ones that you have created previously by clicking on Show my tags.

Click Save Settings.

3.4.2. Add a journal entry

All journal entries you make are private to you until you put them into a page. Thus, the publishing of a journal / journal entry is a three-step process:

You write your entry and save it.

In a page, you choose either the block for making the entire journal visible or just one post from a journal.

You give those who shall see that page access to it.

Post your journal entry by following the steps below.

Journal entry

In your journal, click on New entry.

Title: Provide a title for your journal entry that expresses what you are writing about. This field is mandatory.

Entry: You must also write some text, add pictures etc. The visual editor helps you format your journal entry. This field is mandatory.

Tags: Add tags to your entry to find it more easily later on. You can choose from tags that you have already used and / or enter new ones. Separate each tag with a comma. You may also choose tags from the ones that you have created previously by clicking on Show my tags.

Attachments: Add an attachment or more to your journal entry, e.g. PDF files associated with it or images. You can add files either from your files area or upload new ones directly onto your journal entry.

Draft: Mark your entry as draft if you have not yet finished it. This is especially helpful if you have published your journal in a page, but do not want anybody to read this particular entry (yet). It is always visible to you, but not others.

Allow comments: Check this box if you want to receive comments on the journal entry.

Click the Save button to save your entry.

3.4.3. Add a file as attachment to a journal entry

When you attach files directly to a journal entry, others can see them whenever they have access to the journal entry.

Attachments for journal entries

Click on the Add a file button and then Select the file(s) from your Files area that you wish to attach.

Alternatively, you can Upload additional files.

If you attached a file that you do not wish to attach anymore, you can Remove it.

Once you are done, you can click the Close button.

3.4.4. Add an image to a journal entry

You can add images to your journal entry in two ways:

Link to the image that is available elsewhere online.

Use an image that you have on Mahara.

3.4.4.1. Link to an image online

Images that are freely accessible online are easy to add to a journal entry. However, make sure that you have the permission to use this image in your portfolio.

Link an external image in a journal post

Go to the visual editor and click on the Image button tinymce_image.

Image URL: Paste or type the image URL into this field. It must start with http:// or https://.

Description: Provide a brief description for your image.

Alignment: Select the alignment of the image in relation to the text.

Dimensions: Change the size of your image. If the image is recognised correctly, you have the image’s dimensions displayed.

Border: Add a simple black border to your image if you wish to do so.

Vertical / Horizontal space: Add more space around the image by adding a number in Vertical space and / or Horizontal space.

Click the Insert button. Alternatively, click the Cancel button if you want to abort inserting the image.

Note

The dimensions are given in pixel. The first value is for the width and the second one for the height. Only change one of the dimensions and delete the value from the second to retain the original proportions of the image.

If you are not happy with how the image looks in your journal entry, select it (it will get little square handles) and click on the Image button tinymce_image again to make adjustments.

3.4.4.2. Add an image from Mahara

Link an external image in a journal post

Go to the visual editor and click on the Image button tinymce_image.

Attached image: Select the image that you wish to display. You must have had it attached to the journal entry in order to see it here.

Description: Provide a brief description for your image.

Alignment: Select the alignment of the image in relation to the text.

Dimensions: Change the size of your image. If the image is recognised correctly, you have the image’s dimensions displayed.

Border: Add a simple black border to your image if you wish to do so.

Vertical / Horizontal space: Add more space around the image by adding a number in Vertical space and / or Horizontal space.

Click the Insert button. Alternatively, click the Cancel button if you want to abort inserting the image.

If you are not happy with the alignment or the dimensions of the image in your journal entry, select it and click on the Image button tinymce_image again to make adjustments.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

3. Content »

3.5. Résumé

Content -> Résumé

The résumé plugin allows you to create an online résumé / curriculum vitae. You can either publish your entire résumé or individual components of it in your portfolio.

3.5.1. Introduction

Content -> Résumé -> Introduction

In the introduction you can write a Cover letter and also provide some Personal information.

3.5.1.1. Write your cover letter

It is advisable that you write your cover letter in a word processor. That will allow you to spell check your writing. Alternatively, a site administrator could install the spell checker for the editor.

However, you should do the formatting in the editor window and not your word processor to avoid unwelcome formatting changes.

Write your cover letter

Go to Content -> Résumé -> Introduction and click the Edit button in the Cover letter section to enter the edit mode for the cover letter.

Write your cover letter.

Click the Save button below the editor window when you are happy with your cover letter to save it for future use.

Note

If you write your cover letter or any other text in Microsoft Word, please use the Paste from Word button tinymce_word to strip out most of the formatting code that Word puts into a document but can interfere online.

3.5.1.2. Provide personal information

None of the fields under Personal information are required. You can choose to include as much or as little information as you wish. Most fields are free form fields.

Note

Mahara is being used around the world. Therefore, some information here or later on in the résumé do not apply to you. If you do not need them, you do not have to fill in the fields.

Add personal information to your résumé

Date of birth: Either choose your date of birth via the calendar icon calendar or enter it in the format YYYY/MM/DD, e.g. 1978/01/30 when you want to say that you were born on 30 January 1978.

Place of birth: Enter your place of birth. You can also enter the country you were born in.

Citizenship: Fill it in as it is shown in your passport.

Visa status: As employment laws vary between countries, you may wish to include your work or travel visa status within your résumé where relevant.

Gender: Select the one that applies to you.

Marital status: Provide it if it is relevant.

Click the Save button when you want to keep that information.

3.5.2. Education and employment

Content -> Résumé -> Education and employment

This part of the résumé allows you to create a record of your academic and professional qualifications as well as your work experience.

The process of creating an entry for your education history and your employment history is similar. Therefore, the process is explained only once.

Enter your education history one qualification a time

Enter your employment history one position a time

Click the Add button to start a new entry.

Fill in all the fields that are marked in red and with an *. These fields are required to have a minimum of information.

Fill in the other fields if they are relevant for you.

Click the Save button right below the “Qualification description” / “Position description” to save your entry.

Click the Add button to add more items.

Note

You can enter the dates any which way you wish. It is not a calendar date field because different résumés require different date formats.

When you have filled in all your qualifications in your education history or all positions in your employment history, you can re-arrange the individual items if necessary.

Interpreting the Education History table

Use the up and down arrows move_up move_down to change the order of the individual items in your history.

The start date is displayed as you entered it.

The end date is displayed as you entered it.

Your qualification / position along with the institution / employer is shown.

Use the Edit edit and Delete buttons delete to edit the individual records or delete them respectively.

Note

It is important to save each new entry using the Save button at the end of the form.

Entries are displayed in a tabular format. Change an entry by clicking the Edit button edit. When you are finished, save your changes to return to this page. Click the Delete button delete to remove entries.

If you have provided a description for your qualification, click your qualification’s name to view or hide this information.

3.5.3. Achievements

Content -> Résumé -> Achievements

In Achievements you can collect information on:

certifications, accreditations and awards, e.g. Chartered Accountant, Registered Nurse, Award for Best Actress

books and publications

professional membership, e.g. in the American Philosophical Society

The process of adding, editing and moving entries is similar to the process for Education and employment.

Click the Add button to start a new entry.

Fill in all the fields that are marked in red and with an *. These fields are required to have a minimum of information.

Fill in the other fields if they are relevant for you.

Click the Save button right below the “Description” to save your entry.

Click the Add button to add more items.

Use the up and down arrows move_up move_down to change the order of the individual items in your history.

Click the Delete button delete to remove an entry from your list.

Achievements provided in the Résumé

Note

Click the title of your certification, accreditation, award, book or professional membership to see its full description.

3.5.4. Goals

Content -> Résumé -> Goals

The Goals area is divided into three sections:

Personal goals

Academic goals

Career goals

Personal or career goals are often provided in a résumé for employers to understand how a particular role might suit your ambitions.

You can use the academic goals section to describe achievements you are seeking in your programme of study.

Write your goal description into the appropriate box and click on the Save button once you are done editing the respective box. You can come back at any time and edit your goals.

Writing down goals for use in portfolio pages

3.5.5. Skills

Content -> Résumé -> Skills

The Skills area is divided into three sections:

Personal skills

Academic skills

Work skills

You may include skills that you add here in your portfolio pages.

Employers are always interested in what skills you can bring to a role. You can use this section to display the attributes that you would bring to a collaborative community or working group.

Write your skills descriptions into the appropriate box and click on the Save button once you are done editing the respective box. You can come back at any time and edit your skills.

Example of work skills

3.5.6. Interests

Content -> Résumé -> Interests

The Interests section allows you to list your personal and / or professional interests. This might include your hobbies, sporting activities, volunteer work, areas of research and expertise etc. Listing your interests will help employers form a better picture of who you are and what you would bring to their organisation.

Write your interests into the editor window and click on the Save button once you are done. You can come back at any time and edit your interests.

Example of interests for a résumé

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

3. Content »

3.6. Plans

Content -> Plans

Plans are simple ToDo lists. They are particularly well-suited to plan medium and long-term endeavours. A plan can consist of a number of individual activities with which completion dates are associated.

3.6.1. Create a new plan

Create a new plan

Click the Create new plan button.

Title: Give your plan a title. This field is mandatory.

Description: Give your plan a description. It is visible when you select a plan for inclusion into a portfolio page.

Click the Save plan button to keep your new plan.

Now you can add individual tasks to your plan.

3.6.2. Add tasks to a plan

There are several ways to add a task to a plan:

Click on Add task right after you saved your plan.

Click on Content -> Plans -> the title of the plan -> New task.

Click on Content -> Plans -> the Manage tasks button manage -> New task.

Once you are in the New task screen, you can create your new task.

Add a new task to a plan

Title: Enter a title for your task. This field is mandatory.

Completion date: Provide a completion date. Either choose the date via the calendar icon calendar or enter it in the format YYYY/MM/DD. This field is mandatory and allows for tasks to be marked overdue automatically.

Description: Provide more detailed information about the task.

Completed: Tick this check box if you have already completed the task.

Click the Save task button to finish editing your task.

Add more tasks immediately or at a later point.

Plans under Content

That’s what a plan looks like in a portfolio page. Clicking on the title of the task shows / hides the task description.

3.6.3. Edit tasks in a plan

Click on Content -> Plans -> the Manage tasks button manage or the title of the plan.

Click on the Edit button edit next to a task that you want to change.

Make your changes or mark a task as completed.

Click Save task and your changes are recorded.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

3. Content »

3.7. My notes

Content -> Notes

Notes are bits and pieces of text that you can re-use from one portfolio page in another. These are the text boxes that you could not save in versions prior to Mahara 1.5.

Though you cannot create notes directly from this page, you can edit your notes and their content will be changed wherever that note is used.

My notes

The Note column contains the titles of the notes where they appear for the first time.

The Contained in column lists all the pages in which this text box is used.

Click the Edit button edit to make changes to the note. Beware that any changes you make here are made to all instances of the note.

Click the Delete button delete to permanently delete the note. This action cannot be undone and all instances of the note are deleted from portfolio pages.

Warning

When you make changes to a note from this page, all instances of this note on any portfolio page will be affected.

See also

You can watch a demo of this feature [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz5gh2Quh-g] in action.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

4. Portfolio

4.1. Pages

4.1.1. Overview page

4.1.2. Create a new page

4.1.3. Edit an existing page

4.1.4. Copy a page

4.1.5. View a page

4.1.6. Give others access to your page

4.2. Page editor

4.2.1. Editor navigation

4.2.1.1. Edit title and description

4.2.1.2. Edit layout

4.2.2. Artefact chooser

4.2.3. Page layout area

4.2.4. Optional theme chooser

4.3. Collections

4.3.1. Manage your collections

4.3.2. Add a collection

4.3.3. Copy a collection

4.3.4. Add collection pages

4.3.5. Manage collection pages

4.3.6. Give others access to your collection

4.4. Share

4.4.1. Edit access for users with an account

4.4.2. Edit access to your profile page

4.4.3. Restrict access based on time

4.4.4. Choose advanced options

4.4.5. Edit access for users with no account

4.5. Export

4.6. Feedback

4.7. Feedback for assessment

4.7.1. Submit a page for assessment

4.7.2. Instructor feedback

4.8. Tags

4.8.1. Tag cloud

4.8.2. My tags

4.8.3. Edit tags

The Portfolio is the place in Mahara where you assemble the artefacts that you collect in Content into pages. You can then share these pages with others or simply keep them for yourself.

In this section you learn how to:

create portfolio pages

create collections to bundle portfolio pages

share your pages and / or collections

export your portfolio

give feedback on artefacts and pages

view your tag cloud and change tags

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

4. Portfolio »

4.1. Pages

Portfolio -> Pages

A page contains a selection of artefacts which you arrange and present to others. These may include:

selected files

résumé details

text (your added commentary, instructions or orientation)

journal posts

video and audio files

RSS feed to an external blog

etc.

You can re-use the artefacts that you collected under Content in as many pages as you wish.

The same artefacts can appear in multiple pages

4.1.1. Overview page

On the landing page of the portfolio, you can do the following.

The landing page of your portfolio

Create a new page.

Copy a page from your portfolio or from another user.

Search your portfolio pages.

Edit your dashboard page.

Edit your profile page.

Edit or delete your portfolio pages.

4.1.2. Create a new page

You create a new page in your portfolio when you want to display artefacts together, e.g. for presenting it to others, for showing your progress in a project etc.

Create a portfolio page

On the Pages page, click the Create page button.

Page title: Provide a title for your page. This field cannot be left empty. If you do not enter a title, the default “Untitled” will appear.

Page description: Write a brief description summarising your objective of this page. It will appear on the page itself.

Tags: Enter tags to find your page more easily at a later stage. Separate your tags with commas. If you already have tags, you can click on the link Show my tags and select the ones that you think will fit for this page as well.

Name display format: Choose which name you want to appear as author.

Click the Save button to save your changes and to continue to the Edit content part.

4.1.3. Edit an existing page

You can edit an existing page in two ways:

Click on the Edit button edit when you are on the Pages overview page.

Click on the Edit this page button when you are on the actual page.

See also

You find more information on how to edit artefacts on a portfolio page in the Edit content part.

Warning

Links to external content such as embedded external videos and RSS feeds to an external blog are completely deleted when you remove the respective blocks from your portfolio page. You cannot recover them. There is no revision history. All other artefacts are not deleted when you remove them from a page because they reside in your Content area.

From Mahara 1.5 on, text boxes (a.k.a. Notes) can be re-used in other portfolio pages.

4.1.4. Copy a page

You can duplicate your own pages or pages of other users if they allowed you to do that.

Copy a page

Click the Copy a page button under Portfolio -> Pages.

Search pages and collections: If there are many pages from which you can choose, either search for a keyword in the page title or

Search owners: Search for the author of the page.

Page title: Click on the title of the page to see a preview of it before you copy it.

Owner: Click on the name of the owner to view a larger profile picture and the self-description if the owner provided one.

Click the Copy page button to copy the page into your own portfolio.

Edit the page as you would do any other page.

Note

The site administrator can decide to leave out “Copy of...” for copied pages or collections. This setting needs to be made in the config.php file. If $cfg->renamecopies = true;, copies of new pages and collections will have “Copy of” prepended to the title.

4.1.5. View a page

You can view a page to check what it looks like when somebody else sees it. Go to the Pages overview page and click on the title of a page.

An example portfolio page. When you are the author, you can click on the Edit button and make changes.

Title of the portfolio page.

Author of the portfolio page.

Description of the page.

The Edit this page button is only visible to the portfolio author.

The artefacts that have been placed in the page.

Tags which you provided for your page.

If you belong to a group which allows the submission of pages for feedback / assessment, you see the group name displayed and can submit your page directly from here. For more information see the section on feedback for assessment.

Feedback area at the bottom of each page displays comments from users.

Place feedback button can be used by yourself and others to leave comments on the page.

If a page contains offensive artefacts, users can report them to the administrator.

Print button to print the page.

The Add page to watchlist allows you be informed when changes are made to the page.

4.1.6. Give others access to your page

See also

Please refer to the section on sharing your pages and collections for further information.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

4. Portfolio »

4.2. Page editor

The page editor is important in Mahara because it allows you to compose your portfolio pages. It consists of a large number of components:

Editor navigation

Artefact chooser

Page layout area

4.2.1. Editor navigation

Page editor navigation bar

Edit title and description: Add and modify your page title, description and tags.

Edit content: Place your content on a page. See Artefact chooser, Blocks and Page layout area.

Edit layout: Change the overall layout of your page.

Display page: Preview your page to see how others would see it.

Share page: Decide who shall have access to your page. See Share for more details.

4.2.1.1. Edit title and description

You should give your portfolio page a unique title so that you can find it again later on. The description helps you to see quickly on the overview page why you have created this page. Furthermore, the tags help you to search your portfolio for these keywords and find your content and portfolio pages.

Provide as much information as possible to distinguish and to be able to search your portfolio later on. You can make changes to these settings at any time.

Page title: You must provide a title for your page. Automatically, every page is called “Untitled”.

Page description: You can write a brief description for your page, e.g. its purpose. This description is displayed on the overview page and on the portfolio page itself.

Tags: If you have already tagged artefacts or other portfolio pages, you can choose from your existing tags. This makes it easy to avoid spelling mistakes.

If you either do not yet have tags or want to use new ones, you can write them into the text box. Separate multiple tags by commas (and a space).

Name display format: You must choose which name should be displayed when somebody else views your portfolio. You can choose between:

First name

Last name

Full name (first and last name)

Display name

Click the Save button to save your changes.

4.2.1.2. Edit layout

You have 10 choices for your column layout from 1 column to 5 columns. The 2-, 3- and 4-column layout options allow you to make certain columns wider than others. The icons assist you in your decision of what the end result looks like. However, you cannot set a specific width of a column.

Note

Be careful when choosing 4 or more columns. Your portfolio page may look very good on your big 21” screen, but a user looking at it on a notebook or tablet may not have the same experience. In most cases, up to 3 columns are the best choices.

Click the radio button above the layout that you wish to apply to your page. You can change it at any time. When you reduce the number of columns, your blocks simply move to the first column. You can then move them around to their correct position (see Page layout area).

Edit the overall layout of a page by choosing the number of columns

Note

You can add or remove columns directly in the page layout area when you enable the Show controls to add and remove columns when editing a page setting in your account options.

You can use the Add and Remove buttons for quick changes to the layout when you have enabled them.

4.2.2. Artefact chooser

All different types of artefacts as well as blocks that pull in external content into a portfolio page are accessible via the artefact chooser.

All artefacts are accessible via a number of tabs in the page editor

Files, images and video: holds blocks for files that can be displayed as links, in folders or in the case of images and videos directly in the page

Journals: various artefact blocks which allow you to place journals / journal entries into a page

General: artefacts that are of a general nature

Profile: choose profile information to display in a block

Résumé: display your entire résumé or parts of it

External content: contains blocks to place RSS feeds, external media or GoogleApps documents etc. into a page

See also

The functionality of each block that you can use in your portfolio pages and in group pages, is outlined in the section on the individual artefact blocks.

4.2.3. Page layout area

The page layout area is the place where you arrange all your artefacts for display in a portfolio page. You should know the following about this area:

All artefacts are placed into it by dragging and dropping their blocks into this space.

The artefacts are arranged as a series of continuous blocks per column.

There are now rows, only columns. Blocks are place beneath each other within a column, but they never align with blocks in another column to form a single row unless they have the same height.

You can drag and drop blocks by clicking on their headings.

You can change the settings of a block by clicking on its Configure button manage.

Drag a block into the page layout area and configure its settings

Click on the block of the artefact that you want to include in your page and drag it into the page layout area.

When you see the dotted rectangle, drop the block into it to put it onto your page.

Follow the on-screen instructions on choosing the specific artefact you wish to display. Please refer to the artefact block section for more information on each block’s settings.

See also

Please refer to the section edit layout to learn how to change the number of columns on a page and make certain columns wider than others.

4.2.4. Optional theme chooser

You may be able to choose a theme for your portfolio page. If that is the case, you see a Theme drop-down menu below the artefact chooser. That allows you to select a theme in which that page is displayed to others who view your portfolio page. If the option “Not theme selected” is displayed, the default theme is applied automatically.

Select a theme for your page

See also

The site administrator must allow page themes in the site’s user settings.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

4. Portfolio »

4.3. Collections

Portfolio -> Collections

A collection is a set of pages that are linked to one another and have the same access permissions. You can create as many collections as you like, but a page cannot appear in more than one collection. You can create a collection from scratch or copy an existing one - either one of your own or one from another user that is copyable to you.

4.3.1. Manage your collections

When you are on the overview page of the collections you can do several things.

Collections overview page

Create a new collection by clicking on the New collection button.

Copy an existing collection by clicking on the Copy a collection button.

Click on the collection title to go to the first page of the collection.

Click on any title of a page within a collection to jump directly to it.

Click on the Manage button manage to move pages within a collection, add to or delete pages from a collection.

Click on the Edit button edit to change the title and description of a collection.

Click on the Delete button delete to delete the collection. The pages will still exist.

4.3.2. Add a collection

Create a collection

Click the New collection button under Portfolio -> Collections.

Collection title: On the next screen, provide a title for your collection.

Collection description: Optionally, you can also write a short description about your collection. You do not have a visual editor, but just a plain text box.

Page navigation: Choose whether you wish to display a tabbed navigation or not. If you choose not to, you will have to include the navigation block for you to go from one page to the next.

Click the Next: Edit collection pages button.

4.3.3. Copy a collection

You can duplicate your own collections or collections of other users if they allowed you to do that. As every page can only be in one collection at a time, your own pages will be copied when you copy a collection.

Copy a collection

Click the Copy a collection button under Portfolio -> Collections.

Search pages and collections: If there are many collections from which you can choose, either search for a keyword in the collection title or

Search owners: Search for the author of the collection.

Collection title: Click on the title of the collection to see a preview of it before you copy it.

Owner: Click on the name of the owner to view a larger profile picture and the self-description if the owner provided one.

Click the Copy collection button to copy the collection into your own portfolio.

Edit the collection and its pages as you would do any other collection or page.

Note

The site administrator can decide to leave out “Copy of...” for copied pages or collections. This setting needs to be made in the config.php file. If $cfg->renamecopies = true;, copies of new pages and collections will have “Copy of” prepended to the title.

4.3.4. Add collection pages

In the next step after you have created your collection, you choose which portfolio pages you wish to include in this collection. You see all the pages that you can use potentially. If you had already placed a page into another collection, it is not an option here.

Add pages to a collection

Put a check mark next to each page that you wish to include in your collection.

Click the Add pages button to add the pages to your collection.

Click the Done button to finish this step.

4.3.5. Manage collection pages

Once you have added your pages to your collection. You can move them around or remove them.

Manage the pages that are displayed within your collection

Use the move up move_up and move down move_down buttons to arrange your pages in a different order.

Click the Remove button to take a page out of a collection. The page itself is not deleted.

Click the Save button.

You can add more pages to a collection from the Add pages to collection box.

A collection with the tabbed navigation

4.3.6. Give others access to your collection

See also

Please refer to the section on sharing your pages and collections for further information.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

4. Portfolio »

4.4. Share

Portfolio -> Share

When you have created portfolio pages (and collections), you may wish to share them with others, e.g. to receive feedback. You can set the access permissions on the Edit access page. It is accessible via Portfolio -> Share or directly from the page editor when you edit a portfolio page.

The Share overview page shows you the following:

Your collections and pages sorted alphabetically grouped into collections and pages that are not in a collection.

The list of users and or groups who have access to a particular collection or page.

The Edit access button edit_access which allows you to change the permission of who can view a page or collection.

The Secret URL edit button edit which allows you to set up one or more secret URLs for a page or collection. The number of secret URLs that you have generated is displayed next to the button.

Share overview page

4.4.1. Edit access for users with an account

The Edit access page allows you to set the permissions for a single user or multiple users for if and when they should be able to view your portfolio pages or collections.

You can assign access to a single page or collection at a time or to multiple pages and / or collections at once.

Users and groups to whom you can give access to pages and / or collections

You have a number of choices for selecting who shall be able to see what:

Choose the collection or collections for which you want to give access. If you made a mistake in your selection, either take the check mark off or select All or None to check or clear all respectively.

Choose the page or pages for which you want to give access. If you made a mistake in your selection, either take the check mark off or select All or None to check or clear all respectively.

Public: anybody online who knows the URL(s) can see your selection of pages / collections.

Logged-in users: all users who have an account on the Mahara instance you are using can view your selection of pages / collections.

Friends: all your friends on Mahara can view your selection of pages / collections.

Share with my institutions: select your institution(s) with which you want to share your selection of pages / collections. This will allow all members in these institutions to have access to this selection.

All my groups: every member in the groups to whom you belong can view your selection of pages / collections.

A particular group: all members of that group can view your selection of pages / collections.

If none of the above choices are what you are looking for, you can search for specific users or groups. Make your selection to search for:

your friends

any group

any user

Type the name of the user or the name of the group you search for. A partial name is often best. Then click the Go button.

Add the user or group. You can click on the name of the user or group to verify that it is the correct one. When you clicked on the name of the user or group, close the window to get back to your Edit access page and click on the Add button to select this user or group to complete your action.

Note

Your friends or individual users with whom you shared your pages / collections receive a notification. Group members also receive a notification that you shared a page with them if the group administrator allowed that. You do not receive a notification when a user shared his page with the public or all logged-in users.

See also

If you use the web services plugin [https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/Plugins/Artefact/WebServices], you can also share pages with “favourite users”. For more information, please refer to the specifications for this feature [https://bugs.launchpad.net/mahara/+bug/799566].

4.4.2. Edit access to your profile page

You can restrict full access to your profile page to the members of your institution if the site administrator allowed that in Site administration -> Configure site -> User settings -> Logged-in profile access.

If you allow only members of your own institution(s) to see your profile page, other users who have an account can only see basic information, e.g. your name, your institution membership and messaging information.

Restricted view of a profile

4.4.3. Restrict access based on time

In addition to controlling who shall have access to your pages / collections, you can further restrict that access for a specific period of time.

Restrict access to your pages / collections further

Each user or group of people can receive their own time restrictions that are independent of other access groups. You can specify a start date. You can type the date and time in the format YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM or click on the Calendar icon calendar to select the date.

You can specify an end date by typing it in manually or selecting it via the Calendar button calendar.

You can click the Remove button delete to completely take a user group off your access list.

4.4.4. Choose advanced options

You can choose a number of additional options which are applied to all pages and / or collections that are selected.

Advanced options for editing access to pages / collections

Allow comments: This check box is selected by default to encourage you to allow others to comment on your pages.

Moderate comments: If you wish to see any comment before it is made public, i.e. can be see by others who have access to the page on which the comment is made, place a check mark here.

Allow copying: Place a check mark in this box if you want to allow the users who can view your page to make a copy of it for themselves. Any text box content, files and folders will be transferred to their portfolio. For journals you decide whether they can copy them or not. Profile information, plans and résumé information are not copied.

Retain view access on copied pages or collections: This option only becomes available when you put a check mark next to the option “Allow copying”. When you tick this check box, you as owner of the page / collection will have access to the copied page / collection automatically. However, the owner of the copied page / collection can take that access away at any time.

Overriding Start / stop dates: You set the time frame for when all users who have access to your page / collection can view your page. The dates here override any individual dates you may have set.

See also

Check the blocks which can be copied.

If you have not allowed copying in general, you can still choose to allow comments for a certain person or group of people who are in your access list. That way you can regulate very flexibly who shall be able to place comments on a page / collection and who cannot.

Allow comments on a user-by-user basis

Note

If you edit an institution page, you see an additional option when you allowed copying. With this option you can place a page directly into the portfolio of a new user. Existing users still have to copy the page themselves.

4.4.5. Edit access for users with no account

Besides giving users who have a login or the entire public access to your portfolio, you can also give users who do not have an account on Mahara access to your portfolio pages and / or collections without making your work publicly available and searchable by search engines. This can be interesting, e.g.

when you create a portfolio for a job application and the prospective employer does not have a login and cannot get one.

when you want to share your portfolio with your parents and also get feedback from them.

when an external assessor shall evaluate your work.

Add one or more secret URLs to a page or collection

You can create a secret URL the following way when you are on the share overview page and click on the Edit button edit:

Click the Add button to generate a new secret URL. You can add as many secret URLs as you wish.

You can now copy this URL and paste it into an email to send to somebody.

You can click the Edit button edit to add a time restriction for access to your page / collection via this URL.

Type a start and / or end date (and time) manually following the pattern of YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM or select the date via the Calendar icon calendar.

Click the Save button to save the date access changes.

Click the Delete button delete if you do not want to use this secret URL anymore.

Note

Logged-out users or those who do not have an account can only leave comments on public pages or pages which they can access via a secret URL if the site administrator turned on the Anonymous comments function under Site administration -> Configure site -> User settings.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

4. Portfolio »

4.5. Export

Portfolio -> Export

You can export your portfolio to keep your files and Mahara-created content offline. You can create an export at any time and as often as you wish. You have two options for the export:

Standalone HTML web site: A zip file containing a web site with your portfolio data is created. You cannot import this into Mahara or another portfolio system again, but it is readable in a standard web browser and you do not need a Mahara in order to view it. To view this web site, extract the zip file and click on the index.html file that is in the folder.

Leap2A: A zip file containing a folder in the Leap2A standard format [http://wiki.leapspecs.org/2A/specification] is created. You can then import this into another Leap2A-compliant system [https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/Developer_Area/Import//Export/Interoperability] or have it imported by an administrator into your current Mahara or another one. A new user is created during the import process.

Note

It is recommended that you export your portfolio both in HTML and Leap2A because you never know whether you will be able to import it back into Mahara or maybe even another ePortfolio system.

Export your portfolio

To export your portfolio on Portfolio -> Export:

Choose either Standalone HTML web site or Leap2A. You can run through the export twice in order to get both formats.

Choose what you want to export:

All my data: Everything that is stored in your account in Content and Portfolio. Excluded are any of your group contributions.

Just some of my pages: You can then choose which pages and the artefacts that are contained within them you want to export.

Just some of my collections: You can select which collections and the artefacts that are contained within them you want to export.

If you have chosen to export just some pages or collections, you can select them here by clicking on the individual check boxes.

Click the Click to preview link to preview a page before you select it.

Tick the check box for Include user feedback if user want to keep that in your export. This option is only available when you choose the HTML web site export.

Click the Generate export button to start the export process.

Depending on the size of your portfolio, the export may take a little bit. Once everything has been processed, a file will either be downloaded automatically to your computer or you can decide to save it. That depends on your browser settings.

Note

If your export gets stuck in the process and the progress bar does not move along at all, your server settings may prevent long operations to avoid slowing down. You will need to contact your site administrator, e.g. via the “Contact us” form in the footer of the page.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

4. Portfolio »

4.6. Feedback

Giving feedback is an essential component for portfolio work. You can give feedback not only on individual artefacts but on entire portfolio pages.

The author of a file or portfolio page decides whether you should be able to leave comments or not. For files, the comments option can be found when uploading or editing a file and for pages in the advanced options.

When the author of a page allows it, you can provide feedback on the page or artefact to which you have access.

Provide feedback

Click the Place feedback link at the bottom of the portfolio page or the details page of an artefact for which you want to write feedback.

Write your feedback into the editor window.

If the site administrator turned on comment ratings, you can use the 5-star rating scale in addition to your written comments and / or an uploaded file.

Enable the Make public check box when you want everyone who has access to this page to see your comment. If you do not make your feedback public, only you and the page author can see your comment.

Click the Browse button to attach a feedback file from your computer. This file is place into the files area of the author of the page.

Click the Place feedback button to save your feedback to the page.

Click the Cancel button to abort your changes.

Once you have placed feedback on the page, the author receives a notification about it.

Note

Feedback writers do not receive notifications about additional comments made.

4.7. Feedback for assessment

4.7.1. Submit a page for assessment

When you are a member of a course controlled group, you can submit portfolio pages for feedback / assessment and lock much of your content.

Submit a page to a course controlled group

Go to the group homepage of the group in which you want to submit a page and choose it from the drop-down menu under Submit a page to this group.

Click the Submit button to lock page content.

You do not have to give the group permission to access your page. When you submit your page, the group administrators and tutors are able to see them and give you feedback. Other group members do not see your page.

During the feedback phase, you cannot make any changes to

files

journal posts

text boxes

links to external content

You can still edit

plans

profile information

résumé information

4.7.2. Instructor feedback

Once a page is submitted for feedback in a course controlled group, you can give feedback on it without the other user being able to change much of his page content. You see all submitted pages on the group’s homepage including a time stamp.

Submitted page with time stamp

You can now give feedback on that page and then click on the Release page button so that the other user can continue working on this page.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

4. Portfolio »

4.8. Tags

Tags are keywords that you can give to artefacts and pages in your portfolio to find them more easily later on.

Note

A site administrator must have the tag cloud enabled for you to use this feature.

4.8.1. Tag cloud

You can see your tag cloud in the sidebar when you are in the Content and Portfolio areas. Configure how many different tags you wish to display in your tag cloud in your account settings.

Tag cloud

Click on the Tags heading to be taken to all your tags.

Click on any tag to see all artefacts and pages from your portfolio area that have this tag associated.

Note

The more you use a tag for your files, journal entries and pages, the bigger its font size in the tag cloud.

4.8.2. My tags

On the My tags page you see all your tags and the artefacts and pages associated with them. You have a number of filter options to show only the resources that you wish to see.

My tags overview page

The default view is to sort your tags alphabetically.

You can also sort tags by frequency showing the most frequently used tags first.

You can click on any tag and filter the artefacts and pages you have according to them. The number in parentheses tells you how many times a tag occurs in your resources.

The filter term is repeated.

You can sort the results by their title or date.

You can filter your results by specific artefact types or just show portfolio pages.

The title of a resource, its description if available and its associated tags are displayed.

The creation date and time as well as the type of resource is shown.

Click the Edit tags button to make changes to your tags.

4.8.3. Edit tags

You can edit your tags to correct spelling mistakes or delete a tag.

Edit your tags

Select the tag that you want to edit.

Once you have selected your tag, it is highlighted in bold in the list and two new boxes appear. You can provide the new name for your tag under Name.

Click the Submit button to save your change.

Alternatively, click the Delete button to delete this tag.

You can also click on the My tags button to be taken back to the overview page of all your tags and their associated resources.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

5. Groups

5.1. My groups

5.2. Find groups

5.3. Set up a group

5.3.1. Create a group as a user

5.3.2. Create a group as staff member or institution admin

5.3.3. Create a group as a site admin

5.3.4. Edit general group settings

5.4. Inside a group

5.4.1. Group homepage

5.4.2. Members

5.4.2.1. Members page

5.4.2.2. New member invitation

5.4.2.3. Group membership recommendation

5.4.3. Forums

5.4.3.1. Set up a new forum

5.4.3.2. Add a forum topic

5.4.3.3. Reply to a topic or subsequent post

5.4.3.4. Delete a post, topic or forum

5.4.3.5. Forum bulk actions

5.4.4. Pages

5.4.4.1. Group homepage

5.4.4.2. Regular group pages

5.4.5. Files

5.5. My friends

5.6. Find friends

5.6.1. Send a friend request

5.6.2. Accept a friend request

5.6.3. Deny a friend request

5.7. Institution membership

5.8. Shared pages

5.9. Topics

Groups can be used for collaboration among users as they offer the possibilities to:

discuss topics in forums

create and edit pages together

share files

share pages

submit pages for assessment / feedback

Note

Groups can be created by every user, staff or administrators only. The site administrator decides that in Site administration -> Configure site -> Group settings.

The Groups menu has a number of sub menus:

My groups: Displays the groups that you administer or in which you are a member. You can create new groups from here if you have the appropriate rights.

Find groups: Lists all groups in the system and allows you to join or request membership in them if groups allow that.

My friends: Displays your friends and gives you easy access to their profile pages.

Find friends: Search for users in Mahara that you may wish to add to your friends list.

Shared pages: Lists the pages that were shared with you directly, with you as a friend or member of a group.

Topics: Shows the latest discussion topics in your groups.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

5. Groups »

5.1. My groups

Groups -> My groups

This page lists the groups you are related to in some way. You can see the groups you own or are a member of, as well as groups you have been invited to or have asked to join.

If your site administrator allowed you to create groups yourself, you see the Create group button.

The My groups page lists all your groups

Search for a specific group by its title or description and / or choose the filters you wish to apply to view only a subset of your groups and then click the Filter button. You can filter for:

All your groups

Groups you own

Groups you are a member of

Groups you are invited to

Groups you want to join

Groups by a specific category if group categories exist.

All the groups that you have access to are listed with group title, administrator, description, group type and number of members if the admin discloses this.

Click the Create group button when you want to set up a new group. You only see this button if the site administrator allows you to create groups.

If you are a member of a controlled membership group, you cannot leave the group.

If you are a member of any other group but controlled membership, you can leave it at any time.

Click the Accept or Decline button to join a group to which you have been invited or to decline membership in that group.

Click the Edit button when you want to update the details for a group in which you are administrator.

Click the Delete button only when you want to delete your group permanently. Group members receive a notification that the group has been deleted.

Warning

When you delete a group, all its content and contributions from users are deleted permanently and cannot be retrieved again.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

5. Groups »

5.2. Find groups

Groups -> Find groups

You see groups and get basic information about them. If a group administrator decided to hide a group, you will not be able to see it unless you have been invited to it.

A list of groups and certain actions you can perform

Search for a certain group using a word / words from its title or description. You can search either all groups, groups you are a member of or groups you are not in. You can also limit your search results to a certain group category if group categories exist.

You can find out more about a group by

clicking on the group name to see the group homepage.

clicking on the name of the group administrator to get to his profile page.

clicking on the member link to see who is already a member of this group if the administrator discloses this.

If you want to become a member of an open group, click the Join this group button, and you will be a member immediately.

If you want to join a group that needs the approval of the group administrator, click the Request to join this group button next to the group.

If you have been invited to a group, either Accept or Decline the membership invitation.

Note

Usually, you do not see forums, group pages and group files unless you are a member of a group. If a group is publicly available, you do see the forum discussions.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

5. Groups »

5.3. Set up a group

Groups -> My groups -> Create group

You can create different groups depending on your role.

All users

Open membership: Any user of the site can become a member simply by visiting your group page and clicking the Join button.

Request membership Any user can request to join your group. However, as owner you can choose to accept or decline this request. The requesting member will be notified of your decision automatically.

Staff and administrators in addition: Controlled membership

You can add users directly to your group.

The members cannot leave this group.

You can assign tutors to the group. They can add new members.

Group members can submit portfolio pages for feedback / assessment. These pages are locked until released by an administrator or tutor.

Note

The site administrator can limit the creation of groups to users with staff and / or administrator rights. If you cannot create a group, you will most likely not have the appropriate permission and will have to contact your site administrator, e.g. via the Contact us form to enquire about the process of having a group set up.

5.3.1. Create a group as a user

If you are allowed to create a group, you see the Create group button on the My groups overview page.

Create a group as a user

Group name: Provide a name for your group. This field is mandatory.

Group description: Briefly describe what your group is about.

Open: Create an open membership group if you want users to join the group without approval from group administrators.

Request: Create a request membership group if you want user to send membership requests to group administrators. Open and request membership groups are mutually exclusive.

Friend invitations: Check this box if you want to allow members to invite friends to join the group. Regardless of this setting, group administrators can always send invitations to anyone.

Recommendations: Check this box if you want to allow members to send a recommendation for joining this group to their friends from a button on the group homepage. Friend invitations and recommendations are mutually exclusive options.

Create and edit pages: Decide who shall be able to create and edit pages in the group:

All group members

Everyone except ordinary members, i.e. group administrators and tutors depending on the group type

Group administrators only

Publicly viewable group Choose this option if anybody shall have access to this group. You only see this setting if the site administrator allowed you to have it. Anybody can see the group homepage and the discussion forum. Depending on the membership visibility, they may also see group members. Only members of the groups can see the group’s pages, unless they have been made public, and the files area.

Group category: Choose a category if you want to associate your group to one, allowing you to filter groups on the My groups and Find groups page according to categories. This setting is only available if the site administrator turned it on.

Shared page notification: This check box has a check mark per default. Whenever somebody shares a page with the group, all group members receive a notification. You may want to uncheck this setting in very large groups where lots of pages are shared but members do not have to be notified.

Click the Save group button to finish creating your group, or click the Cancel button to abort the group creation process.

Note

The group name that you choose does not have to be unique. Other groups can have the same name. In order to distinguish them more easily, you can add a group description.

5.3.2. Create a group as staff member or institution admin

In addition to the group settings that a regular user has, institution staff and administrators have a few more options.

Additional options for staff and institution administrators

Controlled: Create a controlled group if you wish to add users who cannot leave the group. This is a useful setting for course groups where you do not want members to leave.

Roles: Choose whether you have only members and administrators or also tutors. The latter can provide feedback and release pages when page submissions are allowed, but they cannot change group settings.

Allow submissions: Use this option to allow group members to submit pages for feedback / assessment. These pages and a number of artefacts in them are locked until released by a group admin or tutor.

Hide group: Use this option to not list this group on the Find groups page.

Hide membership: Use this option to hide the group’s membership listing from non-members.

Hide membership from members: Use this option to hide the group’s membership listing from members as well. Only group administrators can see the members listed. Administrators are still shown on the group homepage.

5.3.3. Create a group as a site admin

When you have site administrator rights, you have yet another additional setting when you create a group: You can choose to add new users to a group automatically. That way, any new user on the site becomes a member of this group.

Add users to a group automatically

Note

This is a great setting when you want to set up a community group which all users should join in order to participate in forum discussions etc. On mahara.org [http://mahara.org] this is used to make every user a member of the “Community” group in which discussions around Mahara take place.

5.3.4. Edit general group settings

You can start out editing a group’s settings from three places by clicking on the Edit button:

My groups page

Find groups page

The group homepage

You are then taken to the same screen as if you were creating a group and make the necessary changes.

Warning

You can change the group type to a different one. Please be careful if you do so especially from a controlled course group. If users have submitted portfolio pages to that group, they remain locked when you change the group type.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

5. Groups »

5.4. Inside a group

Note

It depends on your role in the group whether you can access / change certain functionalities that you see in the screenshots and described in the text.

5.4.1. Group homepage

The group homepage is the central space for a group. There you can get a quick overview of the group and reach all the places that you wish to take a look at in a group. You see a few things per default on the group homepage. The items displayed on the group homepage do not only depend on the default settings but also the options chosen when the group was created.

Sample group homepage

Group name

When you are a member in the group, you see your status and whether you can leave the group or not. If you are an admin of the group, you see the Edit and Delete buttons.

If the group administrator allowed users to recommend the group to friends, you see the Recommend to friends button. If the group administrator allowed users to invite friends, you see the Invite friends button.

Group navigation: You see all the areas that you have access to in the group. If you are not allowed to edit pages, you will not see the “Share” tab, for example.

Basic information about this group:

Group administrators: Click on their names to view their profile pages

Group type

Group category

Creation date of the group

Statistics on the number of group members, pages, files and folders

Latest forum posts and a link to the forums

Group pages that have been created in the group

If you are allowed to copy a group page, you will see the Copy page button here and in the “Pages” tab.

View pages that members have shared with the group.

If the group allows page submissions, select the page that you want to submit for assessment / feedback. You do not have to share the page with the group. The administrator (and tutor) can view the page once it has been submitted.

Group members and a link to the full list if the group administrator did not hide the group membership.

If you are a group administrator, you can put other blocks on the group homepage. Check the blocks in pages context for a list of them.

5.4.2. Members

5.4.2.1. Members page

Group members page as seen by a group administrator

On the group members page, a group admin can

invite multiple users to the group at once or add multiple users in bulk if it is a controlled membership group.

search for group members.

view basic information about group members:

their name

their role

their profile introduction text

their group joining date

change the role of a user.

remove a user from the group.

If you are a regular group member, you are not able to invite or add people from the members page, and you cannot change the role or remove a user from the group.

5.4.2.2. New member invitation

A group administrator can always invite any user to a group from the Members tab. If the group administrator allowed users to invite friends, they can do so via the Invite friends button on the group homepage.

Invite other users to a group

Potential members: Select the users you want to invite to the group.

If you are a group administrator, you see all users.

If you are a regular group member, you only see your friends.

Search: You can also search for users in the search box if there are too many names listed.

Add the users to the list Users to be invited by clicking on the right-arrow button right-arrow.

If you put a person into the box for users to be invited by accident, you can remove them from that list by clicking on them.

Then click on the left-arrow button left-arrow, and they are removed from the list.

When you have all the users you wish to invite to this group, click the Submit button.

The invited users will receive a notification. The group will also be listed on the users’ My groups page where they can accept or decline group membership.

5.4.2.3. Group membership recommendation

If the group administrator allowed membership recommendations when creating or editing a group, group members can recommend the group to their friends by clicking on the Recommend to friends button on the group homepage.

Recommend a group to friends

Potential members: Select the friends to whom you want to recommend this group.

Search: You can also search for your friends in the search box if there are too many names listed.

Add the users to the list Users who will be sent a recommendation by clicking on the right-arrow button right-arrow.

If you put a person into the box for recommendations by accident, you can remove them from that list by clicking on them.

Then click on the left-arrow button left-arrow, and they are removed from the list.

When you have all the users to whom you want to send a recommendation, click the Submit button.

The users will receive a notification and can then decide to join the group.

5.4.3. Forums

The forums are visible to all group members. If you create a public group, anybody online will be able to see the forum discussions. However, they would need to log in to participate. Forums in public groups receive an RSS feed to enable users to subscribe to the discussion forum, e.g. the mahara.org community forums [http://mahara.org/interaction/forum/index.php?group=1].

Group forum overview page

If you have appropriate rights, you can create a new forum by clicking on the New forum button.

Name and brief description of the forum

Forum administrators and moderators (if appointed)

Number of forum topics

Unsubscribe / Subscribe button if the forum admin allowed for this option

Edit button edit for making changes to the forum settings for group admins and moderators

Delete button delete for making changes to the forum settings for group admins and moderators

5.4.3.1. Set up a new forum

A group administrator can set up forums in a group.

Basic set up of a forum

Click on the New forum button to set up a new forum.

Title: Give your new forum a title.

Description: Write a brief description of your forum. This will appear when the forum is listed under the Forum tab making it easier for users to decide whether they want to look at it or not.

Forum indent mode: Specify how the topics in this forum should be indented.

Fully expand: Indentation is used to indicate the replies to individual posts. There is no limit to the level of indentation.

Expand to maximum: Indentation to indicate the replies to individual post specifying the maximum level of indentation (pops up once this option is chosen). All replies beyond the chosen level are not indented further.

No indents: There is no indentation of replies to individual posts, but the forum structure is flat.

Click the Save button to make these changes or continue on to the Settings.

Besides these basic settings, there are additional ones that the administrator can decide on.

Choose further settings in the forum

Automatically subscribe users Choose whether group users will be subscribed to this forum automatically. When subscribed, users will receive notifications when new posts and replies are made in the forum. Users will have the option to unsubscribe if they do not want to be notified.

Order: A default position for your forum is chosen upon its creation - after the last existing forum. Here you may position it elsewhere in the list of forums. Click the radio button above or below a certain forum to position it before or after it.

Moderators: Choose one or more moderators for your forum. They can edit and delete topics and posts as well as open, close, set and unset topics as sticky. Thus, they can perform some administrative functions without having to receive full administrator rights.

Select one or more users from the list of Potential moderators on the left or search for a person.

Click the right-arrow button right-arrow to add the user(s) to the Current moderators.

To remove a moderator, select the user in the Current Moderators list on the right and click the left-arrow button left-arrow to remove this user.

Who can create topics: Decide who in your group is allowed to create topics within a forum. If set to “All group members”, any group member can create new topics and reply to existing topics. If set to “Moderators and group administrators”, only moderators and group administrators can start new topics, but once topics exist, all users can post replies to them.

Close new topics: If checked, all new topics in this forum will be closed by default. Only moderators and group administrators can reply to closed topics. This is a setting that may be useful for a forum that is solely used for announcements.

Click the Save button to save the settings for the forum or use click the Cancel button to retain the previous settings.

5.4.3.2. Add a forum topic

When you have the right to add a forum topic, you see the New topic button when you click on a forum.

Add a new topic to a forum

Note

An administrator also always has the buttons Edit forum and Delete forum available to make changes to the forum set up.

Add a new forum topic

Subject: Type a concise description of what you wish to discuss in this forum thread. This field is mandatory.

Message: Elaborate on the topic. This field is mandatory.

Sticky: admin-only setting to keep the topic at the top of the forum threads.

Closed: admin-only setting to prevent others from responding to this post. Moderators and administrators can still post replies.

Click the Post button to send off your discussion topic, or click Cancel to abort your action.

Note

When you write your forum topic, i.e. your first post, and any other subsequent post, you have formatting options at your hands in the visual editor (when it is enabled). It also allows you to insert images into your post. However, you should not copy the URL of one of your images from your Files area. This image is only displayed to you unless it is also included in page that you made available to this group, logged-in users or the public. Permissions on artefacts are governed by the permissions set on the page(s) in which they are included.

In some groups you may be able to upload files into the group thus allowing every group member to see the file. You could link it then in your forum post but must be aware that any group member could delete the image.

Once you have finished writing your forum topic, it is displayed in the list of forum topics. Others can see it immediately. The administrator and moderator of the forum can edit or delete a topic at any time. Regular members can edit their topics up to a certain number of minutes after writing the post. The site administrator defines that time in the forum post delay.

First post in a forum topic

The title of the forum

The title of the forum topic

The profile picture and name of the person who wrote the post. The name is linked to the profile page

The number of posts of this person in all groups

The date and time of the forum post

The post itself

The Reply button to comment on the post

5.4.3.3. Reply to a topic or subsequent post

Everybody can reply to a forum topic or other posts therein unless the moderator or administrator had closed the topic. The replies are intended to make it easier to see to which comment you reply except in forum topics that do not use indentation.

Reply to a forum post

Click the Reply button below the forum post to which you wish to reply. The forum post that you are replying to is displayed beneath your reply window making it easier for you to refer to it if necessary.

Subject Set a different subject if you want to by clicking on Click to set a subject. This is most often not necessary and usually only used if the topic evolves into a different discussion. However, in such cases, a new forum topic should be opened.

Message: Write your comment.

Click the Post button to save your response or the Cancel button to abort your forum post.

Note

Once you have saved your post, you may have time to edit it before it is sent to the forum subscribers. That depends on the site settings for the forum post delay. If you can edit your post, you see the Edit button. In the edit window, you also see how much time you have left until your post is sent.

When you, but also a moderator or an administrator, edit your forum post after this time, it is stated when and by whom the editing was done under “Edits to this post”.

5.4.3.4. Delete a post, topic or forum

A moderator or administrator can always edit or delete a single forum post, a topic or an entire forum.

Warning

Once a forum post, topic or forum is deleted, this action cannot be reversed and the content is gone forever.

5.4.3.5. Forum bulk actions

Group administrators and forum moderators can perform bulk actions on forums in a group.

Forum bulk actions

Select the topics for which you want to perform the same action.

Choose the action that you wish to perform from the drop-down menu. You can set all selected topics to

sticky: They will sit on top of all other forum topics.

unsticky: They will be placed into the correct chronological order.

close: Only the group administrator and forum moderator can add posts to these topics.

open: Everyone can post to these topics again.

Click the Update all selected topics button to save your changes.

5.4.4. Pages

Members of a group have access to shared pages. These can be:

pages that are created in the group

pages that are shared with the group

The latter are pages that a user makes accessible to the group from his personal pages by sharing them with the group. Members of the group cannot edit these pages.

Depending on the group settings, either only administrators or also regular group members can create and edit group pages.

Warning

Everybody who can edit a group page can add or delete blocks on that page. There is no version tracking that shows who has edited what. Users should trust each other when collaborating on pages together. Otherwise, it may be better if they only shared pages with a group.

5.4.4.1. Group homepage

The group homepage can only be edited by the group administrator. It contains a number of default blocks. You can add more blocks to it to customize the page for the group. Please refer to the overview of blocks for a list of all the blocks that you can use on the group homepage.

5.4.4.2. Regular group pages

Creating, editing and sharing a group page is very similar to creating, editing and sharing a portfolio page. Not all blocks are available when editing a group page in the page editor though due to the different context. Please refer to the overview of blocks for a list of all the blocks that you can use in a group page.

When you leave a comment on a group page, only group administrators (and tutors if it is a controlled group) can delete feedback on pages.

See also

For submitting a page to a group to receive instructor feedback, please refer to the feedback section.

5.4.5. Files

The Files area in a group holds all files that are uploaded by group members who have the permission to do so. The uploading process works like the one in the personal files.

The site administrator can set a group file quota to restrict unlimited uploading of files. The group quota is displayed in the sidebar when you are in the Files area.

In contrast to the files in your personal files area, there is an additional permissions setting:

Setting permissions on a group file

When you have the permission to upload a file, you can also determine additional permissions of who can view the file and edit its metadata. An administrator has all rights, but you can restrict them to regular group members, tutors or administrators.

View: You can see the file in the group files area and add it to a page.

Edit: You can edit the file name, description, tags and permissions.

Publish: You can include a group file in your personal portfolio pages.

Note

The owner of / group member uploading a file retains access to the file even if other group members are not able to use the file.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

5. Groups »

5.5. My friends

Groups -> My friends

Your friends are a special group of users. You can share your portfolio pages easily with them and get in touch with them quickly by going to this page. They differ from a regular group in that they do not have discussion forums, pages or shared files. If you do wish to do that with your friends, you have to create a regular group for them.

You can request other users’ friendship in a couple of ways:

Go to their profile page and click the Request friendship link.

Go to the Find friends page and search for potential friends there.

My friends page

If you have a lot of friends and pending friend requests, you can filter them by showing only the category of friends (current or pending).

You see more information about this friend:

View the profile picture.

Click on the name of your friend to reach his profile page.

The pages to which you have access are listed.

Read the introduction that this user has provided under Content -> Profile -> Introduction.

Display of the institution membership of this user.

If a friend is in the pending state, approve or deny the friendship request.

Send a message to the user if you wish to do so.

If you no longer want to have a user on your friend list, you can remove him by clicking on the Remove from friends link.

If you are a group administrator in a group that one of your friends belongs to, you can edit his group membership here.

Note

When you click on the institution name that list listed for a friend, you see a list of institution staff and administrators. You can contact administrators directly from this page by clicking on the Send message link. institution_homepage

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

5. Groups »

5.6. Find friends

Groups -> Find friends

If you want to establish your social network, you can use the Find friends page to find people to connect to. An alphabetical list of all users in your institution(s) or on the entire system is provided.

Find friends page

Use the search box to search for a name of a user. Your search results are limited to users from your institution(s). Choose the option “Everyone” to search for any user on the system.

All results are listed. You can click on the name to view that user’s profile page. You also see if a user is already a friend of yours.

You see more information about this user and can take more actions:

View the institution(s) of which the user is a member.

Send this user a message without requesting friendship.

Send this user a friend request.

Edit this user’s group membership for a group of which you are an administrator.

Note

You can prevent others from sending you messages or friend requests if you disabled these options in your account settings.

5.6.1. Send a friend request

You can send a friend request from the Find friends page by clicking on the Send friend request link next to the user you want to be friends with.

Send friend request

Give a reason why want to request friendship with this user. This reason can be important if the other person does not know you well and thus may likely reject your request.

Click the Request friendship button to send off your friend request or click the Cancel button to abort your action.

5.6.2. Accept a friend request

When another user has requested friendship, you receive a notification which is shown in the login box.

Pending friend request

When you click on the friend request, you are taken to your My friends page. All your pending friend requests are shown.

View all your pending friend requests

View the name of the person requesting friendship and a short description if the user had written one in Content -> Profile -> Introduction. You can click on the name and view the profile page.

Read the reason why this user requests friendship if the user provided a reason.

Click the Approve request link to approve the friend request. Once you approve a friend request, you appear immediately on that user’s My friends page and the user on yours.

Click the Deny request link to deny friendship.

Click the Send message button to communicate with the user before making your decision about this friend request.

5.6.3. Deny a friend request

When somebody sent you a friend request, go the My friends page to view your pending requests.

Deny a friend request

Next to the person whose request you wish to deny, click the Deny request link.

Provide a reason for your denial if you wish to give one.

Click the Deny friend request button to send your message or click the Cancel button to abort your action.

The user receives a notification which includes your reason for denial.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

5. Groups »

5.7. Institution membership

Groups -> Institution membership

You can see in which institution(s) you are a member when you go to Groups -> Institution membership. You may be able to leave your current institution and join other institutions if they allow self-registration. If you cannot leave your institution, you must ask your institution administrator to remove you.

Note

Leaving an institution does not mean that your account is deleted. You keep your content and portfolio pages when you move from one institution to another as long as you have your account. Institution administrators should not delete your account when they remove you from their institution.

Check on your institution membership

Memberships: Here you see to which institution(s) you belong. Click on the Leave institution button to remove yourself from an institution. If you do not see this button next to an institution, you cannot remove yourself but must ask an institution administrator to do so.

Requests: If you have already requested membership in an institution, it will be listed here. You must wait for an institution administrator to approve your request. If you wish to cancel a request, click the Cancel request button.

Request membership of an institution: Choose the institution from the drop-down menu that you wish to join.

You can provide an ID if you have one for this institution, but that is optional.

Click the Send request button, and the institution administrator is notified of your request and will deal with it.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

5. Groups »

5.8. Shared pages

On this page you can list the most recently modified or commented on pages that have been shared with:

you directly

you as a friend

you as a member of a group

you as a member of an institution

all logged-in users

the public (excluding secret URLs)

The default search options are:

Search the title, description and tags of a page

Sort the results by last update or last comment

Show results of pages that have been shared with you directly, as a friend or a member of a group

You can adjust these default settings in the advanced options.

The Shared pages are a quick way to find the pages that you may be most interested i.

You cannot add or delete anything from this page. It is a display page only.

Shared pages list

Search by title, description and tags of a page per default. More search options are provided under Advanced options.

Search within: Limit your search results to the word(s) found in the title, description or tags of a page or search only within tags.

Sort results by: You can sort the results by the following options:

Last update or comment

Last update

Owner

Title

Shared with: Select the group of people with whom the page(s) you search for must have been shared. You can select multiple options:

Me

Friends

My groups

My institutions

Logged-in users

Public - you only see this option if the site / institution administrator allowed public pages

The title and author of the page are linked for you to jump to them quickly. You also see when the page was created.

The description of the page as well as the tags are displayed if the author provided them.

You see the number of comments on each page.

The beginning of the latest comment on the page as well as its author and the date are displayed.

By clicking on the View comment button, you can read the entire comment.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

5. Groups »

5.9. Topics

Topics is a list of the discussion topics from all the groups in which you are a member. The topics are sorted in reverse chronological order starting with the latest comment.

The latest posts in discussion forums

The title of the forum topic as well as the group and the forum in which this topic is discussed are shown. They are all linked so that you can easily go to them.

The number of posts in this discussion topic is displayed.

The beginning of the latest comment in the topic is displayed as well as the name of the author (linked to the author’s profile page) and the date and time when the comment was made.

The total number of forum topics is displayed. When there are many forum topics, 10 are displayed per page and the rest can be reached via a navigation bar.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

6. Blocks

Blocks for internal and external artefacts are used to compose portfolio pages and group pages. There is a large number of blocks available in Mahara. More can be used when plugins [http://wiki.mahara.org/Plugins] are installed.

6.1. Files, images and video

6.1.1. File(s) to download

6.1.2. Folder

6.1.3. Image gallery

6.1.3.1. Image gallery with uploaded images

6.1.3.2. Image gallery from external images

6.1.4. Some HTML

6.1.5. Image

6.1.6. Embedded media

6.2. Journals

6.2.1. Display an entire journal

6.2.2. Display one journal entry

6.2.3. Display recent journal entries

6.2.4. Display tagged journal entries

6.3. General

6.3.1. Creative Commons license

6.3.2. Navigation

6.3.3. Plans

6.3.4. Recent forum posts

6.3.5. Text box

6.3.5.1. Add a new text box

6.3.5.2. Re-use text from an existing text box

6.3.6. My inbox

6.3.7. Latest pages

6.3.8. My watched pages

6.3.9. Group info

6.3.10. Group members

6.3.11. Group pages

6.4. Profile

6.4.1. Contact information

6.4.2. My friends

6.4.3. My groups

6.4.4. My pages

6.4.5. Profile information

6.4.6. Wall

6.5. Résumé

6.5.1. Display your entire résumé

6.5.2. Display one résumé field

6.6. External content

6.6.1. External feed

6.6.2. External media

6.6.3. Google Apps

6.7. Blocks in various pages

6.7.1. Files, images and video

6.7.2. Journals

6.7.3. General

6.7.4. Profile

6.7.5. Résumé

6.7.6. External content

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

6. Blocks »

6.1. Files, images and video

These artefacts are internal Mahara ones to display:

links to files that you have uploaded

folders that contain files

show images

embed audio and video files

6.1.1. File(s) to download

Select files that viewers of your portfolio can download.

Configure the File(s) to download block

Block title: Choose a title for your document block.

Files area: Choose from which files area you would like to select a file. If you are not a member of a group and not an admin, you may only see My files. If you have access to files elsewhere, these contexts are shown as well, e.g. Group files, Institution files and Site files.

Upload file: You do not have to go back to your Files area in Content in order to upload a file. You can do so directly from this screen.

Folder path: The breadcrumbs show in which folder you are currently.

You can still edit any component of the file, i.e. its file name, description and tags by clicking on the Edit button.

Choose the file or files you wish to display by clicking on the Select button.

Click the Remove button to not display a specific file in this block anymore.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

Note

You cannot re-order files once you have selected them. You would need to remove them and select them again in the correct order.

Warning

When you place group, institution or site files into a page, beware that these files may not be available at some point anymore when the person in charge deletes them.

When the block is placed on the portfolio page, the following information is displayed:

file name

file description

size

upload date

a link to more details

Details about files that can be downloaded.

When a user clicks on the Details link, he is taken to the details page for that particular file and sees some more metadata. He could also report the file, print the page or add the page to his watchlist.

More details about a file that can be downloaded.

Note

If you allowed comments on files, a setting that you can add when you edit a file, users could also leave comments on an artefact file directly and not just on a page.

6.1.2. Folder

Select files that viewers of your portfolio can download.

Configure the Folder block

Block title: If you leave the title blank, the title of the folder that you choose to display will be used.

Files area: Choose from which files area you would like to select a file. If you are not a member of a group and not an admin, you may only see My files. If you have access to files elsewhere, these contexts are shown as well, e.g. Group files, Institution files and Site files.

Folder path: The breadcrumbs show in which folder you are currently.

You can edit any component of the folder, i.e. its name, description and tags by clicking on the Edit button.

Choose the folder you wish to display by clicking on the Select button.

Click the Remove button if you wish to revert your choice.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

Warning

When you place a folder with group, institution or site files into a page, beware that these files may not be available at some point anymore when the person in charge deletes them.

6.1.3. Image gallery

Select a folder with images or individual images to show in a gallery or embed an external image gallery.

6.1.3.1. Image gallery with uploaded images

Configure the Image gallery block with internal images

Block title: Choose a title for your image gallery block.

Image selection: You can choose to display all images from a specific folder or you can select the images individually.

Files area: Choose from which files area you would like to select a file. If you are not a member of a group and not an admin, you may only see My files. If you have access to files elsewhere, these contexts are shown as well, e.g. Group files, Institution files and Site files.

Folder path: The breadcrumbs show in which folder you are currently.

You can edit any component of the folder, i.e. its name, description and tags by clicking on the Edit button.

Choose the folder you wish to display by clicking on the Select button.

If you want to revert your selection, click the Remove button.

Style: Decide to show all selected images as thumbnails or as slideshow where you only see one image at a time. If you select the option “Thumbnails (square)”, all your images will have the same size.

Width: Specify the width (in pixels) for your images. The images are scaled to this width.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

Note

If you selected to display an entire folder in your image gallery, new images that you upload to that folder are added to your gallery automatically.

Warning

When you place group, institution or site files into a page, beware that these files may not be available at some point anymore when the person in charge deletes them.

6.1.3.2. Image gallery from external images

Configure the Image gallery block with external images

Block title: Choose a title for your image gallery block.

Image selection: Select the option “Display images from external gallery”.

Gallery URL or RSS: Copy the link to the external gallery and past it into the text box. You can embed the following external galleries:

Flickr, e.g. http://www.flickr.com/photos/12345678@N01/sets/98765432123456789/

Panoramio, e.g. http://www.panoramio.com/user/123456

Photobucket, e.g. http://s1234.photobucket.com/albums/ee123/username/ or http://s1234.photobucket.com/albums/ee123/username/AlbumName/

Picasa, e.g. http://picasaweb.google.com/user.name/AlbumName#

Windows Live Photo Gallery, e.g. http://cid-123456ab7890cd12.photos.live.com/self.aspx/AlbumName/photo.jpg

Style: Decide to show all selected images as thumbnails or as slideshow where you only see one image at a time. If you select the option “Thumbnails (square)”, all your images will have the same size.

Width: Specify the width (in pixels) for your images. The images are scaled to this width.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

Note

To use Flickr, the site admin has to provide a valid API key.

To use Photobucket, the site admin has to provide a valid API key and a secret API key.

For Windows Live Photo Gallery to work properly, the link to one of the photos inside the album must be copied and pasted into the text box in order to show the entire album.

6.1.4. Some HTML

Display the content of an HTML file in a page.

Configure the HTML block

Block title: Choose a title for your block.

Files area: Choose from which files area you would like to select a file. If you are not a member of a group and not an admin, you may only see My files. If you have access to files elsewhere, these contexts are shown as well, e.g. Group files, Institution files and Site files.

Upload file: You do not have to go back to your Files area in Content in order to upload a file. You can do so directly from this screen.

Folder path: The breadcrumbs show in which folder you are currently.

You can still edit any component of the file, i.e. its file name, description and tags by clicking on the Edit button.

Choose the file you wish to display by clicking on the Select button.

Click the Remove button to not display that file in this block anymore.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

Note

You can only display a self-contained HTML file in a page, but not an entire site because the links to the files are not retained correctly when you upload files.

Warning

When you place group, institution or site files into a page, beware that these files may not be available at some point anymore when the person in charge deletes them.

6.1.5. Image

Display a single image in a block.

Configure the Image block

Block title: Choose a title for your block.

Files area: Choose from which files area you would like to select a file. If you are not a member of a group and not an admin, you may only see My files. If you have access to files elsewhere, these contexts are shown as well, e.g. Group files, Institution files and Site files.

Upload file: You do not have to go back to your Files area in Content in order to upload a file. You can do so directly from this screen.

Folder path: The breadcrumbs show in which folder you are currently.

You can still edit any component of the file, i.e. its file name, description and tags by clicking on the Edit button.

Choose the file you wish to display by clicking on the Select button.

Click the Remove button to not display that file in this block anymore.

If your image has a description you can choose to display it. The description could contain the source of the photo for example.

Choose the width (in pixels) for your photo. If you do not provide a number, the image will be scaled to the width of the block.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

Warning

When you place group, institution or site files into a page, beware that these files may not be available at some point anymore when the person in charge deletes them.

6.1.6. Embedded media

Display an embedded video or audio file from your uploaded files. You can display mp3, mp4 and flv files per default.

Note

If you wish to display other file types, the site administrator must allow other media formats. These will not be displayed with the built-in media player but require that you have the correct media player installed to display these videos.

Configure the Embedded media block

Block title: Choose a title for your block.

Files area: Choose from which files area you would like to select a file. If you are not a member of a group and not an admin, you may only see My files. If you have access to files elsewhere, these contexts are shown as well, e.g. Group files, Institution files and Site files.

Upload file: You do not have to go back to your Files area in Content in order to upload a file. You can do so directly from this screen.

Folder path: The breadcrumbs show in which folder you are currently.

You can still edit any component of the file, i.e. its file name, description and tags by clicking on the Edit button.

Choose the file you wish to display by clicking on the Select button.

Click the Remove button to not display that file in this block anymore.

Width: Choose the width (in pixels) for your video.

Height: Choose the height (in pixels) for your video.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

Note

Only the files that you are allowed to embed are displayed. If you uploaded a mp4 file but it does not show here, you may have to check if it has the correct codec. Only H.264 mp4 files can be embedded.

Warning

When you place group, institution or site files into a page, beware that these files may not be available at some point anymore when the person in charge deletes them.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

6. Blocks »

6.2. Journals

You can embed content from your journals in various ways in a page:

display an entire journal

display only one journal entry

show the latest journal entries

display journal entries with a specific tag

Note

You must create at least one journal in order to see anything in this block.

Warning

You can allow the copying of your journal (entries). Choose this option wisely because once a user copied your journal content into their portfolio, it looks as if they had written the journal entries. This could lead to plagiarism. However, it can be used very nicely to create templates and to scaffold learning.

6.2.1. Display an entire journal

Display an entire journal in your portfolio page.

Configure the Journal block

Block title: The title for the block is chosen automatically from the title of the journal unless you provide a different one.

Journal: Select the journal you wish to display. If you have many journals, you can also search for the one you want to use.

Entries per page: Decide how many entries you want to display. Entries beyond this number are accessible via a page navigation bar.

Block copy permissions: You decide what shall happen with this block when you allow other users to copy your page. Options are:

Skip this block entirely when copying the page

Others may display your journal in their page

Others will get their own copy of your journal

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

Note

If you share the page in which you make an entire journal visible with the public, your journal receives an RSS feed to which your readers can subscribe in their favorite RSS readers.

6.2.2. Display one journal entry

Display an entire journal in your portfolio page.

Configure the Journal entry block

Block title: The title of the journal post is chosen automatically unless you provide a different one.

Journal entry: Select the journal entry you wish to display. If you have many posts, you can also search for the one you want to use. You always also see the title of the journal in which the entry appears.

Block copy permissions: You decide what shall happen with this block when you allow other users to copy your page. Options are:

Skip this block entirely when copying the page

Others may display your journal entry in their page

Others will get their own copy of your journal entry

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

6.2.3. Display recent journal entries

Display recent journal entries across all your journals in your portfolio page.

Configure the Recent journal entries block

Block title: Choose a title for your block.

Journals: Select the journal(s) from which you wish to display the latest posts. If you have many journals, you can also search for the one(s) you want to use.

Items to show: Decide how many entries you want to display.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

Note

If you have multiple journals, you can display recent entries from all of them.

6.2.4. Display tagged journal entries

Display tagged journal entries across all your journals in your portfolio page.

Configure the Tagged journal entries block

Block title: Choose a title for your block.

My tags: Select the tag for which you want to display all journal entries. The entries will appear as link list.

Items to show: Decide how many entries you want to display.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

6. Blocks »

6.3. General

The artefacts in this tab are of a general nature or do not fit into any other category and can be used around the site.

When you create a page in a group, you do not have the navigation and plans blocks available as you cannot create collections or plans in groups. Additionally, you can choose the following blocks when you edit the group homepage:

Group info

Group members

Group pages

6.3.1. Creative Commons license

Add a block to your page which lets users know under which Creative Commons license [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/] your page is published.

Configure the Creative Commons license block

Block title: Choose a title for your block.

Allow commercial uses of your work? Decide whether users can re-use your work for commercial purposes.

Allow modifications of your work? Decide whether others can remix your work and create something new and if so under which conditions.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

See also

For more information about the licenses and their terms, visit the Creative Commons web site [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/].

6.3.2. Navigation

Add a navigation block to display links to pages in a collection.

Note

You must create at least one collection in order to use this block.

Configure the Navigation block

Block title: The title of the collection is chosen automatically unless you provide a different one.

Collection: Choose the collection from the drop-down menu for which you wish to display links in the block.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

6.3.3. Plans

Display one of your plans in a block.

Note

You must create at least one plan in order to use this block.

Configure the Plans block

Block title: The title of the plan is chosen automatically unless you provide a different one.

Plan to show: Choose the plan which you want to display in your page.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

Result of an embedded plan in a portfolio page. By clicking on the linked titles, you can show the descriptions of the individual tasks.

6.3.4. Recent forum posts

Display a specified number of recent forum posts from one group on a page.

Note

You must be a member of at least one group in order to use this block.

Configure the Recent forum posts block

Block title: The title of the block is generated automatically unless you provide a different one. The default title is “Recent forum posts”.

Group: Choose the group whose forum posts you wish to display.

Maximum number of posts to show: Decide how many of the latest forum posts you wish to show. The default value is 5. You can show up to 100 posts.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

6.3.5. Text box

Add text to your page. This feature is used when you do not want to keep the text in a journal, e.g. just for small snippets of text.

6.3.5.1. Add a new text box

Configure the Text box block

Block title: Provide a title for your text.

Block content: Write your text. You can include formatting, external images etc.

Alternatively, you can also use text from another note that you have already written.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

Note

We recommend you do not include images that you have uploaded to Mahara in a text box. It cannot be guaranteed that they are displayed for other users if they do not have access to the image via another portfolio page. All access in Mahara is granted to pages and through them to the artefact blocks. An image in a text box is not recognized as artefact and can therefore not receive its proper permissions.

6.3.5.2. Re-use text from an existing text box

You can re-use text from other text boxes (a.k.a. Notes) from one page in another.

Warning

If you do not make a copy of a text box content and change it, the text is changed in all other instances where this text box is used.

Configure the Text box block by copying text

Block title: Provide a title for your text.

Click the link Use content from another text box to view all the text boxes to which you have access. These can be:

your own notes

text boxes from group pages that you can copy

text boxes from institution or site pages to which you have access

Click Browse or Search to find the text box that you want to re-use.

All text boxes are listed with their title and the first line. Click the radio button next to the text box that you want to use again.

If a text box does not belong to you but a group for example, you see the author next to the text box title.

The content of the text box that you have selected is displayed in the Block content box. You can now make changes. The text will be changed in all other instances where this text box appears.

If you wish to make changes to the text but not want to change it everywhere else, click the Make a copy link above the Block content. The text is then retained, but is treated like a new text box.

Click the Manage all text box content link to be taken to your personal Notes to make changes there instead of in an existing text box from this popup window here.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

See also

You can watch a demo of this feature [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz5gh2Quh-g] in action.

6.3.6. My inbox

The My inbox block displays the latest messages that you have received.

Note

This block can only be used on your dashboard.

Configure the My inbox block

Block title: The automatic title for this block is “Recent activity”. You can set another one if you wish.

Message types to display: Place a check mark for each message type that you want to display in this block.

Maximum number of items to display: Decide how many messages shall be shown on your dashboard. You can choose between 5 and 100.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

6.3.7. Latest pages

The Latest pages block displays the latest pages to which you have access across Mahara.

Note

This block can only be used on your dashboard.

Configure the Latest pages block

Block title: The automatic title for this block is “Latest pages”. You can set another one if you wish.

Maximum number of pages to show: Decide how many pages shall be shown on your dashboard. You can choose between 5 and 100.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

6.3.8. My watched pages

The My watched pages block displays the pages that are on your watchlist.

Note

This block can only be used on your dashboard.

Configure the My watched pages block

Block title: The automatic title for this block is “My watched pages”. You can set another one if you wish.

Items to show: Decide how many pages shall be shown on your dashboard.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

6.3.9. Group info

This block is a default block on the group homepage. There is no configuration possible. The block contains information about:

group administrator

group type

group creation date

number of group members

number of pages created in the group

number of files uploaded to the group

number of folders created in the group

6.3.10. Group members

This block is a default block on the group homepage. You can display member profile pictures and their names.

Configure the Group members block

Block title: The automatic title for this block is “Members”. You can set another one if you wish.

Shown members: Choose how many members (between 1 and 20) are shown on the group homepage. All others are accessible via the Members tab in the group.

Order: Choose the order in which members are displayed. Options are

latest: display members according to their group joining date in reverse chronological order

random: let Mahara decide which members to display

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is.

6.3.11. Group pages

This block is a default block on the group homepage. You can display pages created in and / or shared with the group in this block.

Configure the Group pages block

Block title: The automatic title for this block is “Group pages”. You can set another one if you wish.

Display group pages: Decide whether to display pages that were created in the group. “Yes” is the default option.

Display shared pages: Decide whether to display pages that users shared with the group. “No” is the default option.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

6. Blocks »

6.4. Profile

The artefact blocks in this tab allow you to include information that you provided in the Profile into your portfolio. If you want to make changes to the text or the images, go to Content -> Profile.

Furthermore, you can also put certain blocks onto your profile page that only exist for that particular page:

My friends

My groups

My pages

Wall

6.4.1. Contact information

Add a block with contact information to your page.

Note

Only display as much information as you wish anybody to see. Especially when you make your pages available to the public, i.e. everybody on the Internet, or all logged-in users, decide carefully whether you want to display your street address and / or phone number.

Configure the Contact information block

Block title: Choose a title for your block.

Email address Decide whether to display one of your email addresses that you have entered in your profile under Content.

Fields to show: Decide which fields shall appear on the page. Put a check mark in front of each one that you want to show. Shown are only the ones for which you provided content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

6.4.2. My friends

Add a block that displays your friends’ profile pictures and their names to your profile page. This is a default block on your profile page.

You only need to place the block into your profile page. There is no further configuration possible.

6.4.3. My groups

Add a block that displays your groups to your profile page. It is a standard profile page block.

You only need to place the block into your profile page. There is no further configuration possible.

6.4.4. My pages

Add a block that displays your pages to your profile page. It is a standard profile page block. This block should stay on your profile page because it is an easy way for other users to access your pages.

You only need to place the block into your profile page. There is no further configuration possible.

Note

When other users view your profile page, they only see the pages to which they have access. That also means that you see all your pages while others may see none or just a few.

6.4.5. Profile information

Add a block with profile fields to your page.

Note

Only display as much information as you wish anybody to see. Especially when you make your pages available to the public, i.e. everybody on the Internet, or all logged-in users, decide carefully whether you want to display your street address and / or phone number.

Configure the Profile information block

Block title: Choose a title for your block.

Fields to show: Decide which fields shall appear on the page. Put a check mark in front of each one that you want to show. Displayed are only the ones for which you provided content.

Profile picture: Choose to display one of your profile pictures or none.

Email address Decide whether to display one of your email addresses that you have entered in your profile under Content.

Introduction text: If you do not want to display the introduction text from your profile, you can write another one just for this page here. However, it will be lost when you delete this block.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

6.4.6. Wall

Add a block that displays your wall to your profile page. It is a standard profile page block.

You only need to place the block into your profile page. There is no further configuration possible.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

6. Blocks »

6.5. Résumé

You can display either your entire résumé or parts of it in any portfolio page. If you choose to display only parts of your résumé, you have more control over the arrangement of the information.

6.5.1. Display your entire résumé

Add a block with your entire résumé to your page.

Configure the Your entire résumé block

Block title: Choose a title for your block.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

6.5.2. Display one résumé field

Add a block with one résumé field to your page.

Configure the One résumé field block

Block title: The title of the résumé field you want to display is chosen automatically unless you provide a different one.

Field to show: Choose the résumé information that you want to display. You can select one area at a time.

You can jump to the résumé section directly from this pop-up window in order to fill in more content.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Cancel button to leave the block’s content as it is. The Remove button is shown only when you place the block into the page and have not yet added any artefacts.

Note

Normally, only résumé fields are shown for which you have provided content. However, as soon as you fill in a skills or goals area, all headings are displayed even when they do not contain any content.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

6. Blocks »

6.6. External content

With the help of the external content blocks, you can include RSS feeds, external media or GoogleApps documents etc. into a page.

6.6.1. External feed

Embed an external RSS or ATOM feed, e.g. to display an external blog.

Configure the external feed block

Block title: If you leave the title blank, the title of the feed will be used.

Feed location: Put the entire feed URL from a valid RSS or ATOM feed in here. If the feed is not displayed, try to view it in a regular feed reader to make sure that the URL is correct.

Insecure SSL mode: Place a check mark in this box if you wish to enable the insecure SSL mode. This mode allows you to override certificate errors generated by a feed.

HTTP username: Provide a username if you wish to access a feed that requires authentication. This is the username to access the feed and not your portfolio system.

HTTP password: Provide a password to access a feed that requires authentication. This is the password to access the feed and not your portfolio system.

Items to show: Decide how many of the latest items in the feed you wish to display. You can choose up to 20.

Show feed items in full: If you do not select this option, only a heading will be shown for each feed item, e.g. the blog heading of a post. If you select this option, the entire content of the feed item will be shown, e.g. the entire blog post or in case of a flickr RSS feed, the photo and its description.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Remove button to remove this block from your page.

Note

If your feed is not updated automatically, please ask your site administrator to check the cron settings.

6.6.2. External media

Embed content from:

YouTube [http://youtube.com]

TeacherTube [http://www.teachertube.com]

Scivee.tv [http://www.scivee.tv/]

Google Videos [http://video.google.com/]

And also:

Glogster [http://www.glogster.com/]

SlideShare [http://www.glogster.com/]

VoiceThread [http://www.voicethread.com/]

WikiEducator [http://www.voicethread.com/]

Prezi [http://www.prezi.com/]

Vimeo [http://vimeo.com/]

Voki [http://www.voki.com/]

Configure the external media block

Block title: Choose a title for your embedded content.

Content URL: Paste the embed code or the URL of page where the content is located.

Width and Height: Choose the width and the height that the content should take up on the page.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Remove button to remove this block from your page.

Note

If you use the embed code, you still have to provide the correct width and height although they already exist in the embed code. Mahara ignores these variables from the embed code.

6.6.3. Google Apps

Embed any of the following content available via Google (Apps):

books

calendars

documents, spreadsheets, presentations

maps

You can only display the content, but not immediately edit documents, spreadsheets or presentations. You will have to be logged in to your Google (Apps) account to do so. You can use this block with a regular, personal Google account or if you have a Google Apps account via an institution, e.g. your school or university.

Note

If certain documents are restricted to a Google Apps domain or to specific people, a login screen is displayed.

Configure the Google Apps block

Block title: Choose a title for your embedded content.

Embed code or URL: Depending on what kind of content you wish to display, you either provide the embed code or the URL. Click on the help button for more information on how to embed each Google component.

Height: Choose the height for the embedded content. The width is adjusted to the column width of the block automatically.

Click the Save button to accept your changes, or click the Remove button to remove this block from your page.

Google document

Open the document.

Click File in the menu bar and then Publish to the Web.

Click the Start publishing button.

Copy the document link or embed code.

Paste the link or embed code into the Embed code or URL box in the Google Apps block.

Google spreadsheet

Open the spreadsheet.

Click File in the menu bar and then Publish to the Web.

Click the Start publishing button.

Read through the other options and decide on them.

Copy the link for the option Web page or the embed code for the option HTML to embed in a page.

Paste the link or embed code into the Embed code or URL box in the Google Apps block.

Google presentation

Open the presentation.

Click the Share button and then Publish / embed (upper right-hand corner) OR if you use the new interface: Click File in the menu bar and then Publish to the Web.

Click the Start publishing button.

Copy the link or embed code.

Paste the link or embed code into the Embed code or URL box in the Google Apps block.

Google collections

Click on the arrow to the right of the collection name and then on Share and Share again.

Change the permissions to Public on the web and save your changes.

Copy the link.

Paste the link into the Embed code or URL box in the Google Apps block.

Google docs viewer

When you have access to a document, e.g. PDF file, through Google Docs from another person, you can embed it:

Click on File in the menu bar and then Embed this PDF file... / Embed link....

Copy the embed code.

Paste it into the Embed code or URL box in the Google Apps block.

Alternatively, you can export the document into your Google Documents and treat it like any other document (see the section on Google documents above).

Google Calendar

Open Google Calendar.

Click on the little triangle next to the calendar that you wish to embed.

Click on Calendar settings.

On the Calendar details tab scroll down to Embed This Calendar.

Customize the calendar appearance and then copy the embed code.

Paste the embed code into the Embed code or URL box in the Google Apps block.

Google Maps

Open Google Maps.

Click the My Places button.

Click on the name of the map that you wish to embed.

Click on the Link icon to the left of the map.

Customize the appearance of the map and copy the embed code.

Paste the embed code into the Embed code or URL box in the Google Apps block.

Note

Use steps 2 and 3 only if you wish to embed one of your Google maps. If you wish to embed any Google map, you can skip these steps.

Google Books

Open Google Books.

Find the book that you wish to embed.

Click on the book title.

Click on the Link icon above the book.

Copy the embed code of the book.

Paste the embed code into the Embed code or URL box in the Google Apps block.

Note

The link icon only appears if you are allowed to embed this book.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

6. Blocks »

6.7. Blocks in various pages

Certain blocks can only exist in certain page contexts. For example, the wall can only be placed on the profile page whereas the text box can be used on any page. There are a number of page contexts which can have different blocks:

portfolio page

group page

institution page

site page

profile page

dashboard page

The following list shows in which contexts a specific block and therefore a specific artefact can be used. It also shows which blocks can be copied.

Note

Blocks in a page that are copied from one user to another need to be checked for content accuracy and whether they can be retained as they are or need to be updated.

See also

This list has been adapted from a training resource [http://www.synergy-learning.com/blog/mahara/mahara-1-3-blocks/] published by Synergy Learning for Mahara 1.3.

6.7.1. Files, images and video

Block
User
Group
Institution
Site
Dashboard
Profile
Group homepage
Copyable

File(s) to download

Folder

Some HTML

Image

Image gallery

Embedded media

6.7.2. Journals

Block
User
Group
Institution
Site
Dashboard
Profile
Group homepage
Copyable

Display an entire journal

Display one journal entry

Display recent journal entries

Display tagged journal entries

6.7.3. General

Block
User
Group
Institution
Site
Dashboard
Profile
Group homepage
Copyable

Creative Commons license

Navigation

Text box

Plans

Recent forum posts

Group info

Group members

Group pages

My inbox

Latest pages

My watched pages

6.7.4. Profile

Block
User
Group
Institution
Site
Dashboard
Profile
Group homepage
Copyable

Contact information

Profile information

My friends

My groups

My pages

Wall

6.7.5. Résumé

Block
User
Group
Institution
Site
Dashboard
Profile
Group homepage
Copyable

Display your entire résumé

Display one résumé field

6.7.6. External content

Block
User
Group
Institution
Site
Dashboard
Profile
Group homepage
Copyable

External feed

External media

Google Apps

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

7. Settings

7.1. Account settings

7.1.1. New password

7.1.2. Change username

7.1.3. General account options

7.1.4. Delete account

7.2. Notifications

7.3. Inbox

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

7. Settings »

7.1. Account settings

The account settings of a user can be accessed via the Settings page. It is located in the top right-hand corner next to Inbox and Logout in a standard Mahara instance.

Link to the Settings page on the Dashboard

7.1.1. New password

You can change your Mahara password on the Settings page.

Change your password

Enter your current password.

Enter your preferred new password in the New password and Confirm password box.

Make further changes on the page if you wish.

Click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

Your password must have a minimum of six characters. Passwords are case sensitive and must be different from your username.

Note

If you do not see the New password box, you cannot change your password. Your login and password are managed elsewhere. This is the case if your institution has set up single sign-on to other applications for example. If you want to change your password, please contact your institution administrators. They will be able to tell you where you can change your password.

7.1.2. Change username

You need a username to log in to Mahara. If your account is not managed by single-sign on or another method, you see this box. You can then change your username at any time.

Change your username

Note

Usernames are 3-30 characters long and may contain letters, numbers and most common symbols excluding spaces.

7.1.3. General account options

The general account options are visible to all users no matter whether you can change your username and password or not.

View and change your general account options

Friends control: Choose whether other users may add you to their friends list. If you are added to a friends list, the owner of that list is added to your list. When you remove someone from your friends list, you are also removed from their list. Your settings options are:

Nobody may add me as a friend

New friends require my authorisation

New friends are automatically authorised

HTML editor: An HTML editor is available for use in some sections of the site. This is known as a ‘What you see is what you get’ (WYSIWYG) editor. It allows you to apply formatting to your text like in a word processor. If the editor is turned off you can only enter plain text. If you do not have this option, the site administrator may have disabled it.

Disable email: Use this setting to stop the site from sending you emails. It is advised that you generally regulate what is sent via email and what is not in the notifications.

Messages from other users: Use this setting to choose who you wish to receive messages from. Use the notifications area to decide how you will receive these messages. Note: These restrictions will not apply to users with the ‘administrator’ or ‘staff’. Your options are:

Do not allow anyone to send me messages

Allow people on my friends list to send me messages

Allow anyone to send me messages

Language: If your Mahara instance is offered in multiple languages, you can choose in which one you want to navigate the site. The menu items and the contextual help appear in the language you have chosen. However, the content does not automatically switch into that language. You only see this option if there are multiple languages available.

Show controls to add and remove columns when editing a page: You can add the Add and Remove buttons in the page editor to quickly change the number of columns in a portfolio page, see edit layout.

Enable multiple journals: By default, you have one journal. If you would like to keep more than one journal, choose this option. Once you have chosen this option, it will disappear from your accounts settings page unless you only have one journal again.

Maximum tags in cloud: Decide how many tags you wish to display in your personal tag cloud in the sidebar in Content and Portfolio.

Homepage information: Choose this option if you want to display the quick links on your dashboard.

Mobile upload token: Enter a token, e.g. a word, here and on your Android phone or iPhone to enable uploads. Your token changes automatically after each upload. See Mobile Mahara for more information on using Mahara with a mobile device. The site administrator must have allowed mobile uploads for this option to be displayed.

Click the Save button when you have finished making your changes.

Warning

If you disable your email address, you cannot reset your password as that requires the sending of an email to your address. You will have to contact an administrator and have your password reset.

7.1.4. Delete account

If your Mahara site allows self-registration, you can delete your own account by clicking on the Delete account link on the top of the Settings page.

Warning

Be absolutely sure that you want to delete your account. Your artefacts and portfolio pages cannot be restored once you deleted your account. Everything will be gone. You can make a backup of all your things (excluding group content) by exporting your portfolio.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

7. Settings »

7.2. Notifications

Settings -> Notifications

Mahara sends notifications for a number of different activities:

System message: automatically generated by the system or sent to you by one of the site administrators, e.g. account confirmation message.

Message from other users: sent to you directly from other users of the site.

Watchlist: notification of activity on any artefact, page or journal you are monitoring.

New page access: notification that you or one of your groups have been given access to a new or existing non-public page. You do not receive notifications about pages accessible to all logged-in users and the public.

Institution message: automatically generated by the system, e.g. institution confirmation message, institution removal message, institution request sent to administrator

Group message: automatically generated by the system, e.g. user request for joining a group

Feedback: notification of any feedback or comments received on your pages, artefacts or journal posts.

New forum post: notification about new posts in forums to which you are subscribed.

Contact us: messages to administrators that are sent via the Contact us form.

Objectionable content: messages to administrators that contain complaints by users about objectionable content.

Repeat virus upload: messages to administrators about users who repeatedly upload virus-infected files. Virus checking must be turned on.

Virus flag release: messages to administrators about files that were released by the virus scanner.

You may select how you receive notifications for each activity type.

Notifications

Select the notification type for each type of activity. There are four notification types:

Email: Your primary email address will receive an email each time the activity occurs.

Email digest: Your primary email address will receive an email each day with a list of the activities of the last 24 hours. Typically, this email is sent at around 6 p.m., but this can be changed.

Inbox: Your notifications area will display a list of activity notifications received.

None: This is only available to administrators for administrative notifications. They can opt to not receive any notifications for certain types.

Click the Save button to save any changes you make to receiving notifications.

Note

If you select either email or email digest, all activities will also be recorded in your inbox as they happen. They will all be marked as already read. These notifications automatically expire and are removed from your inbox after 60 days.

Note

Only an administrator with server access can change the time for sending the daily email digest. The variable $emaildigest in the file htdocs/notification/emaildigest/lib.php needs to be changed for that.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

7. Settings »

7.3. Inbox

You can view your notifications for your account in your Inbox which you access from the top-right corner next to Settings and Logout.

Your inbox

Activity type: You can filter your notifications according to an activity type to see only a subset of all your notifications.

Subject: The subject of the notification is linked so that you can click on it and get to the text of the notification.

Date: View when the notification was sent.

Read: You can select individual or all notifications on that page that you want to mark as read.

Click the Mark as read button to mark the previously selected notifications as read. Notifications that are sent to your email are marked as read automatically.

Delete: Select one or more notifications on that page that you want to delete.

Click the Delete button to permanently delete the notifications that you had selected for deletion.

Navigate through all your notifications with the help of the page navigation bar.

Click the Delete all notifications button if you want to delete all notifications at once. If you selected a specific activity type, only the notifications matching this type will be deleted.

Warning

Once notifications are deleted, you cannot retrieve them again. Only when you had sent messages to your email will you still be able to view them if you have not deleted them there as well.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

8. Site administration

The site administration in Mahara is reserved for site administrators who have full privileges. Institution administrators have fewer administrative rights and will be discussed separately.

8.1. Overview

8.1.1. Navigation

8.1.2. Warnings

8.1.3. Register your Mahara site

8.1.4. Site information

8.1.5. Site statistics

8.1.5.1. Full site information

8.1.5.2. Users

8.1.5.3. Groups

8.1.5.4. Pages

8.1.6. Close site

8.2. Configure site

8.2.1. Site options

8.2.1.1. Site settings

8.2.1.2. User settings

8.2.1.3. Search settings

8.2.1.4. Group settings

8.2.1.5. Institution settings

8.2.1.6. Account settings

8.2.1.7. Security settings

8.2.1.8. Proxy settings

8.2.1.9. Email settings

8.2.1.10. General settings

8.2.2. Edit site pages

8.2.3. Menus

8.2.3.1. Links and resources

8.2.3.2. Footer menu

8.2.4. Networking

8.2.5. Pages

8.2.6. Share

8.2.7. Files

8.3. Users

8.3.1. User search

8.3.1.1. User bulk actions

8.3.1.2. User reports

8.3.2. User account settings

8.3.2.1. Login as

8.3.2.2. Change site account settings

8.3.2.3. Change institution settings

8.3.2.4. Suspend user

8.3.2.5. Delete user

8.3.3. Suspended and expired users

8.3.4. Site staff

8.3.5. Site admins

8.3.6. Admin notifications

8.3.7. Add user

8.3.8. Add and update users by CSV

8.3.9. Change the authentication method and remote username in bulk

8.4. Groups

8.4.1. Administer groups

8.4.2. Manage a group

8.4.2.1. Group file quota

8.4.2.2. Add or remove administrators

8.4.3. Manage group categories

8.4.4. Add and update groups by CSV

8.4.5. Update group members by CSV

8.5. Institutions

8.5.1. Overview

8.5.2. Add an institution

8.5.2.1. Change the institution logo

8.5.2.2. Use the configurable theme

8.5.3. Edit an institution

8.5.3.1. BrowserID authentication

8.5.3.2. IMAP authentication

8.5.3.3. LDAP authentication

8.5.3.4. SAML authentication

8.5.3.5. MNet / XML-RPC authentication

8.5.3.6. Order of authentication methods

8.5.4. Members

8.5.4.1. People who have requested institution membership

8.5.4.2. People who have not requested membership yet

8.5.4.3. People who have left a given institution

8.5.4.4. People who are already institution members

8.5.4.5. People who have been invited

8.5.5. Institution staff

8.5.6. Institution administrators

8.5.7. Institution pages

8.5.8. Share institution pages

8.5.9. Files

8.5.10. Pending registrations

8.5.10.1. Self-register for the site

8.5.10.2. Review pending registrations

8.5.10.3. Complete self-registration

8.6. Extensions

8.6.1. Plugin administration

8.6.1.1. Blocktype: File / gallery

8.6.1.2. Blocktype: File / internalmedia

8.6.1.3. Block type: Wall

8.6.1.4. Artefact type: Comments

8.6.1.5. Artefact type: File

8.6.1.6. Artefact type: Profile

8.6.1.7. Authentication: SAML

8.6.1.8. Search: Internal search

8.6.1.9. Interaction: Forum

8.6.2. HTML filters

8.6.2.1. Custom filters

8.6.2.2. SafeIframe feature of HTML Purifier

8.7. Experimental features

8.7.1. Bulk export of Leap2A files

8.7.2. Bulk import of Leap2A files

8.7.2.1. Bulk import using a bulk export file

8.7.2.2. Bulk import from scratch

8.7.3. usersuniquebyusername variable

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

8. Site administration »

8.1. Overview

8.1.1. Navigation

As site administrator you have an additional navigation item, Site administration. When you click on it, your navigation changes completely to give you quick access to all the areas for the administration of Mahara.

Top level navigation for a site admin once inside Site administration

You see all administrative items on the main page of the site administration.

Site administration overview page

8.1.2. Warnings

After you have installed Mahara, you may see a number of warnings when you go to the Site administration. They should all be resolved to ensure that your site is secure and has all the necessary settings.

Session entropy length: Your PHP session.entropy_length setting is too small. Set it to at least 16 in your php.ini to ensure that generated session IDs are random and unpredictable enough. You can learn more about this advisory on the OWASP session management cheatsheet [https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Session_Management_Cheat_Sheet#Session_ID_Properties].

Noreply email address: If the system email address is empty or a malformed email address, you are asked to check and correct it in the system mail address setting <email_settings>.

Site-wide password salt: If you do not have one set, please edit your config.php and set the “passwordsaltmain” parameter to a reasonable secret phrase: $cfg->passwordsaltmain = 'your secret phrase here';

8.1.3. Register your Mahara site

You can choose to register your Mahara site with mahara.org [http://mahara.org], and help us to compile a picture of the Mahara installations around the world and to get a picture by how many people Mahara is used.

Register your Mahara site

You can preview the data that is sent. Sending weekly updates is recommended so that the information we have is up-to-date. All information is sent anonymously. We will only know, for example, which version of Mahara you are running, how many times blocks or artefacts have been used, how many users you have etc.

8.1.4. Site information

The Site information gives you a quick overview of:

How your site is used.

When your site was installed.

How big the database is.

How much site data has been accumulated.

Which version of Mahara you are running.

Whether your cron is running or not.

Site information

If you have problems with your Mahara instance and you request information from the community in the forums [http://mahara.org/group/view.php?id=1], this information, esp. about your version and the cron, are useful to have. Furthermore, the version number allows you to check that you have the latest security release of your Mahara version installed.

Note

The cron job is very important in Mahara as a number of vital tasks are only performed when it is running. You can find more information of how to set it up in the wiki [https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/System_Administrator%27s_Guide/Cron_Job].

8.1.5. Site statistics

You can view some statistics about your Mahara site that give you an indication of how your site is used.

8.1.5.1. Full site information

The full site information gives you information about:

Installation date of your site

Number of registered users (“Users”), i.e. everybody who has an account

Number of active users, i.e. users that have at least logged in once and have done something

Number of groups and average group membership of a user

Number of pages and average pages per user with pages

Database size

Disk usage

Mahara version

Information on the cron

Overview of the site

8.1.5.2. Users

On the Users tab of the site statistics, you see information about

the average user

average number of friends with the name of the person with most friends

average number of pages with the author of the most pages

average amount of file quota used with the user who has used most

daily user statistics with information about how many users logged in, were created and existed in total on a specific day

institution membership with the number of users per institution in descending order

Statistics about users

8.1.5.3. Groups

On the Groups tab of the site statistics, you find information about

the number of groups by group type

course group

standard group

the number of groups by access type

open membership

approved membership

controlled membership

The size of the groups in descending order according to the number of members including

number of members

number of pages

number of forums

number of forum posts

Statistics about groups

8.1.5.4. Pages

The Pages tab in the site statistics holds information about

the most frequently used blocks in portfolio pages

a graphical distribution of profile, group and portfolio pages

the most popular pages sorted in descending order with links to the page and the author

Statistics about pages

8.1.6. Close site

You may close the site to everyone except administrators. This is useful when you prepare for and complete a database upgrade. Only administrators will be able to log in until you either reopen the site or an upgrade is successfully completed.

Close your Mahara site

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

8. Site administration »

8.2. Configure site

Site administration -> Configure site

In Configure site you can:

set general parameters for your Mahara site

edit site pages

determine the display of certain menu items

allow networking with Moodle

create and share pages

upload files

8.2.1. Site options

Site administration -> Configure site -> Site options

In Site options you can set some global options that will apply by default throughout the entire site.

Note

One or more fields may be disabled if overridden by a setting in your config.php file.

When you are done editing one or more settings, click the Update site options button at the bottom of the page.

8.2.1.1. Site settings

Site settings

Site name: Choose a name for your Mahara instance. It appears in certain places around the site, e.g. in the title bar of the browser, and in emails sent from the site. Therefore, it should not be too long.

Language: Set the default language for your site. If you have multiple language packs installed, you see a drop-down menu. Otherwise, the standard language, English, is displayed.

Country: The country selected is the default for country selections throughout your Mahara installation, e.g. in contact information.

Theme: Mahara comes with a number of themes that you can use. Choose one from the drop-down menu to make it the default theme for your site. If you have institutions set up, they can choose their own theme. You can search for community-contributed themes [https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/Themes/Contributed_themes] on the Mahara wiki.

Drop-down navigation: If selected, the main Mahara navigation uses a drop-down menu for its sub navigation.

Show homepage information: If enabled, information about Mahara and how it is used is displayed on the homepage for logged-out and the Dashboard for logged-in users. Logged-in users can disable this. See also Quick links.

Send weekly updates?: If checked, your site sends weekly updates to mahara.org [http://mahara.org] with some statistics about your site. See also Register your Mahara site.

Note

You can install more language packs. There is a complete list of them [http://langpacks.mahara.org/] as well as more information about the language packs [https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/Language_Packs] on the wiki.

8.2.1.2. User settings

User settings

Users can choose page themes: If this setting is enabled, users can select a theme for their portfolio page. The page is displayed with this theme to other users. Thus, the institution or site theme can be overwritten.

Display remote avatars: If checked, users’ default profile pictures will be their Gravatar [http://gravatar.com] pictures (remote avatar). Users will need an account with Gravatar for this to work.

Users can hide real names: If checked, users who have set a display name may choose to be searchable only by their display name, and will not be found in searches by their real name. In the site administration section of the site, users are always searchable by their real names. An administrator (site and institution) always sees the display name, first and last name and username.

Search usernames: If checked, usernames can be searched on as part of “Search users” on the dashboard and via Find friends.

Anonymous comments: If checked, logged-out users / users without a login can leave comments on public pages or pages they can access via a secret URL.

Logged-in profile access: If this option is unchecked, profile pages are initially viewable by all logged-in users, but the owner is allowed to restrict access to a smaller group if they wish. Enable this option if you want to make sure all users can see each others’ profile pages. Profiles of institution members will always be visible to other members of the same institution.

Staff report access: If enabled, institution staff will have access to the reports page for users in their institutions. This page is normally restricted to administrators and lists extra user information including page access lists.

Note

If you use your own avatar server to provide profile pictures for your users, you can use that instead of Gravatar for the default profile pictures. In order to do so, you need to add $cfg->remoteavatarbaseurl = 'http://example.com/avatar/'; (with the correct URL to your service) to your config.php.

8.2.1.3. Search settings

Mahara comes with a search plugin that allows you to search for users and pages. If you install another search plugin, you will be able to select which one to use for your site.

Search settings

Note

The internal search plugin can be configured in the Plugin administration.

8.2.1.4. Group settings

Mahara cannot only be used for individual work but also to work collaboratively in groups. Some settings are available in that area.

Group settings

Create groups: You decide whether administrators, administrators and staff or everyone can create groups. The default setting is the most permissive “everyone” because Mahara is user-centered and gives the individual users a great deal of control over what they want to do. If you choose to limit the group creation to administrators (and staff), these need to be contacted to set up groups. There is no internal group request system.

Create public groups: Choose whether everyone or only administrators can create public groups. These are groups for which you do not need to be a member of the group or even have a login to Mahara to view the group homepage, discussion forums (and member listing if the group administrator allowed that).

Allow group categories: If checked, administrators can create categories for users to assign to their groups. These categories can be used to filter groups in My groups and Find groups.

8.2.1.5. Institution settings

You can use Mahara with multiple institutions and separate them for administrative purposes, e.g. user management and permissions, and to give them a different theme.

Institution settings

Users allowed multiple institutions: If checked, users can be members of several institutions at the same time.

Advantage: A user who belongs to two or more institutions only needs one account.

Disadvantage: If one or more institutions use custom themes, the user cannot choose which one is displayed for him.

Warning time for institution expiry: If set, a notification will be sent to site and institution admins this amount of time before an institution is due to expire and be suspended. This time may be specified in days, weeks, months, years or “No end date”. If the latter option is chosen, institutions will not expire by default.

Auto-suspend expired institutions: If set, this option will allow Mahara to automatically suspend an institution that has expired automatically. This means that users of that institution will not be able to log in until the institution has been unsuspended.

8.2.1.6. Account settings

Account settings

Session lifetime: For security reasons, after a specified period of inactivity, a user will be logged off the site automatically. This field specifies this time in minutes. The default value is 1440 minutes (24 hours).

Default account lifetime: If set, user accounts will expire after this amount of time from when they were created. When a user account is expired, the user cannot log in. This time may be specified in days, weeks, months, years or “No end date”. If the latter option is chosen, accounts will not expire by default.

Default account inactivity time: If set, users who do not log in for this amount of time will be considered “inactive” and will not be able to log in anymore. This time may be specified in days, weeks, months, years or “No end date”. If the latter option is chosen, users are not set to “inactive” by default.

Warning time for inactivity / expiry: If set, a warning message will be sent to users this amount of time before their accounts are due to expire or become inactive. This time may be specified in days, weeks, months, years or “No end date”. If the latter is chosen, users do not receive a warning before their account expires or they are flagged as having an inactive account.

8.2.1.7. Security settings

Security settings

Virus checking: If you want all files uploaded by users to be run through the ClamAV virus scanner, you should select the virus checking option. You have to have ClamAV [http://www.clamav.net/] installed on your server.

Path to ClamAV: The file system path to clamscan or clamdscan for virus checking. It is assumed that a failure of ClamAV to run will mean that a file should be treated as a virus, and a quarantine directory will be automatically set up by your Mahara installation.

Anti-spam: There are three levels of anti-spam protection available for publicly visible forms, such as the contact and registration forms. A form submission is never silently rejected. Rather, an error message is displayed asking the user to try again if the submission is classified as spam. The three choices are:

None: No anti-spam checks are performed on form submissions.

Simple: Some basic checks are performed. Form submissions with email addresses that are not well-formed or that have an excessive number of URLs are rejected.

Advanced: Performs additional checks to determine whether email addresses are real or contain URLs that are blacklisted. This requires an Internet connection.

Enable Spamhaus URL blacklist: If enabled, URLs will be checked against the Spamhaus DNSBL. The Spamhaus Project [http://www.spamhaus.org] provides a URL blacklist that is free for non-commercial, low-traffic use. A professional use datafeed service is also available but not supported in Mahara. Please read the Spamhaus DNSBL usage terms [http://www.spamhaus.org/organization/dnsblusage.html] before enabling this option.

Enable SURBL URL blacklist: If enabled, URLs will be checked against the SURBL DNSBL. SURBL [http://www.surbl.org] provides a URL blacklist that is free for organizations with fewer than 1000 users. A professional use datafeed service is also available, but not supported in Mahara. Please read the SURBL usage terms [http://www.surbl.org/usage-policy.html] before enabling this option.

Disable external resources in user HTML: Turning this option on will prevent users from embedding external resources such as images from remote sites into their forum posts and other HTML content. It is however a good thing to do from a security standpoint since it does neutralise a few clever phishing attacks. See the HTML Purifier documentation [http://htmlpurifier.org/live/configdoc/plain.html#URI.DisableExternalResources] for more details.

8.2.1.8. Proxy settings

Proxy settings

Proxy address: If your site uses a proxy server to access the Internet, specify the proxies in hostname:portnumber notation.

Proxy authentication model: Select your proxy’s authentication model (none or basic [NCSA]), if appropriate.

Proxy credentials: Enter the credentials required for your proxy to authenticate your web server in username:password format.

8.2.1.9. Email settings

Email settings

SMTP host: If you want to force Mahara to use a specific SMTP server instead of the system one, enter its hostname here, e.g. smtp.example.com. It is possible to specify more than one host by separating them with semicolons, e.g. smtp1.example.com;smtp2.example.com, but keep in mind that all other settings, e.g. authentication credentials and port numbers, will apply to all listed servers. It is not possible to specify different credentials for each server in this list. This feature is useful when SMTP host authentication is not required or you list different frontends for the same mail server in which case other settings will work.

SMTP port: If your SMTP server uses a port number different from 25, you may specify it here. When encryption is enabled, the default ports are 465 for SSL and 587 for TLS. You only need to specify a port number if it is different from these. Check the correct settings with your mail service provider.

User: If your SMTP server requires authentication, enter your username here.

Password: If your SMTP server requires authentication, enter your password here.

SMTP encryption: If your SMTP server supports encryption, enable it here.

System mail address: This email address is the address that emails are sent from Mahara.

Default notification method: Choose the notification method that is used for all notifications of new users on the site. The options are:

Email

Email digest

Inbox

8.2.1.10. General settings

General settings

Allow public pages: If checked, users can create portfolio pages that are accessible to the public rather than only to logged-in users.

Allow public profiles: If checked, users can set their profile pages to be accessible to the public rather than only to logged-in users. However, only logged-in users can use interactive features such as the wall. If the option “Allow public pages” is chosen, “Allow public profiles” is automatically selected.

Generate sitemap: If checked, sitemap files from publicly accessible pages, groups and forum topics are generated that can be sent to another service.

Enable portfolio search: If checked, the “Search my portfolio” side block is displayed in the Content and Portfolio sections of the site.

Enable tag cloud: If checked, users see a side block in the Content and Portfolio sections of the site with a list of their most frequently used tags. The number of tags displayed is defined by the option “Maximum tags in cloud”.

Maximum tags in cloud: Enter the default number of tags to display in user tag clouds. Users can change this number in their account settings.

Small page headers: If checked, a small header and site navigation block are displayed when viewing or editing portfolio pages instead of the standard header. This option gives more space for the portfolio content itself.

Show online users: If checked, users see a side block with a list of the users who have been logged-in in the last 10 minutes (cf. the dashboard).

Online users limit: Enter the maximum number of users to display in the Online users side block.

Registration agreement: If checked, you force users to agree to the “Terms and Conditions” before registration. You should edit your site’s “Terms and Conditions” page before enabling this option. You can do so under Edit site pages.

Allow mobile uploads: If checked, users have the option of setting an authentication token in their account settings. That allows them to upload content from their mobile devices.

HTML editor: Choose whether the HTML editor is used by default or not. If set to User-defined, users will be allowed to choose whether to use the HTML editor in their personal settings or not. Otherwise the specified setting will be used site-wide.

8.2.2. Edit site pages

Here you can edit the content of some pages around the site and the pages linked to in the footer:

About

Home (Dashboard)

Logged-out home

Privacy statement

Terms and conditions

All pages come with default text that you can change entirely. Every page must contain some text. You can use the visual editor to style your page.

Edit site pages

Page name: Choose the page you want to edit from the drop-down menu.

Page text: Change the text in the editor window. You cannot leave this field empty.

Click the Save changes button.

8.2.3. Menus

There are two menus in Mahara:

Links and resources

Footer

8.2.3.1. Links and resources

The Links and resources menu appears to all users on most pages in the side bar. You can decide which links or files are available to everybody - also those without a login - and which ones only logged-in users shall see.

Add external links to the Links and resources menu

Choose which Links and resources menu you want to edit: the public or the logged-in users one.

Choose the type External link.

Give your link a name that will appear in the menu.

Provide the full URL to the link including http:// or https://.

Click the Add button.

Once you have added links and files to your menus, you can edit or delete them.

You can also link to files that you have uploaded to the site files area.

Add a site file to the Links and resources menu

Choose which Links and resources menu you want to edit: the public or the logged-in users one.

Choose the type Site file.

Give your site file a name that will appear in the menu.

Choose the file you want to display from the drop-down menu.

Click the Add button.

You can make changes to the name or choose a different file when you click on the Edit button.

You can remove the file from the menu by clicking the Delete button. This will only delete the reference to the file in the menu but not the file itself.

Note

If you wish to display your links and resources in a specific order, map that order out before you add the links and files because you cannot change the order afterwards.

Links and resources menu result

8.2.3.2. Footer menu

You have control over which links are displayed in the footer on each page.

Footer menu

Select which site pages shall appear in the footer on each page. You can change the text of “Terms and conditions”, “Privacy statement” and “About” in Edit site pages.

If you want to link any of these pages to an existing external page, provide the URL in the respective text field.

Click the Save changes button to save your settings.

8.2.4. Networking

Mahara’s networking features allow it to communicate with Mahara or Moodle [http://moodle.org] sites. If networking is enabled, you can use it to configure single sign-on (SSO) for users who log in at either Moodle or Mahara or allow users from another Mahara instance to access yours.

From Moodle 2.0 on you can connect Mahara and Moodle to save certain content you created in Moodle through the portfolio feature [http://docs.moodle.org/22/en/Portfolios].

Networking overview

In order to use networking site-wide with any institution, you need to:

Enable networking: Choose “Yes” from the drop-down menu.

Auto-register all hosts: If you choose “Yes”, an institution is created for any host that connects allowing these users to log in to your Mahara site. We recommend you leave the default “No” because that gives you more control over which Moodle or Mahara instances can connect.

Click the Save changes button.

Delete this key: Click the Delete button if you want to generate a new key for your Mahara site.

Depending on which site you wish to connect, you may need to provide some of the other information on the page, in particular the WWW root and the public key.

See also

The comprehensive guide for setting up a Mahoodle [https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php?title=System_Administrator%27s_Guide/Moodle%2F%2FMahara_Integration] can be consulted when connecting Mahara and Moodle.

You set up MNet for an institution when you edit the authentication method XML-RPC.

8.2.5. Pages

You create and copy site pages like regular portfolio pages. You do not have all blocks available. Check the blocks in various contexts for blocks that you can use in site pages.

Site pages

Once you are done creating your site pages, you can share them with others on Mahara.

8.2.6. Share

You share site pages like any other page.

See also

Refer to the share options for regular portfolio pages for further information.

Share site pages

8.2.7. Files

Here you can upload files that you can include in the links and resources menu or in site pages. You can add files that are in the home directory to the menu with resources for logged-in users. Files that you save in the public folder can be used in the menu for users who are not logged-in.

See also

The process of uploading and managing files is very similar to files in your personal files area.

Site files

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

8. Site administration »

8.3. Users

Site administration -> Users

In the Users menu of the site administration you can:

search for users

change settings for individual users

suspend and delete users

make users site staff or administrators

check the admin notification settings

add and update users manually or by CSV

view reports

8.3.1. User search

Site administration -> Users -> User search

Site administrators can search for any user on the entire site. You can search for their

first name

last name

display name

username

email address

User search

You can combine any search and filter options. However, if you use too many, you may not yield any results.

Filter the users you wish to display by their initials of the first and / or last name.

Type the name, display name, username or email address or any partial thereof you wish to search for in the search field. If you turned on the exact search, you need to provide the correct name or email address and not a partial one.

Choose the institution from the drop-down menu in which you wish to search for the user.

Click the Go button to start searching.

Decide how many results per page you want to view.

View your results. The default order is alphabetically according the the first name. However, you can change the order of the results by clicking on a heading and sort that column in ascending or descending order.

Click on the username of the user for which you want to take further actions.

Select all or just a few users for bulk actions.

Click the Edit button to perform the bulk actions to

suspend users

delete users

change the authentication method of users

Click the Get reports button to

view user reports

download user account information for further actions

8.3.1.1. User bulk actions

You can perform a number of bulk actions for users on the Bulk actions page.

User bulk actions

Once you have selected users for whom you wish to perform the same action on the User search page and clicked on the Edit button, you can take any of the following steps.

Review the users you have selected.

Click on the Suspend button to prevent these users from accessing their accounts. You can also provide a suspension reason.

Click on the Delete button to delete these user accounts.

Choose a new authentication method from the drop-down menu.

Click the Submit button to change the authentication method to the new one.

Warning

When you delete accounts, all user data will be lost and cannot be recovered unless from a server backup file.

8.3.1.2. User reports

You can download basic user information for easier updating of these via a CSV file.

User reports

In order to get to the User reports page, you must select users for whom you wish to perform the same action on the User search page and click on the Get reports button.

You can then review the information that will be included in the CSV file.

Click the Download link to download the information that you see on this page as CSV file.

Note

You can use this CSV file later on for updating existing accounts.

In addition to downloading basic user information, you can also view all the pages that have been created by the users and with whom they have been shared. This facilitates for example troubleshooting when users cannot view pages of others and the administrator would have to log in to the user account to check page permissions.

Note

This list is only available to site and institution administrators unless staff receive access to this list as well. The site administrator can decide that in the User settings in the option “Staff report access”.

User report page access list

Click on the Access list tab on the User reports page.

The owners of the pages are listed.

All the pages that the users have created are listed. If a collection is listed instead, the number of pages it contains is displayed.

The users or groups of people who have access to any page or collection are displayed.

Note

Though all pages, collections and groups are linked, you may not have direct access to them if you are not on the access list or a member of the group yourself.

8.3.2. User account settings

Site administration -> Users -> User search -> Click on a username

On the Account settings page of a user in the administration area, you can perform a number of actions to manage the user’s account. However, you cannot change personal information about this user, e.g. name, email, from this page. This can only be done in the Content area of the user’s account or via the Add users by CSV page.

Overview of the user account settings page

Login as this user

Change site account settings

Change institution settings

Suspend and / or delete this user

8.3.2.1. Login as

As administrator you have the power to log in as any user that you manage and masquerade as them. If you are a site administrator, you can log in as any user while institution administrators can only perform this action for any user who is in their institution.

It is a great function for troubleshooting a user account because you see everything as the user would without having to know the password.

Warning

This function can be misused by administrators because you can make changes to the user’s portfolio and artefacts as well as participate in groups while logged in as that user. Users should be aware of this function and that an administrator can enter their account.

Sites should have clear policies around the use of this function so that the privacy of users and their portfolios and collaborative work is protected. Therefore, there should also not be many users within an institution who have administrator rights.

Login as another user

Click on the user’s name to go to this user’s profile page. You can click on the Login as ... link to become that user.

Click on the Login as button to become that user. You see a red bar at the top of the browser window telling you that you are masquerading as another user.

Stop masquerading as another user

When you want to return to your own account again, click the Become [your username] again link at the top of the browser window.

8.3.2.2. Change site account settings

You can view and change a number of settings for a user’s account.

Note

Depending on the authentication method that is associated with this user, you may not be able to edit all settings.

Site account settings of a user

Change username: Give the user a different username. This field is not available when the account is managed by an external authentication method.

Reset password: Change the password for this user account. This field is not available when the account is managed by an external authentication method.

Force password change on next login: Check this box if the user shall change the password upon the next login. This field is not available when the account is managed by an external authentication method.

Site staff: Check this box if the user shall become a staff member for the entire site.

Site administrator: Check this box if the user shall have full administrative rights for the entire site.

Disable email: Check this box to disable the sending of emails for this user. If email is disabled, notifications and messages can only be viewed in the internal inbox. Depending on your setup, if emails are bounced back to the sender, then email may be automatically disabled.

Account expires: Choose the date on which the user’s login is automatically disabled. The default setting is that the date is not specified. You always see the current date in the greyed out date fields. You can set an automatic account expiry date for all users in the account settings of the site configuration.

File quota: Change the storage allowance for a user’s personal files area. The default value as set in the files configuration in the plugin administration.

Quota used: You can see how much of the allocated quota has already been used.

Authentication method: Choose the authentication method that the user uses to log in to Mahara. The authentication methods can be set up in the institution administration. Depending on the authentication method that you have chosen, you may have to provide a remote username to allow the user to log in.

Username for external authentication: Add or change the remote username for the chosen external authentication method here. Per default, if no external authentication method is chosen, the internal username is displayed.

Tags: A user can be tagged by an administrator. The tag of the institution to which the user belonged prior to joining a new institution is not displayed to avoid its deletion.

Click the Save changes button when you are done editing the settings.

Warning

When the email address is disabled, users cannot reset their passwords themselves as no email can be sent.

8.3.2.3. Change institution settings

You can view and change settings regarding a user’s membership in institutions. Depending on the site settings for institutions, a user may be added to more than one institution.

Institution settings for a user

Choose the institution to which you want to add this user from the drop-down menu.

Click the Add user to institution button to make this user a member of this institution.

Membership expires: If you wish, specify the date when the user will be removed from this institution automatically. If you click the “Not specified” check box, no end date will be set.

ID number: Provide an optional identifier for this user in this institution. This field is not editable by the user.

Institution staff: Check this box if you want to give this user staff rights in this institution. This will allow him to create controlled groups for example.

Institution admin: Check this box if you want to make this user an administrator of this institution. This will allow him to manage all users in this institution for example.

Click the Update button to save your changes.

Click the Remove user from this institution button to disassociate this user from this institution. The user’s account will not be deleted. The user will only not be associated with this institution anymore.

8.3.2.4. Suspend user

Suspend a user if he does not follow the terms and conditions of the site and behaves inappropriately. Suspended users cannot log in, but all their content is still available.

Suspend a user

Provide a reason for your suspension. This is particularly useful when you are not the only administrator and / or need to remember after some time why you suspended this user.

Click the Suspend user button to disallow the user from logging in.

Suspension notice on the user account settings page

When a user has been suspended, the suspension message appears on the user’s account settings page stating the reason and the date for the suspension and giving the administrators the possibility to unsuspend the user by clicking on the Unsuspend user button.

Suspended user tries to log in and gets suspension message

When the user tries to log in, he will see the suspension message and the reason. He can then contact an administrator via the “Contact us” form for further action.

8.3.2.5. Delete user

Users can delete their own accounts in their account settings if self-registration is allowed to by their institution. Administrators can also delete user accounts at any time.

Delete a user account

Click the Delete user button to delete this user account permanently. This action cannot be undone. As this is a permanent action, you see a confirmation pop-up window that you will have to acknowledge.

Warning

When you delete a user account, all personal data is wiped from the system. This applies to everything that is in a user’s Content and Portfolio area. This action cannot be undone. The user’s contributions in groups, e.g. forum messages, uploaded files and pages created in a group, are still available, but are made anonymous by changing the name to “Deleted user” as author where an author is shown.

Note

If an account was deleted by accident - either by a user or by an administrator - swift action may result in recovery of (most of) the data from a backup file. This requires access to the server’s backups and the backend of Mahara. More information is available on the wiki under Restoring a deleted user [https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/System_Administrator%27s_Guide/Restoring_a_deleted_user].

8.3.3. Suspended and expired users

Site administration -> Users -> Suspended users

A list of all suspended and expired users is available in the sub-menu Suspended users. Here you can unsuspend / reactivate or delete them.

List of all suspended or expired users

Select whether you wish to see suspended or expired users.

Select the user(s) for which you want to perform the same action.

Click the Unsuspend users button to reinstate the accounts for all selected users.

Click the Delete users button to delete all selected users in bulk. This action cannot be undone and all personal information of these users will be deleted (see delete user).

Click the Reactivate expired users button if you want to allow these users access to their accounts again.

8.3.4. Site staff

Site administration -> Users -> Site staff

On this page you can choose which users receive site staff rights. Potential staff members - any user on the site - are listed on the left while existing site staff members are listed on the right.

Give site staff rights

From the list under Potential staff, select the users you wish to make site staff. You can also select multiple users at once using Ctrl and Shift click.

If you have too many users on your site and you cannot see / find the users you want, you can search for them in the Search box.

Add the potential staff members to the right-hand side - Current staff - by clicking on the right-arrow button right-arrow.

If you want to remove an existing or accidentally added site staff member, you can remove the user from the list on the right-hand side by clicking on the user.

Then click on the left-arrow button left-arrow, and the user is removed from the list.

When you have chosen all members you wish to make site staff, click the Submit button.

Note

You can also double-click a name and it will be moved to the other side. This goes for all functionalities that are similar to this one here.

8.3.5. Site admins

Site administration -> Users -> Site admins

Site administrators have powerful rights. They can make far-reaching changes and also log in as other users. Be careful whom you give these rights. One site administrator is needed for each site. The total number of site administrators should be kept small.

Give site admin rights

From the list under Potential admins, select the users you wish to make site administrators. You can also select multiple users at once using Ctrl and Shift click.

If you have too many users on your site and you cannot see / find the users you want, you can search for them in the Search box.

Add the potential site admin to the right-hand side - Current Admins - by clicking on the right-arrow button right-arrow.

If you want to remove an existing or accidentally added site admin, you can remove the user from the list on the right-hand side by clicking on the user.

Then click on the left-arrow button left-arrow, and the user is removed from the list.

When you have chosen all members you wish to make site admins, click the Submit button.

Note

You can also double-click a name and it will be moved to the other side. This goes for all functionalities that are similar to this one here.

8.3.6. Admin notifications

Site administration -> Users -> Admin notifications

The Admin notifications page lists all users with institution and site administrator access on your site. It shows their selected notification preferences for all admin notifications. There should be at least one administrator receiving each type of message generated. Admin notifications are:

Contact us

Objectionable content

Repeat virus upload

Virus flag release

Overview of the admin notification types

8.3.7. Add user

Site administration -> Users -> Add user

You can add users to your site by creation accounts for them manually one by one.

Add a user manually

Click the Create new user from scratch radio button if you want to create an empty account. Provide the first name, last name and email address for this user.

Click the Upload Leap2A file radio button if you want to import a user from another Mahara instance or a system that supports the Leap2A standard. Such a user could have exported his portfolio from another Mahara instance.

Username: Give the new user a username. It may contain letters, numbers and most common symbols. It must be from 3 to 236 characters in length. Spaces are not allowed.

Password: Choose a password for the account. The password must be at least six characters long.

Site staff: Check this box if the new user should have site staff rights.

Site administrator: Check this box if the new user should have site administrator rights.

Institution: Choose the institution of which the user should be a member.

File quota: Review the allocated file quota. You may change it here for this user.

Institution administrator: Check this box if the new user should have institution administrator rights in the chosen institution.

General account options: Expand this menu to see default account options that you may choose to change while creating this user. These are the general account options a user can change on the Settings page.

Click the Create user account button.

The user will receive an email with the account details.

Note

You can only define the default account settings for a user account, but not force the user to keep them forever. You could only do that by customising the system on the code level.

8.3.8. Add and update users by CSV

Site administration -> Users -> Add users by CSV

You can use this function to upload new users in bulk via a CSV file (comma-separated file) and to update existing users. The first row of your CSV file should specify the format of your data. For example, it should look like this:

username,password,email,firstname,lastname,studentid

For new users, this row must include:

username

password

email

firstname

lastname

Note

If you want to update existing users, you do not need to set a password, but the password column must exist.

You can mix new and existing accounts in your CSV file.

It must also include fields that are mandatory for all users to fill out and any fields locked for the institution you are uploading the users for.

All other fields are optional. This is the full list of fields that you can add in addition in your CSV file upload.

studentid - Student ID is displayed in the profile

preferredname - Display name

introduction - Introduction is displayed in the profile

officialwebsite - Official web site

personalwebsite - Personal web site

blogaddress - URL to the blog

address - Street address

town - Town

city - City

country - Country

homenumber - Home phone number

businessnumber - Work phone number

mobilenumber - Mobile phone number

faxnumber - Fax number

icqnumber - ICQ nickname

msnnumber - MSN nickname

aimscreenname - AIM screen name

yahoochat - Yahoo Chat username

skypeusername - Skype ID

jabberusername - Jabber ID

occupation - Occupation is displayed in the profile

industry - Industry is displayed in the profile

maildisabled - Selection to disable the email address

remoteuser - Remote username for external authentication

Your CSV file could look for example like the following:

username,email,firstname,lastname,studentid,preferredname,remoteuser, password

"percy","percy@pearle.net","Percy","Pearle","","","percy.pearle","mahara1"

"petra","petra@petterson.net","Petra","Petterson","","","petra.petterson","mahara1"

"polly","polly@potter.net","Polly","Potter","","","polly.potter","mahara1"

"admin","admin@mahara.school","Admin","User","","","","mahara1"

"jamesj","james@jetts.com","James","Jetts","","","","mahara1"

When you have created your CSV file, you are ready to upload it.

Add users by CSV file

Institution: Choose the institution and the authentication method for the user accounts that you upload and / or change. You cannot change the authentication method later on in bulk, but only for each user individually.

File quota: If you wish, you can set a different file quota for all accounts in the CSV file.

CVS file: You must upload a CSV file by clicking on the Browse button and then selecting it from the files area on your computer.

Force password change: If you select this option, users need to change their password before they can log in for the first time.

Email users about their account: If you select this option, users will receive an email with their account information. This is in particular good for internal accounts. For user accounts that are managed for example by Moodle or through LDAP, you do not have to select this option because the users should already know their login information.

Update users: Select this option if your CSV file contains changes for existing users.

General account options: Expand this menu to see default account options that you may choose to change while creating or updating users. These are the general account options a user can change on the Settings page.

Click the Add users by CSV button to upload and / or change users.

Note

Depending on your server settings and / or the size of your installation, you may not be able to upload all user accounts at once. You may wish to upload them in bunches of 100 instead.

8.3.9. Change the authentication method and remote username in bulk

After an admin has successfully invited or added new members into an institution, he can change their authentication method. That can be useful if the authentication method differs from the one in the previous institution and the admin wants to link the new accounts to a remote username using:

LDAP directory

Moodle accounts via MNet

Single sign-on through an IdP provider

Note

The change in the authentication method for existing accounts should be done before users try to log in with their new credentials to avoid the creation of a second account for that user.

You can change the authentication method for multiple users at once to save you time manually updating each user. Changing the authentication method usually also entails changing the remote username (a.k.a. username for external authentication). Therefore, these two are dealt with together to describe the work flow better.

Find users in an institution to change their remote username

Go to Site administration -> Users -> User search.

From the drop-down menu choose the institution in which the members are whose authentication method and remote username you want to change / add.

Click the Go button to limit your results to these institution members.

Change the Results per page if you wish to see more than 10 users per page.

Select the users whose authentication method and remote username you want to change by either putting a check mark in the check boxes or clicking on All to select all users on that page.

Click the Get reports button to proceed to the next step. You are taken to the User reports page.

User reports page

Update the CSV file with remote username and password

Update user accounts in bulk

Click on the Download link next to Export users in CSV format so that you can change their remote username in bulk. This is necessary if their internal Mahara username is not the same as the one they use to authenticate on your system that is linked to Mahara or if they already have a remote username that would be incorrect for your institution.

Open the CSV file in your preferred spreadsheet software. In the column remoteuser, add or change the username that your users have when authenticating in your regular system that you have connected to Mahara. You may also change other fields, e.g. their name, email address etc. If you want to add a new user directly in this CSV file, you can do so as well.

Go to Site administration -> Users -> Add users by CSV.

Institution: Choose the correct institution and authentication method for which you want to update your users. This allows you to switch all users in the CSV file from one authentication method to another.

CSV file: Choose the CSV file from your computer that you had updated.

Update users: Put a check mark here because you want to update existing user accounts.

General account options: You can make changes to the default account options for all the users, e.g. give them multiple journals by default, change their interface language etc.

Click the Add users by CSV button to start the user update. This process may take a little while depending on how many users you are changing.

You receive a report on the page upon the successful completion of the upgrade. If the upgrade fails, error messages help you to resolve the problem. No users are updated until all errors are resolved.

Note

If you intend to update more than 100 users at the same time, you may run into problems and the server may reject your CSV file as the update process is a very memory intense one. If that is the case, you would have to split your CSV file into smaller ones with fewer users in them.

You can check that the accounts had their remote usernames added:

Go to Site administration -> Users -> User search.

Select the institution in which the members are whom you want to check.

Click the Go button to limit your user results to this institution.

Select the users for whom you want to check the remote usernames.

Click the Get reports button to proceed to the next step. You are taken to the User reports page.

You see the remote username in the last column.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

8. Site administration »

8.4. Groups

Site administration -> Groups

In the Groups menu of the Site administration you can:

add administrators to groups

delete groups

manage group categories

Add and update groups in bulk

Add and update group membership in bulk

8.4.1. Administer groups

Site administration -> Groups -> Administer groups

You see an overview of all the groups on the site.

Administer groups

Search a group by its name or category.

Group name: The table is sorted alphabetically according to the group names.

Members: Number of group members in each individual group.

Admins: Number of group administrators per group.

Group type: Overview of whether and how users can join this group.

Group category: Display of the group category that is associated with this group.

Visibility: Overview of who has access to this group - members or the public.

Click the Manage button manage to add or remove group administrators.

Click the Delete button delete to delete a group.

Warning

When you delete a group all its content - forum posts, files and pages - will be deleted permanently and cannot be restored.

8.4.2. Manage a group

You can change the file quota and the administrators for a group.

8.4.2.1. Group file quota

You can specify a default group file quota in Plugins. This allows you to limit the file space that each group can take up.

Change the group file quota

You get to this page by clicking on the Manage button manage next to a group on the Administer groups page.

File quota: Change the file quota that his particular group can have.

Click the Save button to save your change.

8.4.2.2. Add or remove administrators

Add to or remove administrators from a group by clicking on the Manage button manage next to a group on the Administer groups page.

Add or remove group administrators

From the list under Potential admins, select the users you wish to make group administrators. You can also select multiple users at once using Ctrl and Shift click.

If you have too many users on your and you cannot see / find the person you want, you can search for the user in the Search box.

Add the potential administrator to the right-hand side - Current admins - by clicking on the right-arrow button right-arrow.

If you want to remove an existing or accidentally added group administrator, you can remove the user from the list on the right-hand side by clicking on the name.

Then click on the left-arrow button left-arrow, and he user is removed from the list.

When you have chosen all members you wish to make group administrators, click the Save button.

8.4.3. Manage group categories

Site administration -> Groups -> Group categories

Group categories help you to filter your groups more easily on the My groups and Find groups pages. A group administrator can always assign one group category to a group if categories are enabled.

Manage group categories

Enable group categories for the entire site by placing a check mark into the check box and then click on the Submit button.

Existing group categories are listed.

Create a new group category by typing its name and then clicking on the Add button.

Edit a group category name by clicking on the Edit button edit, change the name and then click on the Update button. If you want to abort the action, click on the Cancel button.

Click on the Delete button delete to permanently delete this group category.

Note

Group categories are not hierarchical and are available to everybody on the site. Any user who can create groups can assign a group category when the feature has been enabled.

8.4.4. Add and update groups by CSV

Site administration -> Groups -> Add groups by CSV

You can create multiple groups at once by uploading basic information about them via a CSV file.

Add and update groups by CSV

Create a CSV file that contains at a minimum the fields shortname,displayname,roles.

Institution: Choose the institution for which you want to create the groups. This is just for internal administrative purposes so that institution administrators do not overwrite each other’s groups.

CSV file: Choose the CSV file from your computer that contains the groups.

Update groups: Place a check mark in this box if you are updating already existing groups.

Click the Add groups by CSV button to make the changes.

Here is a full list of all the possible fields that you can specify:

controlled - Group administrators can add users to the group without their consent, and members cannot leave the group.

description - Brief description about the purpose of this group.

displayname - The group name that appears around the site.

editroles - You can choose which roles will be allowed to create and edit pages owned by the group. If your group contains only members and admins, then “Group admins” and “Everyone except members” are identical. These edit permissions will also be used by default for new group files. Permissions can be changed on individual files in the group files area.

all: everyone in the group

notmembers: everyone except members in a course group that has tutors and admins

admin: only group admins

hidden - Choose to list this group on the Find groups page.

hidemembers - Choose to hide group members from non-members.

hidemembersfrommembers - Choose to hide group members from everybody but the group admin.

invitefriends - Choose to allow group members to invite their friends to the group.

open - Allow users to join the group without approval from the group admin.

public - Allow people who are not logged in to view this group including the forums.

quota - Define the group file quota.

request - Allow users to send membership requests to group administrators.

roles - Choose to have a course or standard group. The roles in these group types are:

course: member, tutor, admin

standard: member, admin

shortname - This is the name used to identify this group in the database. This should be only one word. It is also used to identify the group when you add or update its members by CSV.

submitpages - Choose to allow the submission of pages to this group. If you create a course group, this setting is automatically chosen.

suggestfriends - Allow group members to send their friends a recommendation to join this group.

usersautoadded - Choose to have all new users on the site added to the group automatically.

For fields that require a Yes / No value, you need to put a numeric value into the CSV file:

No = 0

Yes = 1

Sample CSV file for a group upload

When you look at your CSV file in a text editor and not a spreadsheet software, the above sample file looks like this:

"shortname","displayname","roles","usersautoadded","public","hidemembersfrommembers"

"public","Public group","standard",0,1,1

"course","Course group","course",1,0,0

Warning

Do not delete this CSV file if you intend to make changes to your groups in bulk or if you want to add group members in bulk to these groups. There is no easy way to retrieve the group shortname unless you consult the database on the backend of Mahara.

8.4.5. Update group members by CSV

Site administration -> Groups -> Update group members by CSV

You can easily update members of groups that you have created via a CSV file.

Update group members by CSV

Create a CSV file that contains the following fields: shortname,username,role in the first row. Then add groups and users that should become members of these groups. You can check their usernames on the User search page.

Institution: Choose the institution in which the groups were created.

CSV file: Choose the CSV file from your computer that contains the group members mapped to groups.

Click the Update group members by CSV button to add to or remove members from the groups that you have specified.

Warning

If you manually added users to a group whose members you want to update via CSV file, these users will be removed from that group when you update the group membership and do not have them listed in the CSV file. Thus, be careful once you have added users manually.

Note

You can only update group membership by CSV of users who belong to the institution in which you created the groups by CSV. All other users must be added manually.

Sample CSV file for updating group membership

When you look at your CSV file in a text editor and not a spreadsheet software, the above sample file looks like this:

"shortname","username","role"

"public","petra","admin"

"public","paula","member"

"course","petra","admin"

"course","percy","tutor"

"course","paula","member"

Note

If you have many groups and could easily lose the overview, create one CSV file per group.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

8. Site administration »

8.5. Institutions

Site administration -> Institutions

You can use Mahara as multi-tenanted instance. That means that several different institutions can share one Mahara installation. All users from these different institutions can:

share portfolio pages with each other

give feedback on each other’s pages

work collaboratively in groups across institution boundaries

In Site administration you can set up as many institutions as you wish. Institution administrators can only administer their users and their institutions but not make any changes to site settings.

You can also use the possibility to set up institutions for different parts of your organisation to use different themes, have different default settings and / or authentication methods.

8.5.1. Overview

Site administration -> Institutions -> Institutions

You see an overview of all institutions that exist on this Mahara installation.

Overview page for institutions

Search: Search for a particular institution by its name and then click on the Search button.

Institution: Institutions are listed alphabetically.

Members: Number of registered members in this institution

Maximum: Maximum allowed members in this institution

Staff: Number of institution members with staff rights

Admins: Number of institution members with institution administrator rights

Click the Edit button edit to change institution settings.

Click the Delete button delete to delete an institution. You can only delete an institution when there are no members in it.

Click the Add institution button when you want to create a new institution.

Click the Edit members button when you want to add or remove members from an institution.

Click the Edit staff button when you want to add or revoke staff rights for an institution member.

Click the Edit admins button when you want to add or revoke institution administrator rights for an institution member.

Note

The institution “No institution” is the default “institution”. It cannot be deleted as it is the standard Mahara site.

8.5.2. Add an institution

When you want to add an institution by clicking on the Add button on Site administration -> Institutions -> Institutions, you need to fill in basic information. You can change all the settings except the Institution name later on.

Add a new institution

Institution name: This field is required. It is the unique identifier of this institution in the database. It must only be one word without numbers and symbols.

Institution display name: This field is required. It is the name that all users see throughout the site to identify this institution.

Institution expiry date: Set the expiry date for this institution by selecting the year, month and day from the drop-down menus when taking the check mark off the “Not specified” check box. Institutions do not expire by default.

If you specify an expiry date for this institution, once the warning time for institution expiry has been reached, site and institution administrators will be emailed about this institution’s impending expiry.

If the auto-suspend expired institutions option is set, then once the expiry date has been reached, this institution will be automatically suspended, and users of this institution will no longer be able to log in.

The warning time for institution expiry and the auto-suspend expired institutions options can be found in the institution settings under Site administration -> Configure site -> Site options.

Registration allowed: Check this box when you want to allow self-registration of new users. As institution administrators, you will be asked to confirm that users can join your institution. If you decline, their new account will be associated with “No institution” unless have the Confirm registration option clicked.. When you do not allow registration, nobody can register a new account, ask to join your institution or leave it without your permission.

Confirm registration: Check this box if you want to control that no new accounts are created unless the administrator approves the registration. You receive a notification about pending registrations when a new user wants to register.

Default membership period: You can set how long users will remain associated with this institution per default. Choose an option from the drop-down menu and then specify the number of days, weeks, months or years. After this length of time, the users will be removed from the institution. Users will receive an email before this time reminding them that they will be removed soon. However, that does not mean that they will lose their account. They will still have that and be associated with “No institution”.

Logo: You can upload an image that will be displayed to your institution’s members in place of the standard header logo.

Theme: Use the drop-down menu to choose the theme that you wish to use for this institution. All pages in that institution will receive that theme. When users from other institutions view portfolio pages that were created in this institution, they will see this institution’s theme on these pages. If Site default is selected, when a site administrator changes the site default theme, the theme for the users of this institution will change, too. You can install more themes in the theme folder on the server. Check out the community-contributed themes [https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/Themes/Contributed_themes]. If users are allowed to have page themes, these pages are not affected by theme changes. Mahara has a configurable theme.

Show online users: If the site admin allowed the “Online users” side block, you can decide which group of users you want to have displayed for this institution:

None: The side block is not displayed to institution members.

Institution online: Only institution members are displayed in the side block.

All: All users on the site are displayed in the side block

Default quota: You can set the amount of file quota new users registering with this institution shall have.

Update user quota: If you check this box, the default quota you choose above will be applied to all existing institution members.

Allow institution public pages: Put a check mark into this box if you want to allow users belonging to this institution to create portfolio pages that are accessible to the public rather than only to logged-in users. If you allow public pages, users can also create secret URLs for their pages. Otherwise they cannot.

Maximum user accounts allowed: Specify the maximum number of accounts that can be created in this institution. If you leave this field blank, there is no limit to the number of accounts.

Locked fields: Put a check mark into each check box for which users are not allowed to change the value. Disabled check boxes are for profile fields which are locked in the institution settings for “No institution”. These profile fields are locked at the site level and cannot be unlocked for individual institutions.

Click the Submit button to save your changes and create this institution.

Click the Cancel button to abort the creation of this institution.

Note

Locking profile fields such as first name, last name and display name can be beneficial for institutions that wish to always identify their users by their real names and not allow users to choose nick names.

8.5.2.1. Change the institution logo

You can upload a logo to any theme replacing the standard logo that comes with the theme. For best results, this image should have the same dimensions as the site logo in your institution’s theme. As each theme can have a different header height, no exact dimensions can be provided.

Note

Of the standard themes, only the “Primary School” theme requires a set height for its logo. The other themes are more flexible.

Upload a logo

Logo: Upload the logo that you want to use on your institution theme from your computer.

Once you have submitted your changes, the logo will be replaced in the header and it also appears in the settings to show what you have uploaded.

Delete logo: If you want to revert back to the standard logo, check this box and click the Submit button at the bottom of the page.

8.5.2.2. Use the configurable theme

If you do not want to use one of the built-in themes of Mahara or one of the community-contributed themes [https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/Themes/Contributed_themes], you can either build your theme from scratch [https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/Customising/Themes] or use the configurable theme in conjunction with the logo upload.

You can use the “configurable theme” directly from the institution settings page.

Options for the configurable theme

In order to change any of the colours, either provide the hexadecimal color code [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_colors] or choose the colour from the colour picker that becomes available as soon as you click on one of the colors.

Theme: Choose the “Configurable Theme” from the drop-down menu and the “Custom theme configuration” options become visible.

Background: Background colour for the entire site, esp. visible in the header and footer.

Text on background: The text that is displayed on the background colour, e.g. in the header and footer.

Link: The link colour on any pages unless it is in the side block or navigation.

Headings: The heading colour for all headings except in the side block.

Side block background: The background colour of any side block. It should form a good contrast to the heading colour of the side block as that is always white.

Side block content background: The color of the inside of a side block.

Side block link: The color of a link inside a side block.

Navigation background: The colour of the top navigation bar.

Navigation text: The colour of the text / links in the main navigation bar.

Sub navigation background: The colour of the secondary navigation and the highlighted section in the main navigation bar.

Sub navigation text: The colour of the text / links in the secondary navigation and the highlighted section in the main navigation bar.

Row background: The colour of the background anywhere rows appear.

Colour picker: Either type in the hexadecimal color code directly into the colour field or use the cross and arrow from the color picker to decide on your new color.

Reset colours: If you want to go back to a blank slate of the configurable theme, place a check mark in this box to get back to the original colours of the configurable theme.

Click the Submit button at the bottom of the page to make your changes.

Note

If you do not see the theme changes immediately when you are logged in as institution member, you may have to clear your browser cache.

Example of the configurable theme

The numbers on the example page refer to the configurable theme options above.

8.5.3. Edit an institution

Site administration -> Institutions -> Click the Edit button next to an institution

Once you have created your institution, you can edit its settings, suspend or delete the institution. You will have to choose at least one authentication method for this institution so that user accounts can be created.

Note

Only site administrators can add, edit and delete authentication methods for an institution and suspend it. An institution can only be deleted if there are no members in it.

You can add multiple authentication methods to your institution and thus allow various entry points for your users. You should set up at least one authentication method. Otherwise, nobody can log in to this institution.

Before you can use the IMAP, LDAP, SAML or XML-RPC authentication methods, you must install their extensions on your server.

Plugins available for authentication in an institution

Once your institution is created, the settings include an additional option, Authentication plugin. You see all authentication methods that are already in use for this institution listed.

From the drop-down menu choose one of the authentication methods that are available:

BrowserID: user accounts are authenticated against a BrowserID.

IMAP: user accounts are authenticated against an IMAP server. This is the least maintained authentication plugin and rarely used.

internal: user accounts are created by Mahara and the passwords and logins are kept in an internal database. This is the default authentication method for a new institution.

LDAP: user accounts are authenticated against an LDAP server.

none: Anyone can log in by picking a username and password. This should only be used for testing.

SAML: a SAML 2.0 Identity Provider Service is needed that has the user accounts.

XML-RPC: This is the authentication method used for MNet to connect Mahara with Moodle or another Mahara.

Click the Add button to see the configuration screen for an external authentication method before it is added.

Warning

Be careful when choosing the “None” authentication method. This allows anyone to log in. It should only be used for testing purposes.

8.5.3.1. BrowserID authentication

BrowserID [https://browserid.org/] is a project of Mozilla’s Identity Team [http://identity.mozilla.com/]. It allows people to have one login across multiple sites without having to divulge the password to these sites. All they need to log in to a BrowserID-enabled site is their email address.

Configure BrowserID

We auto-create users: Place a check mark in this box if you wish to allow new users to register for your institution automatically using their BrowserID.

Click the Submit button to enable this authentication method.

Click the Cancel button to abort your changes.

Warning

The normal registration work flow and the potential confirmation of accounts does not come into play when you allow the auto-creation of accounts as this is an external authentication that is then considered to be trusted. We recommend you do not use the auto-creation of accounts unless you a sure that only trusted people can register. Otherwise, anybody with a BrowserID could register with your site. This option could be used when your site is only available in an intranet.

If you want to use BrowserID authentication but do not allow the auto-creation of accounts, you need to create the user accounts manually or create accounts via CSV in the BrowserID authentication method. You need to register the users with the email address they use for BrowserID. The users can then log in with their BrowserID and do not have to worry about their internal username and password as their account will be associated with their BrowserID.

8.5.3.2. IMAP authentication

You can use this authentication method to receive the login information for your users from your IMAP server.

Set up IMAP authentication

Authority name: Enter a descriptive name to help you identify this authority. Preferably, choose a short name. This field is required.

Hostname or address: Specify the hostname in URL form. This field is required.

Port number: Specify the port under which your IMAP server can be reached. The default is 143. This field is required.

Protocol: Select the IMAP protocol you are using by selecting it from the drop-down menu. This setting is required:

IMAP

IMAP / SSL

IMAP / SSL (self-signed certificate)

IMAP / TLS

Password-change URL: If your users can only change their password in one central space, provide the URL here.

Click the Submit button to save your changes.

Click the Cancel button to abort your changes.

8.5.3.3. LDAP authentication

Use this authentication method to authenticate against an LDAP server so that your users can log in with their usual login and password.

Set up LDAP authentication

Authority name: Enter a descriptive name to help you identify this authority. Preferably, choose a short name. This field is required.

Host URL: Specify hosts in URL form, e.g. ldap://ldap.example.com. Separate multiple servers with ; for failover support. This field is required.

Contexts: List the contexts where users are located. Separate different contexts with ;, e.g. ou=users,o=org;ou=other,o=org. This field is required.

User type: Select from the drop-down menu how users are stored in the LDAP directory. This field is required. You can choose between:

Novell Edirectory

posixAccount (rfc2307)

posixAccount (rfc2307bis)

sambaSamAccount (v. 3.0.7)

MS Active Directory

default

User attribute: Enter the attribute used to search for users. It is often cn. This field is required.

Search subcontexts: Select “Yes” if you want to search for the users also in subcontexts. This setting is required.

Distinguished name: If you want to use bind-user to search users, specify it here. It should look something like cn=ldapuser,ou=public,o=org. Leave this blank for anonymous bind.

Password: Enter the password for the “distinguished name”.

LDAP version: Choose the LDAP version you are using from the drop-down menu. This setting is required.

TLS encryption: Check this box if you use this encryption mechanism.

Update user info on login: Check this box to update the first name, last name and email address with the corresponding LDAP values at each login. Enabling this option may prevent some MS ActiveDirectory sites / users from subsequent Mahara logins.

We auto-create users: Check this box to create user accounts on Mahara automatically when a user authenticates successfully but does not yet have an account.

LDAP field for First Name: Enter the name of the field in the LDAP record that contains the user’s first name.

LDAP field for Surname: Enter the name of the field in the LDAP record that contains the user’s last name.

LDAP field for Email: Enter the name of the field in the LDAP record that contains the user’s email address.

LDAP field for Student ID: Enter the name of the field in the LDAP record that contains the user’s student ID.

LDAP field for Display Name: Enter the name of the field in the LDAP record that contains the user’s display name.

Click the Submit button to save your changes.

Click the Cancel button to abort your changes.

8.5.3.4. SAML authentication

Choose this authentication method for your institution when you have a SAML 2.0 Identity Provider Service set up for your organisation that allows you to use the same login for multiple applications.

SAML 2.0 authentication

Institution attribute (contains ”...”): Enter the attribute that will be passed from the Identity Provider (IdP) that shows which institution the user belongs to. These usually directly correlate to LDAP attributes (the signin service of the IdP), e.g. eduPersonOrgDN. This field is required.

Institution value to check against attribute: Enter the value that will be checked against the institution attribute value as passed from the IdP. If the institution regex check box “Do partial string match with institution shortname” is selected, this value can be a regular expression that will be used to check against the institution attribute value. This field is required.

Do partial string match with institution shortname: Check this check box to treat the value in “Institution value to check against attribute” like a regular expression.

User attribute: Enter the name of the attribute passed by the IdP that contains the username. This field is required.

Match username attribute to remote username: This box is selected by default and needs to stay selected. It matches the user attribute value to the remote username field assigned to a given user (not the internal Mahara username). Only if you have the experimental feature of “usersuniquebyusername” turned on can you deselect this check box. We do not recommend this unless you are very experienced and have control over all applications in question.

Allow users to link own account: Check this box if you want to allow users to link their own internal Mahara account to the authenticated SAML account. This depends on the “Match username attribute to remote username” option being enabled. If this setting is turned on when users try to log in via SSO and their username as well as the email for example match an internal username, they can link their accounts. That would allow them to log in either via the SSO login or via the regular login box into the same account and avoid account duplication.

Update user details on login: Check this box to update the first name, last name and email address with the corresponding IdP values passed through at each login.

We auto-create users: This is unselected by default and needs to stay unchecked if the option “Match username attribute to remote username” is enabled. Check this box to create user accounts on Mahara automatically when a user authenticates successfully but does not yet have an account. Only if you have the experimental feature of “usersuniquebyusername” turned on can you select this check box. We do not recommend this unless you are very experienced and have control over all applications in question.

SSO field for First Name: Enter the name of the attribute passed by the IdP that contains the user’s first name.

SSO field for Surname: Enter the name of the attribute passed by the IdP that contains the user’s last name.

SSO field for Email: Enter the name of the attribute passed by the IdP that contains the user’s email address.

Click the Submit button to save your changes.

Click the Cancel button to abort your changes.

Warning

By default, SAML authentication instances have the “Match username attribute to remote username” setting selected. If that setting were unchecked, someone with control over any SAML identity provider could gain control over any user account on that Mahara site by setting the username attribute accordingly. In other words, administrators of one institution could control users in other institutions. You would only be able to deselect this setting if you set the “usersuniquebyusername” variable to “true” in config.php. However, you should not do that on a Mahara instance to which multiple SAML providers connect and you are not in control of all usernames that are created.

See also

If you deselect “Match username attribute to remote username”, you get an error message which talks about a config setting for “usersuniquebyusername”. Please refer to the experimental feature of the “usersuniquebyusername” variable for more information.

8.5.3.5. MNet / XML-RPC authentication

Use the XML-RPC authentication for connecting a Mahara instance to a Moodle or other Mahara installation for sharing login information. With Moodle 2 that does not only mean that you can log in to Mahara via Moodle, but also that you can transfer certain activities into your Mahara portfolio from Moodle [http://docs.moodle.org/20/en/Portfolios].

A Moodle site can only be connected to Mahara once no matter how many institutions you have set up. Every XML-RPC authentication instance in Mahara must have its own unique remote wwwroot, and must be associated with a single institution.

Note

You must have networking enabled in order to use this authentication method.

Set up MNet authentication

Authority name: Enter a descriptive name to help you identify this authority. Preferably, choose a short name. This field is required.

WWW root: Enter the web address of the root of the remote application, e.g. http://example.com. This field is required.

Site name: Enter the name to present to your users to identify the remote site. If you enable SSO, they may click on this name to start a session at the remote site. This field is required.

Application: Choose the application on the other end. You can choose between “Mahara” and “Moodle”.

Port number: Enter the port number that the remote application is listening at. You probably will not need to change this unless you are connecting to a https service or your remote application is running on a non-standard port. This field is required.

Parent authority: If you set a parent authority from the already existing authentication methods, users will be able to log in using that authority as well as MNet. For example, you could set up SAML authentication and have that be the parent of this MNet authority. That means that users will be able to log in by clicking on the SSO login link using their SSO credentials as well as via MNet from their Moodle. You do not have to set a parent authority. If you do not, users using MNet will only be able to access Mahara via MNet, i.e. log in to Moodle or the other Mahara first.

Wrong login box message: Enter a message to display when a user tries to log in via Mahara’s login form but is not allowed to if you have not set up a parent authority.

SSO direction: Choose your SSO direction from the drop-down menu:

They SSO in: Enable this option to allow users from the remote site to roam to your Mahara site without having to enter their username and password.

We SSO out: Enable this option to allow your users to roam from Mahara to the remote site without having to enter their username and password there.

Update user info on login: Enable this option to bring over user data from the remote site upon login and update your Mahara user record with any changes. The following fields, when filled in on Moodle, are filled in Mahara:

first name (always carried over)

last name (always carried over)

email address (always carried over)

profile picture

description (introduction on Mahara)

city

country

language

HTML editor setting

We auto-create users: Check this box to create user accounts on Mahara automatically when a user authenticates successfully but does not yet have an account.

We import content: Not all network-enabled applications support this, but if they do, e.g. Moodle 2.x, this will allow users of the remote site to import content to Mahara. It depends on the option “They SSO in” from “SSO direction” and it is sensible to also have “We auto-create users” set.

Click the Submit button to save your changes.

Click the Cancel button to abort your changes.

Note

If you choose a Parent authority, ensure that all the users are associated with this authentication method instead of the MNet one. Otherwise, they will not be able to log in via the other authentication method. If the remote username for MNet and the other authentication method is already the same, you just need to change the authentication method. If they are not yet the same, you need to go update the user details together with changing their authentication method.

See also

Refer to the comprehensive guide about setting up Mahoodle [https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/System_Administrator%27s_Guide/Moodle//Mahara_Integration], the combination of Mahara and Moodle, for step-by-step instructions on how to set everything up on the Moodle side and on Mahara. The guide explains the steps for both Moodle 1.9 and Moodle 2.x.

8.5.3.6. Order of authentication methods

If you have set up multiple authentication methods in one institution, you can decide on the order in which they are checked.

Order of authentication methods

Use the up arrow and down arrow to move a specific authentication method up or down in the list.

Delete a particular authentication method by clicking on the Delete link [x].

Note

You cannot delete an authentication method when there are still users who require it to log in. Before deleting an authentication method, you have to move the users to another authentication method.

8.5.4. Members

Site administration -> Institutions -> Members

You can add and remove members from one institution in bulk. As site administrator, you can always add members to an institution. As institution administrator, you can only invite users to become members.

You can filter users to display fewer and add to or remove them more easily from your institution:

People who have requested institution membership

People who have not requested institution membership

People who have left a given institution

People who are already institution members

People who have been invited

Note

You can also double-click a name and it will be moved to the other side. This goes for all functionalities that are similar to this one here.

8.5.4.1. People who have requested institution membership

If your institution allows self-registration, users who are not already members of your institution can request to join it.

See also

You can check your settings on self-registration:

when you are an institution admin: Institution administration -> Manage institutions -> Settings -> Registration allowed

when you are a site admin: Site administration -> Institutions -> click the Edit button edit next to the institution you want to check -> Registration allowed

Users can ask to join an institution on their institution membership page.

Institution administrators receive notifications about membership requests. Site administrators only receive notifications about users wanting to join “No Institution”.

Deal with an institution membership request

Users to display: Choose People who have requested institution membership.

Institution: Choose from the drop-down menu to which institution you wish to add users. If there is only one institution, its name will be displayed without the drop-down menu.

Users who have requested membership: Select the users you wish to add to the institution.

Search: You can also search for users in the search box if there are too many names listed.

Add the users by clicking on the right-arrow button right-arrow.

Users to be added / rejected: If you put users into the box for users to be added / rejected by accident, you can remove them from that list by clicking on them.

Then click on the left-arrow button left-arrow, and they are removed from the list.

When you have all the members you wish to add to the institution, click the Add members button.

Alternatively, if you wish to decline users membership, you can select them and then send a general denial by clicking on the Decline requests button.

8.5.4.2. People who have not requested membership yet

An admin can also take the initiative and invite or add users to an institution.

Invite or add users to become institution members

Users to display: Choose People who have not requested membership yet.

Institution: Choose from the drop-down menu to which institution you wish to invite users. If there is only one institution, its name will be displayed without the drop-down menu.

Non-members: Select the users you wish to invite to the institution.

Search: You can also search for users in the search box if there are too many names listed.

Add the users to the list Users to be invited by clicking on the right-arrow button right-arrow.

If you put a person into the box for users to be invited by accident, you can remove them from that list by clicking on them.

Then click on the left-arrow button left-arrow, and they are removed from the list.

When you have all the members you wish to invite / add to the institution, click the Invite users button. The users receive a notification and can accept or decline the institution membership invitation.

Alternatively, you can click the Add members button as site admin and add users directly to the institution without asking them first.

8.5.4.3. People who have left a given institution

A site admin can filter users by the previous institution to which they were attached in order to find them more quickly.

Note

This is only of importance for a multi-tenanted Mahara instance with at least 2 institutions.

Invite or add users to become institution members when they had left a institution

Users to display: Choose People who have left a given institution. “Left” is interpreted loosely, it also means when an institution administrator removed them from his institution.

Previous institution: Choose the institution from which you want to add users. The users must have left it first to be listed here.

Institution: Choose from the drop-down menu to which institution you wish to invite users. If there is only one other institution, its name will be displayed without the drop-down menu.

Users who have left institution [name of the institution]: Select the users you wish to invite or add to the other institution.

Search: You can also search for users in the search box if there are too many names listed.

Add the users to the list Users to be invited by clicking on the right-arrow button right-arrow.

If you put a person into the box for users to be invited by accident, you can remove them from that list by clicking on them.

Then click on the left-arrow button left-arrow, and they are removed from the list.

When you have all the members you wish to invite to this institution, click the Invite users button. The users receive a notification and can accept or decline the institution membership invitation.

Alternatively, you can click the Add members button as site admin and add users directly to the institution without asking them first.

8.5.4.4. People who are already institution members

You can remove users from an institution, e.g. if they are no longer students at a school or university, but should still have an account on Mahara or when they are just switching institutions on the same Mahara instance.

Remove users from an institution

Users to display: Choose People who are already institution members.

Institution: Choose from the drop-down menu which institution’s members you wish to display. If there is only one institution, its name will be displayed without the drop-down menu.

Current members: Select the users you wish to remove from the institution.

Search: You can also search for users in the search box if there are too many names listed.

Add the users to the list Users to be removed by clicking on the right-arrow button right-arrow.

If you put a person into the box for users to be removed by accident, you can remove them from that list by clicking on them.

Then click on the left-arrow button left-arrow, and they are removed from the list.

When you have all the members you wish to remove from your institution, click the Remove users button.

8.5.4.5. People who have been invited

A site admin can uninvite users from an institution.

Uninvite users from joining your institution

Users to display: Choose People who have been invited.

Institution: Choose from the drop-down menu which institution’s members you wish to display. If there is only one institution, its name will be displayed without the drop-down menu.

Invited users: Select the users you wish to univite from joining the institution.

Search: You can also search for users in the search box if there are too many names listed.

Add the users to the list Users to be uninvited by clicking on the right-arrow button right-arrow.

If you put a person into the box for users to be uninvited by accident, you can remove them from that list by clicking on them.

Then click on the left-arrow button left-arrow, and they are removed from the list.

When you have all the users you wish to uninvite from the institution, click the Revoke invitations button.

8.5.5. Institution staff

You can give users staff rights in an institution in which they are members. The staff role will allow them to create course groups for example. This page allows you to do that in bulk for many users at once.

See also

You can also give staff rights on the user account settings page.

Give users institution staff rights.

Institution: Choose the institution from the drop-down menu for which want to give staff rights to members.

Institution members: Select the institution members who shall get staff rights.

Search: You can also search for users in the search box if there are too many names listed.

Add the users to the list Institution Staff by clicking on the right-arrow button right-arrow.

If you put a user into the institution staff list by accident or want to remove existing staff members and return them to normal membership status, select them.

Then click on the left-arrow button left-arrow, and they are removed from the list.

When you have all the members you wish to have as staff in the institution, click the Submit button.

8.5.6. Institution administrators

You can give users admin rights in an institution in which they are members. The administrator role will allow them to manage users in their own institution. This page allows you to do that in bulk for many users at once.

See also

You can also give admin rights on the user account settings page.

Give users institution admin rights.

Institution: Choose the institution from the drop-down menu for which want to give admin rights to members.

Institution members: Select the institution members who shall get admin rights.

Search: You can also search for users in the search box if there are too many names listed.

Add the users to the list Current admins by clicking on the right-arrow button right-arrow.

If you put a user into the institution admin list by accident or want to remove existing admin members and return them to normal membership status, select them.

Then click on the left-arrow button left-arrow, and they are removed from the list.

When you have all the members you wish to have as admins in the institution, click the Submit button.

8.5.7. Institution pages

Site administration -> Institutions -> Pages

You can create pages for your entire institution. Although you could always create pages under a regular user account that other users could copy into their own portfolio, the advantage of institution pages is that new members in the institution can receive a copy upon joining the institution.

Create institution pages

Institution: Click on the institution in the drop-down menu for which you want to create or edit institution pages.

Search: If you have a lot of institution pages, you can search for a particular one by searching for it. You can search in the title, description and tags or only in tags.

Click the Create page button to start a new institution page.

Click the Copy page button to start a new page from a copy of an already existing one. This does not have to be an institution page but can be any page that you are allowed to copy.

View an institution page that you have already created.

Click the Edit button edit to change an existing institution page.

click the Delete button delete to delete an institution page.

Note

Creating and editing an institution page is very similar to creating and editing a portfolio page. However, not all blocks are available when editing an institution page in the page editor due to the different context. Please refer to the overview of blocks for a list of all the blocks that you can use in an institution page.

8.5.8. Share institution pages

Site administration -> Institutions -> Share

You can see a list of all institution pages for a specific institution.

Share institution pages

Institution: Select the institution from the drop-down menu for which you want to see the institution pages.

Pages: All institution pages for that institution are listed here.

Access list: View the access permissions for the pages.

Click on the Edit access button edit_access to change the permissions of who can view and copy a page.

Click the Secret URL edit button edit to define a secret URL for a page.

Sharing an institution page is very similar to sharing a portfolio page. The only difference is that you can allow new institution members to receive a copy of an institution page immediately upon joining the institution.

Setting for copying an institution page for new institution members

When you clicked on the Edit access button edit_access on the Share page for institution pages, click on the check box Allow copying under Advanced options.

Once you have put a check mark into that box, the line Copy for new institution members will appear and you can place a check mark into that box if you wish all new institution members to receive that page automatically.

Click the Save button at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

8.5.9. Files

Site administration -> Institutions -> Files

The files area in an institution holds all files that are uploaded by institution administrators as institution files. The uploading process works like the one in the personal files area.

Institution files area

8.5.10. Pending registrations

Site administration -> Institutions -> Pending registrations

When you turn on Confirm registration for an institution in the institution settings, no user account in this institution is created without the administrator knowing it. If a user is rejected, no account is created. If the option Confirm registration is not turned on, a user account is created in the “No institution” institution but not in the actual institution.

Below follows the process for self-registration with Confirm registration turned on.

8.5.10.1. Self-register for the site

When users try to self-register for your institution, they must provide certain details.

Note

The fields for email, first and last name can appear in a different order if you have chosen to the advanced spam protection settings.

User self-registration for an institution

Provide a registration reason

Email address: Provide your email address.

First name: Type your first name.

Last name: Provide your last name.

Institution: Select the institution for which you want to register.

If the site administrator requires users who self-register to agree to the terms and conditions, the “Registration agreement” of the site, you must read through them below and then make your choice.

Click the Register button to be taken to the registration reason.

Registration reason: You must provide a reason why you want to join this institution.

Click the Complete registration button to receive an email to verify your email address. Or click the Cancel button to abort your registration.

You will receive an email which includes a link to confirm your email address. You must click that link within 24 hours. If you do not, you will have to start the registration process again from the beginning.

The administrators of that institution and the site administrator receive a notification about the pending registration.

8.5.10.2. Review pending registrations

As site administrator, you can view pending registrations for all institution on the Pending registration page in Site administration -> Institutions -> Pending registrations.

Pending registrations page in the Site administration

Institution: Choose the institution for which you want to view the pending registrations.

Pending registration: You see a list of all registration requests that include the names of the requesters and their email addresses.

Registration reason: The reason for registration is displayed.

Click the Approve button when you want to approve this registration request. You will have to confirm your approval on the next page. The person self-registering receives an email with a link to complete the registration process.

Click the Deny button when you do not want this person to register for your institution and receive an account.

When you deny a person access to your institution, you can also provide a reason.

Reason for denying institution membership for a self-registering user

Write your reason for denying institution membership that might help the person to know why you do not want to give them access.

Click the Deny button to send a notification to the person’s email address with the reason for the denial.

Click the Cancel button to be taken back to the page with all pending registrations.

8.5.10.3. Complete self-registration

When users are accepted as members in an institution via this process, they must still complete the registration process. This is necessary to provide information in all required fields besides a password and a username.

Complete the self-registration for an institution

New username: Choose your new username. A default username is suggested, but you can provide a different one. If your suggested username is already taken, the system will let you know after you submit your information.

New password: Choose a password for your account. This field is required.

Confirm password: Re-type the new password. this field is required.

Click the Submit button to complete your registration. You will be taken to your Dashboard.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

8. Site administration »

8.6. Extensions

Site administration -> Extensions

Extensions in Mahara serve to provide certain functionality in the system. Extensions can be installed at any point and also be hidden.

8.6.1. Plugin administration

Site administration -> Extensions -> Plugin administration

The Plugin administration lists all the plugins that are currently installed on your Mahara instance and provides a link to the plugin configuration settings where available.

Plugins in Mahara are always installed and can be accessed if users know the URLs and would otherwise have access. Rather than enabling and disabling the functionality, plugins are hidden or made visible by clicking on the hide or show links beside the plugins. When hiding an artefact type plugin, Mahara stops the display of the blocks related to it.

In order to delete a plugin completely, you must delete the code and all database tables that pertain to the plugin.

Note

Core Mahara functionality can be made unavailable to users by hiding it. This may be useful if you connect Mahara to another system that already provides this functionality or if you do not wish your users to use that functionality. However, the decision about hiding a functionality should be considered thoroughly as it may also mean that users may not be able to have as many artefacts available to them.

In the following, only the plugins that have additional settings are discussed.

8.6.1.1. Blocktype: File / gallery

You can provide additional image gallery settings and also allow your users to make Flickr and Photobucket image galleries available. The settings you make on this page will be the default settings for all users.

Configure the Image gallery block

Use Slimbox2: Check this box if you want to use this script to overlay images on the current page.

Use photo frame: Check this box if you want to put a frame around the thumbnail of each photo in photo galleries.

Maximum photo width: Set the maximum width (in pixel) to which the photos will be resized when viewed with Slimbox2.

Flickr API key: If you want to allow users to display photos from Flickr, you need a valid Flickr API key. You can apply for the key at Flickr [http://www.flickr.com/services/api/keys/apply/].

Photobucket API key: If you want to allow users to display photos from Photobucket, you need a valid API and private API key. You can get them from the developer page of Photobucket <http://developer.photobucket.com/>`_.

Photobucket API private key: Provide the private API key from Photobucket that you will have received.

Click the Save button to keep your changes.

8.6.1.2. Blocktype: File / internalmedia

Configure which file types users can embed into the Embedded media block. If you disable a file type that has already been used in a block, it will not be rendered any more.

Mahara comes with Flowplayer [http://flowplayer.org/], a media player that can play FLV, MP4 (in H.264 format) and MP3 files. Videos are embedded and audio files played with the help of this player.

Other video file types can be enabled, but users must have the appropriate software installed on their computers and the respective plugin enabled in their browsers to play them.

Configure the Embedded media block

Select the file types that you wish your users to be able to show on their portfolio pages.

Width: Choose the default width (in pixels) for a video.

Height: Choose the default height (in pixels) for a video.

Click the Save button to keep your changes.

Note

If you allow the embedding of file types that cannot be played by Flowplayer, some users may not have the necessary software installed for displaying these file types.

8.6.1.3. Block type: Wall

You can limit the number of characters that are allowed for wall posts in this configuration setting. Existing posts will not be changed.

Configure wall settings

Choose the maximum number of characters for your wall posts.

Click the Save button to keep your changes.

8.6.1.4. Artefact type: Comments

Turn comment ratings on to enable 5-star ratings in the feedback section on artefacts and pages.

Note

Ratings cannot be on their own and require either a comment or a file attachment.

Enable comment ratings

Click the check box to enable comment ratings.

Click the Save button to keep your changes.

8.6.1.5. Artefact type: File

You can configure a variety of options connected to uploading files.

Configure the file plugin

Default quota: You can set the amount of disk space that new users will have as their quota. Existing user quotas will not be changed.

Update user quotas: Check this box if you want to update the file quota for existing users with the value under Default quota. Only then will they be updated.

Institution quota: Check this box if you want to allow institution administrators to set user file quotas and have default quotas for each institution.

Enforce a site-wide maximum quota: Check this box if you do not wish an administrator to go beyond the allowed maximum quota.

Maximum quota: You can set the maximum quota that an administrator can give to a user. Existing user quotas will not be affected.

Default group quota: You can set the amount of disk space that each group will have as its quota. Existing groups will not be affected.

Update group quotas: Check this box if you want to update the file quota for existing groups with the value under Default quota. Only then will they be updated.

Require agreement: Enable this option if you want to force users to agree to certain terms before they can upload a file to the site. They must accept this agreement before they are able to choose a file from their computer to upload to Mahara. A default agreement is provided and the text displayed.

Use custom agreement: If you want to write your own upload agreement, check this box in addition to Require agreement.

Custom agreement: If you want to use a custom upload agreement, write it here.

Profile picture size: Choose the maximum size of the profile pictures for users (in pixels). All images uploaded to the profile pictures area will be resized to these dimensions.

Default comment permission: Choose the artefact types which shall have comments enabled per default. Users can override these settings for individual artefacts in the files area. You can enable comments for:

archive, i.e. compressed file

audio file

file

folder

image

profile picture

video file

Click the Save button when you are finished making your changes.

8.6.1.6. Artefact type: Profile

For profile information you can decide which fields a user must provide when a user account is created manually or via CSV file. These fields are marked mandatory fields.

The profile fields marked searchable fields are available for all logged-in users to search on.

Choose mandatory and searchable profile fields

Mandatory fields: Select the fields that you wish all users to fill in. Certain fields cannot be deselected.

Searchable fields: Select the fields that can be searched on by others. Certain fields cannot be deselected.

Click the Save button to keep your changes.

8.6.1.7. Authentication: SAML

If you wish to use SAML authentication any where on your site, you must provide the path to your SAML php file in these settings.

Prepare your site for SAML authentication

SimpleSAMLphp lib directory: Provide the fully qualified path to the library directory of SimpleSAMLphp, e.g. if the full path to the bootstrap autoload.php is /some_path_to/simplesamlphp_1_3/lib/_autoload.php then this value should be /some_path_to/simplesamlphp_1_3/

SimpleSAMLphp config directory: Provide the fully qualified path to the configuration directory to be used for this Service Provider (SP) SimpleSAMLphp, e.g. if the full path to the config.php is /some_path_to/simplesamlphp_1_3/config/config.php then this value should be /some_path_to/simplesamlphp_1_3/config/

Click the Save button to keep your changes.

8.6.1.8. Search: Internal search

If your site has a lot of users and uses a PostgreSQL database, user searches will be faster with exact user searching enabled. The setting will still work with MySQL databases, but is unlikely to significantly increase search performance.

The advantage of the exact user search is that if you have 20 users with the first name “Percy” but different last names, you may find the user you are looking for more quickly because you can search for “Percy Pearle” and the result list will not show “Percy Pearl”, “Percy Sutter”, “Percy Townsend” etc.

However, partial matches on profile fields will not return results, so if for example you have a user called “Percy”, then typing “Perc” into the search box will not find that user.

Configure the internal search plugin

Exact user searches: Check this box if you want to enable exact user searches.

Click the Save button to keep your changes.

8.6.1.9. Interaction: Forum

The post delay setting determines the time (in minutes) that users have for editing their forum posts before they are mailed out. Once a forum post has been mailed and further edits are made, the date, time and editor are mentioned in the post.

Set the edit time before the forum post is finalised

Set the time in minutes before a post is finalised and further edits are marked.

Click the Save button to keep your changes.

8.6.2. HTML filters

8.6.2.1. Custom filters

Site administration -> Extensions -> HTML filters

Mahara uses HTML Purifier [http://htmlpurifier.org/] to filter out malicious code that could threaten the security of the system. If you have code, e.g. iFrames or JavaScript that you wish to use and that otherwise gets filtered out, you will have to write a filter to circumvent that. Filters should always be specific to their purpose and not give ‘carte blanche’ to ensure security as much as possible.

Mahara already comes with a number of installed filters. Others can be uploaded and then installed. If you have created a new set of HTML filters, you can install them by unzipping the files into the folder /htdocs/lib/htmlpurifiercustom and then click the Install button.

Custom filters for iFrames that allow the embedding of media content such as YouTube and WikiEducator allow users to grab the URL of the page on which the media is displayed instead of having to find the actual embed code.

8.6.2.2. SafeIframe feature of HTML Purifier

HTML Purifier now has the SafeIframe feature [http://htmlpurifier.org/live/configdoc/plain.html#HTML.SafeIframe] and this is implemented in Mahara as well. This feature allows you to specify the base URLs for media that you want your users to embed. These iFrames are then considered safe and will not be stripped out of a text box or journal entry where you can use them. You do not have to write a bespoke filter for using these iFrame sources.

Note

An admin interface for adding, editing and deleting these iFrame sources will be added in the next version of Mahara.

The following instructions can only be carried out by an administrator who has access to the server on which your Mahara site is housed.

Open the file htdocs/lib/web.php.

Search for the term safeiframesources.

Add additional iFrame sources you want your users to use to the list of existing sources. Be careful to adhere to the Regex rules.

Save the file. The iFrames are not stripped out anymore.

Code extract with the standard safe iFrame sources

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

8. Site administration »

8.7. Experimental features

As site administrator you have three experimental features available to you:

bulk export of Leap2A files

bulk import of Leap2A files

usersuniquebyusername variable

You cannot access these features from any navigation, but must type in the URL directly in the case of the bulk options or enter a config.php variable.

Warning

The export and import of portfolios uses quite a lot of computing power. Therefore, these bulk options require even more memory. Please try them first out on a test installation or export / import only a small number of users instead of an entire institution at once.

8.7.1. Bulk export of Leap2A files

[your regular Mahara URL]/admin/users/bulkexport.php

If you need to export the portfolios of multiple users at once, you can do so from the bulk export page. Please remember that this is an experimental feature at the moment.

Experimental feature: Bulk export

Institution: Choose the institution from the drop-down menu for which you want to export all user portfolios in the Leap2A format.

Usernames to export: Alternatively, choose this option if you only wish to export some users’ portfolios.

Click the Export users button to start the export process. This might take a while.

Note

You can look up the usernames on the user search page or if you exported a CSV file of users, you have the usernames in there as well.

8.7.2. Bulk import of Leap2A files

[your regular Mahara URL]/admin/users/bulkimport.php

If you need to import the portfolios of multiple users at once, you can do so from the bulk import page. Please remember that this is an experimental feature at the moment. You must have Leap2A files to import. The import of HTML files is not possible.

The easiest option to import user portfolios in bulk is to use the bulk export file as all information is contained therein. If that is not possible, you can create the necessary ZIP file manually.

8.7.2.1. Bulk import using a bulk export file

Experimental feature: Bulk import

Ideally, you have exported the users you wish to import using the bulk export functionality on the other Mahara instance. Then the bulk export file already contains all necessary files and mappings.

Institution: Choose the institution in which the users shall become members.

Bulk export file: Choose the bulk export ZIP file which contains all users that shall be created. A new user account will be created for each of them.

Email users about their account: Check this option if the new users shall receive an email about their new account. This is especially important if you change their username and if they do not know that their account has been moved.

Click the Import button to start the process. Please be patient as the import may take some time.

Note

Before importing these new user accounts, you can change the usernames for these new accounts in the usernames.csv file that is included in the bulk export file.

8.7.2.2. Bulk import from scratch

If you want to import user portfolios into one institution using their Leap2A files that you did not receive via the bulk export functionality, you can still import them in bulk.

Create a folder, e.g. mahara-bulk-import.

Create the CSV file usernames.csv in the folder mahara-bulk-import.

Create a line for each user that you are importing that contains the username and the name of the ZIP file that contains the corresponding Leap2A file.

Create the sub folder users in it. Do not choose a different name.

Place all Leap2A files that you wish to import into one institution into the users sub folder. Make sure that each ZIP file has a corresponding entry in usernames.csv.

Create a ZIP file from the folder mahara-bulk-import once you have all users in it.

Go to [your regular Mahara URL]/admin/users/bulkimport.php.

Institution: Choose the institution in which the users shall become members.

Bulk export file: Choose the bulk export ZIP file which contains all users that shall be created. A new user account will be created for each of them.

Email users about their account: Check this option if the new users shall receive an email about their new account. This is especially important if you change their username and if they do not know that their account has been moved.

Click the Import button to start the process. Please be patient as the import may take some time.

Note

The CSV file usernames.csv should look like this and does not have a header row:

"petra","mahara-export-leap-user4-1334451885.zip"

"polly","mahara-export-leap-user5-1334451888.zip"

8.7.3. usersuniquebyusername variable

usersuniquebyusername is a config.php setting that should be used with extreme caution as it could be misused.

Below is the documentation that can be found in the code. This feature is discussed for example in the discussion topics Mahara Moodle integration and bug? [https://mahara.org/interaction/forum/topic.php?id=1118] and SSO: Mahara to Moodle [https://mahara.org/interaction/forum/topic.php?id=2022].

Note

When turned on, this setting means that it doesn’t matter which other application the user SSOs from, they will be given the same account in Mahara.

This setting is one that has security implications unless only turned on by people who know what they’re doing. In particular, every system linked to Mahara should be making sure that same username == same person. This happens for example if two Moodles are using the same LDAP server for authentication.

If this setting is on, it must NOT be possible to self register on the site for ANY institution - otherwise users could simply pick usernames of people’s accounts they wished to steal.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

9. Institution administration

Institution administrators can manage their users and institution pages, but they cannot make any changes to the site itself. They can:

change select institution settings

search for users within their institution(s)

suspend users within their institution(s)

add users one by one or per CSV file

invite users to their institution

remove users from their institution

grant institution members staff and administrator roles

create and share institution pages

upload institution files

Most of the functionality is very similar to what site administrators can do for users and in institutions.

9.1. Manage users

9.1.1. User search

9.1.1.1. User bulk actions

9.1.1.2. User reports

9.1.2. User account settings

9.1.3. Suspended and expired users

9.1.4. Add user

9.1.5. Add and update users by CSV

9.1.6. Change the authentication method and remote username in bulk

9.2. Manage groups

9.2.1. Add and update groups by CSV

9.2.2. Update group members by CSV

9.3. Manage institutions

9.3.1. Settings

9.3.2. Members

9.3.3. Institution staff

9.3.4. Institution administrators

9.3.5. Admin notifications

9.3.6. Institution pages

9.3.7. Share

9.3.8. Institution files

9.3.9. Pending registrations

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

9. Institution administration »

9.1. Manage users

Institution administration -> Manage users

In the Manage users menu of the institution administration you can:

search for users

change settings for individual users

suspend and delete users

make users institution staff or administrators

check the admin notification settings

add and update users manually or by CSV

view reports

9.1.1. User search

Institution administration -> Manage users -> User search

Institution administrators can search for any user in institutions for which they are administrator. You can search for their

first name

last name

display name

username

email address

See also

Please refer to the “User search” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are very similar. The only difference is that you may not have a drop-down menu from which you can choose an institution if you are the administrator for one institution only.

9.1.1.1. User bulk actions

You can perform a number of bulk actions for users on the Bulk actions page.

See also

Please refer to the “Bulk actions” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are the same. The only difference is that you may not have a drop-down menu from which you can choose an institution if you are the administrator for one institution only.

9.1.1.2. User reports

You can download basic user information for easier updating of these via a CSV file and view the access list for all pages that users in your institution have created.

See also

Please refer to the “User reports” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are the same. The only difference is that you may not have a drop-down menu from which you can choose an institution if you are the administrator for one institution only.

9.1.2. User account settings

Institution administration -> Manage users -> User search -> Click on a username

On the Account settings page of a user in the administration area, you can perform a number of actions to manage the user’s account. However, you cannot change personal information about this user, e.g. name, email, from this page. This can only be done in the Content area of the user’s account or via the Add users by CSV page.

See also

Please refer to the “User account settings” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are very similar. Differences are:

You cannot delete users directly from this page but would have to suspend them first.

You cannot add users who are not already institution members from this page as you can only manage your own institution’s members.

9.1.3. Suspended and expired users

Institution administration -> Manage users -> Suspended users

A list of all suspended and expired users is available in the sub-menu Suspended users. Here you can unsuspend / reactivate or delete them.

See also

Please refer to the “Suspended users” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are the same.

9.1.4. Add user

Institution administration -> Manage users -> Add user

You can add users to your institution by creation accounts for them manually one by one.

See also

Please refer to the “Add user” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are similar. In contrast to site administrators, you may not be able to choose an institution if you are admin for only one or change the file quota if that is locked on the site level.

9.1.5. Add and update users by CSV

Institution administration -> Manage users -> Add users by CSV

You can use this function to upload new users in bulk via a CSV file (comma-separated file) and to update existing users.

See also

Please refer to the “Add users by CSV” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are similar. In contrast to site administrators, you may not be able to choose an institution if you are admin for only one or change the file quota if that is locked on the site level.

9.1.6. Change the authentication method and remote username in bulk

After you have successfully invited or added new members into your institution, you can change their authentication method. That can be useful if the authentication method differs from the one in the previous institution and the admin wants to link the new accounts to a remote username using.

See also

Please refer to the “Change the authentication method and remote username in bulk” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are similar. In contrast to site administrators, you may not be able to choose an institution if you are admin for only one.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

9. Institution administration »

9.2. Manage groups

Institution administration -> Manage groups

In the Manage groups menu you can:

Add and update groups in bulk

Add and update group membership in bulk

9.2.1. Add and update groups by CSV

Institution administration -> Manage groups -> Add groups by CSV

You can create multiple groups at once by uploading basic information about them via a CSV file.

See also

Please refer to the “Add and update groups by CSV” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are the same. The only difference is that you may not have a drop-down menu from which you can choose an institution if you are the administrator for one institution only.

9.2.2. Update group members by CSV

Institution administration -> Manage groups -> Update group members by CSV

You can easily update members of groups that you have created via a CSV file.

See also

Please refer to the “Update group members by CSV” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are the same. The only difference is that you may not have a drop-down menu from which you can choose an institution if you are the administrator for one institution only.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

9. Institution administration »

9.3. Manage institutions

Institution administration -> Manage institutions

In the section Manage institutions you can:

change the settings for the institution(s) for which you are administrator

add to, invite or remove users from your institution(s)

make institution members staff or administrators

create institution pages and share them with your members

upload institution files

confirm pending registrations of new accounts for your institution(s)

9.3.1. Settings

Institution administration -> Manage institutions -> Settings

You can change a number of settings for your institution on the Settings page.

See also

Please refer to the “Add institution” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are very similar. The only differences are:

you cannot add an institution yourself as institution administrator.

you cannot change the institution name but only its display name.

you cannot add or remove authentication methods for your institution.

you may not be able to determine or update the user file quota if the site administrator does not allow that.

9.3.2. Members

Institution administration -> Manage institutions -> Members

As institution administrator you can invite and remove users from your institution(s).

See also

Please refer to the “Members” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are very similar. The differences are that:

you may not have a drop-down menu from which you can choose an institution if you are the administrator for one institution only.

you cannot add members to your institution but only invite them unless they requested membership.

9.3.3. Institution staff

Institution administration -> Manage institutions -> Institution staff

You can give users staff rights in an institution in which they are members. The staff role will allow them to create course groups for example. This page allows you to do that in bulk for many users at once.

See also

Please refer to the “Institution staff” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are very similar. The only difference is that you may not have a drop-down menu from which you can choose an institution if you are the administrator for one institution only.

9.3.4. Institution administrators

Institution administration -> Manage institutions -> Institution administrators

You can give users administrative rights in an institution in which they are members. The administrator role will allow them to manage users in your institution. This page allows you to do that in bulk for many users at once.

See also

Please refer to the “Institution administrators” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are very similar. The only difference is that you may not have a drop-down menu from which you can choose an institution if you are the administrator for one institution only.

9.3.5. Admin notifications

Institution administration -> Manage institutions -> Admin notifications

The Admin notifications page lists all users with institution administrator access in your institution(s). It shows their selected notification preferences for all admin notifications. There should be at least one administrator receiving each type of message generated.

See also

Please refer to the “Admin notifications” section in the site administration for further details as the page looks very similar.

9.3.6. Institution pages

Institution administration -> Manage institutions -> Pages

You can create pages for your entire institution. Although you could always create pages under a regular user account that other users could copy into their own portfolio, the advantage of institution pages is that new members in the institution can receive a copy upon joining the institution.

See also

Please refer to the “Institution pages” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are very similar. The only difference is that you may not have a drop-down menu from which you can choose an institution if you are the administrator for one institution only.

9.3.7. Share

Institution administration -> Manage institutions -> Share

You can see a list of all institution pages for your institution and change the access permissions.

See also

Please refer to the “Share” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are very similar. The only difference is that you may not have a drop-down menu from which you can choose an institution if you are the administrator for one institution only.

9.3.8. Institution files

Institution administration -> Manage institutions -> Files

The files area in an institution holds all files that are uploaded by institution administrators as institution files. The uploading process works like the one in the personal files area.

9.3.9. Pending registrations

Institution administration -> Manage institutions -> Pending registrations

When you turn on Confirm registration for your institution in the institution settings, no user account in this institution is created without you knowing it. If a user is rejected, no account is created. If the option Confirm registration is not turned on, a user account is created in the “No institution” institution but not in your institution.

See also

Please refer to the “Pending registrations” section in the site administration for further details as the actions you can take are very similar. The only difference is that you may not have a drop-down menu from which you can choose an institution if you are the administrator for one institution only.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

10. Staff access

Institution staff members enjoy a number of additional rights to regular members, for example:

creation of controlled groups

viewing of the real name of users

access to the User search page

viewing of the access list of user’s pages

10.1. Searching for institution members

Institution information -> User search

Institution staff members have an additional navigation item: Institution information.

Main navigation bar for staff members

In the future, this navigation item can have a number of more sub items. Currently, it only holds the user search from which further actions can be taken.

When you are on the User search page, you can view all members of your institution or just a select few.

User search page as viewed by a staff member

Filter the users you wish to display by their initials of the first and / or last name.

Type the name, display name, username or email address or any partial thereof you wish to search for in the search field. If the site administrator turned on the exact search, you need to provide the correct name or email address and not a partial one.

Click the Go button to start searching.

Decide how many results per page you want to view.

View your results. The default order is alphabetically according the the first name. However, you can change the order of the results by clicking on a heading and sort that column in ascending or descending order.

Select all or just a few users for bulk actions.

Click the Get reports button to

view user reports

download user account information for further actions

10.2. Viewing user reports

Institution information -> User search -> click on Get reports

See also

The functionality available to staff members is similar to the one for institution and site administrators as described in the site administrator section on user reports if the site administrator allowed staff members to view the access reports.

This functionality can be especially interesting to a Mahara that is being used with young learners who may require more scaffolding and supervision of which pages they make accessible to which other users or the public.

Note

Despite the access to the reports and the CSV download file, staff members cannot manipulate user accounts or access user pages to which they have not received direct access from the user. The reports page only lists the pages, but does not give default access.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

11. Mahoodle

“Mahoodle” is the common name given to the joining of Mahara + Moodle [http://moodle.org], an open source learning management system. Both systems have built-in support for each other in the form of:

single sign-on

transfer of content

Refer to the comprehensive guide about setting up Mahoodle [https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/System_Administrator%27s_Guide/Moodle//Mahara_Integration] for step-by-step instructions on how to set everything up on the Moodle side and on Mahara. The guide explains the steps for both Moodle 1.9 and Moodle 2.x.

You can always only link one Moodle to one Mahara be it on the site level or in an individual institution. You cannot link from one Moodle into multiple institutions on Mahara.

11.1. Moodle to Mahara

Most of the time, Moodle is the primary system and users log in from Moodle to Mahara. However, it can also be set up the other way around. You can transfer the following information when an institution in Mahara is set up to be connected to a Moodle site:

Login information

User account details, see the information in the XML-RPC authentication method settings

Content that is exported via the Moodle 2 “Portfolio export” functionality [http://docs.moodle.org/22/en/Mahara_portfolio]

11.2. Mahara to Moodle

You can send information and content from Mahara to Moodle if you wish. The following are possible:

Login information

Submitting pages for assessment [https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/System_Administrator%27s_Guide/Moodle//Mahara_Integration/View_Submission]

Displaying dashboard content [https://bugs.launchpad.net/mahara/+bug/882376]

Using Moodle’s login page [https://bugs.launchpad.net/mahara/+bug/885029]

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

12. Mobile Mahara

You can user Mahara to a certain degree from a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet that has internet browser capabilities. Depending on the device, not all functions may be available to you.

When you have an Android device or an iPhone, you can use an application to upload files directly from your device to Mahara.

12.1. MaharaDroid

The open source software MaharaDroid [http://code.google.com/p/maharadroid/] enables Android devices to share / upload content to a Mahara instance. This can basically be any content that you can share on your Android mobile phone or tablet.

You do not have to install any additional software for Mahara in order to use this functionality. Follow the instructions on the MaharaDroid site for more information on how to set up the application and link it to your Mahara.

12.2. PortfolioUp

PortfolioUp [http://www.brightcookie.com/our-services/consulting-additional-services/portfolioup/] is an image uploader for Mahara that can be used on the iPhone. You need to install an additional plugin on your Mahara instance in order to use this app.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

next |

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

1. ToDo list

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

previous |

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

2. Information for Mahara documentation writers

This is a list in progress as I work on the documentation. There are a number of things for which I create conventions. I want to keep them in a central space so that others have access to them and that I can refer to them as well. ;-)

The list is not in any particular order.

Screenshots

are placed using the “figure” directive.

always include alt text and a figure description. The latter will be numbered in the PDF export. That sets them apart from the text.

are generally placed above a list if they are part of step-by-step instructions.

should have as few instructions as possible about the steps that are to be taken in them. Preferably, only the step numbers so that they can be exchanged more easily and the text of the steps is translatable because it is text and not part of the image. That could also mean that translators can translate the steps but don’t immediately have to change the screenshots.

are created with Shutter in Ubuntu. It is easy to add the callouts which indicate the steps to take. However, any other screenshot software can be used. Preferably, the callouts look similarly for consistency. The color is #4C711D.

that have callouts refer to the steps that need to be taken and that are explained below the figure.

should only show the necessary area and not the entire screen or URL address bars etc. where not necessary.

Admonitions in use are:

note: for anything that should receive a bit more attention

warning: for anything that needs to be done with caution

seealso: for references to other documents if they need special attention. References to other documents can also be included in the text inline.

todo: for keeping a running ToDo list

Buttons such as Save or Copy page and also portfolio sections such as Content, Porfolio etc. are highlighted as emphasized text (with a single *).

Little buttons can be included in the text like edit, manage. They are added through a substitution. All replacements are kept in the file shortcuts.rstext which is included at the beginning of each file in which a substitution is used. They are referenced in the text as “Edit button edit” for example pointing out what the action is that you do with them.

An index entry should be created for each section.

New features receive an index entry as well in the form “single: New in Mahara 1.5; [the thing that is new]”.

Long sections should be broken up into several pages to make the editing more manageable.

reStructuredText does not have a set hierarchy of heading levels. They depend on the individual files. However, to be consistent, the following convention exists:

Heading 1, e.g. 1.: ===============

Heading 2, e.g. 1.1.: —————

Heading 3, e.g. 1.1.1.: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heading 4, e.g. 1.1.1.1.: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Headings below h4 should be avoided.

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE

Navigation

index

Mahara 1.5 documentation »

Index

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | X

A

Account

Delete

General account settings

Inbox

Notifications

Password

Settings

Username

Account settings

Site administration

Add institution

Institution

Add user

Institution administration

Site administration

Add users by CSV

Institution administration

Site administration

Admin institution invitation

Institution membership

Admin notifications

Site administration

Administer groups

Group

Anti-spam

Authentication

Authentication method order

BrowserID

IMAP

LDAP

SAML

XML-RPC

Authentication method

Authentication method order

Authentication

B

Block category

External content

Files and images and video

General

Journal

Profile

Résumé

Blocks

Contact information

Creative Commons license

Display an entire journal

Display one journal entry

Display one résumé field

Display recent journal entries

Display tagged journal entries

Display your entire résumé

Embedded media

External feed

External media

File to download

Folder

Google Apps

Group info

Group members

Group pages

Image

Image gallery

Latest pages

My friends

My groups

My inbox

My pages

My watched pages

Navigation

Plans

Profile information

Recent forum posts

Some HTML

Text box

Wall

Blocks usage matrix

BrowserID

Authentication

Bulk export

Experimental features

Bulk import

Experimental features

C

Change authentication method in bulk

Site administration

Change user institution settings

Site administration

ClamAV

Collaboration

Collection

Add collection

Add pages

Copy collection

Manage collections

Manage pages

Share

Comments

Plugins - configurable

Configurable theme

Institution

Configure site

Site administration

Contact information

Blocks

Content

Files

Journal

Notes

Plans

Profile

Profile pictures

Remote avatars

Résumé builder

Creative Commons license

Blocks

Curriculum vitae

see Résumé

D

Dashboard

Blocks

Quick links

Default account inactivity time

Default account lifetime

Delete user

Site administration

Display an entire journal

Blocks

Display one journal entry

Blocks

Display one résumé field

Blocks

Display recent journal entries

Blocks

Display tagged journal entries

Blocks

Display your entire résumé

Blocks

E

Edit institution

Institution

Email settings

Site administration

Embedded media

Blocks

Plugins - configurable

Experimental features

Bulk export

Bulk import

Site administration

usersuniquebyusername

Export

HTML

Leap2A

Extensions

HTML filters

Plugins

Site administration

External content

Block category

External content block

External feed

External media

Google Apps

External feed

Blocks

External media

Blocks

External resources in HTML

F

File

Create a folder

Delete a file or folder

File quota

Plugins - configurable

Upload a file

Upload multiple files

File to download

Blocks

File upload agreement

Profile picture size; Default comment permissions

Files and images and video

Block category

Files and images and video block

Embedded media

File(s) to download

Folder

Image

Image gallery

Some HTML

Find friends

Accept friend request

Deny friend request

Send friend request

Folder

Blocks

Footer

Site administration

Forum

Add forum topic

Bulk actions

Delete

Plugins - configurable

Post forum reply

Set up a forum

G

General

Block category

General block

Creative Commons license

Group info

Group members

Group pages

Latest pages

My inbox

My watched pages

Navigation

Plans

Recent forum posts

Text box

General settings

Site administration

Google Apps

Blocks

Gravatar, [1]

Group

Administer groups

Create

Files

Forum

Group administrators

Group bulk creation and update

Group category - manage

Group homepage

Group members bulk update

Manage a group

Members

Pages

Settings

Site administration

Group administrators

Group

Group bulk creation and update

Group

Group category

Group category - manage

Group

Group homepage

Group

Group info

Blocks

Group members

Blocks

Group members bulk update

Group

Group pages

Blocks

Group settings

Site administration

Groups

Find friends

Find groups

Group functionalities

Institution membership

My friends

My groups

Shared pages

Topics

H

HTML editor

HTML export

HTML filters

Extensions

SafeIframe settings

I

Image

Blocks

Image gallery

Blocks

Plugins - configurable

IMAP

Authentication

Inbox

Account

Institution

Add institution

Configurable theme

Edit institution

Institution administrator

Institution files

Institution logo upload

Institution pages

Institution staff

Members

New account

Pending user account registration

Share institution pages

Site administration

Institution administration

Add user

Add users by CSV

Change authentication method in bulk

Manage groups

Manage institution

Suspended and expired users

Update users by CSV

User account settings

User bulk actions

User reports

User search

Users

Institution administrator

Institution

Institution files

Institution

Institution logo upload

Institution

Institution membership

Admin institution invitation

Members who left institution

Remove members from institution

Request institution membership

Revoke membership invitation

Institution pages

Institution

Institution settings

Site administration

Institution staff

Institution

J

Journal

Add attachment

Add image from Mahara

Add journal entry

Block category

Link image

Settings

Journal block

Display an entire journal

Display one journal entry

Display recent journal entries

Display tagged journal entries

L

Latest pages

Blocks

LDAP

Authentication

Leap2A export, [1]

Leap2A import

Links and resources

Site administration

Login

Login as

Site administration

M

Mahara

Books

E-learning

Enhancing the software

Framework

Get involved

Help

Test it

Usage

What is it?

Mahoodle, [1]

Mahara to Moodle

Moodle to Mahara

see XML-RPC

Maintenance mode

Manage a group

Group

Manage groups

Group bulk creation and update

Group members bulk update

Institution administration

Manage institution

Admin notifications

Administrators

Files

Institution administration

Members

Pages

Settings

Share pages

Staff

Masquerading

see Login as

Members

Institution

Members who left institution

Institution membership

Menu

Site administration

MNet

see XML-RPC

Mobile Mahara

MaharaDroid

PortfolioUp

Mobile upload, [1]

Moodle

see XML-RPC

Multiple institutions

Institution expiry; Auto-suspend expired institutions

My friends

Blocks

My groups

Blocks

My inbox

Blocks

My pages

Blocks

My watched pages

Blocks

N

Navigation

Blocks

Networking

Site administration

New account

Institution

New in Mahara 1.5

Account registration confirmation

Add groups by CSV

Advanced search options for shared pages

Allow authenticated feeds

Allow institution administrators to set file quota

Allow users to link own SAML account

Automatic access to copied page or collection

Automatically allow public profiles with public pages

BrowserID

Button for copying a group page

Change authentication method

Change default account settings upon user creation, [1]

Change remote username

Configurable default video size of "Embedded media"

Configuration of external image galleries

Copy collection

Copy page

Default notification method

Display tagged journal entries

Display used file quota in admin area

Displaying dashboard content in Moodle

Double-click action when moving users

Drop-down site navigation

Edit access to profile page

Enable comments for audio and video files

Enable multiple journals

Exact search

Exact user search

Export feedback in HTML export

External media filters

Friend invitation to join a group, [1]

Friend recommendation to join a group, [1]

Generate new public key for MNet by deleting the existing one

Generate sitemap for public content

Group deletion notification

Group file quota, [1]

Group page editing permission

Hide group

Hide group membership

Image gallery from external images

Insecure SSL mode for feeds

Institution default quota

Institution default quota update

Institution file quota

Institution homepage

Institution logo upload

Institution membership to be found in "Groups"

Institution setting for "Online users" side block

Institution setting for public pages

Institution theme configuration

Limit the number of users in the "Online users" side block

Limit user search results to institution

Limited deleting of feedback on group pages

List of accessible portfolio pages on "My friends" page

Logged-in profile page access

Map student ID and display name from LDAP

Members who left institution

My watched pages

Notes

Override default site pages

Owners retains access to their uploaded files in a group

Parent folder icon

Pending user account registration

Profile picture location

Re-usable text box

Revoke membership invitation

SafeIframe feature of HTML Purifier

Search for friends on "Edit access"

Selective deletion of notifications

Share with "Favourite users"

Share with institution

Staff report access, [1]

Temporarily lock account after too many wrong tries

Update file quota in bulk

Update group file quota

Update group members by CSV

Update group quota

Update groups by CSV

Update user file quota

Update users by CSV

Upload multiple files

Used user quota

User bulk actions, [1]

User reports

User search for staff members

User tags

Username display on the dashboard

Using Moodle's login page

View and reactivate expired users in bulk

Warning about small PHP session entropy length

Notes

see Text box

Notifications

Account

O

Online users side block

Overview

Site administration

P

Page

Assessment

Copy page

Create

Display page

Edit

Export

Feedback

Feedback on a submitted page

Lock page

Overview

Page editor

Share

Page editor

Artefact chooser

Edit layout

Edit title and description

Editor navigation

Page layout area

Theme chooser

Pending user account registration

Institution

Plan

Add task

Edit task

New plan

Plans

Blocks

Plugins

Extensions

Plugins - configurable

Comments

Embedded media

File

Forum

Image gallery

Profile

SAML

Search

Wall

Portfolio

Assessment

Collection

Export

Feedback

Feedback on a submitted page

Page

Share

Tag

Portfolio search

Profile

About me

Block category

Contact information

General

Messaging

Plugins - configurable

Profile block

Contact information

My friends

My groups

My pages

Profile information

Wall

Profile information

Blocks

Proxy settings

Site administration

Public group

Public pages

Public profile

R

Recent forum posts

Blocks

Registration agreement

Registration with Mahara

Remote avatars

Content

Remove members from institution

Institution membership

Request institution membership

Institution membership

Revoke membership invitation

Institution membership

Résumé

Block category

Résumé block

Display one résumé field

Display your entire résumé

Résumé builder

Achievements

Cover letter

Education and employment

Goals

Interests

Personal information

Skills

S

SafeIframe settings

HTML filters

SAML

Authentication

Plugins - configurable

Search

Plugins - configurable

Search settings

Site administration

Security settings

Site administration

Session lifetime

Settings

Share

Advanced options

Edit access

Profile page access

Secret URL

Time-based access

Share institution pages

Institution

Share pages

Site administration

Site administration

Account settings

Add user

Add users by CSV

Admin notifications

Change authentication method in bulk

Change user institution settings

Configure site

Delete user

Email settings

Experimental features

Extensions

Footer

General settings

Group

Group settings

Institution

Institution settings

Links and resources

Login as

Menu

Networking

Overview

Proxy settings

Search settings

Security settings

Share pages

Site admins

Site files

Site options

Site pages, [1]

Site settings

Site staff

Suspend user

Suspended and expired users

Update users by CSV

User account settings

User bulk actions

User reports

User search

User settings

Users

Warnings

Site admins

Site administration

Site files

Site administration

Site information

Site statistics

Site options

Site administration

Site pages

Site administration, [1]

Site settings

Site administration

Site staff

Site administration

Site statistics

Site information

Sitemap

Small headers

Some HTML

Blocks

Staff

Additional group creation options

Staff report access

User search

Staff information

Suspend user

Site administration

Suspended and expired users

Institution administration

Site administration

System mail address

T

Tag cloud

Tagging

Edit tags

My tags

Tag cloud

Tagging, Tag

Text box

Blocks

U

Update users by CSV

Institution administration

Site administration

User account settings

Institution administration

Site administration

User bulk actions

Institution administration

Site administration

User reports

Institution administration

Site administration

User search

Institution administration

Site administration

User settings

Site administration

Users

Institution administration

Site administration

usersuniquebyusername

Experimental features

V

Virus checking

W

Wall

Blocks

Plugins - configurable

Warning time for inactivity / expiry

X

XML-RPC

Authentication

© Copyright 2011-2012, Catalyst IT and others. Last updated on Apr 21, 2012. Created using Sphinx 1.1.2.

TEST Brought to you by Read the Docs

Test

1.5_STABLE

1.4_STABLE