Learning Management System

Help is available on the following topics:

Upgrade DB

It is generally a good idea to run UpgradeDB after each new release of LMS is installed. It will not always be neccessary but the routine will not cause any problems fro being run too often.

Making your own Training

You can create your own online training using Flash, Power point, HTML files, AVI and Mpg Movies. If you want to use a different extension, go into the Learning Management System configuration and type in the extension you would like to use and click �Save� You may use any file type you wish as your training video. If you want to use a power point file, You must save it out as a web archive (mht file) This will cause the power point file to stream rather than having it ask you to open, ,save or cancel the file once you click �Show the training�. Flash is the preferred method of delivering online training for many reasons. Small file size, animations, narrations etc. We also will make custom training for you. Go www.joomlearn.com for more information.

Category Management

Each test can be placed into a category and you can define as many as you want.

In the back end interface of LMS, select the Categories item. This takes you to the standard Joomla categories panel and you should add as many categories as you want. You will then need to go back to LMS via the main admin menu system. If you then edit each test in turn you will see a drop down list in which you can assign that test to a category. On the list view of all tests you will see a column showing the assigned category.

Note that at present a test does not have to be in a category.

In the front end there is now a drop down list for both Show All Results and Show My Results. The first time you open these pages you will get a complete list. However, you can then filter the list by selecting an entry from the Category filter drop down and the page will reload with just that category displayed. To return to the full view either unset the filter or reselect the full page from the icon toolbar.

User Administration

User management is now implemented. As mentioned, the scope of this component is only to work around the standard Mambo user system.

A user becomes visible to the LMS when they use if for the first time, and not before.

In the back end, you can set a user to be a member of the HR group (effectively top of the user tree for that installation of LMS). You can set more than one user as HR to share the workload in a big company. You can also remove a user from the HR group here.

In the front end, an HR group member can perform several tasks:

In the front end, a manager can perform several tasks:

In this way, a complete company structure can be supported. Remember, users must either register on Mambo and log in to LMS once before they are visible to the LMS user management system, or alternately, be added into both Joomla and LMS via the toolbar within the LMS front end.

Email Configuration

Firstly, in admin you must use the Config panel to set the global email rules. There are currently 3. One sets email on or off for LMS totally. The second says whether anyone in the HR group will get a copy (all HR or nobody - see User Administration). The third option states whether mails are sent only when a user passes a test, or when a user fails or passes. The mail to someone else is beyond the scope of this system for now. A copy is always sent to the user who took the test so they could simply forward that if they wanted.

Other Configuration

v1.6 of LMS added 2 parameters to each test in the back end. These are Name Align and Date Align respectively. You can set each of these to Left, Center or Right and that defines whether the coordinates entered refer to the left end, center or right end of the text as you would expect. Hence, the * represents the coordinates:
Left: * Shannon Carson
Center: Shannon * Carson
Right: Shannon Carson *
This allows you to have flexibility on your certificate design.

Import / Export

You export a test from the admin->Manage Tests option.

  1. Click the select box at the left of the tests table for one or more tests that you want to export
  2. Click the export icon at the top right. This will display an XML file on the screen.
  3. Cut from the top line <?xml ...... ?> to the bottom line </lmstests> and paste into an empty text file.
  4. Call the file tests.xml or something more meaningful on your local PC.
  5. Next, on the installation you want to import the tests to, go to the Manage Tests panel again
  6. Click Import icon and it will ask you to browse your local machine to select the file you saved in #4
  7. Click Upload and the tests will be added to the new db.
  8. Upload any needed certificates or training videos in the usual way.
Note that you cannot import a test from a file if a test already exists with the same name.

Installation Flow for new client

The component provides the simplest flow possible for your users and also for yourselves when managing a new client site. The following sequence is suggested:

  1. Visit Client (Web)Site (of course, could be done remotely)
  2. Install Joomla 1.0.7 or later. As part of this installation, you create a Joomla administrator (or super administrator). This user can set up the Joomla site etc. Set the global joomla config to prevent self registration.
  3. Install the LMS component and set any global config values in the admin panel. You may also want to add sample tests or import your own, including uploading any needed certificates and videos
  4. Create a menu link to LMS in the menu manager
  5. Log in to the FRONT END of the site as the administrator
  6. Click the LMS menu link. You will now automatically be added to the LMS as a member of the HR group because your Joomla usertype is admin. You will still be asked for your full name for certificates
  7. Click the Add New User icon inside LMS.
  8. You can now enter details for your client's users. I would suggest you add the senior HR person or whoever is going to add the rest of the users. They will automatically receive an email telling them they are added. Whether they have to confirm depends upon the global Joomla configuration.
  9. Click the Configure HR Users and add that new person to the LMS HR group.
  10. Optionally, remove the Joomla admin user from the HR group to prevent that user getting lots of emails when tests are taken..
  11. Have a well earned cup of coffee!

The HR user you have set up can now log in to the site with the details they received via email in step #8. Once they have logged in, they will be able to add new users, set each user as a manager if needed, etc. Each new user added will get the standard Joomla mail. If a user is set up as a manager, they too will be able to add new users and also assign users to their management group. All of these operations can be done immediately after adding new users, you no longer need to get them to log in first.

So, to get a client up and running, the only thing you need to do on top of a standard(ish) joomla install is a single log in session on the front end, and add one master user for the client. They can then do everything else from the front end only. I believe this is exactly in line with your needs following our conversations.

End of Help File