International ILIAS Blog
English-language blog on ILIAS with news and background information
Big Project Jour Fixe for ILIAS 11: A Look at the Future
Potter, Chris [ChrisPotter] - 8. Dec 2024, 16:53
While we are all still hard at work testing ILIAS 10, the developers of ILIAS are already looking to the future and ILIAS 11. That means it is time for the Big Project Jour Fixe, the first milestone in the development of any new ILIAS version. Big Project Jour Fixes serve to plan and coordinate larger development projects that will have a lasting effect on the platform. The focus is not on concrete feature suggestions, but rather more extensive plans that either require a lot of time and resources or a large number of developers.
Why does it take place in November?
The projects are deliberately presented at an extra early stage - around 1.5 years before the planned release of ILIAS 11 - to ensure that there is sufficient time for feedback, planning and funding. The so-called ‘feature freeze’ will go into effect at the end of April. From that point onwards, it will not be possible to propose further features for ILIAS 11. From then until the end of October 2025, there will be time to implement the planned projects and programme the specific features before ILIAS 11 finally enters the test phase and a first stable release of version 11.0 can be released in spring 2026.
The Projects for ILIAS 11
The following eight promising project proposals were made at at the Jour Fixe on 25th November:
1. Removal of Legacy UI Components – Service and Table
- What is the goal?
Outdated Style-Elements should be completely replaced by the modern 'Kitchen Sink' UI components, documented in the kitchen sink. - Why is it important?
The use of standardised UI components significantly improves the user-friendliness and maintainability of the platform. - Status:
This project has been running since ILIAS 9 and should be wrapped up with ILIAS 11. We already reported on this in the blog a while ago. - Challenges:
A lot of hard work still needs to be put into the project, as UI elements need to be replaced in many places. Around €300,000 is currently still needed in order to complete this project. - Further Info:
Project details →
Funding requirements →
2. Revision of Test Question Creation
- What is the goal?
The creation of test questions should be more standardised and intuitive, regardless of the question type. - Why is it important?
The current 15 different question types in the core of ILIAS are individual implementations with various differences. This results in an inconsistent user experience. Use and administration are made just as difficult as the maintenance of the code. - Status:
Preparatory work for the project began with ILIAS 10. The first question types are to be implemented with ILIAS 11. Completion of the project is planned for ILIAS 12. - Challenges: As part of the transition, question and answer texts created with TinyMCE need to be migrated to the new MarkDown editor.
- Further Info:
Project details →
3. OER Connect for ILIAS 11
- What is the goal? It should be made easier and more convenient to use and make content available as Open Educational Resources (OER) within ILIAS. This includes simplified licence management, search and integration of materials.
- Why is it important?
OER promote free access to educational resources. Better support in ILIAS makes it easier for users to work with these materials. - Status:
Multiple features have already been implemented in ILIAS 10 to create a more OER-friendly infrastructure in ILIAS. The project for ILIAS 11 will continue with this endeavour. - Challenges:
OER communities have specific requirements to ensure compatibility with other platforms in the same community. One challenge is to derive generalised requirements from this in order to meet ILIAS's demands for flexibility and internationality. On the other hand, when it comes to the usability tests and the improvements that will results from these, the devil will be in the details. Good solutions will require changes that will span multiple components. - Further Info:
The project will be mainly supported by OER Connect and Universities from the German state of Baden-Württemberg.
Project details →
4. Calendar Improvement
- What is the goal?
Using the calendar should be easier and more user friendly. The goal is for improved synchronisation of appointments with external calendars, especially when it comes to deleting events. - Why is it important?
The current calendar in ILIAS is often considered to be too complicated and therefore not used. It is also considered to be unreliable because deleted appointments persist in external calendars. - Status:
The project was started in ILIAS 10 and will continue in ILIAS 11. - Challenges:
The improved synchronisation of calendar appointments requires the implementation of the CalDAV standard, which could lead to major conversion work. - Further Info:
Project details →
5. Enforcing Guideline for Top Actions
- What is the goal?
The guideline that was introduced with the 2012 Top Actions should be followed by all Objects in the Repository, and the supported Top Actions should be available in all Objects. - Why is it important?
Previously, the guidelines have not always been strictly adhered to, resulting in inconsistent user experiences. In some Object types there are no Top Actions at all. - Status:
After recording the current status in ILIAS, a workshop should take place in the first quarter of 2025. In the workshop we will discuss the further procedure for revising and adapting the Top Actions. Participation is open to interested parties. - Challenges:
Before further actions can be added to the Top Actions of individual Object types, the function itself needs to be refactored. Requirements when it comes to accessibilty also need to be taken into consideration, especially considering the prominent position of the function in the general page layout. - Further Info:
Feature workshops will be announced here →
Project details →
6. Individual Assessment: Use in high volume Scenarios
- What is the goal?
The Individual Assessment feature should function well and be easy to use, even when using it to assess larger groups. As part of the project, we envisage optimisations and an improved management of members, but also the introduction of a new question pool for Individual Assessments and an Individual Assessment Report. - Why is it important?
Currently the function is best suited for scenarios in which only a few individuals are to be assessed. For example, adding new participants is conducted manually. Working with larger groups currently requires too much effort. - Status:
The project has already been conceptually worked out in detail and numerous work packages have been defined. The complete implementation is planned for ILIAS 11 and is intended to replace a proprietary application at an ILIAS-using company. - Challenges:
The project requires extensive extensions and changes to the 'Individual Assessment' component. - Further info:
Project info →
7. Introduce Activities
- What is the goal?
The architecture of ILIAS is to be extended by a layer, using which, 'Activities' in and with ILIAS will be made possible. This could be, for example, the creation of a Course, adding users to a Group or making a Test available. Along with the user interface, this is only possible in the ILIAS core using the SOAP interface. The new 'Activities' would open up the possibility to do so for other web services. - Why is it important?
The requirement for ILIAS to control actions in ILIAS via REST, for example, is high and recurs regularly. The current architecture still lacks a necessary layer to implement these requirements in a generic manner. - Status:
The planning for the introduction of ‘Activities’ in ILIAS takes up earlier ideas of a 'Service Discovery'. An infrastructure for these activities is to be established with ILIAS 11 and an initial web services implementation developed for this infrastructure. It should then be possible to use Activities in some initial, selected components. - Challenges:
The introduction of Activities is an ambitious project for the expansion of the ILIAS software architecture. In particular, the programming of an initial web services implementation still urgently requires funding, without which the project cannot be continued. - Further info:
Project details →
Send Richard Klees a mail if you are interested in Funding-this project →
8. Component Revision
- What is the goal?
The component revision will make the architecture of ILIAS more modern and modular. The previous separation into modules, services and plugins will be replaced by components that can be from ILIAS or from third parties. This will enable more sustainable development and improve the long-term expandability of the platform. - Why is it important?
The component revision wil make ILIAS more modular and functionally easier to extend. The previous functional limitations of plug-ins will be removed by upgrading them to components. - Status:
This project has been running since ILIAS 9. ILIAS 10 saw modules and services become components and the directory structure adjusted accordingly. The conversion of plug-ins into components is a central task for ILIAS 11. - Challenges:
Existing plugins do not have to be adapted from scratch, but they do need to be revised. A prototype for a revision-compliant plugin is to be provided at an early stage. - Further info:
Project details →
How can you help?
Some of the projects presented here are still in their starting blocks or in the development phase. Their success depends largely on the commitment of the volunteers involved, but also on the support of the community - be it through feedback, collaboration or financial support. All updates on the projects are available in the Feature Wiki and at the fortnightly Jour Fixes.
If you would like to be involved in a project or contribute ideas, visit the respective pages in the wiki or take part in a workshop. Together we can make ILIAS even better!