Creating or copying multiple container objects at one go

1 Initial Problem

Status quo
System-, local-, course- or group-administrators sometimes have to create not only one container object, but 20. Doing this is a laborious thing because every single container has to be created manually.

2 Conceptual Summary

How it should be
I'd like to create multiple objects at one go. In the creating process I should have the possibility to specify how many items I want to create. Like in learning modules where I can create multiple chapters or pages at once, the courses/groups/folders/categories could have a default title that can be changed easily after the creation. (If possible even without one has to save the new names actively.)
 
I concentrated the description on creating because I fear multiple copies of larger contents could cause server problems... But it's a fact that sometimes one has to do 20 copies of one single container object. Any chance this could be done?

3 User Interface Modifications

3.1 List of Affected Views

3.2 User Interface Details

3.3 New User Interface Concepts

4 Technical Information

5 Privacy Information

6 Security Implications

7 Contact

• Author of the Request:
• Maintainer:
• Implementation of the feature is done by:

8 Funding

If you are interested in funding this feature, please add your name and institution to this list.

9 Discussion

2012-09-17, KSchmidt:
Performance issues notwithstanding I could imagine that copying could be done as easily as creating multiple objects at once. In both cases we "just" needed an extra field where we could state how many instances of the new or old course should be created. While i > 0 the same creation/copy-process could be triggered like you would have if you only created/copied one object. Even if the editing of the object title stays the same the whole process would be less work anyway. Just think about all those groups for exercices in mass courses (= Tutorien).

JF 1 Oct 2012: We like the idea, but it would be good to have the envisaged workflows being specified in more detail. E.g. how would the creation screens change? What additional steps are necessary?

2012-10-04, KSchmidt:
As of now there are two ways of copying a course* (via »Add New Item« and via »Actions«) and one way to create one. Both ways differ in the amount of screens that are shown so I would put the multiple-instance-option in different places, too.
 
Create course:
Under »Add New Item« --> »Course« --> »Option 1: New Course« show a third field »Number of instances« with the default value of 1 and a help text along the lines of »Number of new courses that should be created in one go.«
 
Copy course:
If you choose to copy a course via »Actions« or »Add New Item« at least two screens will be shown: the first to select the new place (»Actions)« or the course to be copied (»Add New Item«) and the second to select the objects in that course that also should be copied. I can imagine a third screen where the user is asked how many instances of this course should be created with the default value of 1.
 
This value could be limited to 5 (drop-down-list?) to avoid performance issues and database time outs.
 
* Mostly the same goes for the creation of other items like groups, files etc.
 

Zenzen, Enrico [ezenzen], 03 AUG 2022: This request no longer fulfills the requirements of the Feature Wiki. In consultation with the maintainer I change the status of the feature request to "Redundant / outdated". If the request is still relevant, please update template and mockups.

10 Implementation

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