Optimisation User Search

1 Description

The search for users in courses and groups could still be optimized in some aspects:

• Even now, members for courses, groups etc. can be searched according to any user data field that has been released for user search, e.g., "Institution", "Department" or user-defined data fields. However, up to now the search terms have to be typed into the form, so ILIAS treats it as a string and browses any entry beginning with that string. In case there is a user data field "Term" (German: Semester), there will be many entries beginning with the same characters like "Summer term 2009/2010", "Summer term 2010/11" a.s.o. ...
  
  Thus, course administrators have to

  • know the correct spelling
  • type the entire entry
  in order to exactly retrieve the desired user accounts.
  
  In order to optimize this feature, all of the user data fields that are appropriate for user search should be made available as menues containing all types of their entries as options.
  
  This also applies to search criteria like course and group memberships.

  Alternatively, there could be a facility in the "Settings" of the user accounts administration to restrict specific user data fields to fixed entries, so entries cannot be typed anymore into these fields but only chosen from a list. As soon as this restriction is active, there should be a field for a first entry available in the right column of the table and a facility to add further fields.

• In courses and groups, users can only be searched by means of user data field entries or role/course/group memberships.
  This is a problem in many scenarios. For example, it is impossible to take over only a subset of members from another course or group that shares the same entry within a user data field.
  
  Within the user account administration, the filter already allows to combine criteria in order to search for a specific subset of users.
  This filter would be very helpful also for the user search in courses and groups.

  Alternatively, there could be a facility to search further among the results of a first search (this feature already existed in former versions).

• Finally, it could be very helpful for users administrating many courses and groups if there was a facility to save a specific filter setting for the member search as a default.

2 Status

• Scheduled for Release: Not scheduled yet
• Funding: Required
• Development: Feature is to be developed by

3 Additional Information

• If you want to know more about this feature, its implementation or funding, please contact: Hochschule Karlsruhe (Qualitus) / breuer@qualitus.de

4 Discussion

JF 8 Mar 2010: We agree that this procedure could improved and support this. If there is any funding we will continue to discuss this in more detail.

Zenzen, Enrico [ezenzen], 05 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.

5 Follow-up