Remove Settings-Templates for Tests

1 Reasons to Abandon Feature

The Settings-Templates are not well maintained, new options are not always integrated. The settings-templates cause a lot of branches. This FR proposes to remove them to enable us to focus our limited ressources for the Test & Assessment.

Additionally settings Templates come with technical limitations that restrict the possible settings that can be involved in the templates to that ones, that are managed on the first settings nesting level. Sub settings are simply not supported as pre defined field in settings templates.

And finally: The removal of the settings templates for the Surveys have been accepted by the JF.

2 Technical Information

The code base will be reduced and its complexity will be reduced.

3 Contact

• Author of the Request: Tödt, Alexandra [atoedt]
• Maintainer: Strassner, Denis [dstrassner]
• Implementation of the feature is done by:  p.p. Jansen, Michael [mjansen] / Databay

4 Funding

Removing the feature from the ILIAS code base might need funding. If you are interest in funding this request, please add your name and institution to this list.

• Uni Hohenheim

5 Discussion

Use the following discussion section to express your objections against this request or your consent to get rid of this feature.

Rabah, Rachid [rabah], 14 JUN 2018: we regard the "Settings-Templates for Tests and Surveys" as a useful feature to facilitate the work and to simplify the complexity of the infinite adjustment possibilities in the setting menu.  Those templates help the users from the mechanical and tedious tasks. We use them at our institution. The Settings-Templates should be retained.

Lauener, Hansjörg [lauener] The university of Bern and the ETH Zürich were the funding institutions of these Settings.
The initial idea was: "Der E-Learning-Baukasten (ELBA), ein Projekt des NET, und iTools, ein Projekt der Universität Bern setzt sich zum Ziel, einfache, unabhängig voneinander einsetzbare Einzelapplikationen anzubieten. Diese sollen vor allem auch in E-Learning unerfahrenen Benutzern einen niederschwelligen Einsatz der Werkzeuge garantieren. Die Werkzeuge, wie z. B. Forum, Wiki oder Survey, sollen in wenigen Minuten bis Stunden erlernbar sein, unmittelbar bereitgestellt werden können und auf das Wesentliche reduzierte Funktionalitäten enthalten. Die Benutzbarkeit der Einzeltools soll vereinfacht, verständlich und klar sein, damit sich auch ein unerfahrener Benutzer ohne lange Einarbeitungszeit zurechtfindet".

Actually, the ETH and the university of Bern do not use the Settings-Templates for Tests and Surveys, so abandoning is possible.

BUT: As far as I see, the objective oriented courses need the two auto-generated Test-Settings: "Initial Test" and "Qualifying Test"

Kunkel, Matthias [mkunkel], 02 MAR 2022: Does this have an impact on the specific type of test in Learning-Objective Courses? If I remember correctly, these tests use a "native" settings template to be displayed properly within a LOC.

Kergomard, Stephan [skergomard], 02 MAR 2022: Yes, the courses use the templates. I looked at the code though, albeit rather cursory, I admit, and I didn't find any advantage of doing it this way. Maybe Meyer, Stefan [smeyer] can help us out here? I would say that it is clear though that we need to make sure, the Learning-Objective Courses keep working as expected.

JourFixe, ILIAS [jourfixe], 07 MAR 2022 : We highly appreciate this suggestion and accept to abandon the settings templates in tests with ILIAS 9.

6 Implementation

Removed Testcases

The following testcases have been removed from Testrail or modified because the feature is no longer part of the ILIAS core.

• Only found "C2288 : Einstiegstest beginnen, unterbrechen und den gleichen Test wiederaufnehmen", where the "Einstellungsvorlagen" is mentioned. I contacted the ILIAS test manager.

Approval

Approved at 2023-05-17 by Strassner, Denis [dstrassner].