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Revision of Access to Timings Settings of Objects

Request related to Integration of Preconditions in Settings Tab

1 Initial Problem

1. Different positions: Settings of timings (part of availability) do not have a streamlined position:
   • In some object types these settings are only a part of the forms in the settings tab.
   • In some object types, the setting of timings are only called upon via the actions menu in the ListGUI In the repository - via "Availability".
   • In some object types, the setting is located in both places. 
2. Little known reference behavior: If an object can be linked (verknüpfen) then all parts of each reference's settings tab will govern all references - if the title is changed in one reference then all references will change titles. This does NOT apply to timings via Action: The timings setting governs only the actual reference where the settings are made and not other references of the object. This is arcane knowledge, supposedly very few people know this. 
3. Different labels: In case the availability is present in the form and in the actions, these setting "correspond": Filling in the settings in the one place will fill out the setting in the other place. However the settings in the two places are not labeled consistently. 
   • In the form the setting is labeled "Period" in courses and chats, "Limited Availability Period" in polls or surveys. If set, it will be displayed in the ListGUI as "Availability". Date input is labled "Start" and "End". 
   • In the underworld called upon via the actions menu in the ListGUI, the setting is labled "Temporarily Available" and has the date input "Start Time" and "Finish Time". 

2 Conceptual Summary

The general concept of "Timings" won't be changed with this feature request. "Timings" will always be related to a reference of an object but not to the object itself. But access to the settings for Timings will be improved to make the feature easier to use and better to understand.

Advantage of reference-related settings: A glossary shall be offered in three courses. All three courses have the same topic and course schedule but start one month after the other. The glossary should always be available in the third week of the course. Because Timings is a reference-related setting it allows to define the temporal availability for all three references differently. There is no need to copy the glossary or to look for a period of time where the glossary is offered to all three courses at the same time. Same for any new linked reference of the glossary. If I link a glossary with timings, the new reference (in the new context) has no timings set.

Access from manage screen

To make it easier to understand that timings is a reference-related setting within a specific context of presenting content, we want move the access to the Timings settings from the Actions menu (action "Availability") within the ListGUI of the parent container to the Manage screen of this container and give it an easily recognisable button "Set Timings" in the multi action row. This is done for the container objects Category, Course, Group and Folder (where this is already possible). The action "Availability" is removed from the Actions dropdown (provided that the removal of the precondition setting is accepted, too).

Modal for Timings settings

After selecting one or several objects and clicking on "Set Timings", ILIAS opens a modal of type "Interruptive Item" including a form, like example 2 "Show form in modal" of Type "Roundtrip Modal".

The modal consists of the following elements:
(Headline) Timings
(List of selected objects - only title)

• [Object 1]
• [Object 2]
•   …
•  [Object n]

(Form)
Accessible temporarily [ ☑︎ | ☐ ] (default unchecked)
(if checked) ↓
   »   From [dd.mm.yyyy hh:mm]
   »   Until [dd.mm.yyyy hh:mm]
   »   Visible also outside defined period [ ☑︎ | ☐ ] (default unchecked)

Timings settings for start and end time as well as for visibility are transferred to all selected items when submitting the form. After the modal has been closed and the page is reloaded, the information about timings is presented in the list entries of the selected items within the ListGUI.

In case, one or more selected items have already timings settings …

1. … and the settings are identical, these settings are shown in the modal and can be modified (or timings can be deactivated).
2. … but the settings are different, …
   • … ILIAS shows an info box below the headline saying "You have selected items with different timings settings. Overwrite existing settings below or cancel action to keep existing timings settings."
   • … and the form is presented without settings ("Accessible for a defined period of time" is unchecked).

In case, the checkbox for temporal access to the item is checked but no date and time is entered (neither for start nor end), ILIAS is prompting an error box under the headline saying "Please enter at least a start or end date for the temporal access."

3 User Interface Modifications

3.1 List of Affected Views

✓  Poll	✓  Category / Category Link (inherits from source)	✓  Portfolio Template
✕  Blog	✓  Course / Course Link (inherits from source)	✕  Session
✓  Booking Tool	✕  LTI	✓  Test
✓  Chat	✕  Learning Module HTML	✕  Question Pool Test
✕  File	✓  Learning Module ILIAS	✓  Exercises
✕  Data Collection	✓  Learning Module Scorm	✓  Survey
✓  Forum	✓  Learning Sequence	✕  Question Pool Survey
✓  Glossary	✓  Bibliography	✕  Weblink Collection
✓  Group / Group Link (inherits from source)	✓  Mediacast	✕  Weblink
✓  Individual Assessment	✓  Media pool	✕  Wiki
✓  Content Page	✕  Folder	✕  xAPI

3.2 User Interface Details

Manage Screen

Modal for Timings Settings

If the modal is opened from the parent container by clicking "Set Timings" it looks like this:

3.3 New User Interface Concepts

none

3.4 Accessibility Implications

No special accessibility aspects.

4 Technical Information

No special technical changes/introductions planned.

5 Privacy Information

No special privacy aspects.

6 Security Implications

No special security aspects.

7 Contact

• Author of the Request: Samoila, Oliver [oliver.samoila]
• Maintainer: Kergomard, Stephan [skergomard]
• Implementation of the feature is done by: {The maintainer must add the name of the implementing developer.}

8 Funding

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

• Technische Hochschule OWL

9 Discussion

Kunkel, Matthias [mkunkel], 02.02.2020: I fully support a streamlining of the availability 'service'. But IMHO it is not a good idea to abandon the option to set the availablity of a repository object in the ListGUI and allow it only in the settings tab of a selected item. On the contrary, we should improve this option and

1. … give up the division of the different activities into separate tabs (a lot of users never discover the options in the other tabs, believe me!) .
2. … include setting online / offline into it (one of the top actions that former Moodle users miss in ILIAS).
3. … allow to tackle multiple objects via multi-select and make the same availability for all them (would be a vast improvement of usabilty for tutors).
4. … move the entire interface from a 'full page' to a modal (reduces unnecessary database queries and gives a better UX).

It would a pleasure for me to present you my ideas in more detail in a face2face meeting.

Tödt, Alexandra [atoedt] 2020-02-26: on

1. "Giving up the dividion of the activities in separate tabs": Would we then put a form (timings) and a table (preconstitions) in one screen? This is bad usability / forbidden.  We can clearly see this from the current implementation ;-) I would need inspiration by mock-ups to see a way forward in this. 
2. "include online / offline setting" I see the beauty
3. "Multi-select" I never needed this. 
4. "Modal" I am not sure whether this is KS compliant, I quote: "Round-Trip modals SHOULD NOT be used to perform complex workflows."

2020-04-08: I dug up some Mock-Ups prepared by Matthias. I wonder if this could serve as a starting point. 

Meyer, Stefan [smeyer] 2020-04-24: I would not do this. Availability is related to the reference of an object and not an object related setting.
Abandoning this relation would be a fundamental change of behaviour and confuse a lot of users that work with linked objects. Structuring content by availability settings is a valid use case and I would prefer a solution which allows to change the objects at the place where the objects are presented.
If we add the availability settings to the object settings, people won't see that this setting is reference related while online/offline and others
are object related.

Tödt, Alexandra [atoedt] 2020-05-15: After discussing this feature with product manager and maintainer we have adopted their wishes and requirements in full.

Kunkel, Matthias [mkunkel], 31 JUL 2020 : Updated feature request according to final discussion with Oliver Samoila.

JourFixe, ILIAS [jourfixe], 17 AUG 2020 : We highly appreciate this suggestion and schedule the feature for ILIAS 7. We prefer to make the modal available from the Actions dropdown, too. Therefore, we would like to have a distinct "Timings" entry in the Actions dropdown (and make the existing "Availability" entry available for the preconditions - see extra FR).

Seiler, Yvonne [yvseiler], 19 FEB 2021: A small detail: In the modals mockups, the selected objects are always listed first, with the settings below them. In my opinion, it would be more helpful the other way round (the settings at the top, the list of objects at the bottom), as the list of selected objects can be very long and the options to be set would only be accessible by scrolling.

JourFixe, ILIAS [jourfixe], 22 FEB 2021 : We highly appreciate this suggestion and re-schedule the feature for ILIAS 8. We rename the current "Availability" action to "Preconditions" and introduce a distinct "Timings" entry in the Action menu - as already decided in 2020. Note: timings can have an open beginning or an open end as well as start and end date. A list of components that still need a section "Availability" will be added to the FR.

Samoila, Oliver [oliver.samoila], 02 FEB 2023 : As requested by the JourFixe, a list of components was provided showing which still need an Availability section in the Setting. See Chapter 3.1 List of Affected Views. In addition, chapters on privacy and security have been added.

10 Implementation

The parts accepted by the Jour Fix have been implemented with: https://github.com/ILIAS-eLearning/ILIAS/pull/6440

The Implementation is not done with a Interruptive Modal (it would not be the right modal in this context), but with a Roundtrip Modal. The option to set availability periods is kept in the Action-Menu for the time being.

Test Cases

Test cases completed at 23 OCT 2023 by Kergomard, Stephan [skergomard]

• C63555 : Edit the Availability Period on Single Object
• C63556 : Edit the Availability Period on Multiple Objects

Approval

Approved at 2023-10-23 by Fischer, Yvonne [yvonne.fischer] & Samoila, Oliver [oliver.samoila].