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Abandon Submission of blog exercises

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1 Reasons to Abandon Feature

Current workflow for exercises with blogs is not satisfying. User has to make many clicks and can easily get lost on the way. The new page editor in the tool slate made this problem somehow worse.

I prepared a detailed description of the problem and a rough outline of the solution. But we did not find any users of this feature. In order to make ILIAS easier to use, I therefore suggest to abandon the blog exercise.

Current workflow for exercises with blogs is not satisfying. User has to make many clicks and can easily get lost on the way. The new page editor in the tool slate made this problem somehow worse.

Here is the current workflow:

1. User opens exercise’s *Assignments* tab.
2. User opens accordeon that contains the blog exercise.
3. User clicks on "Start Assignment".

4. ==First issue: Accordeon is closed after page reload. User gets stuck.==
5. User has to open accordeon again.
6. User clicks on "Create Blog".

7. User has to select the resource folder to add the blog to. (==This is medium-confusing if you have never been to My Resources!==)

8. User returns to *Assignments* tab. A confirmation message is shown .

9. User ONCE MORE has to open the accordeon (==see step 4==).
10. User clicks on the title of the assignment blog. ==Why not open the blog right away? Even if this is not a good idea, this whole presentation could be more engaging: "Click here to edit your blog.==

11. ILIAS opens blog. ==This view has very confusing messaging!==

  • You can "Finalize and Submit Blog", which is the primary button here. KS Purpose for primary button is: "The primary button indicates the most important action on a screen." But for the user, this button is in NO WAY the most important action!
  • The exercise-related information in the Tool Slate can be helpful. But its presentation is quite in-your-face. User would care most of all about the work instructions. The Assignment and the Schedule are of much lower importance to her!
  • The main content area gives the user an option to add a "Title" and "Add Posting". This is the first time, the term "Posting" is shown to a user. But didn’t she want to submit a blog? What is the difference? When does she even see that she is done??

12. User invents a Title and clicks "Add Posting".
13. ILIAS opens ==another screen with confusing messaging.==

  • In the slate, the editor offers to "Finish Editing". ==Does this mean content is saved?==
  • In the main content area, ILIAS informs: =="The posting is withdrawn and no longer published." Why?? What did the user do to withdraw anything?==
14. User clicks on + sign and adds some text.
15. The user can also open the "Assignment" tab in the Tool Slate. This can be helpful in order to review the work instructions. BUT, the primary button "Finalize and Submit Blog" is still shown there. ==Will this button save my text??? (Spolier: yes!) Also, what is even meant with "Finalize"???==

16. The user clicks on the primary button and ILIAS submits the post.
17. But: The primary button is STILL SHOWN!

  • Even though it was supposed to finalize something, ==it is still usable!== I understand why this is the case, but it is super-confusing!
  • The confirmation message for hitting that button is not shown where the button is, but in the main cintent area: "The Blog has been submitted." ==This is too far away.==

18. So what now? How to get out of here???
19. User clicks on "Back" tab in the blog.
20. ==ILIAS does not go BACK at all! It opens the "My Resources" tab, where the blog is "(meta)physically" located. But this has NOTHING to do with the exercise the user tries to submit!==
21. She clicks again "Finalize and Submit", hoping it will help., But it won’t.
22. She clicks on the Assignment Title and finally gets back to where she started.

During the discussion of an improvement of this situation, we did not find a single user of this feature. Hence, my new suggestion is to abandon  the submission of blog exercises in ILIAS 8.

An improvement certainly needs to be discussed due to technical limitations/side effects with other features. Also, things like the proposed Page Editor as Mode might interfere. Here are some preliminary thoughts, though:

  • Step 4: The accordeon should persist.
  • Step 7: Get rid of it! Automatically create the blog on the main level of "My Resources"
    • Inform the user about it in a confirmation message: "The blog was created in Personal Workspace > My Resources."
    • Open the blog in the editor right way!
  • Step 8-10: Lets certainly get rid of these and open the blog right away!
  • Step 11: A user WANTS TO CREATE A POST!
    • Ideally, there would be a single screen in step 6: "Create blog NAME, create post NAME". Can this be automatized?
    • User may need to get an explanation of the difference between "blog" and "post". Can this be shown somewhere easily? (E.g. in the assignment slate? See suggestion below!)
    • Content area:
      • Language: Lets please call it post. "Posting" is very uncommon.
    • Assignment slate:
      • The primary button is problematic here! I suggest to get rid of it – at least as long as no blog post has been added.
      • The information should be presented in a more engaging way, probably guiding the user through the exercise.
        • You are editing a blog for your exercise [EXERCISE NAME].
        • Schedule
        • Work Instructions
        • Info: "You can add a post to the right to add it to your blog. Depending on your exercise, several posts might be expected. You can always quickly access this blog  through your resources in Personal Workspace or through the exercise."
        • Info: "Once you are done, you can submit your exercise so that it can be graded."
    • Folders slate:
      • This too merits some explanation on what is happening. Users come from an exercise and might not be aware of the folders functionality.
      • Info: "Blogs in ILIAS can be managed in your Personal Workspace. If you have a lot of content, you can add folders."
  • Step 13: Improvements to consider
    • "Withdrawn" message looks like a bug?
    • "Finish Editing" might need some reference to "saving"? E.g. "Save and Finish Editing"
  • Step 17: There is no need for the primary button anymore.
    • Suggestion: End this right here!
      • Redirect the user to the exercise *Assignment* tab
      • Show the accordeon open
      • Add an indication that everything went as planned: "You successfully submitted the following blog: [Blog Link] You can still edit the blog by clicking on its name"
  • Step 19: We need to get rid of this "Back" tab in all affected screens. (Several can be seen in thre screenshots above.)
    • Is this even possible?

2 Technical Information

{The maintainer has to provide necessary technical information, e.g. dependencies on other ILIAS components, necessary modifications in general services/architecture, potential security or performance issues.}

{ Please list all personal data that will need to be stored or processed to implement this feature. For each date give a short explanation why it is necessary to use that date. }

3 Contact

  • Author of the Request: Kruse, Fabian [Fabian], ILIAS open source e-Learning e.V.
  • Maintainer: {Please add your name before applying for an initial workshop or a Jour Fixe meeting.}
  • Implementation of the feature is done by: {The maintainer must add the name of the implementing developer.}

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.

  • …

5 Discussion

Kruse, Fabian [Fabian], 15.07.2021: Is anybody using blog exercises? I would like nto know whether an improvement would be helpful in practice. Would appreciate a comment, even if you cannot provide funding.

Edit 26.08.2021: Since no interest was raised, we suggest to abandon this feature. I adapted the reaquest accordingly. Information on the problem can still be found abive in the accordeon.

Falkenstein, Rob [rob], 11.11.2021: Speaking for University Freiburg: We don't see a problem in abandoning this feature as long as the blog submission still can be done within a submitted portfolio.

Killing, Alexander [alex], 8.1.2024: @Fabian, the whole workflow has been improved a lot in the meantime, please check the ILIAS 9 implementation. On the other hand the embedding of blogs into portfolios adds technical and navigational complexity that I would like to get rid of. So my preference is to Abandon Blog Pages in Portfolios instead and keep the blog assignments, since they are much easier to maintain.

6 Implementation

{The maintainer has to give a description of the final implementation and add screenshots if possible. }

REMOVED Test Cases

Test cases completed at {date} by {user}

  • {Test case number linked to Testrail} : {test case title}

Approval

Approved at {date} by {user}.

Last edited: 23. Sep 2024, 09:40, Killing, Alexander [alex]