[LON-CAPA-dev] 2.1.99.1 pre announce

[Guy Albertelli II]

Hi All,

2.1.99.1 release announcemnet let me know if my English skills
continue to suck.

------
New Testing Version 2.1.99.1 Released


This one should be good for installation on production machines. 
(MSU is currently running it.)


Notable Changes from 2.1.99.0:
- Courses can subdivide students into groups of users
    - groups can have their own internal communication mechanisms
      include discussion boards/portfolio space etc, 
    - groups can also have parameters set for them (like sections)
    - statistics/chart/SPRS can slice data by groups
    - (students can belong to multiple groups in a single course)
- passphrase access to portfolio files
- course owners can be in a domain other than the course
- usability enhancements to the user interface
- regrading a Task properly reinserts back in the grading queue
- homework script function &check_status() owrks correctly on part 0
- page headers when printing can be configured


Notable Changes from 2.1.3:
- jsMath 3.3
- mimeTex updgraded
- SSO integration possible
- using CSS for a large amount of the styling elements
- <Task> Xml updates 
    - <Setup> added for Picking <Instance> without any associated <Criteria>
    - Allows nesting of <Dimension>
    - Dimensions can have a <QuestionText>
    - <Criteria> can be associated with an <Instance> Or a <Dimension>
- can get overall grader statistics for <Task> grading
- <Task> works with
    - PGRD display of interaction data
    - STAT Student Submission Reports
- slots
    - work with .problems
    - can be applied to an entire .sequence
    - can be unproctored
- grading of portfolio submissions allows the instructor and easy route 
  to edit and send the eidted file back to the student
- Blogs
- Course announcements available through rss feed
- portfolio files can be set to be public, or passphrase protected
- WebCT4 Vista IMS import into CSTR space
- seemlessly move from Searching to Browsing of resources
- calendars can output ical data files
- logging of all parameter changes (and interface for viewing)
- revamped print and message user selector
- In-Line mode now default, Launch Remote button moved for students
  to preferences page
- Printing for multiple users screens revamped to be easier to use
- Printing for multiple users can be configured to specify the number of 
  pages a student's exam should take up, and the system should auto detect
  if a student's exam needs extra blank pages inserted
- Printing of <table> supports rowspan/colspan tables and handles 
  embedded images better
- batch course creation more accessible 
- practice problems
- Simple dropbox problem added
- usability improvements to inline remote mode (ANOT adn Bookmarks
  accessible, easier to send a message) 

To install this update:

1) You will need to be running Fedora Core 4 or 5, RHEL ES 4, SUSE 9.3, SLES 9
     (Fedora Core 3 should continue to work but is deprecated.)

2) If running Fedora, use yum to update your machine and then install the
      LONCAPA-prerequisites (if not already installed).

yum update
yum install LONCAPA-prerequisites

    If running SUSE, use you to update your machine.
    if running RHEL, use up2date to update your machine.



3) Download the new LON-CAPA tarball from
wget http://install.lon-capa.org/versions/loncapa-2.1.99.1.tar.gz

and untar it

tar xzvf loncapa-2.1.99.1.tar.gz



4) Run the UPDATE script as root
cd loncapa-2.1.99.1
su
./UPDATE



5) restart the Lon-CAPA system services
/etc/rc.d/init.d/loncontrol stop
/etc/rc.d/init.d/loncontrol start

6) restart the webserver:

Fedora/Red Hat Enterprise:
/etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd stop
/etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd start

SUSE:
/etc/init.d/apache stop
/etc/init.d/apache start




----NOTES
1) Many questions are answered at http://help.lon-capa.org
2) Defects reports, and enhancements requests can be entered at
   http://bugs.lon-capa.org
3) Mailing lists can be joined and left at http://mail.lon-capa.org

-- 
guy@albertelli.com   0-7-1-7-27,137