February 13, 2007
- 2.3.x : Still working on DB conversion scripts with Joe V. to get copy of production database for testing
- Webdav issues with authentication (or lack thereof): If a site has been made 'world readable' and the instructor webdavs to Webspace, they are not prompted for their credentials (why, because it is world readable). A work-around for this, until Howard can rewrite the log in filter to ALWAYS prompt for credentials, is to have the instructor connect to a webdav site that DOES require credentials (i.e. Resources). THEN, when they connect to the Webspace webdav location, they will be connected using their proper credentials and will be able to read/write/modify.
- Separate web server for people with special publishing needs?: Some users, like Michael Frame, have special webserver needs (cgi scripting, applets, etc.) that the Webspace webserver may not be able to provide. If someone's needs are SO specialized and they do not need the authentication provided by Webspace for site-level security, a different webserver (Research?) may be their best bet for content.
- Webdav upload speed: Gloria will do a test of webdav on both PC and Mac to various webdav servers (Myfiles, Webspace, Resources) and will report back.
- Instructions for Adding a TF - The instructions for adding a TF to a course site need to be more visible in the Help areas. Need to add them to theInstructor's Essentials, Instructor's Essentials FAQs, Quick Semester Start, Instructor's Quick Start Guide (PDF)
February 6, 2007
- Policy on students' status from fall semester (currently we change them to "view only" at start of spring term, but "view only" can unjoin course sites): I spoke with Chuck about this, he'd like to bring it up to the Teaching and Learning portal group. He suggested that we continue to think through our options. He agreed that it might be good to make students inactive at the end of the semester, rather than view-only; but wants us to wait on this till he gets input. I told him we could also make it so "view only" cannot unjoin; but this poses some potential problems as well. Do we have any other viable options for this?Will wait to hear what the T&L portal committe thinks about the 'Inactive' vs. 'View only' conversion. If there are complaints about the changes, it is easy to reverse the change.
Where do SOM classes (e.g., Executive MBA courses that extend beyond our end of semester) fit into this?SOM courses have been excluded from the conversion script.
- Registrar section information display within v2 for fall 2007: Chuck said that we should follow up with Jill to spec out the best approach. They've given him no specifics of what they have in mind; he senses that they don't know. So Michael and I should follow up with Jill.A follow up meeting will need to be scheduled.
- Development schedule for 2.3: Cheryl is keeping tabs on additions to the list on confluence; we need everyone to contribute to this list so we can map out some target dates.
Since it is tough for one person to prioritize, Cheryl will call a special meeting with her updated list and ask for priorities/additions. Everyone's input in this process is valuable. CW will call meeting for early next week after shopping purge is complete.
- Plans for new staff members: I'm curious to hear what the two new guys (help on their names, Michael?) will be doing, and where they fit into our plans for spring and summer development. What will they be working on? Are we focusing only on getting the basics up and running for 2.3 in May, or do we now have sufficient scripting power to look again at our development wish list for additional goals?
Michael is working with Andy to help get the two new programmers, Peter and Parthee, up to speed on how Sakai works, how Yale-specific programming issues work (eg. CAS), the databases behind them, etc. They will be looking at the Syllabus tool in 2.3 to see about putting our custom fixes in.
- Guest role vis-a-vis Classes db (Jive, Photo Roster): any more thinking on this?
Guests will soon be pushed to v1 as 'shoppers' (since the guest role does not exist in v1). Shoppers will then be put into Forums and the PhotoRoster.
- SOM courses and the shopper purge: any concerns? SOM courses that begin in mid May: will they retain shoppers?
Gloria said no real concerns about SOM courses and the shopper purge since there aren't many shoppers and they have been receiving the emails. Not sure if the SOM courses in mid-May will even have shoppers.
- Security patch situation: where does this stand?
Patch has been accepted and blessed by the Sakai folks, now we need to roll it out to our installation. Patch was confirmed good on classesv2-test today. We will discuss roll out at our next meeting tomorrow.
- Other items
Email going out to shopper_ws after this meeting.
Michael will make sure we add code to have any 'guest' converted to the 'student' role during the Banner update if they are found to be officially registered.
Another strategy for shopper_ws, after students seal and the registrar pushes the data:
- Purge the shopper_ws students and send them email , telling them to shop courses on Classes*v2
- Let them shop for 2-3 days
- Set the courses to be unjoinable
- All 'extra' students will be able to unjoin and this will drastically cut down on leftover shopper_ws students