Moodle 2.0

You may have noticed that the first stable version of Moodle 2 has now been released. Here at Webanywhere we have been testing Moodle 2.0 for some time and thought it would be good to give our customers an update on our plans.

As with any new software release, Moodle 2.0 will carry a number of bugs. Therefore we are not going to commence upgrades immediately. Instead we will test Moodle 2.0 internally and work out the most effective way of upgrading customers.

We intend to start offering it to customers at the mid-point between moodle 2.0 and 2.1. Moodle 2.1 is expected 6 months after the first stable release of Moodle 2.0. Therefore, we would expect to be in a position to test Moodle 2.0 to a number of customers from March 2011.

The upgrade is not complulsory. Previous upgrades e.g. from Moodle 1.8 to 1.9 were minor release upgrades within the same version. Upgrade from 1.9 to 2.0 is a major release and requires a lot of development work:

* Each customer will have to be upgraded manually

* Each theme will need to be re-written because the way themes work has changed completely.

* MIS integration will not work with Moodle 2.0 automatically (until development work is complete)

* We would not recommend that customers upgrade without auditing which modules they rely on and whether these modules are supported in Moodle 2.0.

* The same applies to third party add-ons and custom code: it is highly unlikely they will work without significant alterations.

Please note, not all modules will be compatible with Moodle 2.0, e.g. The room booking system. Standard Moodle modules have been written for Moodle 2.0, but community based ones will not have. It is up to Moodle developers on Moodle.org to develop these for Moodle 2.0 so we are unable to provide customers with a timescale for these.

Making courses from 1.9 or earlier restore into Moodle 2.0 has proved very problematic and is still not entirely achievable.

Although this is a priority for the Moodle developers, there is at the time of writing only a workaround involving restoring your course to a 1.9 site and then upgrading it to 2.0.

Due to the large amount of work involved in upgrading customers to Moodle 2, there will be a charge for this. Any additional training will be included in this charge.

Any charges for upgrading or any other Moodle services, can be discussed with your Account Manager at any time – feel free to contact them on 01535 604026.

Alternatively, we are happy to hear your opinions and feedback about Moodle 2.0.

Please e-mail them to: customerservice@webanywhere.co.uk

Tags:

Moodle