A look at moodle 2 repositories

White Paper 10/14/2011

Moodle 2 Repositories
A look into some the repositories solutions available for Moodle 2, their
features and the type of integration functionality.

By Gavin Henrick

www.somerandomthoughts.com

Please feel free to copy, share and reference this e-book. All we ask is that you acknowledge Gavin Henrick as
the source and link to http://www.somerandomthoughts.com when citing the publication.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.somerandomthoughts.com

Moodle 2 Repositories 14/10/2011

Moodle 2 Repositories
A look into some the repositories solutions available for Moodle 2, their features and the
type of integration functionality.

The release of Moodle 2 brought with it a challenge which most Moodle administrators and teachers had
not encountered before, that is, the integration of a content repository with the course management
system.

This document has three parts:

Firstly we look at the key issue in repository usage with Moodle 2.

 the dilemma of Copying or Linking from repositories

Then we address repositories themselves

 repositories in general
 the specific repositories available for Moodle
 their features
 the level integration available with Moodle

Lastly, we look at two topics around repository usage, namely:

 the Moodle 2 Private Files repository for users
 the Processes for adding files to Moodle comparing 1.9 and 2.0

The Appendices:

 quick look at the repository settings
 the list of criteria used for comparisons
 about the sources used
 further reading

Many thanks to all who helped review the content of the paper - your time is appreciated.

For any queries or corrections for paper please contact me gavin@somerandomthoughts.com

THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND MAY CONTAIN
TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS,
WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.

© Gavin Henrick – Solutions Consultant – http://www.somerandomthoughts.com 1


1. Why read this?................................................................................................................ 3

2. Copy or Link – The dilemma ........................................................................................ 4

3. What is a repository? .................................................................................................... 6

4. What repositories are available in Moodle?................................................................. 8

5. What are the features of a repository? ........................................................................ 10

6. What are the features of the integration with Moodle? ............................................. 14

7. Moodle 2 Private Files .................................................................................................. 18

8. Getting files into a Moodle course .............................................................................. 21

9. About the Author ......................................................................................................... 25

10. Creative Commons Copyright .....................................................................................26

Appendix 1 – Some repository settings in Moodle 2 ............................................................. 27

Appendix 2 – List of criteria used for comparisons .............................................................. 29

Appendix 3 - Sources ..............................................................................................................30

Appendix 4 – Further Reading ................................................................................................31

2 © Gavin Henrick – Solutions Consultant – http://www.somerandomthoughts.com


1. Why read this?
If you are a project manager, administrator and teacher/lecturer and are using or looking at Moodle 2 you
should find something of interest in this paper.

With the introduction of the Moodle 2 last year, there have been a number of blog posts, forum discussions
and presentations given around the use of repositories.

“Do we need a repository to use Moodle 2?” is a question I have heard at quite a few Moodlemoots this and
last year.

So I have put together this document to try and help inform those seeking to understand this core issue as
to whether they as an organisation need to use a repository or not.

However, I should note that as there are so many possible use cases of repositories I do not tackle them all.
Instead I focus on the features and capabilities that I have come across as being important with working
with or talking to organisations over the years.

“Best practice”
In the document I refer to best practice in file management as to being the process of copying the file into
the Moodle course from either your desktop or another repository.

This is a hotly debated issue so I wanted to address it up front before we tackle the concept in the next
section.

The reasons for having files copied into Moodle are twofold

 To have the course backups complete
 So Moodle can control who accesses them

These two requirements can be satisfied by repository use, so it does not exclude their use. Some
repositories handle the second requirement quite well providing a single sign-on. The first point however is
harder to achieve, but equally is not always a requirement of the Moodle installation.

It would also be fair to say that sometimes, if there is no need to rely on the backup/restore of Moodle and
there is no requirement to share complete courses with others that the first point can be a non-issue.



2. Copy or Link – The dilemma
Although there are many different use cases in using a repository, for the purpose of this section we are
going to identify two different use cases and discuss them.

The two cases are:

1. Linking to file in repository which remains in the repository.
a. The file may be linked to from many courses but always to the same file
b. When you update the file in the repository, the link points to the most up-to-date file
instance and therefore all courses link to the new version
2. Copying file from repository into Moodle
a. When copying the file from the repository, it always shows the latest approved version
available to import into Moodle.
b. As the file has been copied into Moodle, at different times, it is not necessarily the same
file in each course.

Linking to the file
A very commonly mentioned reason for using repositories is that of linking to a file from many places. The
first use case of linking to a file which remains in the repository is a very useful one in some cases.

The benefits of this method are quite clear. If you have an official document and all courses have to be able
to display the same most up-to-date content, then this is a good use of the repository. Examples of such
files are terms and conditions or an official acceptable usage policy for IT equipment.

However there are some possible concerns which need to be considered when using this method.

1. Firstly any server backup of the Moodle site (which includes the php files, the database and the
Moodledata directory) does not include these linked files and therefore is not a working copy of the
installation.

You would need to also take a full snapshot of the repository system and its files along with the
Moodle system and be able to re-deploy it when needed. This of course may or may not be
problematic either with licensing for the repository, or knowledge in managing it, and could be a
bigger challenge if this is a hosted solution in which you don’t have long-term access.

2. The second concern is the integrity of a course backup itself. In normal circumstances you can
back-up a Moodle course into a .zip (.mbz in Moodle 2) and this is a portable snapshot of the
content of the course. It can be installed on another Moodle site or shared via the Moodle Hub.

However, if the backup/restore aspect of the integration does not copy the file in, there could be
problems either with backup/restore or just not having a complete snapshot of the course at that
time.

You may even have problems deploying in your own test installation if it is not licensed or setup to
connect to the repository in the same way.



3. The third concern is for course auditing. If you rely on course backups to go back in time and
restore a course to check student results, or what content they had access to in the course –
without the files which are in the repository you won’t have a true copy of the file which was there
at that point, so for an audit-able course copy this may not be appropriate as you would not
necessarily have the same copy of the file still within the repository a number of years on.

Copying the file
The most standard use of a repository is that once you find the file within the repository that Moodle copies
it into the resource/activity that you are adding it to. Now if the exact same file is copied multiple times, it
will not duplicate the space on the file system as they will link to the same file internally. However if the file
has changed on the repository, the user can copy the latest available version into Moodle, so although old
courses have an old version, the new usage is with the current version of the content item.

The benefits of this particular solution are in some ways the opposite of the challenges of the Linking
method.

1. The automated backup of courses handles the files as normal and they are complete, so the
external repository does not need to be snapshot and maintained to redeploy the Moodle courses in
the site.

2. The integrity of course backup itself is okay, as the file is handled the same as any other uploaded
file.

3. The audit is also intact as the file is there any time that you restore the course and so can be
audited.

However, there are some downsides too.

1. The Moodle site will have multiple versions of the file existing in various courses. It will not be
immediately obvious without checking the source repository as to which is the most up to date one
unless this is reflected in the file name.

2. There is currently no easy mechanism to update all the versions of a file to the new version. If you
replace a file that is already copied into Moodle with a new one, that instance of the file is changed,
but if it was linked form other courses they still use the original file in the database. It looks like
this will be changing in 2.2



3. What is a repository?
There are different types of repositories depending on the occasion. Wikipedia gives a very simple
explanation of what a repository is.

Repository commonly refers to a location for storage, often for safety or preservation.

So for Moodle, a repository is used as a storage place for content. Different repositories often specialize in a
specific type of content.

 YouTube specializes in Video content.
 Flickr specializes in images.

However some repositories can handle all or multiple content types.

Content
Generally in Moodle content resources can be PDFs, word documents,
videos, images, text files, Scorm objects, and pretty much any type, so
one of the things that have to be in the back of your mind when
considering a repository is what it is for. So you need to ask yourself
the following type of questions:

 Do you want to store PDFs in it?
 Do you want to store images in it?
 Do you want to store complex learning objects in it?

However, what type of content you want to store is only one thing you
need to consider.

Management
Another thing that you need to consider is how you want to manage the content. There are many steps in
the content creation process including: authoring, testing, editing, auditing, approval and publication.

Traditionally most users probably do all or most of these steps on their laptop or desktop and via email for
passing the content around. However, once you think of having a centralized repository for the content,
you need to look at the workflow and who is involved at each stage and what responsibilities they have.
Consider the following thoughts:

 Who has the authority to approve the use of a video for use in a course?
 Who checks the quality of the content?
 Who checks the licensing of the content?
 Who checks the suitability of the content format?

Now often for self-created content, one person does it all and publishes it, however in some organisations
sometimes this is not the case. For example, an official PDF of the organisations Exam Guidelines may go
through many iterations with multiple people viewing and contributing before a final version is agreed, and
published.



So beyond type of content and management of content publishing, what else do you need to consider?

Why use a repository?
Ask yourself the question - what is the reason you are considering using a repository? There are many use
cases for using a repository. The Web 2.0 world we now live in has a plethora of public content in
repositories a lot of which can be used in either the creation of courses, or the creation of student replies in
courses.

Without repository integration the user would have to download the file and upload it in the traditional
way. A repository integration enhances the users experience (be it teacher or student) and reduces the
number of steps it takes to include an image from Flickr, or a video from YouTube for example.

If your files are in the repository you also do not need to upload the file each time from your laptop/desktop
so this bypasses any issues with local bandwidth controls.

Later, you might want to send documents from Moodle back into the repository. This way the repository
can also go beyond the source for content, and be the place that Moodle users move content to. This is
especially important now with the new portfolio API in Moodle 2 which allows a user to export the content
into the external repository. However apart from an assignment feature, this is beyond the scope of this
document and will be addressed some other day with some other pot of coffee.

Integration with Moodle
So you have the right content created and stored in the repository, but now a new set of questions need to
be considered:

 How does it get into Moodle?
 Which roles have the rights to select the content?
 Is the file copied into Moodle or is it just linked?
 If it is linked, how do you control who can access it if it is not public?

The repository API in Moodle has many default plugins all of which have their own unique behavior
depending on which repository and which features were built in. The custom integrations that are available
have a wider range of features.

These are all things that need to be considered and come down to one more questions



4. What repositories are available in Moodle?
Default Plugins
When Moodle 2.0 came out it had the new Repository API which provided a number of repositories
through the native plugins that had been developed. Some of the repository APIs were not integrated into
other systems, but were options that you could use on your Moodle site. Here I split the repositories into
two groups; internal functionality and external repositories.

Internal Features Content Type Description
Upload a file Any This is the feature to enable a user upload a piece of
content, and give it a license and author meta data.
Server Files This is the feature by which you can browse the Moodle 2
courses that you have access to and select a file which is
already uploaded and link into your course.
Private Files This is a private “Dropbox” repository for a user in Moodle.
They can upload files via the web interface or using the
Moodle Mobile App on the iPhone. These files can then be
included when writing content.
Legacy Course Files This is an optional (and not recommended) feature by
which the teacher is able to view the files added to
resources within the Moodle course in a similar way to
how they viewed them in Moodle 1.9
File System This is one of the hidden gems of Moodle 2 repository
options. The admin can create folders on the server side
which users can add files to (outside of Moodle) either
through network shares, FTP or however the admin
decides. Then these files can be pulled into the Moodle
course.
URL Downloader This cool feature enables a user to enter the url to a piece
of content and the repository API will download it from
the other site and save into Moodle.

If you add in the url of your own website, it will display all
the media from the page so you can include it into Moodle
– very handy.

External Systems Content Type Description
Repositories
Alfresco repository Any This is an open source external document management system
which runs on Java which needs to be hosted.
Box.net Any This is subscription cloud service which has a free entry level
service.
Dropbox Any This is subscription cloud service which has a free entry level
service.
Flickr Images Flickr is the very popular online image management website.
This plugin provides access to the users own Flickr images that
they have uploaded to the service.
Flickr Public Images Flickr is the very popular online image management website.



There are over 195 Million images with a creative-commons
license which explicitly allow re-use. This plugin enables
searching of the public Flickr service.
Google Docs Any The plugin for GoogleDocs requires authentication which
allows the user log into their own GoogleDocs area and copy
files out of it into Moodle.
Merlot.org Merlot.org is a private learning resource repository. You need to
be an educational institution or nonprofit to get access to use
through Moodle or pay a significant fee.
Picasa Web Album Picasa is a free photo service from Google. It also has a web
based album system for sharing and tagging photos.
Amazon S3 Amazon provides a cloud based file system with their Simple
Storage Service (S3). This is a subscription based solution.
WebDAV repository Many applications and services provide a basic standard
interface to their file system. WebDAV is one of these standard
interfaces and can be used to connect to many different
systems which support it.
Wikimedia The Wikimedia plugin provides the ability to search the
Wikimedia sites for content.
YouTube Videos Video

Custom Plugins
Although Moodle 2.x has been released since November 2010, not all external content repositories have
updated their integration with Moodle. It is understood that most if not all of these will be upgraded in the
near future, so for this reason I include below the list of custom plugins that exist for 1.9 or 2.0 and specify
which are upgraded and which are not yet upgraded.

Repository Content Type Description 1.9 2.x
ELIS (Alfresco) Any The ELIS CMS aspect is an Integration of Moodle with Yes No
the Alfresco Enterprise repository enabling file sharing,
user spaces, searching, curriculum structures and more.
Equella Any The Equella Integration with Moodle provides content Yes Yes
repository which enables file sharing, searching,
synchronization with OER repositories, curriculum
structures and more.
HIVE Any The Moodle integration with the Hive digital repository Yes Yes
which provides a wide range of features.
Kaltura Multimedia This provides integration with Moodle and the Kaltura Yes No
video platform enabling adding and editing of video
content to courses and students to submit video
assignments.
SharePoint Any This is the SharePoint integration with Moodle No Yes
provided by BFC Networks SharePoint Consultants.
Amvonet Learning The Amvonet platform integration with Moodle Yes Yes
Objects provides virtual classroom with strong content creation
and management features including turning the virtual
classroom recordings into Scorm learning objects and
transferring into Moodle.



5. What are the features of a repository?
Core Features
This section discusses the types of feature a repository has internally. As some repositories come from a
generic document management background and some from a content management background, they have
different feature sets which you should look into before considering one.

Web upload/download
Most repositories have a good web interface to enable you to upload the files into through your browser.
However, there are differences between the types of implementation for this feature.

 Does it have a drag and drop feature where you can just drag the file onto the browser window?
 Does it make it easy to upload multiple files or is it just one at a time?
 Does it automatically extract and add Meta data or do you need to manually set this every time?

WebDAV / FTP / CIFS
WebDAV is a feature that some applications may have which would enable you to create, change, and move
documents on a server. This makes it easy for the user to upload/change the files in the repository like if
they were using a folder on their desktop.

FTP is an application which allows uses to transfer files between system and from their local machine to a
server. This has been the traditional way that website files were managed by web designers and there are
easy to use FTP client applications out there which users are familiar with.

CIFS (Common Internet File System) is used to provide shared access to files across the internet. It operates
like an authenticated windows network share, so that a user can mount a remote folder on their local
machine and just drag/drop/edit files as if it was a local drive.

Check-in/Checkout
This feature enables a user that is collaborating with others on creating a document, to “checkout” a
document and lock it. This stops others from altering it until the user checks the new file in. This is part of
the version control mechanism.

Version control
Often in creating a document or file, you will go through many iterations of the document before it is
finished. Often people create a file such as “word.doc” and then save it under a different name such as
word-1.doc and word-2.doc as they make changes so that they can go back to an earlier version if needed.
Version control automates this process for a user, keeping old copies as they are replaced and providing a
mechanism to retrieve those earlier versions.

Workflow
A file is generally created by someone, edited by someone, tested and perhaps audited by someone, and a
decision to publish is taken by someone. It may all be the same person, or it could be different people, or
groups of people. This feature is related to whether a repository has the ability to design and implement a
workflow to manage this process.

10  © Gavin Henrick – Solutions Consultant – http://www.somerandomthoughts.com


Metadata
A file is just a file, however in a repository it can be more. It can have attached metadata specifying
information such as the author, type of file, purpose of file, description and so on. This can either be
automatically ripped out of the file, or typed in by the user who adds it to the repository.

Categories / Structures
Just as you would probably use folders or directories to structure the storage of files on your desktop, laptop
or netbook, being able to build hierarchical structures within the repository to store your files is important.
Often these structures represent the structure of the organization but it is becoming more common to see
them structured or categorized along curriculum and project lines.

Taxonomies / Tagging
It is an important feature to provide users the ability to add descriptive words and phrases to a file. These
tags can be part of a structured and predefined list of classification tags such as a taxonomy or a user
defined set of tags (social tagging) which is often called folksonomy.

Multi-User Permissions
Each organization usually has more than one level of user. There may be a user who can create something,
another who can edit it, someone else who may need to approve it and then the end users who can access it
or publish and distribute it. These different roles have different permissions and often are not just site-wide
but also linked to categories. So it is important to consider the level of permissions that a repository
provides.

Audit controls
Who did what when? When a repository provides reporting on uploads, edits, deletes, downloads and on
any other activity it enables a greater level of overview on the success of the repository in the organization.

Mobile Access
Some repositories provide a custom mobile interface for accessing and submitting to the repository. This
may be an iPhone or android app, or a webapp which supports multiple devices.

© Gavin Henrick – Solutions Consultant – http://www.somerandomthoughts.com 11 


Repository Feature Matrix
This section shows the details of the repositories mentioned earlier in a matrix report for each feature with
different levels of support

 Yes Available (Y)
 Blank – unknown or not specified

To fit the table on the page, I have grouped the repositories into 3 different sections

 Default and Generic repositories
 Default and specific repositories
 Custom repositories

Default and Generic repositories
Alfresco Box.net Dropbox GoogleDocs AmazonS3 WebDAV
Web Upload/Download Y Y Y Y Y Y
WebDAV/FTP/CIFS Y Y Y
Check-in/out Y Y
Version Control Y Y Y Y
Workflow Y Y
Metadata Y Y Y
Categories/ Structures Y Y Y Y Y
Taxonomies / Tagging Y Y Y
Multi-User Permissions Y Y Y Y Y
Audit Controls Y Y
Mobile Access Y Y Y Y
Task Management Y Y

Default and Specific repositories
Flickr Flick Public Merlot.org Picasa Wikimedia YouTube
WebDAV/FTP/CIFS
Check-in/out
Version Control Y Y
Workflow Y
Metadata Y Y Y Y Y Y
Categories/ Structures Y Y Y Y Y Y
Taxonomies / Tagging Y Y Y Y Y Y
Multi-User Permissions Y Y Y
Audit Controls Y
Mobile Access Y Y Y Y Y
Task Management Y Y



Custom repositories
ELIS Equella HIVE Kaltura SharePoint Amvonet
WebDAV/FTP/CIFS Y Y Y
Check-in/out Y Y Y
Version Control Y Y Y Y
Workflow Y Y Y Y Y
Metadata Y Y Y Y Y
Categories/ Structures Y Y Y Y Y Y
Taxonomies / Tagging Y Y Y Y Y
Multi-User Permissions Y Y Y Y Y Y
Audit Controls Y Y Y Y Y Y
Mobile Access Y Y
Task Management Y Y Y Y

Some thoughts
For the most part all content repositories have a good stable set of features which can be used to help input
and manage the content that you want to store. It is important however to consider what type of content
you want to store and which features you want before deciding on a solution.

Although some of the free or cheap solutions do not offer the level of features that most generic and custom
repositories do, they may be suitable for your requirements - for some a complicated workflow will be extra
work that isn’t needed or wanted.

On the other hand, the premium solutions are most likely going to offer you the options you need when
your requirements are complicated and require strong audit controls and enhanced workflows and
metadata.

But the repository itself is just one part of the puzzle, how it works with Moodle is the other part.



6. What are the features of the integration with Moodle?
Types of Integration options
This section discusses the types of features that the integration with Moodle can offer; what they do and
don’t do. It also includes the four headings for how this integration can manifest itself in Moodle.

It would be fair to say that the features mentioned could be
further split into sourcing content and management of content.
However, as most repository integrations do not provide
management of content features through the integration
interface I felt that keeping them together was the best
approach.

Browse repository
This feature is based on being able to browse the repository
content and structures from inside Moodle. The browsing
ideally would be using the structures that have been set up
within the repository which may be curriculum or subject
based. Does the integration expose the repository to be browsed
Flickr Search options in Moodle
by the categories, or a curriculum structure, tags, or a defined
taxonomy or does it just provide a flat approach to displaying the content?

Search repository
There is more than one way to search for files, and this feature relates to the type of search options the
integration allows. Is it keyboard based searching or does it provide more advanced searching by category,
keyword, dates and perhaps even file size? Does it allow compound logical searching “Apple and Banana
but not Oranges”?

Copy file into Moodle
The best practice in storing files from repositories is allowing them to be copied into the Moodle course
resource/activity so that the course backups are complete in themselves and there is no extra latency or
logic required before delivering the file locally. Is repository->Moodle copying possible or is it just linking?

Public link to file in repository
Although it is best practice to copy the content or file into Moodle sometimes this is not possible. One such
example is a YouTube video or another is where the license does not allow copying so there is only the
possibility to embed or link to the external content publically. Does the integration offer this option or
must you copy the content into Moodle.

Dynamic pull of a file in repository
If the content is stored in a secure repository which requires authentication by the teacher does the
repository integration allow for linking in such a way that the file is pulled over and delivered to users just
when it is requested and not stored within Moodle permanently? This method would not require users to
have an account on the repository.

Private Link to a file in repository


If the content is stored in a secure repository which requires authentication by the teacher and user, does
the repository integration allow for linking in such a way that the user is required to have an account and
authenticate (directly or with single-sign on) to the repository. This method requires users to have an
account on the repository.

Upload into repository
Although copying or linking a file from the repository is common, it is much less common to have the
option to upload a file from Moodle to the repository, or just directly to the repository through the Moodle
web interface.

Replace file in repository
Similar to uploading, being able to replace an existing repository stored file from within Moodle is not
common. Does the repository offer the option to upload a file from Moodle to replace or update the existing
file in the repository through the Moodle integration?

Delete file in repository
Although most repository APIs allow you to copy a file down from the repository into Moodle, few enable
you to control the files on the server or delete the file that is there on the repository through the Moodle
User Interface.

File Picker Interface (Repository Plugin)
As people will be adding files to Moodle 2 mostly through the Moodle File Picker interface - this criteria is
for recording whether the content in the repository is available through the file picker or not. The alternate
is usually the next option.

Custom Resource type
Some repositories integrate by providing a custom resource option rather than going through the File
picker. There could be many reasons for this including the complexity of the integration. This criteria is to
record whether they provide this option or not.

Assignment Type
Some repositories have an assignment type included in the integration. This can be where the files
uploaded go into and are stored in the repository rather than the Moodle server, or where the assignment is
selecting the files in the repository as the assignment.

Block options
Some of the repositories provide extra controls such as Workflow task management through a block within
Moodle. This exposes extra features from within the repository into the Moodle user interface.



Integration Feature Matrix
This section shows the details of the repositories mentioned earlier in a matrix report for each feature with
different levels of support

 Yes native feature (Y)
 Blank – unknown or not specified

To fit the table on the page, I have grouped the repositories into 3 different sections

 Default and Generic repositories
 Default and specific repositories
 Custom repositories

Default and Generic repositories
Alfresco Box.net Dropbox GoogleDocs AmazonS3 WebDAV
Browse Y Y Y Y
Search Y Y Y Y
Copy File Y Y Y Y Y Y
Public link
Dynamic link
Private link
Upload File
Replace File
Delete File
File Picker Y Y Y Y Y Y
Custom Resource
Assignment Type
Block Option

Default and Specific repositories
Flickr Flick Public Merlot.org Picasa Wikimedia YouTube
Browse Y
Search Y Y Y Y Y Y
Copy File Y Y Y Y Y
Public link Y Y Y
Dynamic link
Private link
Upload File
Replace File
Delete File
File Picker Y Y Y Y Y Y
Custom Resource
Assignment Type
Block Option

Custom repositories



ELIS Equella HIVE Kaltura** SharePoint Amvonet
Browse Y Y Y Y Y Y
Search Y Y Y Y
Copy File Y Y Y
Public link Y Y Y Y
Dynamic link Y Y Y
Private link Y Y Y Y
Upload File Y Y Y Y
Replace File Y Y Y
Delete File Y Y Y
File Picker Y Y Y Y
Custom Resource Y
Assignment Type Y
Block Option Y Y Y

** This is based on the Moodle 1.9 integration and expected integration of Moodle 2. No reply on
clarification was received from Kaltura.

Some thoughts
So as you can see from the tables, most repositories just allow search access to find the content in the
repository and enable the user to copy it into Moodle 2.

Some do provide more advanced integration, but it is usually down to the type of repository, and the
reasons it is being used.

For example:

 YouTube streams videos from its website. So the integration with Moodle cannot copy the video in,
but provides a slick way to search and link (and embed) the video into the content.
 Flickr allows users manage the images on its website. But because it is just an image the integration
into Moodle facilitates copying or linking to the file, as both are possible technically.
 Equella provides strong DRM and license management for the content, so those who need those
features want the content stored and delivered from Equella and so the integration options are
aimed at satisfying those needs.
 ELIS (which has Alfresco behind it) provides a range of integration options to cater for a variety of
use cases and hence offers options of delivering content from repository or copying into Moodle.
 The content in Amvonet is mainly used for delivery of the lessons themselves within the virtual
classroom with the exception of the SCORM object, so all the integration options and capabilities
are focused on this.

So when considering which repository solution to use, you not only need to understand its own native
features, but the type of integration it has and whether it meets your use case or not.



7. Moodle 2 Private Files
One of the repository types in Moodle 2 is the Private Files. This is
a private files are provided to each user for uploading and managing
some files.

This is a feature that once enabled is made available to all users,
students, teachers, admins and managers.

Users can perform a few tasks such as:

 Upload & Download files
 Create directories
 Zip directories
Private Files Block
 Rename Files

Usage
Of course, is everyone going to use it? That’s going to be hard to tell.

Workplace
It’s a safe place to store files for a student, a “cloud based USB stick” that they won’t lose, so perhaps it will
be good place to keep the versions of an assignment while they are working
on it.

Mobile App – Student usage
The emergence of the native iPhone app for Moodle (My Moodle) will
probably lead to a lot more usage. If you enable the mobile web services to
allow users use the app, users will be able to upload images, video and
recorded audio directly into their Private Files repository space in Moodle.

With this feature, there can be a lot of types of courses where students may
be encouraged to take a photo, or video or something, or record audio and
upload it and link into a forum, wiki, or assignment in Moodle.

Think of the use cases for even just a few areas:

 Architecture
Upload screen options
 Engineering
 Real estate
 Art and Design and Printing
 Culinary, Food and Hospitality
 Music and Drama
 Languages



Mobile App – Teacher usage
Now that you have considered the potential student usage, you can also add in
how a teacher may now use it, if they can just take a short video, picture of
something and upload it for later usage.

How about a teacher assessing assignments which are created / delivered offline
(paper, or physical things), they could record the audio feedback on their phone,
directly upload and when back at their computer fill in the assignment grade
and link in the audio file.

Decisions
The default space is 100 MB (104857600 bytes). This is set with the User quota
(userquota) setting which is found in Administration->Security->Site policies
in the Settings block.
Upload Audio
If you have 10,000 active accounts with 100MB each by default that is a potential
extra space requirement of nearly 1 Terabyte (10,000*100MB). What does this mean?

So every time you take a backup of your Moodle site, you have to consider the extra space your Moodle site
might take up. So depending how you do backups and how often this could bring a small or significant
extra hit on your resources.

So there are two fundamental questions to be answered for this feature if you want it used, namely:

1. Do we enable it for students and staff?
2. What space setting do we enable?

To enable or not enable
If you decide to not provide it to teachers or students then all those nice use cases that you have thought
about while reading the Usage section above are not possible and the coolest feature of the Mobile app is
not available to them either.

If you hold it back from teachers and students then you take away one of the nicest and easiest ways for
them to add content into their Moodle courses.

It is possible to use the capabilities and prohibit students from accessing the private files feature. If you
hold it back from students, where do you recommend they keep their files online? Do you recommend
Dropbox or Box.net or somewhere else? Or perhaps you already have Mahara for this. Unfortunately the
mobile app, at least currently, only goes into the private files area.

It is something to think about.

How much is enough?
If you consider the use cases presented above and the excellent usage that a teacher or student may get out
of this new feature, how much space is useful? How long will 100mb last to a student recording short videos
of drama performances or a teacher recording feedback for 200 student assignments?



Infinite space isn’t possible, and although space is one of the cheapest resources for servers, with live, and
backups it multiplies.

Some options
There are many shades of options available, and these are just two such options.

Wait and see
If the feature is made available and is not promoted, it will probably grow organically. As people find it and
figure it out it will get use. If the iPhone app takes off and people start uploading you should be able see and
track the impact pretty quickly.

Plan and Promote
If you promote the availability of the private files area to students, and suggest how it can be used (iPhone
app, and for storing files for assignments) it will probably grow faster. So you will need to plan for the max
usage sometime and monitor it closely to see how much is actually used.

If you promote it to teachers as a way of getting content and audio feedback to students into Moodle, and
as something they can further encourage students to use to submit multi-media, then the usage may grow
quickly so planning needs to be more advanced.

Final thoughts
This repository feature in Moodle 2 is a great opportunity to have students more engaged with the learning
environment and for organisations to assist teachers to see more options for learning possibilities within
their courses.



8. Getting files into a Moodle course
This section walks through the processes for uploading files and adding one file into Moodle and uploading
and adding in multiple files.

To provide some context, it also deals with the workflows as they were in Moodle 1.9 and as they are now in
Moodle 2.

Moodle 1.9
In the times before implementing a content repository, users of Moodle got files into Moodle one of two
basic ways, through the web interface via upload, or via FTP into the Moodledata directory.

Web interface – Moodle 1.9.x

In Moodle 1.9.13+ a user would follow the next steps to get a single file into Moodle and linked on the
course.

1. Click on Add a resource
2. Select Link to a file or website
3. Type in the resource name /course link text
4. Click on Choose or upload a file

File upload screen on Moodle 1.9
5. Click on Upload a file
6. Click Choose file
7. Select the file they want to upload
8. Click on Upload this file
9. Click on Choose under actions for the uploaded file
10. Click on Save and return to course

FTP – Moodle 1.9.x

The alternate method was to use FTP to upload the file, which would usually involve the following steps



1. Open the FTP client
2. Connect to the Moodle site
3. Browse to the correct folder for the course in the moodledata structure
4. Drag/drop or upload the file to the Moodle site
5. Swap to the web browser with the course showing
10. Click on Choose under actions for the required file

In both these cases the process is simple and direct. First get the file into Moodle and then link to it/use it.

Linking bulk uploaded files – Moodle 1.9.x

However, when a lot of files were being uploaded (usually via FTP or with a zip file into Moodle where it
was unzipped), this changed things. The workflow

5. Click on Choose under actions for the required file

So although the first file was 10 or 11 steps, bulk uploading made it a lot faster to link in the subsequent files
so making the overall process neater.

Moodle 2
The new file picker and file system behind Moodle 2 changed the workflow for users. The upload of a file
was linked to where it was being used, removing the old logic of “upload then link/use”. So what impact
does this have?

Web interface – Moodle 2.x

In Moodle 2+ a user would follow the next steps to get a single file into Moodle and linked on the course.

2. Select File
4. Provide the Description
5. Click on Add
6. Click on Upload a file repository option
7. Click Choose file
8. Select the file they want to upload
9. Click on Upload this file


This is 10 steps again, with the key differences are that a text description is now required but the “choose”

File picker on Moodle 2

when uploaded is automated and gone. So this will take a small bit longer.

FTP account – Moodle 2.x

There is no native FTP upload into the Moodle course like it was in Moodle 1.9.x. However if the File
System repository plugin is enabled and the server is configured to allow ftp into the correct folder, FTP
can work. The Files are not going into the Moodle course, but instead into an “on-server” simple file
repository.

It should be noted that giving FTP (or sFTP) access is a system administration task which is done outside of
the Moodle site.

The new method to use FTP to upload the file would involve the following steps

1. Open the FTP client
2. Connect to the Moodle site with the repository user credentials
3. Browse to the correct folder
4. Drag/drop or upload the file to the repository folder
5. Swap to the web browser with the course showing
7. Select File
9. Type in the Description


10. Click on Add
11. Click on the folder name of the file repository option
12. Click on the file they want to include

The process here is longer for one file, as the user needs to fill out the description and also select the
repository type to include the file - there are extra steps from Moodle 1.9.

Linking bulk uploaded files – Moodle 2.x

The FTP process however, also benefits when a number of files are being added at once. When a lot of files
were being uploaded via FTP to this file system repository this changed things big time. As the file picker
remembers your last repository choice each time you go back in, the workflow becomes

2. Select File
4. Type in the Description
5. Click on Add
6. Click on the file they want to include

So this time it is one extra step with the description, however it is still nearly half as long as the single file
uploaded via FTP.

Thoughts
So it comes down to whether the forcing of providing the extra description is worth the impact on the
workflow. Once the users are used to the process I believe they will embrace this and new users will have no
problem.

Ultimately, I believe that the extra repositories that are now just one click away once configured, make up
for any initial impact.



9. About the Author
Gavin Henrick is a solutions consultant based in Dublin, Ireland who works with assisting organisations to
implement a range of open source learning technologies including Moodle and Mahara. He facilitates
project consultancy and training workshops on e-learning project rollouts and upgrade strategies.

Gavin has worked with technology in business, learning and development for over 10 years. He has been
working with Moodle, Mahara, DSpace and other open-source applications for the last 4 years.

Gavin currently focuses on supporting organisations with e-learning projects including Moodle 2 rollouts
and upgrade strategies through project consultancy and training workshops.

Gavin recently co-authored the book for Moodle 2.0 for Business Beginner's Guide with Jason Cole and
Jeanne Cole. This was published by Packt Publishing in May 2011.

Gavin blogs at (http://www.somerandomthoughts.com) where he regularly provides information on
Moodle including reviews of community created plugins and themes.

He is a regular speaker at a number of Moodlemoots and conferences on the use of Moodle focusing on
practical examples of usage.

For more information:

Email – gavin@somerandomthoughts.com

Blog – http://www.somerandomthoughts.com

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/ghenrick

LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/gavinhenrick

Slideshare – http://www.slideshare.net/ghenrick

Book - http://www.moodleforbusinessbook.com/



10.Creative Commons Copyright

Please feel free to copy, share and reference this e-book. All we ask is that you acknowledge Gavin Henrick
as the source and link to http://www.somerandomthoughts.com when citing the publication.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
License.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.somerandomthoughts.com

To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/



Appendix 1 – Some repository settings in Moodle 2
Common repository settings in Moodle 2
There are some common settings which apply to all repository plugins, and these are managed in the
Common repository settings page.

Settings Explanation
Cache Expire This setting by default is set to 120 seconds. This is the amount of
time that file listings are cached locally when a user is browsing
external repositories.

Allow external links By default this is enabled. Some repositories allow you to link to the
item in their site. This enables a user to choose if they want the
media copied into Moodle or not (assuming the repository offers
that option).

Legacy course files in new courses Where existing courses may have a need to access the legacy course
files option, you need to enable this if you want the feature for new
courses. This is not advisable.



Repository enabling options
In Moodle 2 a repository plugin can have 3 settings when enabled:

 Enabled and visible
 Enabled and hidden
 Disabled - default setting

The difference between the first and second is subtle but specific.

When the plugin is Enabled and visible it appears in the file picker and can be used to pick/, however when
it is Enabled and hidden it does not appear in the File Picker.



Appendix 2 – List of criteria used for comparisons

Actual repository feature

 Web Upload/Download
 WebDAV/FTP/CIFS
 Check-in/out
 Version Control
 Workflow
 Metadata
 Categories/ Structures
 Taxonomies / Tagging
 Organisational Structures
 Audit Controls

Integration feature through Moodle interface

 Browse Through Categories
 Search via keywords/tags
 Copy File into Moodle
 Public link to file in repository
 Dynamic link to pull file from repository on -demand
 Private link to secure file in repository
 Upload File into repo
 Replace File in repo
 Delete File in repo
 Appears in File Picker
 Has a Custom Resource
 Has an Assignment Type
 Has a specific Block Options



Appendix 3 - Sources

The information gathered for this paper was taken from the various websites and documentation for each of
the different services and the integration module as a best effort to detail the features and functionality.

The following are tables of information with the links to the primary websites for each of the services.
Where possible, confirmation of the features of the custom repositories was sought from the specific
organisations and companies, most responded with clarification, not all did.

Default Repositories
External Systems Repositories Description
Alfresco repository http://www.alfresco.com
Box.net http://www.box.net
Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/
Flickr http://www.flickr.com/
Flickr Public http://www.flickr.com/
Google Docs http://docs.google.com/
Merlot.org http://www.merlot.org
Picasa Web Album http://picasa.google.com/
Amazon S3 http://aws.amazon.com/s3/
WebDAV repository n/a
Wikimedia http://www.wikimedia.org/
YouTube Videos http://www.youtube.com
Custom Repositories
Repository Company Contact Details
ELIS (Alfresco) Remote-Learner Mike Churchward
http://www.remote-learner.net/elis

Equella Pearson / Equella Simon Wilkinson
http://www.equella.com

HIVE Exact Learning Solutions
http://www.exact-
learning.com/en/products/harvestroad-hive-digital-
repository

Kaltura Kaltura Corp
http://www.kaltura.org (community version)
http://www.kaltura.com (enterprise version)

SharePoint BFC Network Alex Pearce
http://www.bfcnetworks.com/

Amvonet Amvonet Justin Williams
http://www.amvonet.com/



Appendix 4 – Further Reading

The following are some sites, blogs articles and presentations which have some useful information on this
area.

Moodle Docs

 http://docs.moodle.org/20/en/Repositories
 http://docs.moodle.org/20/en/Managing_repositories

www.SomeRandomThoughts.com (my blog)

 http://www.somerandomthoughts.com/blog/2011/09/09/official-moodle-mobile-app-for-iphone-
released/ (native iPhone app for Moodle)
 http://www.somerandomthoughts.com/blog/2011/07/28/moodlemoot-new-zealand-2011-
repositories-a-road-less-travelled/ (repositories presentation from NZ moodlemoot 2011)
 http://www.somerandomthoughts.com/blog/2010/06/15/ftp-files-into-moodle-2-0-with-the-
repository-api/ (how to ftp files into Moodle 2 for using in courses)
 http://www.somerandomthoughts.com/blog/2010/05/02/repositories/ (overview)

http://www.markdrechsler.com/

 http://www.markdrechsler.com/?p=234 (Moodle 2.0 File Management)
 http://www.markdrechsler.com/?p=696 (Mahara as a content repository)
 http://www.markdrechsler.com/?cat=28 (Moodle 2.0 files – an inconvenient truth)


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