24 June 2011, 9:45

We're using mahara with moodle and trying to use it to replace the moodle forums 9plus later the cv, portfolio stuff etc)

We have created a link from moodle into mahara that link directly to the forum page. However new users aren't able to post into the froums untill they click on another tab tab and then join the group. Overall this means a lot of clicking and has meant that the fourms aren't really being used that well.

We'd like to find a way to at least automatically assign users to the forum group when then log in

26 June 2011, 0:18

Hello Dan,

Forums only exist within groups in Mahara and thus, a user needs to be a member of a group first. If you want to ensure that your students are a member of a group and thus see the forums (though they can always unsubscribe from them), you can set up a controlled membership group and place the students in it. However, that necessitates that they have logged in at least once.

We (Catalyst IT) are in the process of creating the functionality to provision groups and their members via a CSV file. This functionality will make it into Mahara 1.5.

Cheers

Kristina

27 June 2011, 2:52

I've been playing and have come up with a different approach centering around:

SELECT * FROM usr WHERE usr.id not in (SELECT DISTINCT member from group_member where group_member.group='10')

Where 10 is the group number of the forum. The idea is so set up a cron job running every few minutes that uses the above SQL to fine all users not in group 10. Then I use their ID and add them to the group in the group_member table. possibly I'll subsribe them the forum automatically as well.

When they have been added i'll then send out an email welcoming them to the forum and including a link into the forum and to a page with additional information on using the forums and the rest of Mahara.

I'd welcome any thoughts on this method.