In ActivateLMS you can add a dynamic document directory to you organisational unit. These dynamic directories can be used to show different basic documents between different organisation. An example could be that one organisation A primarily consists of park rangers from Canada, while another organisation B primarily consists of park rangers from USA. Managers of A and B might want to upload different documents (standard procedures etc. since the rules for national parks are (probably) different in USA and Canada). These documents can be accessed through the learner page at all times by the park rangers (they do not need enrollments). These documents can be a .pdf, .doc, .txt, weblinks and links to other learning activities (users will be automatically enrolled to learning activities, if they're not already enrolled). These resources will all be clickable and accessible with related icons. It is possible to put additional folders in your dynamic folder to organise your content.
Please note that at the moment you need to contact us to set this up, since configuration of this feature needs to be done through FTP. Also you need some software to connect to your FTP. we recommend the free application FileZilla, which is also the software we'll be using in this example.
After you have gotten your FTP information you can now set up your dynamic folders. Although there will be some technical stuff going on, it is quite possible to get your dynamic folders working. Please note that all content should be put in the "_docs" folder in your Activate LMS and this folder will work as the root folder of all dynamic documents.
- At first we'll make new folder for our restricted content in FileZilla in the _docs folder and eventually create or upload a file to this folder. Now you can select and open the _docs folder.
Now you can right click inside the content of the _docs folder and ask to add a new directory.
Click Create directory and name the new folder to your liking. I've called it something really innovative: "TestFolder". Finish by clicking the OK button.
- Now we need to upload some documents to our folder. If you want to upload a .doc, .pdf or .txt just upload the file to the relevant folder (can be done by drag and dropping the relevant file into the folder in FileZilla). Please note that if you want to upload special documents (links for learning activities and web links) we need to create a new file to represent the link. In the relevant folder you can now create a file with Notepad (or similar) with the name that your users should see and end it with ".ini". If you want to add a link to YouTube, you can for example name the file "YouTube.ini".
- In this example we'll make a link to both a website and a learning activity. This new file has different content according to whether it's a link to learning activity or a web link. Please open your file and customise your file to your needs. Here's how the files should be setup:
- Web links needs to look like this:
[InternetShortcut]
URL=After "URL=" you can put whatever the link is. If you want to link to a movie on YouTube, your file could look like this:
[InternetShortcut]
URL= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc - Links to learning activities needs to looks totally different:
[LaunchActivity]
ActivityID=
Tracking=
After "ActivityID=" you should put the ID of the learning activity. This ID can be found under the details of the learning activity through Resources > Learning Activities > the learning activity.
After "Tracking=" you can put "true" or "false". True means that you want tracking for reports and the possibility for users to continues where they left, false means you don't want any tracking or history remembering how the user went. I wanted a link to the learning activity with ID 8260 and I wanted tracking, so my file ended up looking like this:
[LaunchActivity]
ActivityID=12105
Tracking=true - When saving your file in notepad, you need to select Save as and select file type as All files and put .ini after your files name. This will save the file as a .ini file.
- When you're done customising and saving your file you can drag and drop it to the relevant folder. I've uploaded both a link to a website and a learning activity.
- Web links needs to look like this:
- Now you cab enter the administration (or manager) tab of your ActivateLMS. Please note that color and style can differ, but headlines, links etc. are located and organised the same way in all systems.
- Press the Resources button on the main toolbar.
- Now click on Organisation.
- Navigate or search for to the organisational unit you wish to open. Navigation is done by expanding "+" until the right organisation has been identified. Searching can be done in the textfield next to search. Please note that if more than three parent organisations are present, you must choose an parent organisation in the "(please select organisation)" dropdown menu.
- Now you can click on the organisations associated Edit.
- Now you can click on Advanced Settings under the Settings tab.
- Here you can specify the path of the organisations dynamic document directory. Please note that the path must is relative to the _docs folder. In this example we have made a folder named "TestFolder". Finish by clicking the Update button.
- It is now possible to upload additional content to your dynamic document directory. You can also check out the content in the Documents tab. Please note that you need association to the relevant organisation to see the content.
