Ability for the administrator to set default homepage

[Urpo Karhula]

Hello,

I would like to see an feature where system administrators could set and define what blocks/text is shown to the users on the first/homepage after the login. The page should be static so users coudn't modify it.

[Urpo Karhula (urpokarhula)]

Hello,

Administrators should also have "reset everyones homepage to default settings" -button.

[Robert Lyon (robertl-9)]

Hi Urpo,

Normal practice allows a user to have permission to edit their own pages.

So here are some thoughts on how it could be possible to make the dashboard not editable for a normal user

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To make a dashboard page for a user not be editable by them one would need to change a few things:

1) The 'view' (for pages) database table has a column 'locked' - this is usually used for group pages but could be used for this issue too.

So on creation of new user we somehow set their dashboard page to be locked by default

2) The $USER->ca_edit_view() function would need some new rules so that it returns false for locked pages if the viewer of the page is a not an admin/institution admin user (eg not masquerading)

3) The dashboard page would need to hide the 'Edit dashboard' button if the dashboard is locked as viewer is not a site/institution admin

Cheers

Robert

[Urpo Karhula (urpokarhula)]

Hello,

I'm experienced Moodle administrator and Mahara is often used with Moodle and in Moodle users cannot directly edit the "front page" which is shown right after login.

Only if they are forwarded to "dashboard/my home" -page (admins can decide this over general front page) they can customize it but administrators can decide which elements of dashboard/my home are static and shown to all. Users still can add block / rearragen courses they participate in on it.

I think this all should be made able to do with UI/settings without any coding/database skills required since I and many other don't have none :)

[Kristina Hoeppner (kris-hoeppner)]

Hi Urpo,

Mahara does not have a separate "Site home" like Moodle does, but has the dashboard page.

As site admin, you can already define the default dashboard elements that are displayed to new users. After that, like anything else in a user's portfolio, they can change those elements.

Mahara serves a different purpose than Moodle and learners should have full control over their space. However, Mahara is used increasingly in institutional assessment contexts where institutions may want to have more control over the portfolio. In order to still allow for the flexibility, any locking would need to be optional not just on the site but also institution level (in the end) as Mahara is multitenanted and one institution may not be as prescriptive than another.

Do you want to give this change a go and submit a feature for Mahara that we can look into?

[Kristina Hoeppner (kris-hoeppner)]

As for the resetting of the homepage, the wishlist item is at #1732380.