Release notes for WeBWorK 2.5.1

                                     WeBWorK                                    
                         Online Homework Delivery System                        
                                  Version 2.5.1                                

                    Copyright 2000-2012, The WeBWorK Project                    
                              All rights reserved.                              

Details
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Beta release date: August, 2012

Github repository:  https://github.com/openwebwork
Modules:    webwork2   pg

 IMPORTANT!! Be sure to inspect changes in the configuration files when upgrading to this release.

Community Developments as of June 2012

• Doxygen is now used to manage the POD documentation (thanks to Djun Kim and Jason Aubrey)
• Github and git are now being used to manage WeBWorK development. The switch over took some time but it seems to be paying off in terms of flexibility.
  • The goal is to encourage more participation in the development of WeBWorK ( see how to become a developer pages )
• A blog aggregator has been installed at https://webwork.maa.org/planet which will collect blog posts about webwork development and webwork use.
  • Send email to Jason Aubrey or Mike Gage to have your blog url added to our list
  • How to include your blog in the webwork.maa.org planet aggregator.
• The localization project continues but needs a volunteer to help coordinate efforts. The link is to a blog post that gives detailed news about the localization effort.

New features for 2.5.0

• Highlights
  • MathAchievements module added. When turned on it provides "gamefication" for WeBWorK.
  • New config files that once set up will simplify upgrades in the future.
  • New features for Admin courses editor page.
  • Experimental editor pages: HmwkEditor1,2;,ClasslistEditor1,2; PGProblemEditor1,2,3
  • Basic support for the ipad.
• Configuration files
  • configuration files split into prelocal.conf, global.conf.dist,postlocal.conf ** this makes incremental upgrading of webwork2 much easier since the configuration files will not in general need to be rewritten.
  • VERSION file indicates the current version of WeBWorK which is printed in the footer of each page.
• MathAchievements module added.
• Admin pages:
  • Ability to show/hide courses from the command line
  • Replace email registration of WeBWorK site with link to the MAA registration form.
• Editor pages
  • There are new (beta) editors for homework, classlists, librarybrowser and PGproblemeditor.
  • There is a setting in postlocal.conf which allows you to determine which links to editors are displayed in the left margin. (You can hide the more experimental browsers if you wish.)
  • Homework editor pages
  • Classlist editor pages
  • PGProblemEditor pages
  • LibraryBrowser pages
    • There are now three alternatives for browsing the collection of problems (WeBWorK Open Problem Library or OPL for short. Formerly called NPL)

• Add basic support for using WeBWorK on the ipad. This makes WeBWorK useable on an ipad and iphone but it has not yet been optimized for ipad use.
• Dates, Time and Timezones
  • pop up menu date entry for some (not all) date entry in HmwkEditor2
• Localization
• Authorization
  • Add module for authorizing using the shibboleth module.
  • LTI standard interface installed allowing for WeBWorK integration into Course Management Systems using that standard. (thanks to Bill Wheeler)
• More changes under the hood
  • webwork webservice: Upgrades to the to serve LibraryBrowser
  • webwork webservice: Allow option to assign homework when user is added via web service (John Hsu at UBC)
  • webwork webservice: Allow course creation via webservice (John Hsu at UBC)