Release notes for WeBWorK 2.18

This article is under construction. Use the information herein with caution until this message is removed.

Note that WeBWorK 2.18 has not yet been released. Currently this page is a work in progress.

New WeBWorK Features

• The overall layout of WeBWorK has changed a bit with the sidebar navigation menu scrolling independently of the main content.
• The LTI module has been updated to support version 1.3, also called LTI Advantage tools, but LTI version 1.1 can still be used.
• A new status called "observer" has been added. This can be used for TAs and professors or others to ensure that they don't show up in scoring, statistics and student progress views.
• Gateway quizzes are now called Tests. In addition, there are other changes:
  • (Are there other notable quiz changes?)
• The Student Progress page has the option for 'Time remaining' for tests.
• Producing a hardcopy has been revamped. It now uses the exam class from latex. (Update documentation for hardcopy?)
• There is the ability to save/retrieve data within pg problems on a user-set level. (Needs documentation)
• Essay answers
• The date/time widget (flatpicker) now includes a "Now" and "Today" button to set the date/time to now or adjust the date only respectively.
• The PG problem editor improvements
  • There is a new format to include a source editor and viewer in a side-by-side manner.
  • The update/new version tab options are now called Save/Save As...
  • There is the option to save backups for pg problems. There is a new Course Configuration and options in the "Revert" tab. (documentation?)
• The Stats page has been rewritten for layout and clarity.
• When using the problem grader, there is now an option for using points (default), percent or both. This is a new options in the Problem Answers tab of the Course Configuration.

New PG Features

• New Macros:
  • plotly3D (documentation)
  • random names with pronouns (documentation)
  • MathObject checkboxes (Need a LINK)
  • parserRadioMultiAnswer--this allows for a mixture of radio buttons and within each, other inputs. (Need a LINK)
  • Non-decimal base context (documentation)

• Updates to existing macros
• niceTables.pl has been completely overhauled.
  • New features:...
  • Changes?
• Labels for checkbox/radio answers (documentation)
• The graphtool now has a number line mode (documentation)
• DropDown option to Popup macro. (documentation)

• Changes to Units:
  • degrees (celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin) and mathquill
  • new units: angstroms, microsecond, nanosecond, picometre, femtometre, tera electron-volt, Megawatt, milliwatt, milliCoulomb, microCoulomb, nanoCoulomb, milli-ampere, milli-tesla, Becquerel.
• Note: the AnswerFormatHelp macro has been deprecated. Instead, the built-in helpLink should be used instead. (LINKS!!)

• Mathquill changes
• AnswerHelpFormat macro has been deprecated. Authors should now use helpLink function instead.
• unionInclude macro has been deprecated. This was used for random problems. The built-in XXX should be used instead.

Security/Advanced Features

The backend of WeBWorK has been relying on apache and mod_perl for nearly two decades. However, mod_perl has not been updated since 2011 and many linux distros are no longer supporting mod_perl in an easy way. The server part of WeBWorK is now functioning with Mojolicious, which includes a standalone web server (hypnotoad) written completely in perl.

Mojolicious has some nice modern route handling features...

(Include some security features?)

(Link to upgrade instructions)

Upgrade Instructions

• First update the webwork2 and pg code. For this run

  > cd /opt/webwork/webwork2

  > git fetch origin

  > git checkout main

  > git pull

  > cd /opt/webwork/pg

  > git fetch origin

  > git checkout main

  > git pull