BGU Physics Department

How To Manage A Course Site

Getting Started

• The first thing to do when you manage a course site, is to have a way to log into the department server. this could be done in two ways:
  
  • Using the department's computer (with a Linux operating system)
  • Using an ftp program. we recommend FileZilla or SSH
• Once you are logged in the physics server, locate your course folder and check you have permissions (i.e. you can edit the files in the folder/overwrite them). we usually ensure permissions before semester starts, but if this is not the case, you are welcome to contact us (specify your user name when you address us)
• You should discover what is your course status: regular, solo or reinforced
• In your course folder there should be the following files/folders:
  • CourseData.txt
  • roster.html
  • messages.txt
  • Index.html
  • ExercData.txt (only for "solo" courses)
  • CoursePlan.html (only if you don't have a course plan written by Vaadat Horaa)
  Don't be worried about that long list, its actually pretty simple. first you need to edit only 3 files: CourseData.txt , roster.html and Index.html. u can click on each of the files to see how to edit it.
  a link for sample files to download can be found here

there are three different kinds of courses:

• solo - a course with no parallel courses, the site manager is also responsible for the exercise table (home and class)
• regular - course with parallel courses, the exercise table will be managed by the course coordinator
• reinforced - like a regular course, but in a reinforced course there is more time for the tirgul, so there can be more exercises than the regular courses

in regular and reinforced course the exercise are the same for all the courses in the group (with extra exercises for the reinforced group) the exercise table is managed by the course coordinator (one of the courses T.A)
the course type is determined by vaadat horaah (so no regular course can go solo by is own choice)
whenever a course have more than 1 parallel group, the course will have a course coordinator. the course coordinator is responsible for all the exercises in course. it doesn't mean he have to write all the exercises. just to make sure they are published. the course coordinator will have a folder /Coordinator in is group (i.e. the coordinator of physics2B will have a folder in COURSES/Physics2B/Coordinator). in that folder he will have the ExercData.txt file, and whatever files he want to put (usually solutions for exercises) Very important notice: DO NOT change filenames. in general, try to avoid from changing the file formats as well. a bad file will cause problems in the site. if, for some reason the file is damaged, you can download new files from here
please, follow the instructions for managing each of the files., make sure you don't change capitals etc. the course data file contains (as u probably guessed) the data for the course.
in each of the fields, there should be a space (only one) between the field and the input (i.e. Course: Physics2B is a good input while Course:Physics2B is a bad one)

• Course: Course name (i.e. Course name: Physics 2B reinforced)
• Group: the department that is taking the course (i.e. Group: Communication Engineering and Biomedical Engineering)
• Points: (i.e. Points: 3.5)
• Course Number: (i.e. Course Number: 203-1-1471)
• Link to Shnaton: (i.e. Link to Shnaton: http://bgu4u.bgu.ac.il/pls/scwp/%21sc.AnnualSearchResults?on_course_department=203&on_course_degree_level=1&on_course=1471)
• Semester: (i.e. Semester: summer 2010)
• Course Type: solo/regular/reinforced (i.e. Course Type: solo)
• Upload: true/false - see upload section for using this feature (i.e. upload: false)
• Submission Folder: the submission folder for auto submission (i.e. Submission Folder: 12B12371yel)
• Exercise Source: set to "files" if u upload exercise from file, "new" if you use the new exercise pool or "old" if you use the old exercise pool(i.e. Exercise Source: new)
• Site Manager: (i.e. Site Manager: Ben Yellin)
• Segel: Course staff. you can add with links to mail or personal site. each member should be written in his own line.
  i.e.:
  • Segel
  • Lecturer: <a href="mailto:lyub@bgu.ac.il";> Prof. Yuri Lyubarsky </a>
  • Lecturer: <a href="http://physics.bgu.ac.il/%7Eyellinb/";> Yellin Ben </a>

Exercise Source: you can check this sample file The roster.html is the file that contains the lectures / classes / Reception hours. this is a regular html file, but in the body of the file it contains only the roster table. you can check this sample file messages.txt is the file that contains the course messages. in each of the fields, there should be a space (only one) between the field and the input (i.e. Date: 8.8.10 is a good input while Date:8.8.10 is a bad one).
each message have the following format (each field in a new line)

• ### - this indicates the beginning of a new message
• Date: i.e. (Date: 8.8.10)
• Text:
  • this is were you write the message. for now you have to write everything in one line (though it can be as long as you want)
  • You can also add link to the message, by using normal html <a href> tag.
  • (i.e. Text: grades for the exams published

you can check this sample file This is the place for your academic freedom to be expressed. its an ordinary html that included in the course site. the file must contain course policy but other than that you can do whatever you like(though we recommend to keep useful links list and the lectures table (if the lecturer is publishing one).
soon there will be another option: using Index.txt instead of the Index.html, you will be able to set this option in the Course Data.txt when it will be working)
you can check this sample file feature not working yet :( This file is responsible for the Home exercise and Class exercise tables.

• it contains two parts: #Class# and #Home#. everything under #Class# will be in the Class exercise table, and everything under #Home# will be in the home exercise table
• to begin a new entry use #n where n is the entry number (i.e. #3). keep entrees by order and don't use the same number twice (for each table). entry number must start fro #1, not #0 (which is the titles line)
• each field name should be ended with a colon and than a space. don't forget the colon nor the space
• in the Exercise Number field you should specify the exercise numbers (from the pool). the web page will create the exercise link by itself
• the Extra Exercise are for the reinforced groups. their exercise will have the regular exercise and the extra.
• the File field is for the solutions file. you can write multiple files, just separate them with space (though its not recommended, its better you merge two files into one file. u can use this site
• dont use folders withe space in their names in the File field.
• Extra Files is same as Extra Exercise - only for the reinforced groups
• you can had comments to your file. begin with /*** and end with ***/ . this is mainly used for hiding old tables

you can check this sample file if you don't have a course plan written by vaadat horaa (usually for physics students) you need to build your own table. just make sure you divide it by week, and make references for the relevant literature
you can check this sample file this feature enables you to use the automatic upload system (written by amir fruchtman). you need to do some stuff so it will work:

• Set upload: true in CourseData.txt
• Create a submission folder in the submission site
• Set Submission Folder in CourseData.txt

Software

• FileZilla
• SSH
• notepad++ - for editing text/html files

Samples

• files
• Sample Sites (regular, reinforced and solo)

More Links

• Old Course Site
• Check List for course site