Zwivhuya Nthakheni

• Fixed a Moodle theme bug related to variable types that prevented course category sorting.

Responsibilities :

· Attempted to reproduce the bug on all local and QA environments

· Isolated individual stack components to identify the root cause

· Tested them on an alternate QA site to check for differences

· Experimented with variable types and lengths to resolve bug

· Implemented the fix directly on the theme

· Forked the theme to a GIT repo for controlled fixes

· Created test branches for new theme versions and tested them

Technologies Used :

· Azure MYSQL flex server

· Linux

· GIT

· Chrome Devtools

· PHP

• Identified a key flaw in the Moodle LMS whose fix was integrated into the LMS.

Responsibilities

· Identified an error while configuring CRON jobs in an upgraded version of Moodle

· Determined that the error was caused by a variable casting issue due to upgrading the server to PHP 8

· Liaised with Moodle team to ensure the issue was addressed

Technologies Used :

· Moodle

· PHP 8

· QA server built to emulate production

· PHP XDebug

• Fixed a CRON task failure issue, related to the Reporting plugin not tallying course data correctly.

Responsibilities

· Identified that the CRON task was iterating through courses via a reverse search using site logs

· Implemented an IF statement to verify the existence of course IDs in the system before processing

Technologies Used :

· CRON Jobs/Tools

· Moodle

· GIT

• Helped author the company’s Moodle development process documentation.

Responsibilities

· Developed and mapped out the deployment pipeline

· Mapped out the code review pipeline

· Established version control protocols

· Consulted with development team leads from various products

· Consolidated inputs from team leads into a cohesive guideline

Technologies Used:

· Kanban

· Lucidchart

• Successfully manage and maintain 20+ Moodle LMS sites.

· Multiple Moodle instances run in the same code base

· Site and server are configured to dynamically route the site, database, and data folder

· Plugin and site updates are applied to one base, cascading to each site

Technologies Used :

· Moodle

· Sentry

· MS Azure

• Developed an email based reminder plugin that sends notifications of missed classes and assignment submissions to learner parents for the Moodle LMS.

Responsibilities

· Automated Reminder System:

o Send overdue assignment, quiz, and missed attendance reminders to students and parents.

o Reminders at specific intervals: 6 months, 3 months, 1 month, 2 weeks, 1 week, 3 days, and overdue.

· Technical Implementation:

o Create 3 custom CRON jobs for different activity types.

o Implement a custom MySQL table to log reminder emails (user & course specific).

o Develop functions for each activity type to identify overdue activities.

o Utilize Carbon library to calculate due date vs. current date difference.

o Integrate with Cerberus email templates for responsive design.

· Quality Assurance:

o Configure correct email headers and design for different clients.

o Verify emails are sent to correct users with proper formatting.

Technologies Used:

· Moodle LMS

· CRON tasks

· MySQL

· Moodle Task API

· Moodle XMLDB API

· PHP

· Carbon Library

· Cerberus Email Templates

· GIT

• Developed a Laravel based API that interfaces with a third party site to create and manage users for a Moodle LMS instance.

Responsibilities

· Designed and developed a Laravel API to act as a middleware for user creation and management between a client's external system and a Moodle system.

· Ensured synchronization of user data between the two systems.

· Handled high volume of requests (7,000 users every 30 minutes).

· Implemented efficient data update process by:

o Linking directly to the Moodle database for faster processing.

o Developing an algorithm for dynamic field assignment based on received data.

o Creating a separate route for secure password updates.

· Utilized Laravel's job queuing system to manage request volume and improve performance.

· Implemented Laravel Sanctum for secure token-based user authentication.

· Deployed the API to companion sites.

· Monitored task logging and user integration for functionality.

· Optimized and streamlined the code for efficiency.

Technologies Used:

· Moodle Webservice API

· JavaScript

· PHP

· Restful API

· MySQL

· Laravel

· Laravel Sanctum

· Laravel Job queuing

· Laravel HTTPS packages

· GIT

• Developed an Orientation Course plugin that locks users out of their courses until they have completed a designated orientation course for the Moodle LMS.

Responsibilities

· Manage Orientation Courses:

o Define which courses are considered "Orientation."

· Enforce Course Completion Order:

o Redirect users to orientation courses based on course ID order.

· User Enrollment Check:

o Verify if a user is enrolled in an orientation course before redirection.

· Redirect Logic:

o Redirect users who are not enrolled or haven't completed all orientations to the first unfinished course.

o Exclude orientation course pages and their activities from redirection.

· Completion Tracking:

o Stop redirecting users once all orientation courses are completed.

· Deployment and Maintenance:

o Ensure successful plugin and redirect feature deployment on each client's Moodle system.

o Address any exploits discovered by students to bypass the orientation.

Technologies Used:

· Moodle Enrolment API

· Custom Moodle Local Plugin

· JavaScript

· PHP

· PHP XDebug

· MySQL

· GIT

• Developed a Moodle LMS plugin that enables course administrators to assign notional hours for a course and an activity, and allow a learner to complete the course based on the notional hours required.

Responsibilities

· Calculate notional hours:

o Per course

o Per quarter

o Based on completed activities

· Manage course enrolments:

o Enroll/unenroll users from courses

o Enroll user groups in course groups

o Assign course notional hours to users during enrollment

· Track course completion:

o CRON task to iterate through enrolled users and completed activities

o Calculate total completed hours based on modules

o Award course completion when sufficient hours are met

· External reporting:

o Write user's notional hours, course, and user ID to an external database

· Maintain functionality:

o Ensure time logging and completions run without errors

o Preserve plugin functionality through Moodle updates

Technologies Used:

· Custom Moodle Local plugin

· Moodle Bulk User Enrolment plugin: This plugin provided the starting point for the User Notional hours plugin

· Moodle Enrolment API

· Bootstrap 4

· Moodle External Database plugin

· CRON tasks

· PHP

· MySQL

· Windows Server

· PHP XDebug

· GIT

• Developed a Moodle plugin that allows parents to view and manage their children’s activities and grades, as well as read notes and feedback given to their children.

Responsibilities

· Analyze Existing Plugin:

o Identify Moodle Fn Mentor as a base and assess its suitability.

· Refactor User Interface (UI):

o Remove unnecessary features from the base plugin.

o Rebuild UI from scratch using Bootstrap 4.

· Implement Student Progress Tracking:

o Develop functionality for parents and teachers to view enrolled courses.

o Design real-time grade display for each activity and course.

· Enhance Grade Calculation:

o Modify grade summary to consider all activities (not just quizzes and assignments).

o Reformat display of activities and their progress.

· Enable Parental Notes:

o Modify course Notes page to allow creation and viewing of notes based on user IDs.

· Develop Parent Feedback Feature:

o Create a custom page to display children's assignment feedback.

o Implement logic to ensure feedback is displayed only for valid parent-child relationships.

· Automate Parent-Child Linking:

o Create a CRON task for automatic assignment of parent users to children.

o Utilize a user profile field in the child's profile for parent ID.

· Ensure Functionality:

o Fix any bugs related to the plugin's core functionality.

o Guarantee intended behavior upon deployment to a new client.

Technologies Used:

· Moodle Fn Mentor plugin (Base): This plugin provided the starting point for the real-time student report and progress tracker.

· Bootstrap 4

· Moodle Enrolment and DB API

· Custom User Notes Modification: Implemented to allow parents to view their children's course notes.

· CRON Tasks

· MySQL

· PHP

· Linux

· PHP XDebug

· GIT

• Developed a custom Moodle quiz question type that allows file uploads as answers to a question and simultaneously submits that file to a linked assignment for grading.

Responsibilities

· Created a plugin to enable simultaneous file submission for quizzes and assignments

· Used Moodle Essay Question type as a base and modified it to accept file uploads

· Added functionality to link assignments within the quiz creation and editing pages

· Stored assignment linkage information in a database table

· Utilized Moodle file API to store and retrieve uploaded files

· Reverse-engineered Moodle files table to insert submitted files into the correct assignment area

· Tested and maintained the plugin's functionality with each deployment to ensure it did not disrupt the core system functionality

Technologies Used:

· Moodle Essay Question type: This plugin provided the starting point for the custom Moodle quiz question type.

· Moodle file API

· MySQL

· PHP

· Linux

· PHP XDebug

· GIT