Java security warnings make it impossible to use Nanogong? Here's the solution.

Nanogong is one of the best things to happen to Moodle. The Nanogong plugin allows you to make voice recordings on your Moodle site. You can easily post recordings in Moodle forums or as a simple label activity.

But Nanogong didn't come without its own set of problems. Although Nanogong seemed to work fine on my Moodle 2.5 site, In the past I did get constant java security warnings  (Java 1.7.0_25 on my PC) - rendering it almost impossible for me to work with it.

The Beauty (Nanogong recorder for Moodle)
and the (Java) Beast

The irritating problem with java security warnings popping up everytime is a real deal-breaker when it comes to promoting the use of Nanogong. However, Nanogong is too good a plugin to not use on any Moodle site just because of some irritating and pesky pop up security warnings! So Nanogong is worth saving!
Here's the procedure to save the (your) day. Warning! Use at your own risk.

How I managed to allow input of only 1 (one) character in a Cloze input box (Moodle 2.5)

Source: http://www.urban75.org/blog/shop-is-cloze-today-brixton/

Hi. Do you use the Cloze (also known as the multianswer) question type in Moodle 2.5? I use it a lot! 

For quite some time, I was struggling with how to limit a text box, in a Cloze question, to not more than one character of input. Well, after much searching for an answer on moodle.org and almost the entire World Wide Web, I managed to do it.

INTRODUCTIONI had a quiz situation to solve. I had to create a Cloze question where the user has to type in the individual letters to complete a word. In this type of question, a box should contain at most only one letter.

I had to solve FOUR challenges/problems. 

PROBLEM ONE, each cloze input box should be small enough to look like it could only fit one letter.
PROBLEM TWO, the user should only be allowed to key in one letter inside each box. Not more than one letter. 
PROBLEM THREE, the user should be able to type continuously, the letters a, s, s, p, o, r, t and the letters should automatically be input into each successive input box.
PROBLEM FOUR, allow only letters - no spaces or punctuation symbols.

I have a nagging feeling that both problems ONE and TWO could be solved with some creative HTML/CSS and Javascript wizardary, but my desire to solve them come what may, led me to devise this core (unfortunately) code hack. Here's how I solved problems ONE and TWO:

Help for the Moodle newbie or beginner to get started on learn.moodle.net's MOOC

Is this you?
Image by Kerr Photography
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

So learn.moodle.net's Massive Open Online Course on "Teaching With Moodle" is now open for registrations. Come 1st September 2013, the course will start. It's designed for the absolute Moodle rookie. As a beginner to Moodle, how do you start? Where do you begin?

I want to do more than just point my colleagues to the MOOC link. I want them to be guided with baby steps on what to do after clicking on http://learn.moodle.net. This tutorial is the outcome. Are your new to Moodle? Do you view Moodle as a "Mammoth" with a slight trepidation? Are you nervous or apprehensive at the mention of Moodle? And what's that MOOC thing? Smooch? Mocha? In an online course you do not have a guide or a coach physically by your side. Outwardly, do you tell your colleague, "oh yeah, I should try the MOOC and learn Moodle", but inwardly 'dread' what lies beyond the MOOC's homepage links?
Do you fear what to do next after clicking on the

link?

If this is YOU, then I say "FEAR NOT!".

Facebook-like Wall For Moodle 1.9x and 2.x is now freely available as Open Source to the Community

Image by Troy Tolley. Creative Commons
Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic. See Source.

Facebook-like Wall code for Moodle. I'm releasing the code for free to the Moodle community as GNU General Public License (GPL). That's right, you can use it and modify it feely, but in your code, please credit the main authors, Srinivas Tamada and Frankie Kam.

What's the method to my 'madness' of giving a portion of my hard work away for free? I'm giving the code to the community is to see a better Wall emerge from the Crowd of Moodle developers or students or users. Please take the Wall code to new heights for the benefit of the Moodle worldwide community. Be brave, be gentle, be innovative, be creative. Cheers!

The Wall in action on my Moodle 2.5 site.
There's also a Moodle 1.9 version.
Both are free - NOW.

It's been fun developing the Srinivas' Tamada's original non-Moodlerised Wall script 3.0 to where it is now, but now it's time for the rest to take over with the coding of the Moodle Wall. Please make it jump though hoops. Perhaps you can make the Wall posts update in realtime using AJAX. I couldn't. Perhaps you can improve the GUI of the Wall. I haven't got the time. Please share it back to the Moodle Community.

Have fun!