Online Grades and Attendance

OnlineGrades 3.2.5 Released

snowsam — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:43:49 +0000

Important Security Fix:
We have made updates to the login code to prevent SQL injections [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL_injection ], which would allow someone to log in without having a valid password. Everyone needs to upgrade to the latest version (3.2.5).
If you are on 3.2.4 you can delay the upgrade by manually upgrading the following four files using the 3.2.4.1 download:
studentlogin.php
admin/admin_login.php
faculty/facultylogin.php
parents/login.php

New Features:
[ 1650274 ] - Rich Text Editor for Notes using TinyMCE (see http://docs.onlinegrades.org/Installing_TinyMCE_for_OG )
[ 1167387 ] - CSV uploads of information in the Admin Interface
- Including added the ability to upload parent accounts
[ 1167380 ] - Web based database schema installer to help with fresh installs
[ 1560343 ] - Added ability to accept assignment dates in the export from the Grade book software.
(No number) - Added printer friendly views for Parents and Faculty
(No number) - Added ability to send welcome email to students after account creation or edits
(No number) - Fix for Firefox printing where DIVs spanned more than one page. Thanks to David Kenneally for providing a fix.

Bugs Fixed:
[ 1634529 ] Mailer -- Mail to All Broken
[ 1549133 ] IE "conditional compilation is turned off" javascript error
[ 2009929 ] admin/client_update.php SQL Error
Plus more that did not get put into the Bug Tracker

Other news:
Export Support for the "OpenGrade" grade book software - http://www.lightandmatter.com/ogr/ogr.html

Upgrade Instructions:
1. Backup your database
2. Backup your current Online Grades Installation.
3. Upload new files, replacing all files except config.php
4. Run and follow instructions in http:///upgrade.php
5. Once you are finished, delete the upgrade.php and the install.php files.
6. That is it!

If you have any question, feel free to post to the forums.

Sam and Beau

Online Grades 3.2.4.1 Released due to Security

snowsam — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:39:13 +0000

If you are on 3.2.4 you can delay the upgrade by manually upgrading the following four files using the 3.2.4.1 download:
studentlogin.php
admin/admin_login.php
faculty/facultylogin.php
parents/login.php

Get the 3.2.4.1 upgrade package here: https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=127473&package_id=139528&release_id=658722

Project Update

bhuber — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:12:36 +0000

I know it’s been over a year since anything was posted I thought I would take a moment to update everyone. Although we haven’t had time lately to actively release a new version you will still find the latest bug fixes and some new features in the CVS version which can be found in the navigation to the left.

If you are in need of help or find a bug please let us know via SourceForge, you will also find those links in the left navigation menu.

Until Next Time,
The Online Grades Team

Online Grades 3.2.4 Released

snowsam — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 08:09:55 +0000

Merry Christmas! We are pleased to announce the release of Online Grades version 3.2.4. This release features "Grade Groups" capability, which allows for coaches or administrators to review the overall grades for a group of students. Thanks to "evilpluto" for doing much of the work to move this feature over from an old version of Basmati. For an overview of how Grade Groups works please see http://docs.onlinegrades.org/Faculty_Group_Grades.

If you are wondering where Online Grades 3.2.3 went, we decided to skip this version number due to the new Grade Groups functionality and other new features that have been added since 3.2.2. There were no database changes in this release, so upgrading is very straight forward. See http://docs.onlinegrades.org/Upgrading_from_Previous_Versions for details. If you upgraded from 3.2.1 to 3.2.2 the procedure is the same.

We are also pleased to announce support for a new grade book program, GradeL - http://gradel.sourceforge.net/ . GradeL is a free graphical grade book program that currently runs only on Linux.

Thanks for your continued support of the growing Online Grades community and we look forward to another year! Details of the new features and bugs fixed are below.

Beau and Sam

New Features:
1580566 Added Grade Groups
1194191 Allow admins to upload grades for other teachers
1599347 Support for per login help links
1421752 Modify update checker to reduce hits
(No number) Added a demonstration mode to help with the Online Grades Demo.
(No number) Added ability to sort tables on the fly using JavaScript (multiple locations)
(No number) Added ability to send mail to any user with an associated email address
(No number) Moved the SQL query and quick query in the admin area to an "expert mode" area.

Bugs Fixed:
1616839 Fix for password reset email not being sent
1612878 Fixed IIS/PHP as CGI Login Session Problem
1582098 Fix for being unable to change default admin
1582092 Added support for short_open_tag off PHP option
1580649 Fixed Remove Student bug in the parent center
1574982 Fixed Email Validation Bug for .info addresses
(No number) News & Updates would display error if logged in as semi-admin
(No number) Fix for incorrect email link from parents.php?func=showgradebook
(No number) Fixed default value in the config

Online Grades 3.2.2 Released

snowsam — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 16:21:39 +0000

The Online Grades team is pleased to announce the release of Online Grades 3.2.2. This release incorporates several bug fixes and adds a few new minor features. There are no database changes this release, so upgrading consists only of upgrading the files on your server to the new versions.

Bugs fixed:
1561868 All interface go offline when student area is set to be offline
1560184 Table Name not all caps in admin/course_list.php (no number) Admin Area export to CSV would not work if PHP magic quotes was turned on
(no number) Faculty could not change their password due to the system thinking the user name was being changed (when it was not). The code used here was rewritten, as well as the option added (see below) for disabling the ability of teachers to change their user names in the prefs.

New Features:
1432927 Allow students to change their password, but not their first and last name. -- If allowed in the admin configs, students could change their password, email address and first and last name. To reduce the risk of students changing their name to something nefarious, there is now a per-school option (admin --> edit school) that allows you to decide whether students should be able to change their names or not. This options defaults to NO.

(included in 1432927) Allow faculty members to change their preferences, but don't allow them to change their user names -- The Online Grades Admin config contains an option that determines whether faculty are able to change their preferences. One of the preferences that they could change was their login id, or user name. Since changing the user name is potentially confusing, there is now a per-school option (admin --> edit school) that determines whether teachers at that school are able to change their user name if they are allowed to change their preferences. The option defaults to no.

1559502 A warning is displayed in the admin interface if you are not running MySQL > 4.1

(no number) A change was made so that the link at the bottom of the student login screen is to the parent login screen, if the parent center is available (it can be turned on and off in the admin configuration section). This is a change because previously the link here was to the faculty login screen. The faculty login screen retains its link to the admin login as well as the student login. If you would like the Student login to still have a link to the faculty login look for the commented out code in the include/common_gui.php file. This change was suggested by one of the schools who uses Online Grades.

Thanks for supporting Online Grades. If you have any questions, feature request or bugs please feel free to post them to the correct areas at http://www.onlinegrades.org/ . In addition, if you have any interest in helping out with Online Grades, through programing or documentation, we always welcome an extra hand.

--The Online Grades Team

Online Grades Release 3.2.1

bhuber — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 01:08:14 +0000

New Features Implemented:

1484220 Offer Drop-down for school list at login
- This new option can be selected via the Admin config interface.
1167376 Tools for deleting/viewing/editing data
- Multiple Admin Interface tools for viewing, deleting, editing, exporting class, student, teacher, parent data

General:

- Online Grades 3.2.1 requires MySQL version 4.1.x or later due to the use of subqueries.
- New Online Grades web site deployed since last release http://www.onlinegrades.org
- New documentation center online at http://docs.onlinegrades.org
- Beginnings of context based help added. We now have several "help" links that go to the improved online documentation.

Bugs fixed:

1522715 10+ Digits in SID don't work
1501388 Multiple Parent Center Prefs bugs
1501387 Allow student to change pref not saving
1468164 Can't add admins

3.2.1 Progress Update

snowsam — Fri, 19 May 2006 05:00:00 +0000

Hello from Online Grades!

The 3.2.1 version is currently in development. In addition to several small bug fixes from 3.2.0 the major addition we are currently working is improved tools for deleting, editing, and managing student, teacher, and parent accounts. In addition these tools will help manage viewing a removing the course and grade data in Online Grades. You may find these tools useful late spring/early summer, which is when the new version should be available.

***One requirement for these new features to work will be to have MySQL version 4.1 or higher.*** To generate some of the new information we are using sql subqueries, which were introduced with in MySQL with version 4.1. Please check your server or hosting setup now so that you are prepared when new new features are available. If you need help feel free to post to the forums.

There has been some interest in a file upload/storage facility built into Online Grades. This would allow teachers to upload assignments for students to download if they have lost their copy of the assignment. If this is something your school is interested in please consider if you or someone on your staff could help with the planning (ideas, rough layouts), development (writing the php code), or testing. See Feature Request # 1179210 at
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1179210&group_id=127473&atid=708662 for more information about the request and feel free to make comments there or in the forums.

Sourceforge.net had problems with their CVS (development file storage/revision control) for several weeks but these have now been resolved and so it is now again possible to download the current development version of Online Grades via CVS. See http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=127473 for more information and feel free to post to the forums or email if you need help.

--Sam

Online Grades Release 3.2.0

bhuber — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 06:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the Online Grades 3.2.0 release. We have made many improvements and are excited to release our best version yet! There are several major new features in this release:

To your teachers, the main difference they will see is the teacher memos. They will need to migrate their current teacher memo to the new per-class teacher memos. The old teacher memos will still be visible to the teachers but not visible to students.

Administrators will appreciate being able to change all the common configurations options via the administrative web interface. In addition, many administrators will like the new semi-admin logins that give restricted access to the administrative interface (restricted to one school and limited options).

Parents are now able to have their own login into Online Grades. If they have more than one student with grades in Online Grades they only need their single login to access all their students' grades.

New Features:
1424122 - Time Zone offset per school - Requested by Benton High School
1167384 - Switched to a mostly web based configuration.
1179209 - Memo for each class - Requested by Christian Heritage School
1179212 - Parent Login - Allows parents to have a single login for one or multiple children. - Requested by Christian Heritage School
1189351 - Anchoring Left Navigation so that is no longer pushed down the page when the main content is long.
1320617 - Semi-Admin User - Give basic admin ability without giving full admin access. - Requested by rahenkamp
1199499 - "Delete All Classes" button for teachers
1262189 - Split Offline Feature - Added the ability to turn on and off any login section independently
1395588 - Update DB, import for New Grade book Fields (class level teacher comments, student free text comments, attendance)
1408310 - Display Attendance Information for Students
1406996 - Configurable SMTP Server for OG generated emails - Requested by jfouks
General - Moved lots more code to functions to reduce code duplication between sections of Online Grades.

Bugs Fixed:
1264373 - upload error if % score field is blank (rarely seen condition)
1321118 - Error when editing school that already existed.

You may download the latest version of Online Grades at http://www.onlinegrades.org/download, the latest version of the documentation is also available at http://www.onlinegrades.org/download.

If you have any questions while upgrading or installing please feel free to post in the forums: http://sourceforge.net/forum/?group_id=127473 . If you find any bugs they should be posted to the Bug Tracker - http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=127473&atid=708659 and if you have any ideas for improvements or additional features they should be posted to the Feature Tracker: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=708662&group_id=127473 . If you are interested in contributing improvements to Online Grades, feel free to submit patches.

Thanks for using Online Grades!

3.2.0 Development Update

bhuber — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 06:00:00 +0000

The Online Grades development has entered a feature freeze in preparation for release. No new features are being added at this point, only bug fixes. Three schools are testing the new version "in production" and there have not been any major issues. We are updating the documentation and hope to release at the end of the month.

Online Grades Development Status Update

bhuber — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 06:00:00 +0000

We know it's been a while since we have posted any news but we've been busy. We have been working hard over the last couple of weeks getting new features and developing new relationships with different grade book vendors. Here is a list of the things that are currently in the CVS version of Online Grades:

* Parent Center Now Available
* Added IP Restriction to Student Mailer; helps prevent abuse
* Updated Magpie RSS Reader
* New CSS Based Menus & Layouts
* Added mailto hyperlinks for email addresses
* Added More School Based Options
* Split Offline Feature (Now you can turn off sections of OG)

We are happy to announce that PPGP now has support for Online Grades; you will need version of 4.5 or later to have support for Online Grades. For more information you can visit http://www.pggp.com/onlinegrade.htm or http://www.onlinegrades.org/gb_soft. PPGP is also offering Online Grades hosting for their customers, once again for more information please visit their website.

While we don't recommend running any CVS version in a production environment, we do encourage everyone to check it out. The Online Demo is always updated with the current CVS version and that is an easy way to take a look at the new features. The parent center is now available in the demo. See the demo page for more information.

If you are interested in helping out please contact us. Even if you don't know anything about PHP you still can help. We have documentation that needs updated before we release this next version; if you would like to help email me at beauhuber [at] users [dot] sourceforge [dot] net. The Online Grades development team will be continuing to work on this version for a while longer before we plan on making a release.

In addition feel free to post feature requests or bug reports to the online ticket trackers or comment on the ones that are already posted online. See https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=127473.

Thanks!

Online Grades Release 3.1.2

bhuber — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 05:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to release version 3.1.2 of Online Grades. A lot of development and testing has gone into the software since our last release in March and we are proud to offer this stable release with many new feature updates in time for upgrading your school this summer.

* Most pages now valid XHTML
* Better CSS Support
* A new skin (Fern) and a skin temporary switcher in the Admin Interface.
* JavaScript fixes - no more javascript errors!
* Javascript and PHP verification of all form data entry
* Register Globals = OFF full support
* Completed removal all non-mysql database code
* Ability to force login via ssl
* Login and Logout functions have been rewritten in the backend
* Text that gets emailed is now configurable
* New error handler for displaying errors and basic help information
* Improved display of personal and class notes.
* A RSS News Feed is displayed in the Admin Interface (Configurable)
* The admin mailer now has a "send to all" feature
* Self Password Resets and Changes (if the admin enables them)
* User Expiration Date now fully implemented
* Many bug fixes

Along with all the major feature updates and bug fixes we have also revised and updated both the Install Guide and the User's Guide. Both have increased in both length and detail since the last release. In addition we have documented the format that Online Grades is able to import and have approached several other grade book software companies/authors about supporting exporting from their software. Several authors have expressed interest and we hope to be able to announce further integration soon. If you are using a grade book program that you wish worked with Online Grades please contact the company/author and express your desire for their program to support exporting to Online Grades.

With this release Online Grades has changed how usernames and email addresses are handled. Under the old scheme, the username was the email address. We now have a separate field and the username is independent of the email address (though they could be the same text in each field). This change allowed us to offer self password resets for users with a valid registered email address. Adding the dedicated email address requires a database structure update. If you are not starting with a fresh database please be sure to read the "upgrading" document.

A lot of the new features are configurable by the administrator in the config.php file. Each option contains clear comments on how the options change the way Online Grades operates.

You may download the latest version of Online Grades at http://onlinegrades.sourceforge.net/Downloads+index-req-viewdownload-cid-1.html, the latest version of the documentation is also available at http://onlinegrades.sourceforge.net/Downloads+index-req-viewdownload-cid-3.html.

We plan to continue to follow the feature Road Map for future versions; you can review it at http://onlinegrades.sourceforge.net/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=9 . We have more user interface cleanup in the works as well as some new feature ideas.

Thanks for using Online Grades!

Online Grades Status Update

bhuber — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 05:00:00 +0000

I know it's been a while since we have posted any news but we've been busy. We have been working hard over the last couple of weeks getting new features added and many bugs fixed. Here is a list of the things that are currently in the CVS version of Online Grades:

* User Expiration Date can now be changed from the web interface and a default can be set in the config file.
* "View Notes" link for students no longer shows if a note doesn't exist
* If a personal note is available, A note is displayed under the grade book image
* You can now disable staff viewing students' passwords
* A RSS News Feed is displayed in the Admin Interface (Configurable)
* You now can force login via SSL via a config option
* Email Text is now easily configurable
* Started moving code functions to central file for easier maintainability
* Moved Login Check Into A Function
* Temporary Skin Switcher allows admins to preview how skins look
* Student Center Is Now Valid XHTML
* Fixed Logout bug -- the session is now correctly destroyed on logout.
* Update Check Only Check On the Main Admin Page
* Fixed Page Expiration Errors in Internet Explorer
* Fixed IIS 5 PHP Bug
* Added checks to the admin interface to prevent adding multiple accounts with the same id (Student, Faculty, Admin).
* Password Resets fully implemented (database update required to use)

While we don't recommend running any CVS version in a production environment, we do encourage everyone to check it out. The Online Demo is always updated with the current CVS version and that is an easy way to take a look at the new features. We have made a minor change to the demo; you will now be able to change information. See the demo page for more information.

We have a few more changes to code before this version is complete; if you are interested in helping out please contact us. Even if you don't know anything about PHP you still can help. We have documentation that needs updated before we release this next version; if you would like to help email me at beauhuber [at] users [dot] sourceforge [dot] net.

Thanks!
Online Grades Development Team

Online Grades 3.1.1 Released

bhuber — Sun, 27 Mar 2005 15:24:00 +0000

I am proud to announce that Online Grades has released its newest version 3.1.1. The latest version fixes a bug found in IIS and some situations where the skins would not load. We have also moved all of the errors from WCSD to an internal handler.

If you would like to read all of the changes that have happened in this release you can at http://sourceforge.net/project/shownotes.php?release_id=316037

To download the latest release you can at http://onlinegrades.sourceforge.net/Downloads+index-req-viewdownload-cid-1.html

We have also completed a whole new look for our website, if you haven’t already, check it out today. http://onlinegrades.sourceforge.net/

Enjoy,
Online Grades Development Team

Online Grades 3.1.0 Released

bhuber — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 08:32:00 +0000

I am proud to announce that Online Grades has released its newest version 3.1.0. The latest version contains numerous bug fixes, including many related to PHP E_ALL setting. We have also improved the update checker in this release; in the past it was checking on every page load, now it will only check on the main page.

We have also added many new features such as; Skinning system, New Login Pages, Stats. Staff can now change their own information, Name, Password, and Email Address. Plans are also in the works to allow anyone to reset their own information, if enabled.

With this release comes the introduction of a new developer, without who some of these great new features and bug fixes would have not been possible. I would like to take a second and thank him for his great work and dedication. Thanks!

For more information on the new developer please visit http://sourceforge.net/project/memberlist.php?group_id=127473

If you would like to read all of the changes that have happened in this release you can at http://sourceforge.net/project/shownotes.php?group_id=127473&release_id=314065

To download the latest release you can at http://onlinegrades.sourceforge.net/Downloads+index-req-viewdownload-cid-1.html

We have also enabled the feature request tracker, so if you have any suggestion or improvements please let us know at:

About Online Grades:
Online Grades allows schools to easily post grades from Easy Grade Pro. It has all of the great features that Basmati does, plus many new ones. OG is simple, secure, and a fast way for a school to post grades to the internet.

Enjoy,
Online Grades Development Team

Online Grades Releases First Version!

bhuber — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 06:00:00 +0000

Online Grades is based on the project, Basmati. It has all of the same base features plus many new features. OG is a web based grade posting system, which allows teachers to post Grades from Easy Grade Pro, then allows parents/students to view grade in an easy and secure online format.

I am proud to announce that Online Grades had released the initial version of Online Grades and the documentation to go with it. You can easily have it up and running within a couple of days; so why not download today and better enable communications with everyone in a very use to use format.