Moodle 2 Administration: Moodle is the world’s most popular virtual learning environment and this book will help systems administrators and technicians administer the system effectively. Based on real-world scenarios with plenty of screenshots, it’s an essential practical gui

I enjoyed reading Alex Buchner's book, Moodle 2 Administration: An administration guide to configuring, securing, customizing, and extending Moodle, and I can see many uses for this book. If you are a starting Moodle admin, the book walks you through the installation, performance tweaks, user authentication, and content design. For an experienced Moodle administrator, the book provides a refresher and discusses the updates with Moodle 2.0. I also see this book as an excellent reference guide. The book structures the chapters in a way that allows the reader to focus on the content they wish to learn.Several chapters really sparked my interests for my particular situation and environment. I found the performance chapter especially interesting. The suggestions make sense and the adjustments are fairly simple to complete. Buchner explains the three main OS (Linux, Mac, and Windows) configurations and tweaks, so he covers most Moodle environments. I also thought the maintenance section provided great advice and tips to keep Moodle performing well. Additionally, I am going to fine tune some of the user privileges to help teachers control their courses better. I'm making some of these modifications due to the upgrade changes in Moodle 2. Moreover, the chapter on plugins has me considering adding new options for my teachers. Finally any one going from 1.9 to 2 or 2.2, I would recommend looking at the quiz module section as well.The Moodle 2 Administration book combines the Moodle doc knowledge database and multiple blog posts with Alex Buchner first hand experiences to offer an excellent reference guide. I have several technology director friends who are also taking on hybrid, open campus, and/or virtual initiatives powered by Moodle and I am going to recommend this book to them. Like I mentioned before it's a nice reference for both new and experienced Moodle administrators. I think everyone will learn something from reading this book. Good luck Moodling!

Easy to read and understand! I am a first-time Moodle user and the book guided me through the process without any major issues.

Having used the book Moodle Administration I was delighted to get a copy of the Moodle 2 Administration. Whether you are an old Moodle 1.9 administrator or completely new to Moodle 2 Alex Buchner ensures that you are well informed of all the new features from installation to adding plug ins and networking with other Moodle sites.Moodle 2 was released towards the end of 2010. It is an Open Source Course Management System that has become popular all over the world through its versatility in being able to be adapted to suit Primary and Tertiary education. The original Moodle was very successful, but since Moodle 2 there has been considerable more momentum and support.Alex Buchner is the co-founder and Technical Director of the UKs leading Moodle Partner, Synergy Learning. His first book Moodle Administration most experienced Moodle users will be familiar with as a point of call and Moodle 2 Administration will do the same for Moodle 2. Administrators of all levels will find this useful, whether you install and host yourself or it is hosted by a Moodle Parnter and you are the on site administrator, Alex has written a guide that you can turn to for inspiration and support.The first 2 chapters of the book cover the installation and the system which helps administrators who are handling their own Moodle installation. Alex uses plain English and a succint description of the tasks at hand so even those that are new to Moodle can follow the guide. It is nicely broken with clear headings that allow you to chose which parts are relevent to your install. Even if you are not installing Moodle yourself it is useful to briefly look over the pages to familiarise yourself with Moodle 2.Chapters 3,4,5 and 6 looks at users, roles, courses and permissions. Existing and new Moodle users will appreciate the time taken over these chapters to clearly explain the relationships and the settings that are available in Moodle 2. Different scenarios are outlined in setting up a Moodle site and also individual courses making us aware of our options. Recommendations are also made and best practice shared along with the pitfalls of certain settings. The benefits of Synergy Learning's experience with Moodle in different settings save the reader lots of time.Chapters 7,8 and 9 moves away from courses and users and looks as how you can develop your own Moodle flavour. Most Moodle users I meet have great pride in their Moodle as there is lots of configuration that you can manipulate. Alex goes through blocks, themes, plug-ins and configration with lots of help and tips to ensure that you can develop your flavour.In Chapters 10, 11, 12 and 13 we look at reporting, security, performance and backups. This is again a sound insite in each area that give an administrator the knowledge that they need to get started and also to be aware of features for the future. These chapters make essential reading for the Administrator to keep an efficient Moodle and reap the benefits that the user expects, but does not generallly see.The final set of Chapters 14, 15, and 16 look more towards extending Moodle with 3rd Party Add ons, Moodle Networking and Integration. We look at how to to extend moodle in each of the cases and also how to revert back. Its useful as an Admin user to be aware of the potentials of networking and linking with Mahara although Alex warns us of the trust involved in each of the cases and clearly explains the impact of each.All in all the book is the Admin User Guide that would be shipped with Moodle if you bought the software off the shelf. Alex has laid down his knowldege to build a user guide and shared his experience to make sound recommendations along with warnings of common mistakes that can cause issues in the system. The book is a must for new and old Administrators - a companion that you will always refer to.

I was happy to receive a copy of this book from Packt Publishing. It is full of clear and useful information. I am new to Moodle from the admin side though I have used it from the course creation and teacher side. This book looks like a great reference for setting up your own Moodle site. The previous two reviews have covered the contents of the book well. Get your self a copy and start Moodling!

Excelentemente estructurado. Muy visual y bien organizado. Con imágenes que ayudan la comprensión y facilitan al lector reconocer los pasos explicados. Totalmente recomendable.