Help in understanding TimeTables

Administration
1

Hey, I’ve gone through this https://docs.gibbonedu.org/administrators/timetable/timetabling/ and also a number of forum posts trying to understand how timetables work, but still no luck in understanding it.

I understand it is complicated because only then it can give the flexibility, but I want help on how to use it for a simple usage,

Thanks,

Visaalan

2

Hi @WeShallEarn ,
Best place to learn timetable is demo data.
So it is highly recommended to install demo data and you will find it helpful
Best regards,
Ghulam Abbas

3

Hi Visaalan,

Ghulam’s advice is definitely useful here! In addition, if you want to describe your simple setup to us, then we can ask some questions about steps you might or might not have taken, and this ought to help you move on to the next step.

A very useful option is also importing classes and enrolment (staff and student) from a spreadsheet, as this saves a lot of data input.

Thanks,

Ross

4

Thanks Ghulam, where can i install this demo data ?

Thanks to you too Ross, actually I’ve just been messing around and trying to get a clear understanding on how Gibbon works to propose to my school to implement it, for now i don’t really have a need that i could ask a specific question on, i just wanted to get stuffs like the timetable displaying to show the others how useful Gibbon can be.

The simple usage was just for the timetable, where it’s not a big dynamic one, just a fixed one. I guess if there was a step by step info that explains how to make one it would be perfect for others starting out too.

Also, is the importing classes and enrollment more like Bulk Upload? Where can i find it?

5

Hi @WeShallEarn ,

When you install Gibbon on localhost or webhost, there will be a an option of Install Demo Data . You can choose yes to install it. If you install Gibbon using softaculus then this option may not be available.

Regards,

6

Ghulam is once again spot on : ) Additionally, if you have access to your MySQL server, you can run gibbon_demo.sql on it any time after installation, in order to include the demo data.

In short, you need to do the following:

  • Create courses and classes
  • Create one or more columns, which represent the daily structure of the school day. If every day is the same, one column will do: if different days have different timings, then more columns will be needed.
  • Create a timetable, which will have a number of days (e.g. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Day 1, Day 2, Day 3): in this timetable you can place specific classes in specific periods on specific days.
  • Take your days and associate them with calendar days from your school year (Tie Days to Days)
  • Enrol students and teachers in classes

All of this can be done under Admin > Timetable Admin.

In terms of import, in Manage Timetables there is an import button against each timetable, which can be used to import most aspects of a timetable from a single file. In addition, Admin > System Admin > Import From File has other timetable-related imports which can be useful.

Hope this helps!

Ross

7

Thank you very much ghulam, I am, in fact, using softaculus. That may be why I didn’t find it. But what exactly does this demo data do?

Thanks a lot for guiding me Ross.
Does running the gibbon_demo.sql, give the demo data to the gibbon even when installed from softaculus?

What would an example of course and class be? Because, in US it the terms of words are all different when compared Malaysia (Where I’m from) and so it’ll be easier if you gave an example of it. Thanks.

Ahh, so it’s importing the timetable, okok. I thought it was one where we could like bulk upload students. I’ll try manually doing it first then see on importing.

(Off topic questions)
i. Does the bulk upload feature exist?
ii. Why are the year groups starting from year 7 only?

Also, thank you very much to both of you for taking your time to reply and help me out.

8

Off topic question, i just found that can add other year groups, thanks

But new question
iii. Can i change the background data from US into my country’s one?
iv. can i also change the currency into a different one?

9

This should be possible, please check here:

Admin> System Admin> System Settings: Scroll down to section “Localisation” :slight_smile:

10

Owh, perfect, Thanks a lot,
I still need help with the questions above

11

Sorry, I think you need to be more specific. Which one exactly?

12

These, i asked them, but if you or anyone else know it, please help me out, thanks

Thank you very much ghulam, I am, in fact, using softaculus. That may be why I didn't find it. But what exactly does this demo data do?

Thanks a lot for guiding me Ross.
Does running the gibbon_demo.sql, give the demo data to the gibbon even when installed from softaculus?

What would an example of course and class be? Because, in US it the terms of words are all different when compared Malaysia (Where I’m from) and so it’ll be easier if you gave an example of it. Thanks.

Ahh, so it’s importing the timetable, okok. I thought it was one where we could like bulk upload students. I’ll try manually doing it first then see on importing.

(Off topic questions)
i. Does the bulk upload feature exist?

Also, thank you very much to both of you for taking your time to reply and help me out.

13

I’ll happily answer the timetable questions below, but for the off-topic ones, please can you post each to a new thread, if you cannot find the answer elsewhere in the forum? This helps us keep things organised.

Running gibbon_demo.sql does indeed enabled demo data on Softaculous. My understanding is that this should be an option during installation on Softaculous, as they don’t edit our code when they host it. But that is a separate issue!

An example of a course would be Year 7 Science (SC07 for short). This might have three classes in it, which we would refer to as SC07.1, SC07.2 and SC07.3. Such nomenclature does vary across countries, and so Gibbon allows you to replace interface strings with your own text, if you want to customise. This can be done under Admin > System Admin > Manage String Replacement.

You can indeed bulk upload students, among other things, under Admin > System Admin > Import From File.

I hope this helps!

Ross

14

Owh, I’m sorry I thought it would be bad to make a whole new thread for questions as such. But alrighty then.

Owhh, alright thanks. Though I didn’t remember there being an option, or I may have missed it. But I’ll try it out.

Ahhh, so that’s where the flexibility comes in. Which is why it’s complicated. Makes sense. Strings, meaning the Terms of all the stuffs right?

Omg, this is amazing thanks a lot Ross.

And yea, it did help a lot, thank you very much.

15

Happy to have helped : ) String is the programming term for text or writing, and so interface strings are the terms that you see around the place. For example, in the UK English version of Gibbon, we use “Form Group” and in the US English we use “Roll Group”. However, you can use string replacement to change these to “Homeroom” or “Tutor Group” or whatever you like. Happy Gibboning!

16

Thanks a lot Ross, really appreciate your time, will do. You have a great time too.
And thanks also for this amazing platform and making it free for anyone to use.