An Incorrect Question Bank is the Cause of Performance Issues in the Old Version of eLearning

After many years of using the Moodle platform, it has become clear that certain structures of the Question Bank significantly impact server load and its slow performance. In the new version, we want to avoid transferring bad habits and not replicate these mistakes - for the sake of the efficient operation of the entire platform.

In this instruction, we mainly use English names for options and images from the old version of enauczanie.pg.edu.pl in EN.

The course visible in the images was created for presentation purposes and combines multiple cases.

QB = Question Bank

Before proceeding with the migration of the course to the new platform, if quizzes from the QB are used in the course, the structure of the questions should be checked.

To do this, we enter the course, from the More menu, we select QB (Question Bank), and after the page loads, we choose the Categories option from the dropdown list on the left side.

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Category listing for QB

We are examining the structure of nested questions in categories. If a given course has at least one of the issues listed below, it likely qualifies for optimization, and transferring it may generate errors.

Examples of undesirable structures:

Multiple nested categories, a large number of categories:

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Problems: multiple nested categories, large number of categories

The lowest level categories are empty:

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Problems: a large number of categories, empty categories, duplicated categories.

Duplicated categories, a large number of categories, many unnecessary questions:

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Problems: duplicated categories, too many categories, too many unnecessary questions

Unnecessary questions (not used in any Quiz):

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Problems: none of the questions in this category are used in any quiz - redundant

Organizational work mainly involves removing excess questions and deleting empty categories and moving questions to the main category.

These tasks can be performed in any order, but the goal of the process is to achieve a simple structure with as few categories as possible encompassing all necessary questions. The main storage location for questions is the main area of the course or the first category in that space. For example, Question categories for 'Course: Mathematical Statistics 2024/25 copy with clean QB'.

We click the trash icon next to the category name that has a zero number of questions (marked as (0)). Clicking the button deletes the category without any additional confirmation. If the category has a subcategory, it will be moved up one level along with the questions.

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Trash button at position proportions (0)

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The subcategory has been moved along with the questions.

By entering a category, we can display questions from that category. In the Usage column, there is the number of quizzes in which the question has been used (attached). For example, the category NY_QUIZ (0) has no questions, but by selecting the option Also show questions from subcategories, questions from the categories: ttest - mcq (10) and ttest_num_2024_2025 (4) will appear.

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We review the questions and remove all unnecessary ones. We do this from the Edit menu.

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You need to check

next to the question and use the button at the bottom With selected. This type of deletion will show a confirmation window for the operation.

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In that case, each version of the question should be removed using the menu Edit -> History (Edit → History).

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If the Quiz does not use questions of the type random question (from the category), and therefore does not require specifying any category from QB, a good solution is to move all questions to the main category.

Questions can be moved to the parent category by selecting individual questions using checkboxes and using the menu option With selected → Move to… (With selected → Move).

Before exporting the question category, it is worth assigning it an identifier - this way, it is easier to avoid duplicate categories in the new eLearning.

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1. To export an organized question bank, in the course click More -> Question bank.

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2. After loading the Question Bank, go to the Export option.

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3. Select the file format “Moodle XML” and the category of questions you want to export.

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4. Specify whether you also want to export the category and context.

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5. In the new eLearning, enter the course in More -> Question bank -> Import. Select the Moodle XML format, choose the previously exported file, and then confirm Import.

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1. You need to log in to the current "old" platform and find the course you intend to copy to the new platform in your list of courses: https://enauczanie.pg.edu.pl/moodle/my/courses.php

2. After entering the specific course, in the horizontal menu with options (directly under the header with the course name), select: More → Reuse Course as shown in the illustration.

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3. In the displayed view, from the dropdown list, click on the Backup option - just like in the illustration.

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4. The view will change according to the selected option: it will now be a vertical list of several options. Most of them we leave unchanged. We can click on the blue button Proceed to the last step available below, under the list of options.

   Due to the necessity to ensure that the new platform does not replicate the same erroneous structures in the question databases (which are used by the Test modules - formerly called Quiz), backups intentionally do not contain the question databases.

   Question databases (if the old platform loads them) can also be migrated to the new platform. This action will be described in a separate new instruction.

5. The backup creation process will begin. Please be patient and do not click on any buttons, do not refresh the page, do not click Back in the browser, etc. For large courses, this process may take more than 1 hour.

   Finally, when the backup has been successfully created, the progress bar will change its color to green and the Continue button will be available - just like in the illustration.

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Finally, click on the blue button Continue.

6. A table with backup files will be displayed as shown in the illustration.

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1. With the above backup view displayed, in the selected row with the backup created on that day, click the Download option in the Download column.

2. After a moment, the browser will display a window to save the backup file .mbz to your computer's disk. Choose the save location as you see fit, so that the save location is easy to determine later.
   Typical "quick" save locations for Windows computers may include: Desktop, Downloads, or Documents.

3. Save the file to the disk in the location you selected.

1. If you are the person responsible for the subject, under My PG → Teacher there will be an option (after the start of the academic year 2025/2026 or just before it starts) to create a new empty course on the new eLearning platform.

   Alternatively, creating a new empty course can be ordered at the CUI Helpdesk by submitting a request electronically:
   IT system support | University of Technology

2. Once you are sure that the new empty course has been created on the new eLearning platform, log in to the new system - to your list of courses: https://enauczanie2.pg.edu.pl/my/courses.php

3. Go to your newly created empty course (on the new platform).

4. After entering the specific course, in the horizontal menu with options (directly under the header with the course name), select: More → Restore course.

5. In the displayed view, select the Restore option.

6. Then, in the course content restoration view from the backup, in the Upload backup file area → click Choose file. In the file selection window, select the Upload file option. Click on the Choose file button.

7. Now specify the previously created .mbz backup file of the course from your disk.

8. Finally, in the file selection window, confirm the selection of the backup file by clicking the blue Upload this file button.

9. In the Upload backup file area, click the blue Restore button.

10. The displayed view of the file content will scroll to the bottom, and click the Continue button.

11. In the next view, there will be three boxes with different actions:
    - Restore as a new course
    - Restore to this course → choose this method
    - Restore to an existing course

    Use the middle box titled Restore to this course with the default option Merge backup course into this / with this course. In the selected middle box, click the blue Continue button.

12. Next, a summary of the specified backup file will be displayed. Scroll the summary to the bottom and click the Next button.

13. In the next summary, again scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Next button (assuming you want to migrate all course content).

14. And once again, scroll to the bottom of the next summary and click the Perform restore button.

15. The process of restoring the backup content to the current empty course will begin.
    Please be patient and do not click any buttons, do not refresh the page, do not click Back in the browser, etc. For large courses, this process may take over 1 hour.

    Finally, when the backup is successfully created, the progress bar will change its color to green and the Continue button will be available. At the end, click the blue Continue button.

16. The course with the restored content from the backup file will be displayed.

17. The restored content in the course can now be adjusted to current needs.

In the academic year 2025/2026, courses may be available on one of two versions of the eLearning platform.
Where a specific course will be conducted is the decision of the instructor teaching the subject.

Log in on this page using your PG account to view the list of courses you are enrolled in.

From the year 2026/2027, all new courses will be created only on the new platform.

There could be several reasons for this situation:

• We display only the courses created for the upcoming academic year that have not yet been completed. You can find completed courses on the platform where they were originally created.

• Some individuals may have never logged into the platform, which prevents the system from locating their profile.
  👉 In this case, you should go to the selected version of the platform and log in using your PG account.

• The teacher did not assign students to the course or chose the "Self-enrollment" option.
  👉 In this case, it's best to ask the teacher where they placed the course and request the link.

Transitioning to the latest version of Moodle will enable:

• an increase in security levels,

• an improvement in performance,

• the elimination of existing bugs.

Additionally, the new version of the platform will be more aesthetically pleasing and intuitive to use.

The old version of the platform (enauczanie.pg.edu.pl/moodle) will switch to read-only mode in the academic year 2026/2027.
This means that:

• no new courses will be created,

• students and teachers will retain access to existing courses for the next 5 years.