Introducing Kolibri Studio 2024: The Bulk Editing Release
A big step for our team, a giant leap for our users. The new bulk edit feature allows curriculum specialists to save time, effort, and prevent errors. Our Senior Full Stack Engineer, Samson Akol, who managed this release and mentored the primary developer, Alex Velez, explains more.
Imagine you’re a curriculum expert who has been tasked with updating the language field for thousands of resources. Typically, there are two ways to go about it:
Single edit
This approach requires editing each resource individually. A time-consuming and tedious process, especially when dealing with thousands of resources. Not only does this sound like a painful exercise, but it also increases the risk of errors due to the repetitive nature of the task.
Multiple edit
With this approach, you can select all the resources you want to update and apply the language change in one go. This is a far more efficient solution, saving both time and effort.
Up until now, Kolibri Studio users lacked the ability to edit channel resources in bulk. They were forced to rely on the main edit page, which could be quite time-consuming, especially when editing multiple resources. These pain points were raised by our community time and time again and in response, we undertook a series of design sessions, and have now implemented a solution we think will make this process more seamless and efficient.
Drum roll: Introducing Kolibri Studio’s new bulk edit feature!
This feature allows users to quickly and easily update the metadata for one or more resources at once. Editable metadata includes language, category, levels, learning activities, source, audience, and requirements. With the enhanced command palette, users can now access bulk edit options effortlessly. What’s more, these options are also available through each resource’s menu. These improvements not only save valuable time but also reduce cognitive load by eliminating the need to navigate between pages when performing editing tasks.
Enough said — now, let’s dive into the bulk edit feature in more detail.
Improved command palette and quick edit menu options
The palette has been enhanced with a set of quick actions that allow you to edit specific resources without needing to navigate away from your current page. These options are also available in the menu for individual resources, ensuring easy access. They are:
- Edit language
A modal is presented to the user, allowing them to change the language of the selected resources to the desired language. To help quickly find the desired language, a filter has been added. Clicking ‘Save’ applies the change to all selected resources.
2. Edit categories
A modal is presented to the user, allowing them to change the categories of the selected resources to the desired ones. Similarly, to help quickly find the desired categories, a filter has been added. Clicking ‘Save’ applies the change to all selected resources.
3. Edit levels
A modal is presented to the user, allowing them to change the levels of the selected resources to the desired ones. Clicking ‘Save’ applies the change to all selected resources.
4. Edit learning activities
A modal is presented to the user, allowing them to change the learning activities of the selected resources to the desired ones. Clicking ‘Save’ applies the change to all selected resources.
5. Edit sources
A modal is presented to the user, allowing them to change the source information of the selected resources to the desired one. Please note that source information cannot be changed for resources from public channels. Clicking ‘Save’ will apply the change to all selected resources.
6. Edit audience
A modal is presented to the user, allowing them to change the audience of the selected resources to the desired one. Clicking ‘Save’ will apply the change to all selected resources.
7. Edit requirements
A modal is presented to the user, allowing them to change the study requirements of the selected resources to the desired ones. Clicking ‘Save’ will apply the change to all selected resources.
All of these options are accessible through the menu of an individual resource, as you can see below. Clicking on them will display the respective modal shown above.
The menu of an individual resource also includes an additional edit option, allowing users to modify the completion criteria of the resource.
Clicking on ‘Edit Completion’ presents a modal that allows you to modify the completion criteria based on the type of resource. The screenshots below show examples of what you can expect:
- Video resources
- HTML5 resources
- Exercises
Metadata inheritance
Users are now prompted when moving resources between locations, if the metadata of the source does not match that of the destination. This allows them to either override the destination metadata or keep it intact. This typically happens when moving or copying resources from one location to another within a channel.
Other enhancements and fixes
This new Bulk Edit Release also includes exciting fixes and enhancements that improve the overall user experience in Kolibri Studio. Here are a few notable mentions:
- Pagination has been added to make browsing a channel easier. It is displayed when a channel has more than 25 resources.
- The ‘Sort Alphabetically’ option has been introduced in the command palette to enhance sorting capabilities for users.
- H5P interactive files can now be uploaded as resources.
- The login password policy has been strengthened to enhance security.
Thanking our community
So much work and effort went into accomplishing this release, it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication and support of our amazing community of contributors. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the contributors who generously gave their time and technical expertise to enhance features and fix long-standing bugs — thank you! Special thanks to Alex Velez for implementing the bulk edit feature that we’re shining the spotlight on today.
Our hope is that Kolibri Studio v2024.10.02 improves your efficiency and saves you valuable time as you manage your channels.
Try it out and let us know what you think — your feedback is invaluable to improving Kolibri Studio.
See you next time.
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