Forma LMS Basics

Technical information for system setup and maintenance

• Requirements
• Installation and Upgrade
• General architecture and definitions

Requirements

Server Specifications

• Server type: Linux, Windows, MacOs, Unix, Sun
• Apache 2.2.x or above (on Windows also IIS can be used)
• PHP version:
  • Forma 2.x: PHP 5.4.x  to 7.0.x
  • Forma 3.x:  PHP 7.4.x
  • Forma 4.x: PHP 7.4 to 8.1

• PHP settings:
  • Fileinfo support : ON
  • Openssl support: on
  • Multibyte Support: ON
  • mime_content_type() support: ON
  • magic_quotes_gpc : OFF
  • register_global : OFF
  • allow_url_fopen : ON
  • allow_url_include : OFF
  • upload_max_filsize : 8M or higher
  • post_max_size : 8M or higher
  • max_execution_time : 30s or higher
  • memory_limit = 256M or higher (advised 512 MB fore large files management)

Database

• Forma 1.x - 2.x: Mysql 5.0 or higher, mariadb 5.5 or higher.
• Forma 3.x : MySql 5.6 or higher, MariaDB 10.0, 10.1
• Forma 4.x: MySql 5.7, MariaDB 10.3
  Note: db server engine must have transaction support (innodb recommended)
  
  
• Database Driver: MySQLi
• Sql encoding: utf8

WARNING - MySQL Strict Mode
Until version 2.4.2 Forma LMS requires MySql strict mode set to OFF.
Please make sure your hosting provider allows this configuration
This restriction has been removed since version 2.4.3

WARNING - MySQL 5.7 Settings
Using MySQL version 5.7 requires some specific configuration. Check this thread for details

Installation and Upgrade

INSTALL PROCEDURE

1. Create the database on your dbserver:
   • If the db user has permissions, the installer can create the database for you
   • You can use any db admin tool, such as phpmyadmin
     If you use a prepackaged webserver on your PC, the default db admin link is http://localhost/mysql/ or http://localhost/phpmyadmin
   • Be sure you have your database parameters available (host, user, password, dbname)
   • The database must be defined with UTF-8 encoding
2. Upload all the files in your root directory or subfolder. 
   • If you want use at runtime FTP upload features, be sure you have your ftp parameters (host, user, password)
   • forma.lms web is protected with apache.htaccess files from unauthorized use. Often, dot-files are hidden from view. Check your environment and be sure that these files are also uploaded
3. Launch http://www.yoursite.com/install/ (of course you should type your domain, not “yoursite.com”)
4. Follow installation instructions. Note: during installation, a config file is created in the application root directory. In case your root is missing writing permissions, you can download it from the link provided on the last installation step, and upload it manually.
5. To secure your installation, at the end of install, remove or rename the install and upgrade folders

Note:
During the install procedure, the system will load XML file languages.
Depending on number of language chosen, this operation can take some time in order to complete

UPGRADE PROCEDURE

1. Make a full backup of db and files, and make sure that you have a full backup that you can trust and recover if needed
2. Export the language files (if you did any customization), to import them again after the upgrade
3. Delete all files and directories excluding
   • the/files folder and all its subfolders and files
   • the customscripts folder
   • your own templates in templates/<yourowntemplate> (if you have any)
   • the config.php file in root folder
4. Upload the new files
   • The upgrade procedure needs resources under install folder, so make sure to also upload this one
   • Forma.lms web is protected with apache.htaccess files from unauthorized use. Often dot-files
     are hidden from view. Check your environment and be sure that also these files are uploaded
5. Launch http://www.yourwebsite.com/upgrade (of course you should type your domain, not “yourwebsite.com”)
6. Follow upgrade instructions.
7. As a final step of the upgrade, the procedure imports and updates all languages previously defined with the standard translations.
8. At the end of the upgrade, go to the “Administration panel/Language” to import your own language files
9. To secure your installation, at the end of upgrade, remove or rename the install and upgrade folders.

The procedure may change the config.php file for you, or it may ask you to download it and upload to the web root folder, if not writable.

Upgrade to version 4.x

Forma 4 introduces a completely rewritten install and upgrade component based on the Doctrine ORM.
Since it is a migration, upgrading to Forma 4 will be only possible starting from version 3.3.25. Upgrading from previous versions you’ll need to upgrade to version 3.3.25 first, and then to Forma 4. An external legacy upgrade component is planned to be released to manage direct upgrades from previous versions.

Upgrade from version 2.xx

During upgrade from forma.lms 2.x to forma.lms 2.2 and later, pay attention to
a) Template
Template 2.0 and 2.1 are not compatible with 2.2
During the upgrade, the site template is updated to “standard”.
Minimum template version required (see release notes)

Upgrade from version 1.xx

During upgrade from forma.lms 1.x to forma.lms 2.xx, pay attention to
a) Database
after upgrade the DB are not full compatible with forma.lms 1.xx, and there is no path to go back.
Made a backup before upgrade
b) Template
Template 1.xx are not compatible with 2.xx
During the upgrade, the site template is updated to “standard”
c) Dropped feature
d) Customscripts
All customization made through customscripts/ must be reviewed and ported to the 2.0 current
version. forma.lms does not check base version file with your customized version in customscripts
folder. There is no version check support for customscripts files

e) The update detects the use of the mysql / mysqli driver and changes the configuration appropriately

At the end of the upgrade process, check all the system configuration settings to validate your needs. The update procedure tries to keep the settings, but new options have been added and others have been removed

Please, double-check the above release notes before upgrading

Upgrade from docebo ce 3.x, docebo ce 4.x

You can directly upgrade your old docebo (either series 3.6.x and 4.x) installations to forma.lms 2.x
The config.php file is completely changed from D36 and with more config options since D4.x
The upgrade procedure changes the config.php for you and writes it (if writable), or requires you to download it and upload to the web root folder.
Coming from D36, review the config.php and add your own settings, if needed.

General architecture and definitions

Login and Registration

Main Layout Elements 

1. Language Selector
   Change language for the login and registration page. This automatically detects the user browser language. Upon login, language will be set to the user profile language.
   
   
2. Course Catalog
   Opens the catalog of courses. Feature must be enabled from System Configuration elearning settings.
   
   
3. Login and social login
   Standard login form. Social login features can be activated from the plugin manager.
   
   
4. Privacy Policy
   Default privacy policy text can be edited in admin settings
   

LMS Frontend & User Panel

The frontend of the application hosts all the learning related features for both students and teachers.

Main Layout elements

1. Main Menu: this is the main navigation menu, for all the general sections of the platform

• MyCourses: in this section the user will find all the courses, coursepaths and training activities he is directly enrolled to.
• Catalog: if enabled, this section will show the course catalog(s), with courses he can subscribe to
• Community: general platform community forums
• Helpdesk: a contact form to send support request to platform administrators
• New Certificates: notification icon and link to alert for new available certificates for download
• Administration: link to backend administration section, only available to administrators and superadministrators
• User Panel: click on the username to open your own user panel

2. MyCourses Tabs: access different areas of the MyCourses section, if enabled

3. Filters panel: here a user can filter and search among the courses he is subscribed to:

• Filter by course category
• Filter by course type
• Filter by year 
• Filter by status. The page by default will show all open courses, but you could filter them based on the user status on the course
• Search by word on courses title, description, and category
• Filter by course label: the “label” option must be enabled. Check system configuration

User Panel

This panel displays personal info and features for the user:

1. Profile: if allowed by configuration, user can edit his own profile

2. User features:

• Certificates: go to mycertificate page
• Messages: access the private messages feature

3. Career: some basic stats about user activities

4. Language selector

Backend Administration

This is the area of the application where most of the administrative operations happen, such as user management and course creation.

Terms and Definitions

USER LEVEL

it's the main permission level that determines which part of the application a user can access, and his level of permissions. In Forma LMS users might be registered as one of the following levels:

1. User

can only access the frontend

2. Administrator

can access the backend with limited functionalities and permissions over users and courses

3. SuperAdmin

is a "GodAdmin" that can access both the frontend and the backend with full permissions

User ROLE

users of any level can be subscribed to courses with different roles, determining what they can do and see within a course based on course menu configuration and their level

Admin Profile

the admin profile defines which features an admin can access in the backend menu, and what he can do. The admin profile works together with admin permissions that can be set over specific courses, catalogs, user groups, user nodes, etc.

Registration

user is registered to the platform with a specific level

Subscription

user is enrolled to a course with a specific role