Mbot Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Mbot may have problems with pages that require entering text if the pages rely on Javascript. The embedded Android browser that Mbot uses is only so-so at doing Javascript, so it is turned off by default in Mbot. There's a setting to turn on/off Javascript on the Mbot settings page (in Mbot, bring up the options menu, "Settings"). You can experiment with turning it on and off, although turning it on may affect other pages negatively. There are reports from users that downloading and using a different browser for Android may solve some problems. Further, the Android browser will improve over time.

What does Mbot remember?

In general, Mbot remembers what it has seen, such as the classes that you are enrolled in. If you click on a class, it then remembers the names of the various assignments, forums, etc. that are associated with the class you clicked. If you then click on an assignment (for example), it remembers that page, etc. Mbot also remembers files with formats like Word, Powerpoint or Pdf if you have installed on your Android device a viewer for that kind file (free viewers are available). Mbot attempts to send those files to the viewer apps, if they are installed and available.

How long does Mbot remember?

Mbot remembers the information until you remove it or until it is updated during a refresh (refresh is accomplished with a menu command, or a click on the tiny icon in the title bar on the right), or until it is the oldest information and you are running out of storage space. You can remove all information for an institution by deleting the account that you defined for the institution, which erases all saved information for that account. (Accounts are manipulated by using the Mbot menu item "Accounts".) Uninstalling the Mbot app will delete its entire database. If the space allotted by you for storage on the SD card is getting full, Mbot will remove the oldest information to free up space. The setting for the maximum storage space on the SD card can be changed by using the menu item "Settings".

How does Mbot signify that new information is available in one of my courses?

After a refresh of a course (use the menu item "refresh"), Mbot shows a message like "added 5" to indicate that, compared with the course info from the previous, remembered time, the newly refreshed course has 5 new items. In future versions, additional information about such changes may be offered.

How do I add a classmate to my Google contacts?

Navigate to the course that you share with them, and then the Users list. Is your classmate in the list? If so, click on their name and then use the menu item "Create Contact". Mbot will attempt to capture the name, description, and email, if available, from Moodle, and show you the resulting contact for your approval and editing.

How can I report a problem or suggest a feature?

Please help us fix it--we need your help! Please click on the convenient "Report Problem" menu item in Mbot after encountering a problem, or to give other feedback. This will automatically send any error codes that occurred recently to the support team. Optionally, you can enter a description of the problem, and/or your email address if you would like follow-up contact. It is really easy to send error codes--two clicks. Every device and server is different! We need your help to see what you are seeing.

Why should I trust Mbot by saving my password?

When you click "Save Account", the password is saved locally, on the Android device, in an encrypted manner. When you start exploring your courses, your username and password are transmitted to your institution from your Android device just as they would be in a browser, using secure https if your institution is using that feature. It is convenient for you since Mbot remembers and automatically authenticates as necessary.

Can I use Mbot without saving my password?

There is a trick for this: in the Edit Account page, enter everything but the password. Then scroll down to the button labeled "Login manually...". Click that button and you will be taken to the login screen in a web browser. Enter your password there and click the browser button "Login" to complete the authentication. Mbot will capture the temporary authentication cookies, but not your password. Save the Account after that successful authentication. This method skips saving the password in Mbot, but it means that instead of automatically authenticating for you, every time that it is necessary, Mbot will bring up the "Login Manually..." browser page for you to enter your password.

Sorry, Mbot was designed for students. It only shows courses that you are enrolled in. Teachers may want to set up a special student account if they want to use Mbot to see their courses, using that special account.

Ask your teacher to improve the names of the documents.  When a teacher uploads a document to Moodle it should always have a three-letter extension like ".pdf" or ".doc".  These naming conventions make the "type" of the document clear.  Without an extension in the name, the Moodle system may mistake the type of the document. The documents you are having trouble with are mistakenly typed as simple text documents instead of ".doc" or ".pdf".

After the teacher corrects the document name, you must tell Mbot to forget the previous copy of the document (see the next section).

To delete documents (like Word or Adobe documents) for an account, use the menu option "Accounts" to see the list of accounts, and edit the account in question (click on the pencil icon, or hold down on that account in the list). On the Edit Account page, there's a menu option "Delete all stored documents". This cleaning of documents may be useful when you need to recover space or when your teacher has corrected the names of documents. Of course, you can always delete the entire account to delete all documents and everything about the account. By the way, if you just uninstall Mbot, Mbot deletes nothing because the Android system doesn't tell the Mbot app about uninstalling. Odd but true. If you reinstall, Mbot will try to clean up anything in the "mbot" folder that was left behind.

Moodle™ is a registered trademark of the Moodle Trust. Codeguild and the Mbot app have no affiliation with the Moodle Trust.