Write EM Development 102 Class

pbchase commented 4 years ago

Turn the Dev Class doc we have into a self-guided intro into building a REDCap Development environment with a running REDCap, Dev tools, and a tour of REDCap from an Admin's perspective. Construct it so that it is accessible to a REDCap project builder with no development skills, yet allow a developer to skip quickly to the parts germane to them.

Crudely, follow these steps:

Copy https://github.com/ctsit/redcap_external_module_development_guide/blob/master/docs/development_class.md to the rc_em_dev_101.md
Title it "A tour through REDCap as an Admin"
Delete everything above "Playtime"
Add an intro describing the content. Note basic prereqs like the 'REDCap External Module Development for REDCap Admins and Developers' and RC EM DEV Guide 101
Expand 'Playtime' into 5-8 sections highlighting import features of REDCap from an Admins perspective. Use annotated images in each section to provide a visual guide. Annotate images with Skitch. Make sure to cover external module installation and REDCap Repo exploration (everyone).

tlstoffs commented 4 years ago

Access the Control Center > Browse Users. Look at the accounts that the installer made for you:

You can also use this to find any specific REDCap user:

Click on the name /user to access their account, see which projects they have access to, and to suspend or delete their account:

Access the Control Center > General Configuration:

The Other System Settings section is important for REDCap Admins:

Access the Control Center > Configuration Check:

If your installation is set up correctly, everything should be highlighted in green here. If there is an issue, the problem will be highlighted in red.

Access the Control Center > User Settings:

These user setting are important and apply to all users, except REDCap Admins. For example: can users create their own projects, or do they need to request a new project that the REDCap Admins have to approve? Can users move their own projects into production, or do the REDCap Admins have to approve their request? Should unused/inactive REDCap accounts be suspended after x number of days of inactivity? Should post-produciton change requests be automatically approved or should a REDCap Admin approve them first to ensure no data is lost or orphaned?

Access the Control Center > File Upload Settings:

This is where you enable the different File Upload settings/locations, such as maximum file size, including the Send-It module:

Access the Control Center > External Modules:

On this page, you can see modules that are already downloaded, which modules have updates available, which version of the module you are using, module configurations, and which projects are using these modules. You can also disable any modules here and set custom text for users on the External Modules page in their REDCap projects.

To view modules available already downloaded in your instance: look at the section "Modules Currently Available on this System"

Download a few modules by clicking on the blue "View modules available in the REDCap Repo" button.

Try Admin Dashboard, MySQL Simple Admin, Image Map, and Date Calculated Fields. They are popular and easy to implement. Click on the blue "Download" button next to the module's name to download it to your REDCap server:

Once downloaded, you return to this page to configure the module's global settings by clicking on "Configure" next to the module's name. Global settings include: Enable module on all projects by default, Make module discoverable by users, and Module configuration permissions in projects.

Access the Control Center > Modules/Services Configuration:

These "Modules" are not External Modules. They are big features in REDCap that are turned off by default.

Here is where you enable the use of the survey features in REDCap (i.e., can projects use surveys), URL shortening feature (found on the Survey Distributions Tools page), the Randomization module, the REDCap Shared Library, REDCap API, the Mobile App, the biomedical ontology feature, and many others.

Note: enabling surveys, the Randomization module, the REDCap API and Mobile App does not mean projects/users have to use these features. They only make them available to the users.

Access the Control Center > Field Validation Types:

To make these field validations available, click on Enable next to the validation(s) you want to be available.

Note: not all validations will be relevant to your institution/area.

Do you know these are just rows in a MySQL table? Did you know you can add your own?

Access the Control Center > Project Templates:

Project templates are form(s) that other users at your institution can download upon project creation. Some templates are provided by Vanderbilt by default, but you can add your own by clicking on Add new template and choosing which project you want to become a template. Unlike the REDCap Shared Library, these templates are only available upon project creation.

Access the Control Center > Email Users:

You can use this page to email all users or users who meet a certain criteria, such as they have logged in during the past month.

Access the Control Center > To Do List:

Here is where all pending Move to production requests, API requests and Post-production change requests can be found, that need admin approval. There are several options under Actions to deal with these requests. REDCap will still send an email to the REDCap Admins, unless you uncheck the Enable email notifications for administrators button.

Access the Control Center > Administrators & Account Managers:

Here you can see which users are REDCap Admins (have all rights and access to all projects and their settings) and who is an account manager, who cannot access all projects and only perform duties related to REDCap accounts (suspend users, delete users, create accounts, etc.)