Technion Plus

Get the Technion's web-experience out of the stone age. It is annoying to log in to every system a hundred times a day and keep track of homework across three different systems. Searching for a course video that might be on Panopto or the old server is inconvenient. Downloading course content or videos to your computer one file at a time is exhausting, and who has the energy to find a download link for XYZ on "Students at the Technion"... Do you feel the same way? This is where Technion Plus comes in. Technion Plus is an extension for Chrome and Firefox that aims to bring order to the chaos, add enhanced features and make the various Technion systems more convenient and efficient to use. Its features include automatic login to most Technion systems, homework to-do lists for Technion systems with notifications when new assignments appear, video search directly from the extension regardless of the server, one-click downloads of course content from Panopto, Moodle and computer science websites, and many more features detailed below for those interested in a comprehensive read 🙂 I would be happy to receive comments, ideas and any feedback through the comments on this page or by email at [email protected]. It is important to note that the extension is an independent project, not a faculty requirement or a for-profit venture. List of features included in the extension: -- Automatic login -- The extension enables automatic login to the following Technion systems: Moodle, Panopto, the old video server, the dormitory vehicle permit system (SAP), the computer science faculty websites (GR++) and Matnet. After installing the extension, configure your login details in its settings. From then on, the extension will automatically log you in to the systems mentioned above. Automatic login can be disabled with one click if needed. Note: You do not have to use the links in the extension to access these systems for automatic login to work; the links are provided only for convenience. -- Upcoming assignments -- * Displays a list of upcoming assignments from Moodle, GR++ (computer science) and Matnet. Matnet is limited to five courses. * Each assignment shows its title, course and a link to submit it in Moodle or to the course website in GR++ and Matnet. (13/4/2018 for Moodle, 12/8/2018 for GR++ and Matnet) * The extension notifies users when new assignments arrive. New assignments are marked with a yellow bar to their right. (1/4/2018) * Assignments can be marked as completed and moved to the "Completed assignments" tab. (29/4/2018): * Appeal assignments are automatically filtered out of the Moodle homework list. This filter can be disabled with one click. (29/4/2018) -- Panopto improvements -- After installing the extension, the following improvements are added to Panopto: * Download Panopto videos: individual videos, a list of videos in a course (29/4/2018), or an entire course with one click from the course page. When an entire course or a list is selected, videos are downloaded one after another in a queue. You can leave the page or continue browsing other websites without interruption. * A new download button is also added to the video page. * Lighting mode: a "Lighten" / "Darken" button, depending on the current mode, lets you switch Panopto to a dark theme. * Save preferences: the extension remembers your lighting mode and playback speed and automatically applies them the next time you play a Panopto video. For example, after switching to dark mode and 1.5x speed, all future Panopto videos will automatically use those settings. The extension also remembers clicks on the Show/Hide button when watching videos with presentations. (29/4/2018) * Links to lectures already watched appear in red, making viewed content easier to identify. (29/4/2018) * Split window: for videos with presentations, a button opens the video in another window so viewers can see the lecturer at a larger size. The additional window also allows each window to be viewed separately in full screen, which is useful for people with two monitors! (1/4/2018) * Always-dark full screen: for some reason, switching Panopto to full screen gives a gray background... After installing the extension, the background is black. * A "floating window" option lets you watch a lecture while continuing to browse or do anything else on your computer. (21/8/2019) * Capture an instant screenshot during playback. If a recording is divided into a lecture and a presentation, the extension asks which of the two to capture. (21/8/2019) * Adds playback speeds above 2x, up to 3x. (21/8/2019) -- Moodle improvements -- * A dark theme for Moodle, for people who work at night or simply dislike the current design. It can be enabled or disabled with one click, and the secondary color can be changed to one of 12 shades. (12/8/2018) * A "Download files from all courses this semester" button on the Moodle home page. Files are downloaded one after another in a queue, and you can leave the page. * On entering the Moodle home page, the relevant semester's course list opens immediately. During the summer semester, the spring semester list also opens. (12/8/2018) * Course names have been added alongside numbers in the Moodle "Navigation" block's course list, making it easier to move between course websites. (29/4/2018) * A "Download course material" button for each course on the Moodle home page. * A "Download study unit" button next to each study unit heading in Moodle. * Each course has a box containing useful links: download all files, a link to its UG page and links to watch videos if recordings are available. (13/3/2019) -- Computer science faculty website improvements (GR++/Webcourse) -- * A button to download all files (entire folders) under "Course material" on faculty websites. Particularly useful at the end of the semester when you want to download all exams, lectures and tutorials at once :) * An extension of the improvement above: each heading under "Course material" can be downloaded into a separate subfolder, such as an individual tutorial or exam sitting. (29/4/2018) * Buttons have been added to download files by specific type: PDF, ZIP, Word and PowerPoint. Files with other extensions are still downloaded when using the "Download all files" button. (29/4/2018) * When opening PDF presentations on faculty websites, they will always open in a new tab after installation, instead of replacing one another in the same tab. -- Quick video search -- * Quickly search for course videos directly from the extension, regardless of the server on which they are stored. * If more than one course matches the search criteria, a list of all matching courses is provided. * If a course has more than one video recording, you can choose between the recordings. * For courses with multiple recordings, each recording link also shows an icon for the server on which it is stored. (1/4/2018) * Always up to date: even when a new course is added, it appears in the list no later than one week afterward. * A list of courses recently used through search. (21/3/2020) For example, searching for "Computer Organization and Programming" returns two results: the lecture on the old video server and the tutorial on Panopto. For convenience, if you do enter the old server, navigation links for the relevant faculty have been added to the top of the page. -- Academic average calculator -- (21/8/2019) * Open the calculator from the extension's main menu. It integrates with the Technion grade sheet system and automatically loads all courses completed to date. * You can tell the calculator to ignore courses and add new grades to see how they would change your average. * The calculator also calculates the average for passed courses. -- Send files for printing -- Links for sending files to Technion printers open immediately in Gmail or an external program according to the user's preference, which can be changed in the extension settings. If you enter an identity number in the settings, it will automatically be added to the email subject. (12/8/2018) -- Upcoming buses - real time -- The extension lets you select any bus stop at the Technion and see all buses on their way to it. You can also select a bus from the list and choose to receive a browser notification when it is about 5/10/15 minutes from the stop. The extension remembers the stop for next time. -- Open restaurants at the Technion -- The extension maintains a list of restaurants currently open at the Technion that I personally managed to find; I have obviously missed some, so please let me know and I will add them! :) Note that opening and closing hours are not dynamic: these are the hours I found online and they may well change. In this case too, I would appreciate an update if there is an error! -- Download manager -- View and change the list of files waiting to be downloaded by the extension after using its download function in Panopto, GR++ or Moodle. (21/3/2020) -- Miscellaneous -- * A "Useful links" tab in the extension: Upgrade, BookMe, academic calendar, free Technion Office 365 download, the Technion Microsoft store and more... * A "Quick access" box on the Matnet login page for easier access to courses configured for automatic login. (12/8/2018) * Notification volume for homework and bus alerts can be adjusted in the extension settings. (1/4/2018) Update (21/8/2019): 1. Performance improvements and bug fixes. The improvements mainly concern Google Chrome users, but certainly not only them. I changed many things "under the hood" that should make the extension's memory consumption negligible most of the time, and even when it is not, it is still much lower than before. 2. Added an academic average calculator. Open it from the extension's main menu and it integrates with the Technion grade sheet system, automatically loading all courses completed to date. You can tell the calculator to ignore courses, add new grades and so on. The calculator also calculates the average for passed courses. 3. Panopto improvements: - A "floating window" option lets you watch a lecture while continuing to browse or do anything else on your computer. This is not really my own development; it uses an existing Google Chrome API (and Firefox will support it someday too...). The option simply cannot normally be accessed in Panopto, so I added the button. - Fixed splitting across two screens. - Capture an instant screenshot during playback. If a recording is divided into a lecture and a presentation, the extension asks which of the two to capture. - Added playback speeds above 2x, up to 3x. 4. Changes to the design of Moodle's night mode. Update (23/11/2019): Automatic login to Moodle/Panopto was fixed, along with additional fixes.