When creating a new assignment for WeBWorK, it is importaint to first build the set in the development directory and then move it to the student directory after it has been debuged and tested. It is better to find and fix problems before the students start working on the problem set, then after half the class has completed the assignment. It is recommended that as a minimum the course instuctor views a hard-copy of the assingment for content and the correct problem sequence. However, if any problem is new, i.e., if you are developing a new problem for the current assignment, it is recomended that at least one other individual works the problem!

Note however, errors in the problems that are supplied by WeBWorK have been known to contain errors. Therefore, it is highly recomended that all problem sets are worked by the course TA and/or instuctor!

To generate a problem set, WeBWorK needs the following:

1) a definition file for the problem set --- The definition file is a text file with a .def extension. It contains info regarding when the set is to open, close, where the sourse file of each problem is located, how to weigh each question and how many trials are allowed for each problem.

2) Each WeBWorK problem has a source file, which is written primarily in Perl with some LaTeX commands in it.

The definition files of problem sets are stored in the directory

Course_Name-Dev/templates/

(or without -Dev in the student directory case). The source files for the problems are stored in a seperate subdirectory of Course_Name-Dev/templates/. For example, if you have a problem set called set0, then you wil have a defintion file set0.def and a directory set0 in Course_Name-Dev/templates/ and the directory set0 contains the actual source files of the problems of set0.

When you have created these files, say in the Development directory, and that you are ready to test your problem set (and debug if necessary), you go to a web browser, log on to your course as instructor. Then you get WeBWorK to create the problem set for the you via the browser. If there is anything wrong, either WeBWorK will tell you what it is, or you will have to figure it out when the error reporting facilities of WW functions sub-optimally.

When you are done with debugging, then you copy all the directories and files for that problem set from templates directory in the Development directory to the templates directory in the Class directory. Log on to the actual via the browser as an instructor and build the finalized verison of the problem set there.

This installation guide will assume that you are setting up both a class and a development directory for a University of Utah Mathematics class. From here on out, the two directories will be denoted by Class.Name and Class.Name.Dev. As an example, the course and development directories for the class:

Before you begin the setup procedure for the class, first complete the following items: