`form-inline` deprecation warning in Moodle 5.1

[emily-lambrou]

Description

During testing for Moodle 5.1 compatibility, a deprecation warning was identified related to the usage of the Bootstrap class form-inline.

In Moodle 5.1, the form-inline class is deprecated and triggers the following warning in the UI:

Deprecated style in use (.form-inline)

• This warning appears when viewing participant management within the plugin interface.

📷 Screenshot showing the issue:

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Root Cause

• The plugin currently outputs HTML containing:

echo '<br /><div class="buttons"><div class="form-inline">';

• This line is located in mod/reengagement/view.php

• The form-inline class was used in older Bootstrap implementations but is no longer recommended in Moodle 5.x UI guidelines.

Proposed Fix

• Replace the deprecated form-inline class with Bootstrap utility classes compatible with Moodle 5.x.

Current code

echo '<br /><div class="buttons"><div class="form-inline">';

Suggested replacement

echo '<br /><div class="buttons"><div class="d-flex flex-wrap gap-2 align-items-center">';

• This change removes the deprecated class and uses modern Bootstrap flex utilities.

Why this fix works

The replacement uses standard Bootstrap layout utilities supported by Moodle:

• d-flex : Enables flex layout
• flex-wrap : Allows items to wrap to the next line
• gap-2 : Adds spacing between elements\
• align-items-center : Aligns elements vertically

These utilities replicate the layout behavior that form-inline previously provided.

Moodle Version Compatibility

Moodle 5.1

• This change removes the deprecated .form-inline usage, eliminating the warning and aligning with Moodle 5.1 UI practices.

Moodle 4.5

• The change does not negatively affect Moodle 4.5 because:

• The replacement classes (d-flex, flex-wrap, gap-2, align-items-center) are standard Bootstrap utility classes already supported in Moodle 4.5.

• They only affect layout styling, not functionality.

• No JavaScript or backend logic is modified.

• The HTML structure remains unchanged.

Testing in a Moodle 4.5 environment confirmed that the plugin continues to function normally and the UI renders correctly.

Scope of Change

• Replace deprecated .form-inline class

• Maintain the same layout behaviour using Bootstrap utilities

• No functional changes to the plugin