Moodle in English: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

Firstly, as always a big thanks to all of you who have provided comments and bug reports. It is making my job of keeping this updated much easier. One cannot go any further withoutr especially thanking Mary for her outstanding work in keeping this all organised and for her contsnat identification of fixes as well.

I would like to quickly state that if you are finding bugs..please make sure you add them to the Moodle Tracker. Rocket now is listed as a component there for you to directly add your bugs towards and make it much easier for me to track.

I have updated Rocket today and pushed it out to git. It contains lots of features ppl had been messaging me about.

Changes include

Fix to missing } in settings.php
The word "My Courses" in the custom menu dropdown is now driven by the lang pack. this means you can use moodle's "language customisation" screen to change this to "My classes", "My units", or whatever else you would like.
You can now change the color of the Custom menu links. Those choosing light coloured backgrounds hated that the inks were white. this is now just a new theme setting
The banner area at the top of the homepage is now another location you can stick blocks. I had many requests for this. Just make the banner a light or solid image and then you can put whatever you like in there. A block does not NEED to go there however if you dont wish it to. An example of this in use can be seen here were they have put category links instead in a HTML block ( http://web1.gosford-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/ )
Many contacted me saying there was too much wasted space in the header. It has all been reduced.
The "Login" block no longer looses its editing controls when editing of the [age is turned on.

Download it from the Moodle plugins database or click here to get it directly from the GIT source.

As usual, keep the feedback and reports coming.

Julian

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Sunday, 25 March 2012, 1:26 PM

Hi Julian,

Thanks for the much needed update in GITHUB and the Plugins DB, however, these versions are different.

The one in the GITHUB looks (at first glance) to be the most updated one.

The one in the Plugins DB is missing the changes to renderers.php and the mycourses $string in the lang/en/theme_rocket.php. This is most strange as the zip file from the Plugins DB is dated 2012032400 (24/March/2012) so not sure what's gone wrong here?

Both versions have duplications of the 'graphics wrap' string...not sure why that's in, other that it's in the original Aardvark that you based Rocket on. But since you don't use the profileblock.php, then those $strings can be deleted from the lang file and the profileblock.php can be deleted from the layout directory.

Since the GITHUB version is the most up-to-date of the two, the only problem with this version, that I can see, is that the extracted folder is called moodleman-moodle-theme_rocket-f4d57c8 which needs changing to rocket for it to work in Moodle. I know I have brought this up before, but I am sure there is a way to change this at source isn't there?

I'll take it for a test drive later and let you have some feedback.

Cheers

Mary

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Julian Ridden - Sunday, 25 March 2012, 4:03 PM

Hi Mary,

A bit confused here. The one in the plugins DB should be pulling from github. There is no way in the DB I can see to repplace the file. I have just entered all my github info and was assuming it is pulling from there.

I have now manually updated the entry the Plugins DB as well with the new version

Julian

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Sunday, 25 March 2012, 8:03 PM

Hi,

As far as I know all the themes are kept in the Database and the alternative download (GITHUB) is only there for those wanting to use that method, so all the problems are stemming from the fact the DB version is not being updated with new versions. When you are on the Rocket page in the Plugins DB, you should find a link in your Settings block that says add a new version, update or something similar.

If you have found this and updated it then that's fine.

I've changed Aardvark Post-IT three times now, but hidden the older versions as those contained some errors.

HTH

Mary

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Miriam Laidlaw - Tuesday, 27 March 2012, 6:22 AM

Hi Julian. I tried installing the Rocket theme on my Moodle 2.2.1+ site (hosted locally on my MacBook Pro), and this is the result (screencast):

http://screencast.com/t/ddxmXOd47DAH

Help?

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Tuesday, 27 March 2012, 6:39 AM

Hi Miriam,

I wish I knew how to do that...make a video tutorial.

OK...back to the Rocket theme, where did you download the theme from. The Plugin DB or GITHUB?

Both should be OK now. However the GITHUB version (last time I tried this) you needed to rename the folder it extracts to, to rocket.

As for the update in the Plugins DB...not sure as the one I tried last was the one with all the errors. Julian has updated it...but who knows if the new version has been approved yet?

Cheers

Mary

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Miriam Laidlaw - Tuesday, 27 March 2012, 8:10 AM

I downloaded it from the Plugins directory as Julian said he had updated the one there. When it unzipped, it was already in a folder called rocket.

I will try downloading from GITHUB, let you know how it goes.

Edit:

Success! The one from GITHUB works fine.

Rocket

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Kyle Smith - Tuesday, 27 March 2012, 4:40 PM

I also had issues installing from the moodle website. I had a previous version installed and was getting 500 errors after installing. the github worked A-OK though!

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Julian Ridden - Thursday, 29 March 2012, 2:55 PM

I am just about to get on a plane here in Hong Kong. But as soon as I can next week Ill replace the zip in M&P with one from github. Thinking something about the zip is pooched.

Julian

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Miriam Laidlaw - Tuesday, 27 March 2012, 10:38 AM

Downloaded and installed Rocket. Things I have found...

Is a menu item with children meant to appear dark grey like this?

Menu with child

And when you hover over it, is the next menu meant to overlap like this?

Menu overlap

Using:

Firefox 11.0

MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard 10.6.8

Moodle 2.2.1+ on XAMPP for Mac

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by P H - Tuesday, 10 April 2012, 5:24 AM

Hello,

I am posting this here for Julian's information at Mary's suggestion:

http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=183922&parent=872732

P. H.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Tuesday, 10 April 2012, 8:59 AM

Thanks for adding this link her. Great stuff...

This will get Julian on his toes! or hopping mad one or the other

Cheers.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Julian Ridden - Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 4:19 PM

Thanks all. Working on an update as we speak. ill see if I can get this fixed as well.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Michelle Armstrong - Monday, 4 June 2012, 8:33 PM

Hi All. I have downloaded the latest version of the Rocket theme from the GIT site and have run into an issue with IE8 and windows XP. If I have compatibility mode on then the site looks slightly like what it should be (alignment is slightly out but can live with that). If I turn off compatibility mode off then the banner is located underneath the header (see attached picture). Everything seems to work ok on IE9, firefox and google chrome. I would like to solve this as the department computers at school only have IE8 installed. Any ideas??

Attachment Without Compatibility Mode.JPG

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Monday, 4 June 2012, 10:16 PM

How are you testing if Compatibility Mode is on? Have you checked in the Tools/Compatibility View settings? This settings' pop-up page should contain your Schools Moodle site URL if you want Compatibility ON all the time.

If your site looks better in compatibility mode then your IT people can force the way the page loads in IE browsers.

Cheers

Mary

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Michelle Armstrong - Monday, 11 June 2012, 7:50 PM

Hi Mary

Decided to wipe the whole site and start from scratch just in case I had done something wrong. Also made sure I built the site on the IE8 computer and checked the formatting of the home page after each step I made. Determined that the formatting went "haywire" when I introduced the code for the courses and website tab at the top. I used the example that is in the rocket theme but at this stage am unsure as to why it happened.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by llywelyn morgan - Tuesday, 19 June 2012, 8:15 PM

I'm also finding internet explorer a problem.

When editing is enabled, I can't select options from the add resource and activity menus. The menu disappears as soon as I move the mouse and highlights the topic below.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by llywelyn morgan - Tuesday, 19 June 2012, 8:49 PM

need to rephrase the above. the drop down menu disappears when the mouse moves over the topic boundary.

this is happening in versions 8 and 9. firefox and chrome don't experience it.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Tuesday, 19 June 2012, 10:11 PM

Check using F12 (Function Key) that you are not in Compatibility Mode.

You can also check this using Tools > Compatibility Mode settings from the browser menu bar.

You DO NOT need to be in compatibility mode as it screws up your Moodle theme.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by llywelyn morgan - Wednesday, 20 June 2012, 12:03 AM

Thanks for the prompt reply Mary.

It has the same problem whether compatibility mode is enabled or not.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Stephen Carter - Thursday, 21 June 2012, 8:26 AM

I am experiencing the same problem with IE8 on Windows 7 or XP.

Works just fine in Firefox on same OS.

Can click on add a resource, then list is displayed and if I use the keyboard I can move up and down the list and add a resource with the enter key.

Cannot use my mouse to move thru options on list and make a selected.

Focus drops off immediately.

Also, almost to mention ... apart from this pretty minor issue this theme is fantasitic. It provides so much flexibility.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Thursday, 21 June 2012, 9:45 AM

You need to actually check you are NOT in Compatibility Mode when using IE as this screws up the page. Checkout Tools/ Compatibility Mode settings
make sure your Moodle site url is NOT listed, if it is REMOVE it.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Stephen Carter - Thursday, 21 June 2012, 12:49 PM

Thanks Mary

Double checked, I have no websites listed in the Compatibility View Settings for IE8.

There is also an option 'Display intranet site in Compatibility View' which I made sure was not ticked.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by llywelyn morgan - Thursday, 28 June 2012, 6:50 PM

same with me.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Thursday, 28 June 2012, 7:02 PM

I really can't help you as I am having problems with this theme too.

Problem is I don't have the time to fix whatever is casuing all the problems.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Thursday, 28 June 2012, 10:35 PM

OK...so I take back what I said.

I am spending the day fixing these little bugs.

The fix for the menu is...

ul.dropdown ul { margin-top: -1px;}

If you add that to your Custom CSS settings then purge al cache in Site Admin> Development you shuld see a difference.

or you can change the value in rocket_menu.css at this point in the mark-up

ul.dropdown ul {
    visibility:hidden;
    position:absolute;
    top:100%;z-index:598;
    left:auto;
    right:0;
    margin-top: 3px;
    margin-top: -1px;
    font:100% "Trebuchet MS",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
}

HTH

Mary

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by llywelyn morgan - Friday, 29 June 2012, 8:31 PM

Thanks for all your help Mary

Where is the rocket_menu.css?

I only have core.css and it doesn't have dropdown ul

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Saturday, 30 June 2012, 1:13 AM

It's in the latest version of Rocket theme! Here is a link to the ZIP ball from Julian Riddens GITHUB

When you unzip this file be sure to rename the folder to rocket

Cheers

Mary

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by llywelyn morgan - Tuesday, 3 July 2012, 9:43 PM

thanks again.

think i'll stick with your post-it for now. haven't tried the latest update of yours - does it now have the disappearing editing icons?

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Thursday, 28 June 2012, 10:37 PM

Hi Stephen

Just incase you missed reading my replay to Llywelyn...here is what I said...

OK...so I take back what I said.

I am spending the day fixing these little bugs.

The fix for the menu is...

ul.dropdown ul { margin-top: -1px;}

If you add that to your Custom CSS settings then purge all cache in Site Admin> Development you shuld see a difference.

or you can change the value in rocket_menu.css at this point in the mark-up

HTH

Mary

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Nano A - Friday, 29 June 2012, 3:24 PM

Hello,

In Moodle 2.3 and Rocket (2012060800), trying to go to '/my' gives me "Coding error detected, it must be fixed by a programmer: Trying to reference an unknown block region side-pre"

Could this have anything to do with me trying to put the "logged in user" in the little square box where the search function used to go?

I see that now you can move blocks by drag & Drop, and, as that didn't work, I tried edit and changed default region to "Search/Profile"

Now I can't go to some pages like:

"/user/profilesys.php"

"/my"

for example

Any clues on what this can be?

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Friday, 29 June 2012, 5:33 PM

Hi,

This is a known bug in the system that is casuing all custom block regions to fail. It is being addressed in MDL-33890 and the will be released soon.

This only happens in Moodle 2.3.

Cheers

Mary

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Nano A - Friday, 29 June 2012, 6:53 PM

Thanks for your reply Mary.

Just so I understand. This fails because the theme has a custom region? Or because I used it?

If it's the latter, can I 'undo' what I did somehow until the fix comes in?

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Friday, 29 June 2012, 7:43 PM

The fact is, Nano, that the top-links, search and banner areas, are not recognized as block-regions in Moodle 2.3. The only ones that Moodle 2.3 recognizes are side-pre and side-post. The fact you 'tried' to use them triggered the ERROR.

Hope this explains better?

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Nano A - Saturday, 30 June 2012, 6:53 AM

Thanks so much Mary! I understand better now!

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Nano A - Thursday, 30 August 2012, 10:18 AM

Hi Mary, I have been absent for a while, and I'm back to polishing my site now.

I can see that this issue above has been fixed in the bug tracker. Do you know if it is safe to put the login block there now?

I'm using the Rocket theme by the way and 2.3. I'm planning to update Moodle to the latest version (Moodle 2.3.1 - not the weekly one) and Rocket from GitHub...

Thanks

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Thursday, 30 August 2012, 8:16 PM

The Bug got fixed yes, but things are not right yet, so I cannot say if what you want to do will work or not. Best is to set up a test server on your computer and try it out.

Development with AJAX Drag n Drop and block regions is not expected to start until September at the earliest.

There are more BUGs needing fixing too. Checkout MDL-34496 for more information. That particular bug is all to do with page-layout problems. The Drag n Drop works, but the layouts are all wrong, which is proving a real problem for me and other theme designers.

Sorry to say you will just have to bear with us while we untangle the mess we are in at present.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Nano A - Tuesday, 4 September 2012, 8:35 AM

Thank you!

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Nano A - Saturday, 30 June 2012, 7:03 AM

The first suggestion worked well to fix the menu losing focus issue

ul.dropdown ul { margin-top: -1px;}

Thanks for the tip Mary!

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Mary Evans - Saturday, 30 June 2012, 9:13 AM

Julian has recently base Rocket theme on Afterburner page layout and also uses the same menu, and as I built Afterburner I knew what the problem was immediatly, as the -1 is part of the CSS from the original menu which has it origins in the Decaf theme.

I think the latest Rocket works better, although I am working on a new page-header for it to replace the table.

I'll release it once I'm happy with it.

Cheers

Mary

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Stephen Carter - Tuesday, 3 July 2012, 8:28 AM

Thanks for that Mary.

I'm currently in the process of upgrading our site to 2.3 whilst I have a chance. This got delayed once I found out that I needed to also upgrade our SQLServer.

From your other comments on this forums, it appears Rocket won't work in 2.3 anyhow until the issue relating to blocks is resolved.

I may have to settle for a standard theme in the short term until I can use Rocket in 2.3

It is a great theme and definately achieves what Julian set out to do, i.e. make a theme that does not look like Moodle.

Thanks again for your help.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Nano A - Tuesday, 3 July 2012, 9:27 AM

Hi Stephen, I am using it, and it works, just be carefull not to put any 'block' in these 3 new areas: 'top-links', 'search' and 'banner' areas.

I'm using the banner area for an image and works fine, I think the restriction is only for 'blocks'

Hope this helps.

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Stephen Carter - Tuesday, 3 July 2012, 10:18 AM

Thanks for that Nano. Good to here that it is working otherwise.

I was trying to use a HTML block in the banner area for some images with links, it looked great in 2.2

Might settle for a banner for now and once the fix is in add the links.

Cheers

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Dianne Cooper - Thursday, 12 July 2012, 8:04 PM

I have just installed Rocket theme on my Moodle 2.2.1 site and have a problem with the alignment of the logo on all but the front page. When clicking on any other page, the site logo has a hyperlink added to it which is the red text. An invalid link. I have a feeling that it is a theme based setting but can't seem to find it. It is creating another DIV tag for this hyperlink which seems to shift everything in to the left.

Non Problematic front page:
<div class="header_left"> <div id="logowrap"> <div id="logo-frontpage"></div> </div>
vs.
Problematic other pages:
<div class="header_left"> <div id="logowrap"> <a href="/index.php">
<div id="logo"></div> </a> </div>

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by John Mancilla - Saturday, 8 December 2012, 3:10 AM

Hi Julian,

I hope you can help me, i was searching around all the tutorials and posts about the buttons in the top menu of the Rocket theme. The thing is that I want to delete the "My Courses" button, how can i do it? can you help me?

Thats all, thanks.... :D

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Re: Rocket Theme updated - Now v1.0 stable

by Karrie Vitti - Monday, 10 December 2012, 11:53 AM

I have the same problem. I am using this theme as a website and wuld like to remove the "my courses" link. I know I can change the words but I dont want it to exist at all.

Please advise

Thanks

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