I've spent considerable time this weekend working on my new theme family, which I've called "canvas." To see how it works, I've created "formfactor," which is a canvas child and base grandchild. I'm not going to promise that anything under the hood is going to stay. There is a lot of repeated code that will need consolidating. I've spent a little time adding classes and IDs where appropriate inside the modules.
Anyway, my goal now is just to get something out there that I can build more themes on. I'd love you to build your themes on canvas, too.
For now, please grab a fresh copy of 2.0 and kick the tires on formfactor. I think you'll see that while it's a simple theme, there's a lot there.
What I really need help with are the modules. Some have so many options and settings and little hidden pages that I've never found in my teaching that I just can't find everything. Please test your modules on these pages and let me know if anything needs fixing by filing a lot of tickets in the Tracker.
Note that the quiz module and feedback module have thus far been completely ignored. The quiz module doesn't even style correctly in Standard. I need someone to show me what it should look like according to their vision before I can do my thing. Everything is too knew and I'm a bit overwhelmed since it's not my toy.
I'll get to the feedback module shortly.
The cool thing about the family theme is that there is no necessary rush to get these fixes in. I'll just keep working on my themes and we can apply any fixes to canvas to be applied to all children themes.
Back to the code.
looks good and is very quick. I can see the issues with the quiz module and I have been battling them myself. There is a sideblock (in the edit quiz) portion that loads into the main page... A real pain. I'm using some dom manipulation to append to the the block side bar.
I noticed in formfactor that the wiki loses the header bar... Also the tabs are not there, just links (unless this was intentional on both counts).
the recent activity block needs some content styling (imo) because it takes the h2.main style and the text is way too big (in the content of the block).
Also a question (and I've encountered this as well), because the new html editor (tinymce) takes up more space, it is very easy for it to be 'cut-off' when the window is not huge in certain situations (see screenshot from your theme). Any ideas on handling this? I've thought about some specific CSS for the editing window so that is not inline with the text label in order to give it more space.
I'll post more as I use it more.
I noticed in formfactor that the wiki loses the header bar... Also the tabs are not there, just links (unless this was intentional on both counts).
the recent activity block needs some content styling (imo) because it takes the h2.main style and the text is way too big (in the content of the block).
Also a question (and I've encountered this as well), because the new html editor (tinymce) takes up more space, it is very easy for it to be 'cut-off' when the window is not huge in certain situations (see screenshot from your theme). Any ideas on handling this? I've thought about some specific CSS for the editing window so that is not inline with the text label in order to give it more space.
I'll post more as I use it more.
Add a block block appearing on edit pages: This is a bug. Here's the admin page layout setting in config.php:
If I only have the pre region set and the default region is also pre, nothing should appear in the post column ... ever.
I''ve filed a bug. MDL-22311
'admin' => array(
'file' => 'general.php',
'regions' => array('side-pre'),
'defaultregion' => 'side-pre',
),
If I only have the pre region set and the default region is also pre, nothing should appear in the post column ... ever.
I''ve filed a bug. MDL-22311
I didn't get all the way down to the wiki module. I'll have a look at that this week.
Can you upload a screenshot of the Recent Activity block that you have so I can see the styles as you see them?
I have no solution for the editor besides reducing the menu items. I think that a good text editor is fine with about 4 choices for users. Perhaps Sam can shed some light on his design here as it comes from Base.
Can you upload a screenshot of the Recent Activity block that you have so I can see the styles as you see them?
I have no solution for the editor besides reducing the menu items. I think that a good text editor is fine with about 4 choices for users. Perhaps Sam can shed some light on his design here as it comes from Base.
Screenshots like this are very helpful. Mary, can you please create a tracker ticket whenever you find stuff like this? You don't have to write much more in the description than the path where the problem occurs and attach a screenshot. All Theme component items are automatically assigned to me. This will ensure I can keep track of these in a more systematic way then the forums.
For example, I've added this one: MDL-22319
Thanks for all your help.
For example, I've added this one: MDL-22319
Thanks for all your help.
Patrick,
See below. As you can see, the wiki loses the header. Also, in the screenshot I included the Recent Activity Block so you can see what I mean. Not a big issue, just something that jumped out at me.
In moodle 1.X, since the html editor was always contained in a table, if it was too big, it would simply expand the table (even if the table had a fixed size). That doesn't happen with the divs in moodle 2, they will cut off the editor... Having the editor cut-off (with no way to scroll or expand it) on smaller screen sizes is a problem, I believe.
See below. As you can see, the wiki loses the header. Also, in the screenshot I included the Recent Activity Block so you can see what I mean. Not a big issue, just something that jumped out at me.
In moodle 1.X, since the html editor was always contained in a table, if it was too big, it would simply expand the table (even if the table had a fixed size). That doesn't happen with the divs in moodle 2, they will cut off the editor... Having the editor cut-off (with no way to scroll or expand it) on smaller screen sizes is a problem, I believe.
By the way, I took out the default "Home" and "Courses" links in formfactor, Patrick, just because they conflicted with the other navigation around.
I can see people will want to do such links though, so perhaps we need that new menu block sooner than later. The idea being that you edit the menus in the block GUI, and it renders them as a nice list. You can put the block in a header region, and render the list to look exactly like a dropdown menu.
I can see people will want to do such links though, so perhaps we need that new menu block sooner than later. The idea being that you edit the menus in the block GUI, and it renders them as a nice list. You can put the block in a header region, and render the list to look exactly like a dropdown menu.
That's exactly the sort of thing I would love to see, actually. Perhaps we could build it off the YUI menu? That would make my clients and me very happy.
I agree the quiz edit screen currently has a problem.
Not only the problem with the question bank, but also, we are not showing the navigation block there, which is a real pain.
There is a logic to displaying the question bank on the right. The point is that the important thing here is the list of questions in the quiz. The question bank, which may be collapsed, or not, is just a tool for helping you add questions to the quiz, so it is shoved over on the right out of the way.
There is absolutely no need for the question bank to use the same HTML as a block, and from the comments here, I am hearing that it is a bad idea.
What I would like from you people is a clear suggestion for the overall look of this page in the base theme (including the list of questions in the quiz, the navigation block, and question bank in either its collapsed or expanded state; a suggestion for the HTML that should be output by default to achieve that; and an outline of the base theme CSS that will work with that HTML.
(I am really busy at the moment, so given that, something might happen in a week or two. Without that help, it is unlikely anything will happen, and it really needs to happen.)
Thanks.
Not only the problem with the question bank, but also, we are not showing the navigation block there, which is a real pain.
There is a logic to displaying the question bank on the right. The point is that the important thing here is the list of questions in the quiz. The question bank, which may be collapsed, or not, is just a tool for helping you add questions to the quiz, so it is shoved over on the right out of the way.
There is absolutely no need for the question bank to use the same HTML as a block, and from the comments here, I am hearing that it is a bad idea.
What I would like from you people is a clear suggestion for the overall look of this page in the base theme (including the list of questions in the quiz, the navigation block, and question bank in either its collapsed or expanded state; a suggestion for the HTML that should be output by default to achieve that; and an outline of the base theme CSS that will work with that HTML.
(I am really busy at the moment, so given that, something might happen in a week or two. Without that help, it is unlikely anything will happen, and it really needs to happen.)
Thanks.
The navigation block shows up for me in the edit-quiz page... For testing purposes, I moved the question bank into the left sideblock and have it open on hover (see screenshot below).
I don't mind that it has the same HTML as a sideblock, as long as it actually renders in a sideblock location (which it currently doesn't). I really don't see anywhere else to put it except for in a true sideblock location (either right or left).
I don't mind that it has the same HTML as a sideblock, as long as it actually renders in a sideblock location (which it currently doesn't). I really don't see anywhere else to put it except for in a true sideblock location (either right or left).
It is hard to comment on this, since I do not fully understand what governs whether either of the sides have to have columns for blocks on them. Fundamentally, the Quiz editing UI redesign is not compatible with the Navigation change of 2.0.
The only way to not require a complete redesign is to at least by default have blocks for columns collapsed to the Dock for this screen, but of course if that happens nowhere else in Moodle then it is awfully inconsistent.
john St's suggestion has a possible approach, but that really still needs a lot of thinking and usability testing to find out whether it works and what hints to users we may need add so that they get it.
If I only had known last summer the degree to which the work of summer 2008 would never see daylight as an UI that actually works. Perhaps I could have directed efforts to it at that time.
If both right and left columns for blocks must be retained, the UI simply as it is now at qa.moodle.net does not work on anything except enormous screens. Collapsing the question bank helps, a bit, though the UI is still broken on a 1280x1024 resolution after that, and then you can not add questions from the question bank...
Making the question bank narrower is not really an option, and some folks (John Isner was one of them) have requested making it wider, like it was in the old UI, and I have been hoping that the width could be user-adjustable.
Moving the "order and paging" link to the sidebar will make finding that screen's functionality even harder than it was, especially for novices - it was challenging even when they were subtabs, now it is likely going to cause real issues - also since some users used to the old Quiz editing UI like to use that UI for all operations.
So I hope at least those two tabs will be retained in Moodle 2.0 if not as subtabs then just the main tabs inside the edit screens. Because unlike most tabs in Moodle, this is not a misuse of the tab metaphor, rapid switching between alternative views of the same information object (Nielsen). The natural presentation of that functionality is two tabs, not a menu in which those two links get lost.
The only way to not require a complete redesign is to at least by default have blocks for columns collapsed to the Dock for this screen, but of course if that happens nowhere else in Moodle then it is awfully inconsistent.
john St's suggestion has a possible approach, but that really still needs a lot of thinking and usability testing to find out whether it works and what hints to users we may need add so that they get it.
If I only had known last summer the degree to which the work of summer 2008 would never see daylight as an UI that actually works. Perhaps I could have directed efforts to it at that time.
If both right and left columns for blocks must be retained, the UI simply as it is now at qa.moodle.net does not work on anything except enormous screens. Collapsing the question bank helps, a bit, though the UI is still broken on a 1280x1024 resolution after that, and then you can not add questions from the question bank...
Making the question bank narrower is not really an option, and some folks (John Isner was one of them) have requested making it wider, like it was in the old UI, and I have been hoping that the width could be user-adjustable.
Moving the "order and paging" link to the sidebar will make finding that screen's functionality even harder than it was, especially for novices - it was challenging even when they were subtabs, now it is likely going to cause real issues - also since some users used to the old Quiz editing UI like to use that UI for all operations.
So I hope at least those two tabs will be retained in Moodle 2.0 if not as subtabs then just the main tabs inside the edit screens. Because unlike most tabs in Moodle, this is not a misuse of the tab metaphor, rapid switching between alternative views of the same information object (Nielsen). The natural presentation of that functionality is two tabs, not a menu in which those two links get lost.
There are currently bugs visible there, for example the overlapping Nav and Settings blocks.
Also, we are getting rid of the tabs, and just using the settings and nav blocks. See MDL-20276.
Whoever configured the QA site so that the blog menu was visible on the right was obviously mucking around. Clearly you would not do that on a real site, and not blocks on the right makes things better.
That is certainly not a complete answer, but it helps a bit.
Also, we are getting rid of the tabs, and just using the settings and nav blocks. See MDL-20276.
Whoever configured the QA site so that the blog menu was visible on the right was obviously mucking around. Clearly you would not do that on a real site, and not blocks on the right makes things better.
That is certainly not a complete answer, but it helps a bit.