Hi,
I'm pretty green when it comes to site admin. I have a Moodle site I'm using to deliver training to the private sector (motorcycle techs) and a sub-contractor has recently modified a them for the site. All in all it seems pretty good, but the courses (all SCORM packages) have a blank space above them when launched, either in a new window or not.
Is there a way to remove this space?
Any help gratefully received!Adam
Technically speaking there is a way of fixing this but unfortunately I haven't got a SCORM package set up to test this with at the moment. I'll try and get back to you later today.
I am assuming that this is Essential theme you are using or a derivative of it?
Cheers
Mary
Hi Mary,
Thanks for looking, yes, it's a variation of Essential. If there's anything I can do to make that easier for you, just let me know.
Many thanks again.
Cheers
Adam
Hi Adam,
The best thing would be for me to be able to see the problem first hand. In the past I have been given access to a test course with some simple SCORM package to show up the problem.
If you could arrange something similar that would be great? If this is possible can you send details via a Private Message?
Cheers
Mary
Hi Adam, thanks for allowing me to access your site. The test was entertaining, considering I did Electronics at degree level I scored very badly! LOL
The problem stems (I think) from the way the scorm player is centralised, therefore, depending on your screen resolution, it will vary.
I have mine set at 1024px x 768px and did not see anything strange, yes there was a gap but only minimal, I would say about half of what I can see in the image up-uploaded in your origin opening comment here.
I tested this using 1400px x 1050px and yes, sure enough I was correct. The gap is much bigger.
So, how to fix this?
To be honest I am not sure, as the page it is in now seems to be using the wrong layout. Normally SCORM packages use the popup, and normally that layout has NO BLOCKS, yet there are some side blocks on that page, so I am wondering if changes were made to your theme that changed some of the page layouts in the essential/config.php for popup layout?
Mary
Hi Mary,
Thanks for the look. It is odd, between different lessons there are different widths of SCORM player. If I change them to pop up They seem to have the same issue, on first launch there's no padding, but the bottom of the package isn't visible - if I drag the pop up window down to see it the first thing that happens is an increase in the packing (naturally, same if I just increase the height of the pop up window.
Curious. And frustrating!
I'll message you screen grabs of it launched as 'new window' and then dragged down to the point where you can see the bottom of the lesson... The image size for this board is kinda low!
Mary pointed me here. (thanks Mary)
I've seen this before with Articulate packages - here's a post that describes similar behaviour:
http://community.articulate.com/forums/t/14977.aspx
The space comes from the SCORM package itself (not from Moodle) - it seems to do some weird scaling thing. I haven't heard of it happening for a while so I'm not sure if that's because newer Moodle releases fix it or if Articulate fixed it with one of their patches.
First - what version of Moodle are you using?
if you are using 2.4, make sure you are using a version higher than 2.4.8 if you are using 2.5 make sure it's higher than 2.5.4 (if you are using an older version we can't help much further anyway) If that doesn't work you could also take a look at Moodle 2.6 (if you haven't already) as it contains a modified player that might work better.
Next - are you creating the package yourself using Articulate? - can you try upgrading and applying all Articulate patches and then rebuild the SCORM to see if that helps?
You could also set your SCORM to open in a "new window" - in the Moodle settings hit "show advanced" and set the SCORM to open in a new window - you can also set the size of that window that is opened to fit your SCORM content.
Good luck!
Hi Dan!
Thanks for the input, interesting to see it's not just me.
I'm using 2.6, I have just updated it too - and tried using Elegance instead of the essential based theme. All things have the same effect, so Articulate seems to be the cause.
I'll spend some time going through Articulate, and yes, I am creating the packages using it. I have tried with new windows and same page launching at all sorts of sizes, but the same thing happens.
If I find a solution, I'll let you know, I'll see if the E-learning heroes people can shine any fresh light, that thread you referred to is exactly the issue, but doesn't get to a solution. I'm hoping the originator just found some silly publish setting...
Any more thoughts gratefully received.
Cheers
Adam
Hi Adam
A couple of points:
1. I suggest you try a theme temporarily that does is NOT based on Twitter Bootstrap (so not Essential / Clean / Elegance). Either the standard theme or similar, just in case there is an incompatibility. That will help you with the troubleshooting.
2. What is your ability at debugging layouts with Firefox/Firebug or Chrome? It may be that you can overcome the issue with CSS, and failing that then Javascript (YUI or jQuery) can possibly overrule the SCORM settings.
3. I haven't kept up with Articulate, but what version are you using, and what options do you have for output? Is there an HTML5 output option? Or is there specific SCORM functionality you absolutely need?
Good luck!
Brian
Hi Brian,
Thanks for that. I switched to Brick and then Formal White, in both cases the dead space is still be present, shallower where columns are wider, Formal White had very little dead space..
I'm using Articulate's Storyline - it outputs to flash with an HTML5 version for mobile devices.
My CSS/html/etc is at the most basic it can be without being non-existant. But ever game for a laugh, I turned on Firebug and - the space seemed to disappear (still on Formal White)! Turn off Firebug and it re-appears.
I switched back to Elegance, tried again, same result, the So what's the 40mm (on my screen) dead space drops to around 10mm when the Firebug panel is showing.
*Confused*
Cheers
Adam
We have numerous SCORM packages that we developed in Articulate Storyline and deployed in Moodle 2.7 with the More theme. We have all Storyline updates. The blank areas in the window are still a problem. I've tried opening the package in a new window using various settings and have yet to find a satisfactory solution.
Should I start a thread on this issue in the SCORM forum?
It depends where the blank areas are. Please post a screen shot of the issue.
Hi Gareth,
Attached is a screen shot of how the SCORM quiz looks when it opens on my laptop screen. The blank space crowds out the SUBMIT button. (I shrank it so it would upload.)
Thanks, humm, interesting. Do you have a sample SCORM package and instructions on how to upload it (I'm not yet familiar with SCORM functionality in Moodle) so I can test please?
I became interested whether this problem is theme-based. So I tried the same SCORM module on our site (Moodle version 2.7) and the demo site (2.7.2). As you can see from the attached, the same extra space appears with both the Clean theme and the More theme. Since these are the most standard themes I came to the conclusion that the problem is probably not caused by the theme.
Articulate just released Storyline 2. I'm curious whether it fixes the bug and gets rid of the extra blank space.
Hello,
Have you found a solution because I have the same problem. Watch this thread for the complete description : http://community.articulate.com/forums/t/56438.aspx
I really want to know if someone here using Storyline with Moodle. It should be a good point to understand what's going on.
I watch a little bit deeper and I found that a value controling the height of the SCORM player is dynamically generated. I found it in the source code of the page : <div style="height: 977px;" id="scorm_layout" class="yui3-g-r">
I don't think it can be solved by a CSS modification as the value is dynamically generated. this value can be the source of the problem.
We have created the issue Blank space in SCORM windows, MDL-47500 in the Moodle Tracker. If you would like to see this resolved more quickly, please logon the Tracker (register first, if necessary) and vote for the issue. If you have any technical capabilities or insights that will help fix the problem, please post them in the Tracker.
This was resolved: https://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-47500
