Themes allowing teacher editing?

Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Brian Rigwald -
Number of replies: 28

Hello!


For the past two years, I have been teaching myself Moodle and integrating it into our 8th Grade Global Studies curriculum.  I am looking for ways to "jazz" it up and make it more visually appealing for my students.  I am merely a teacher, with no site admin access.  Are there any Moodle Themes that allow for teachers to edit/customize them for their specific courses?  I have played with themes from an site admin perspective on a private server (which turned out not to be able to handle my course, which forced me to place the course on our district Moodle server), so I am aware of a lot of customization many themes have embedded from for site administrators.  As a teacher, however, I have only seen the ability to change a theme, but not make any changes to them.  If it is currently not a possibility, is it something that people had suggested before and, if so, are there reasons to not have teachers be able to customize local versions of themes for their individual courses?


Thanks for your time.


Brian Rigwald

8th Grade Global Studies

Century Junior High

Forest Lake, MN 


p.s.  I am seriously contemplating attending MoodleMootUS here in Minnesota this August.  I will have to pay for it totally out of my own pocket, but I want to learn more about how to make Moodle an even better experience for my students.


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In reply to Brian Rigwald

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Gareth J Barnard -
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Hi Brain,

That's an interesting question and one that has been posed before.

I don't believe that there are any themes that allow customisation at the user level.  Inherently themes are designed to be customised by the administrator and that is how the core code is written to support that concept.  However there is nothing to stop themes implementing functionality that would allow per-user customisation with persistence of settings.  But... the code is not that simple.  In my course format's Collapsed Topics and Grid I do allow customisations at the course level and the former does remember the toggle state at the user level.

In addition there is an accessibility block: https://moodle.org/plugins/view/block_accessibility - which is an alternate solution line.  It's being used at iMoot 2015 - http://2015.imoot.org/ - run by Pukunui (a Moodle Partner) - plug plug smile.  So perhaps a theme could supply a supplementary customisation block that is customised for it along the same lines.  The Essential theme already supplies a child theme template that can be adapted and then used in the way you are sort of suggesting by turning on course themes, but... the admin would still need to configure it, so you do get what you want in terms of variety, but not per user.

I believe that historically that themes were always meant to fit in with the 'corporate style' of the institution and not meant to be adapted by users.  But then there is the concept of 'personalised learning' and being able to make your area your own is a feature worth adding.

So.... will I add something to my own themes in the short term, no, but that is down to time, in the long term, then I'm keen to do so.  Just need to understand the potential solutions on a technical level and find the time etc.

Cheers,

Gareth

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In reply to Gareth J Barnard

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Richard Schwarz -

I've been thinking along the same lines for a bit, and have absolutely nothing concrete. I'm thinking of a person-by-person level of customization of a theme, starting with a user being able to choose their own background image (and then if I can ever get that to work, move on to other settings like colours, fonts etc). I think if students (and I work at a K-12 school, so don't read that this applies everywhere...) can personalise their moodle, then they'll take more ownership, and potentially use it more (it's their space). 

I was looking at trying to tie in to a user's profile area (upload the background there) but have administration level overrides to disallow the personalisation as required. Then my theme file checks for the lockdown, if it's not there it then looks for a background stored wherever that may be and loads that up as a background. Otherwise, it loads the background set by the admin....

As I said earlier, nothing working at the moment, still scratching my head trying to figure it out. I'm looking at customising Elegance for this one...

If I make it work, I'll let you know.

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In reply to Richard Schwarz

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Richard Oelmann -
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I have done this before using profile fields and it does work - when theme caching is turned off (ie theme developer mode is enabled).

But at the time I couldn't get it to work without that theme developer mode and haven't re-looked at it since about a year or so ago. That bit was relatively simple logic in the lib.php of the theme - if the userprofile setting exists and is set use that, if not and it is set use the theme setting, if neither use the default.

Maybe its time for another look smile

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In reply to Richard Oelmann

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Brian Rigwald -

Such a functionality for teachers would make Moodle even better and inviting for students and friendlier to teachers.


So, my follow-up question would be this.  I have Moodle installed on a separate server, which I have admin rights to.  Is there any way for a "noob" like me to install a theme and get it just the way I like it (settings, etc...) and be able to give it to my school's Moodle admins to install so that I can select it in my course admin settings (under appearance)?  It would have to be something easy for the admins to do, since I don't want to inconvenience them.

I know some basic HTML and have been known to dabble in simply adjusting css (trial and error - no schooling) to achieve what I want.  I have experience borrowing and adapting code, although not fully understanding how it works or being able to create much of it from scratch, hehehe.

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In reply to Brian Rigwald

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Richard Oelmann -
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Thats how I (and many others) started out too Brian smile

The answer is yes - but I would suggest that if you want to be able to give it to your admins and have it look the way you want without access to the settings pages, then you need to do it all within the code of the theme in the first place.

Probably the easiest way to do that is to start with Clean (core) or Easy (in the plugins database) - with the least settings already in place. I would probably say make a child theme from Clean. Then, make sure that the graphics you want are within the theme pix folder and start playing with the css to style it.

Personally, if you are starting on this journey I would stick to that in the first place. As you progress and get more understanding you can begin experimenting with the layout files and additional functionality - but these days quite a bit of that functionality relies on settings pages, or can be added by simply making use of bootstrap code within the html editor in any standard content area anyway (you can build a carousel in a content area for example, even if the theme you use doesn't have one - just bear in mind Clean is based on Bootstrap2 if looking up code snippets).

As you get more confident with the code, php and how Moodle works you can start looking at the functionality provided by overriding renderers etc.

The good thing is that if you can persuade your admins to install your theme in the first place, it should be even easier to get them to upgrade it if you keep developing it on your own localhost setup.

Richard

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In reply to Richard Oelmann

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Brian Rigwald -
Thanks for your reply, Richard!


So, there is no way to get the theme the way I would like it using the theme settings and then "copy" it, so to speak, to import into the district's server.  I will have to play around with the theme files and see if I can import them into Dreamweaver and see what I can do. smile


Thanks!   I will probably be back seeking help and advice as I work on it (unless I give up, which I don't want to do!).

Brian


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In reply to Brian Rigwald

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Mary Evans -
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Hi Brian,

It all depends on what you want your Course pages to look like. As Richard pointed out you can hard code all those things that you would like into a theme, and if you want to add something like an image slider, then you can add one to the theme quite easily that will work via the Topic 0 area of your course pages. As an editing teacher you can add blocks which can be transformed into customised elements on the page too using JavaScript and HTML in the HTML blocks.  So the theme you end up with can have all the features you want as part of the theme with extra images that you can link to from the course pages if need be,  You could actually have a mini theme that could contain resources and be used like a library. There is no end of possibilities. I suppose in the end it depends on how much time you have and haw creative you are.

So at the end of the day it all depends on what you what to do with your course pages and what limited resources you have to do this with. Remembering that you can make a few themes that can be designed specifically for individual courses,

This may interest you too?

https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=267662

Cheers

Mary

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In reply to Mary Evans

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Brian Rigwald -

Thanks Mary! 


I will look into that link.  I think what I will do right now is this.  Any feedback would be appreciated:


I have already used Essential Theme on my test Moodle site and have it configured a lot like I want, even with some custom css code in the custom css part of the settings.  So I figured I will:


1)  Copy Essential theme as a base.

2)  Find where the default settings are and change those defaults to what I would like to see.

3)  Possibly add some stuff, like the slider that you (Mary) mentioned.

4)  Where there are images that I may wish to change, link them to a location off site, so that I can switch out the pictures by simply changing the images at that remote location (keeping the image name the same).


Does this sound like something doable for someone without coding training.  I could open the files in Dreamweaver and search for the parameter names listed in the current settings (ex:  menucolor, menuhovercolor, etc....)


Thanks!


Brian


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In reply to Brian Rigwald

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Gareth J Barnard -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers

Hi Brian,

Essential is just about the most complex theme for Moodle that there is, so I would not recommend 'copying' it.  I should know, I've been developing it for ten months!  Anyway, because of this fact, I've created a 'child' theme template called 'essentials' that comes with the theme, copy that out of the 'essential' folder and into the 'theme' folder, then have a play with that.  Instructions in the 'Readme's.  But this area is something I'd not recommend for a complete beginner - but try if you want.

Also, Essential already has a slider.

Or start with a much simpler theme like Clean or Shoelace.

Cheers,

Gareth

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In reply to Gareth J Barnard

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Brian Rigwald -

Hi Gareth,


I want to preface this with saying how much I like the Essential theme and I can understand the complexities involved.  That's why, because of my limited coding knowledge, I would simply try to change the defaults to the colors, graphics, etc... that I would have set in the preferences anyway.  The limited custom CSS that I had planned added a background image to the course pages.  Since I would only be dealing with course stuff, I was contemplating trying to put a photo slider on the top of each of the section/unit pages, changing out the pictures for each region of the world we are in.  (The course is Global Studies 8.)  Because my students use Chromebooks with smaller screens, I might see if there is a way to default the side menus to be docked, giving more space for the central column.


Other than that, I am not looking at a major overhaul and totally redesigning.  I figured changing the defaults would be the easiest way to go about it.  The customization ability of the theme allows the settings to do most of the "custom theme creation" without having to truly edit the code.  (I hope that makes sense.) 

Currently modified Essential Theme on Test Moodle

Thanks!


Brian

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In reply to Brian Rigwald

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Gareth J Barnard -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers

Thanks for the information Brian.

As far as I know, having blocks docked by default is 'tricky'.  I'm sure I've tried in the past and grown more grey hairs as a consequence.

If you want more space on the course page, then change 'columns3.php' to 'columns2.php' and remove 'side-post' with setting 'side-pre' as the default here: https://github.com/gjb2048/moodle-theme_essential/blob/master/config.php#L101-L105.

As you want to only alter specific courses, then turning on course themes would be a possibility then having a specific 'child' theme with your modifications.  But.... the thing is I think you are hinting at changing only specific courses with the 'photo slider' in which case that would be the realm of the course format where it would contain settings specific to that course and render the course as desired - in the same way that Collapsed Topics / Grid etc. provide 'per course' settings.  However, that is not what I'd call easy.  Or you could experiment with Mary's inline slider in a label solution - to be honest I don't know if it would work with Essential - worth a try though.

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In reply to Gareth J Barnard

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Brian Rigwald -

Thanks for your reply!  I initially thought about adjusting the column width, so I appreciate the insight as to where to look!  I figured that would be harder than the default docking.   (I was afraid it might mess up expanded menus on the side.)    I can always just instruct my students to dock the items to begin with. wink

I am only able to test on a Moodle 2.6 test server, since my free hosting doesn't have the updated php to handle 2.8.

Basically, my colleague and I teach a course called Global Studies (8th Grade).  We each have our Moodle course for our classes (and the students are put into groups representing each hour.)  Since we do have the ability to set a theme in "Course Settings -> appearance", the idea is to make a Global Studies version of the theme for our Global Studies course, and then turn in on in the settings.  So really, the only areas where the theme will be applicable is within the course/lesson/quiz/etc... pages.  I was thinking about a slider at the top of the center column for each section page, since each section is a separate unit.  That would allow me, for example, to have Australia/Oceania pics when we are in that unit (which is actually our current unit).  Fitting, since Moodle is from Australia.


I know the few tricky things for me will be:

- Finding a way for the theme to pull images from a set default location.  (For example, storing the logo somewhere on the web and if I want to change the logo, I simply swap out that file on the web with a new logo, but keep the name the same).

- Finding a way for me to set up the links in the top drop-down menu and possibly have a way to edit them in the future.

- Finish a place for the custom css that I put in the custom css area of the settings.  I saw a youtube video in which the person simply made a custom.css file in the style folder (I believe), which he said would automatically be brought in by Moodle.


Right now, I have:

1)  Copied the essential folder and renamed it global_studies_essential.

2)  I imported that folder into Dreamweaver and did a folder-wide search for /essential/ and did a rename to /global_studies_essential/.

3)  I did a folder-wide search for theme_essential and did a rename to theme_global_studies_essential.

4)  I printed out the essential settings from my test Moodle site and did folder-wide searches for  the various color settings (themetextcolor, themurlcolor, etc...) where I had changed the color from default.  I found the default setting and changed the default to the color code that I wanted. 


I greatly appreciate you (and others) taking the time to respond to my posts.  I really want to jazz up the experience for my students, who currently just have the 2.5 core themes.


Thanks!


Brian


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In reply to Brian Rigwald

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Gareth J Barnard -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers

Hi Brian,

If you need a local Moodle install to test on that is more recent, then please see: https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=312419#p1252872 - where I did a presentation at iMoot 2014 on 'My Own Moodle' - still applicable today.

Cheers,

Gareth

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In reply to Gareth J Barnard

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Brian Rigwald -

Thanks!

I'll take a look at that.  I am hoping to convince my school district to upgrade to Moodle 2.8 this summer.  (We are at 2.5 right now.  2 years ago, we were at 1.9.)  So, if I can figure out how to install Moodle on my PC at home, then I can play with it there in 2.8. smile


Thanks again!

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In reply to Brian Rigwald

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Just H -

Re docking blocks as default, haven't tried it myself but there seems to be a hack for it here (also a blog post with the same hack here).

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In reply to Brian Rigwald

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Derek Chirnside -

Brian, Why don't you ask for some admin access?

Or alternatively develop your theme on your own machine, and ask for it to be added to your site?

-Derek

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In reply to Derek Chirnside

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Brian Rigwald -

Hi Derek,


I am a lowly teacher, so I doubt I would be granted admin rights (security reasons, etc...).  I don't want to appear to be stepping into areas that are someone else's domain and then upset people.  


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In reply to Derek Chirnside

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Brian Rigwald -

Do you know if it would be possible for the district administrators to grand administrator rights to a single theme?  In other words, could I ask to have my theme installed and then be granted admin rights only to that theme's settings?

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In reply to Brian Rigwald

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Gareth J Barnard -
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Hi Brian,

Let's settle this once and for all.  As it currently stands, either a user is an admin with full control over everything or not.  There is no half way house when it comes to the admin settings for the installation.

Gareth

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In reply to Brian Rigwald

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Mary Evans -
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You can have more than one Administrator these are...

  1. Site Administrator: has total control over the site.
  2. Course Managers: have similar permissions to Site Admin but with restrictions.

When I have worked on Moodle sites for Admins who want help, I am truly amazed when they make me into a Manager role who has access to the themes and theme settings. So it can be done but at the discretion of the Site Administrator.

The only thing you can do is ask.

Cheers

Mary

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In reply to Mary Evans

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Brian Rigwald -

Thank you for the input.  I know Moodle is very customizable with regards to permissions; that's why I posed the question here before approaching the district admins.  The question is with regards to accessing the theme settings after installation, because if I can do that, then there isn't a lot I would have to modify in the actual theme, because I could do it through the settings options.

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In reply to Brian Rigwald

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Mary Evans -
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Well Brian...it is looking very much like you are not able to adjust Theme settings as anything other than the Site Administrator. So go pester the hierarchy of your institution, who knows they might give you access under their guidance. Lets look on the bright side, there may even be some nice people who will allow you to do this as a special privilege.

You will never find out unless you ask!

Cheers

Mary

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In reply to Mary Evans

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Gareth J Barnard -
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Ok....

Moodle 2.9.

Created a new user and made them a 'manager' for the whole system under 'Site administration / ► Users / ► Permissions / ► Assign system roles', see: Assign_roles.

Turned on course themes 'allowcoursethemes'.

Logged in as the new user.

Cannot access theme settings.

Therefore cannot currently be done.

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In reply to Gareth J Barnard

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Brian Rigwald -

Thanks for your testing, Gareth.  big grin


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In reply to Brian Rigwald

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Brian Rigwald -

Now that Moodle 2.9 came out, I installed a test server on my computer and installed the latest Essential Theme to work with.  It currently is displaying both the navigation menus and all blocks on the right side, even when the settings tell it to be on the left.  I assume this is a result of a 2.8 theme being used on Moodle 2.9, so I guess I will wait on modifying until a stable working 2.9 version of Essential Theme is available.  I understand that it might be some time, because everyone has busy lives.

I do greatly appreciate everyone's offers of assistance and I look forward to this exciting adventure.  Who knows, maybe I will see some of you at MoodleMootUS in my home state of Minnesota!


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In reply to Brian Rigwald

Re: Themes allowing teacher editing?

by Gareth J Barnard -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers

Hi Brian,

On 'Generic settings', Essential has a setting 'layout' that when unset has the 'content' -> 'blocks' -> 'blocks' layout.  When set it has the older 'blocks' -> 'content' -> 'blocks' layout.

I've recently created a milestone for myself for Essential M2.9: https://github.com/gjb2048/moodle-theme_essential/milestones/Moodle%202.9%20version - the initial deadline I've given myself is the end of September.

Cheers,

Gareth

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