Hello All,
With help from this community and Richard Oelmann I am pleased to be very close to releasing Fordson. A brand new Boost Child theme!
Check out my writeup and details of the new theme here:
http://webmaster.dearbornschools.org/2016/12/09/fordson-a-theme-for-k-12/
Download at github until I get it in the Moodle Repository:
https://github.com/kennibc/moodle-theme_fordson
As with your other themes Chris, its a great piece of work - looks good with tremendous features for your users!
Thanks Richard. You've been a big help! Thanks for sharing and helping with some of the coding that has been challenging.
You've been pretty instrumental in helping with a variety of features.
Chris, a nice effort. Very nice. I think it is not necessarily just for K-12. I appreciate your blog post. Clear simple, saves me time having to figure out things. I was not wanting to start a new thread, I'll ask a couple of questions here:
Derek,
The image is set to cover the space. It will stretch to fill the header proportionally. We use this as a way for teachers to customize their course, provide students with visual cues of the course they are in, and to provide an overall visual enhancement. I usually tell teachers to go to pexels.com and download images that are 1200x800 or the medium file size from that site. 1024x760 or 800x600 is OK too. It will center the image and stretch to fill the space.
Check github for the updated header height settings. I just pushed up the new dropdown settings.
https://github.com/kennibc/moodle-theme_fordson
Thanks for checking out our new theme. Hopefully it will be approved in the plugin repository soon.
I'd agree with your assessment that the theme is not just for K-12, but we are a K12 school district and we focus our themes on what our users tell us and feedback from our staff. This theme is named after the first million dollar high school built in the USA - Fordson. It's a beautiful building that both my parents attended.
I just added the latest version to github - v1.1.3 and the Moodle repository for when it gets approved.
In this version I added in a new special button in the icon Navigation Bar of Fordson. This button toggles a sliding custom textbox.
Fordson has two special buttons: Course Creator and Slider. The course creator only appears if the user has the capability to create courses. The slider button shows/hides a custom textbox with reveals itself by sliding down below the main navigation bar.
Watch the video to learn more
I started creating docs for the theme: https://docs.moodle.org/32/en/admin/setting/themesettingfordson
Feel free to offer suggestions or help.
Chris, I like the turn editing ON link.
From your point of view, how do you access Site admin? At present it is click to open drawer, scroll, click.
What about a second button saying "Site Admin" next to the turn editing on, or something top right?
-Derek
Derek,
We are going to follow Boost as much as possible and change as little as possible. This will help ensure the longevity of Fordson. We want this theme to be in it for the long haul.
Site Admin is accessed from the sidebar unless you put in the block. I just use the sidebar.
It has been sitting in the database for a couple of weeks now. I checked today and it shows 14 sites already using Fordson in the stats! GitHub has the current code that is awaiting approval.
Great Chris, this is a wise move.
Fordson on Plugins: can't find it with a search. I must be doing something wrong:
Today (after my break) I've been tinkering with various aspects of Fordson.
That is all for now, I need a break from keyboards. Off to do my day job.
Well done Chris with this theme. I think Boost and Fordson are great names!!
-Derek
The Fordson theme has been awaiting approval for 24 days. I think with the push to get 3.2 out there is a big backlog of new plugins. I'm not sure Waxed has been approved yet eitger. The good thing is that with each new update I push to GitHub while waiting for approval.
Marketing tiles will be fixed Monday once I'm back to work. Mary provided some good insight into the issue.
Boost brings the functionality we've always desired. Fordson puts some features and style on top of that great foundation. Teachers love the custom header images they can upload and personalize their courses.
Discovered a duplicate language string and removed it today. Latest version should be 1.1.4 and you can find it on github and Moodle plugins once approved.
https://github.com/kennibc/moodle-theme_fordson
https://moodle.org/plugins/theme_fordson
We also setup a sandbox for our teachers to explore, so if you wanted to see the theme in action here is the link: http://moodlesandbox.dearbornschools.org/
Please note that guest doesn't get you a whole lot of access to stuff.
Hi Chris....
I've just been looking at Fordson in your Moodle sandbox site, and as always your themes please the eye.
I'm using an iPad Mini and so this tends to break in some Moodle pages, however Fordson looks to be working OK, but the Marketing items are not resizing correctly. (See image)
I am not that ll up on Bootstrap 4 but I suspect it's a styling issue.
If I find anything else I'll let you know.
thanks,
Mary
Thanks Mary. I'll be out until January with the holidays.
Good catch with the marketing spots. I'll have to see what's going on there. I think we're all trying to catch up and learn all the new changes.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Chris
Hi Chris,
I think the problem is that you need to add a div class=container followed by a div class=row plus col clas selectors that defie the different widths for different device types which will then reorder when in a small width area.
Happy Christmas & Peaceful New Year
Mary
Thanks Mary! That is most helpful.
I'll get the additional markup in there after the holidays. If you have any other suggestions for improvements let me know.
I'll need to look at some other areas where proper containers might be needed just to be safe.
Thank you,
Chris
The easiest way to find which classes you need is to read through all the Bootstrap4 Examples which are available to download from the bootstrap.com website.
Tiny thing Chris. In the admin settings, in color tab, If I change a color, click change button, it goes back to the presets tab. Feature or bug?
-Derek
PS, when will this be in the plugins database? Any idea?
Hey Mary,
I am back from vacation and I was looking into this issue. It doesn't appear to fix the issue. It works perfect when the new drawer is hidden. When the drawer is open then the sizing issue creeps in for the marketing tiles.
I'm still searching for an answer.
Hi Chris,
we here in Fiji have used the Fordson theme on our Moodle webpage.
you can check it out on the following link: http://weblearn.fnu.ac.fj/
its a great piece of work.
thanks
Ronil
Ronil,
Anytime you want to meet the developer of Fordson I'm available to come to Fiji! Lol. It's 30 degrees Fahrenheit over here in Michigan.
Glad you like it. We're upgrading our main Moodle site early next year. I'm jealous we can't upgrade sooner. I love the Boost theme and new layout for Moodle.
If you have any suggestions for improving Fordson I'd love to hear them.
Thanks,
Chris
sure Chris,
do pay us a visit at Fiji National University.
you will surely enjoy
thanks
Ronil
Hi Ronil,
I notice that your Fordson updated webpage did not show the marketing spot and footer notes.
Did you put any information in any of the marketing spots setting as well as the footer notes?
I tested them on my page and I populated information in the marketing spots as well as the footer notes.
The marketing spots or the footer notes did not appear on my webpage.
I want to check with you first before asking Chris.
Notes : Moodle version 3.2
Thank you
Kingbee
Hi Kingbee
we are not using the marketing icons and footer notes at the moment. that would be used as something new in the coming months when we need to change the looks and feels of our website. for the footer, its just better the way it looks now.
too much content makes it text savvy and bulky.
but for you i guess nothing should be stopping you to be using them.
thanks
Ronil
Thanks Ronil for your input.
Kingbee
I'm on break until Monday, but I believe you must add a title to the marketing tile for it to appear. It will only appear on site home. Not the dashboard.
I will look into the footer as well.
Hi Chris,
Sorry to interupt your holiday.
Thanks for message.
Yes, I can see both the marketing spot and footer on the site home.
I have been looking at the dashboard, hence can't see the marketing spot.
I have also tested to see if the footer appear in Category page and Course page. The footer does not show in both the pages.
Thank you.
Kingbee
Kingbee,
We decided to only include the custom footer text on the Site Homepage. The thought here was once you left the homepage the learner should be focused on processing new material and not the same text they looked at on the homepage. This helps lower the cognitive load when a student processes the page and is trying to determine where and what they need to get done.
We also intentionally did not include the marketing tiles and other enhancements on the dashboard as we think that should be a students decision on how to organize that page.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the information.
i would like change the bg color for one of the blocks. can that be done and how if possible.
i would like to change the bg color for the header of Site News and change the Text color as well.
the changes should only affect the specific block only and not other blocks.
please indicate which files need changing for MOODLE 3.2 fordson theme.
awaiting your reply.
thanks
Ronil.
Brand new feature: Course Activity drop down
This new drop down menu appears to the right of the breadcrumbs and displays all the activities in a list. I also added two key links for our teachers: Enrollment and Question Bank. If you have the capability to manage enrollments then you will see the enrollment link in the drop down. Same for question bank. If you can manage the bank then it will magically appear. Students will not see these links. They will see a list of activity types which generate a list of all the items.
See the Course Activities drop down in the header area in the image below.
Hi Chris,
This is great! I was looking for this feature since the announcement and introduction of Boost. I am excited that you were able to add this feature to Fordson. It surely improves the user experience of teachers and students.
With kind regards,
Hartmut
I just fixed this issue in version 1.2.0. Download that and try it out.
Sorry. Yes. If going from github it was the 1.2.0a commit. Officially in the Moodle.org repository it is the 1.2.0 download.
It was this line that fixed it:
.breadcrumb-button { float: right; }
https://github.com/kennibc/moodle-theme_fordson/blob/master/scss/styles.scss#L116-L118
Did you Purge All Caches?
Thanks for an awesome theme. I think you are limiting the theme by calling it K-12. Implies it is not useful for corporate where I am trying to implement it for internal use. Looks really promising this far.
I am on Moodle 3.2.1 and Fordson 1.2.0 and have a couple of questions as I am still trying to grasp the admin side of working with Moodle:
1. In an earlier version I could not figure out how to upload our favicon.ico, so I added it directly under fordson/pix. However as I updated to the latest release it is of course replaced with the standard moodle favicon. Can this be modified?
2. I understand there are som issues remaining relating to presets but if I change preset to Candycane which is really nice, the headers for the marketing tiles disappear for both the front and home pages.
3. Could you explain the following sentence from the moodle doc page. I am not sure I understand what you mean or if it relates to earlier versions:
"It is recommended you remove all color settings when exploring presets
so that the Fordson color choosers do not alter the preset styles."
Are you referring to the text input fields?
What happens if I did not clear them? Are the presets messed up forever?
4. Is it possible to replace the moodle logo in the footer of the Home page?
Thanks,
Thomas
Thomas,
1. Sorry. To keep things simple I have not implemented a fav icon uploader. You'll have to replace it when updating.
2. I also identified this behavior with the headings and I have a fix. It will be in the 1.2.1 release which will be out soon.
3. This refers to the colors that are set/customized on the Fordson Colours page. I made the mistake of setting default values here on theme install and so when you try a new preset the values on the Fordson Colours Page override the preset. I am fixing this with the next release.
4. The moodle logo at the bottom can be turned off, but the icon is part of core.
Glad you like the theme. I am beginning to explore better styled presets and the next version will ship with two new color schemes called Ford Field and The Rouge. Ford Field is a light and colorful theme while The Rouge is dark like an industrial factory. Each of these new presets has an Alternate designated with an "X". The "X" versions will have the vertical menus.
The fixes should be out before the weekend.
Chris
I added another preset called Americana and Americana X. Candycane was renamed to simple X. Github has the latest. I am still tweaking some things and testing. Once complete I will upload the latest version to Moodle.org.
Hello- I'm new here and i have just chosen to use the fordson theme. Love it so far but I'm at a lost trying to figure out how to get rid of the Logo at the footer. It says here that it is possible to turn it off? But how? If i replace the logo through the my cpanel, there will still be a link... Is there a simple straight forward way please?? Thank you so much
This is something built into Moodle. Probably the easiest way is to add this to the fordson theme administration page for Colors.
On the color page you will see a text box which allows you to drop in code. Put this in the top one:
Thank you so much!
I just released Fordson v1.2.1. It contained a few adjustments on install so that the color choosers do not have defaults set. I did that to be more compatible with changing looks based on Presets. If you go to the Fordson theme in Site admin, I would encourage you to delete any pre-defined colors on the Colour page. Removing them will allow the preset colors to be used instead.
Speaking of presets, version 1.2.1 comes with 8 custom presets that are compatible with both Fordson and Boost. Be sure to check out: City Hall, Ford Field, Michigan Ave, and The Rouge. Each of these comes with a separate "X" version which simply indicates that block titles will be displayed vertical much like they do in the More Candy theme.
Seen below is the Michigan Ave X preset.
Great additions. Just posting a thank you for your awesome and quick theme work and updates. I've been having issues with a few of the other new Boost child themes (stagetwo & waxed, specifically). I'm even finding it easier to manipulate the theme files for customizations. So, again, thank you!
A few suggestions/requests if you're open to them:
I just showed the customizations I've done based on Fordson to the Education department director where I work and he is over the moon. Our site will be trying to teach & revitalize a local native-american dialect that is virtually extinct (2-4 fluent speakers, 4-8 semi-fluent/elementary school level, and that's it). With Moodle 3.2's release I've been scrambling to get ahead of the curve so that Moodle MOOC training match-up. Fordson has allowed this to happen.
Thank you for the kind words and appreciation of our theme. Wait until you see the continued enhancements of the Style Presets for Fordson. I spent a day or two adding in some new features and styling that is really nice. I also better implemented some Font Awesome icons for each topic heading as well as the main course menu. If you do use blocks, I implemented icons next to each block title.
Getting to your points:
I do plan to circle back and clean up the coding and make sure things are as streamlined as possible. Moving forward we will be focusing on style and good feedback such as yours to help round the edges as we move forward.
I plan to stay as close to core Boost as possible to ensure the longevity of Fordson. In that regard we will be keeping things very simple and functional.
Thank you for answering my other questions (which I guess I should have put in this forum).
Reading what you have planned is very exciting! I like the idea for the favicon upload and enabling the social icons to open in a new window.
I have one more request. A 'scroll to top' button would be useful (especially on admin pages). Would that be easy to add?
Sheila
Sheila,
Another great idea. I will take a look and see about adding the scroll button. These are all small but significant enhancements that make a difference in user experience.
Please let me know if you think of others.
Chris
Another idea is a useful one from the Essential theme with the "floating" Save button. It is always visible on bottom of the screen. Then you will not have to scroll to the bottom of the page after editing.
I would also like to support your opinion on keeping the theme "simple" and easy to use. Leave out the bells and whistles and focus on ease of use for the user. Icon navigation is not only useful for younger students but also for (in my case) corporate where people may loose focus/interest if the UI is difficult to understand as there are other meetings and tasks competing for their time.
// Thomas
I just noticed that all my internal footers are different from the main dashboard footer. Specifically, the social media icons. I'm still not well versed with bootstrapbase and boost, or bootstrap in general, really. My assumption is that "{{{ output.social_icons }}}" needs to be added to some .mustache files in Boost, I just haven't spent enough time looking at them to figure that out, yet, though.
They are deliberately left off course pages and limited to the homepage. Once you leave the site homepage they go away.
The thinking behind this is that less is more and once you are in a course you should be engaged with the learning material. Social time is over. If the user can see the social icons on the homepage they can go there to be social. Classrooms are for learning.
It lowers the cognitive load and time spent processing "what do I click on and where do I go" once inside an actual course.
Again, to keep things simple I didn't want to have to maintain too many template and layout files as I want this theme to rely on Boost as much as possible.
To do this within Fordson requires quite a few steps but if you wanted to hack core Boost you'd edit the columns2.mustatche file. Drop the {{{ output.social_icons }}} in the footer area at the bottom of the page. You'd also want to drop in the footnote code too if you use that for text.
Chris
Chris, a +1 for this.
Nicely articulated. I even like the corporate branding to me minimal in the courses, tiny headers, no distractions etc.
We managed to upgrade 14 days ago (in the middle of 7 full days of workshops for me out of town) so bad timing for me. But this weekend I'll be looking at the clone of Fordson that I have been given to play with. I think deep feedback is only possible after real use.
Can I add my thanks for Fordson to you (and the others who contributed like Richard, Mary, Gareth)
-Derek
I certainly understand and agree with the reasoning. I would even leave it as is on our site if we hadn't scoped out that footers and headers would match the rest of the new website being built as a sister project to our Moodle project.
Also, I apologize if this was noted somewhere in your documentation and I missed it. I actually brought it up not knowing if it was done on purpose or a "bug". I was aniticipating my users and other staff telling me the page is broken because of the visual change (most of our learners will be older and expect visual uniformity).
Many thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
I really love this theme. Unfortunately, I have run into some challenges since upgrading to the latest version last night. All of my customization choices were done based on the Flatly preset. I have managed to set things back to the way I like with a few exceptions. My CSS experience is still developing, so I am struggling to set things right.
You can still install any preset with Fordson, so you could add the flatly preset back into your site to use and retain all the customisations you previously had
Thank you Richard. I located the flatly.scss file and uploaded it as you suggested.
Hello David,
If you were using one of the very early versions of Fordson i had all the bootswatch presets included. Many of them had undesired results. In the latest version I am shipping Fordson with a few select styles catered to Fordson.
I also removed setting default colors from the color settings page when the theme first installs. If you remove the colors on the color setting page you can see what styles are set by the preset and then you can go in and tweak a color here or there in the color setting page.
If you want to remove the fontawesome icons for topics and heading title do the following:
Appearance > Fordson > Content Areas. Then find the Heading Icon and Course Section icon area. Put two quotes in the text box. " "
In the next release I am going to make this a drop down option. You will be able to select icons by name from a drop down and I will include about 10 as well as the option for none.
The fontawesome icons are not present in all Presets. Maybe I should have left the default preset very basic and created a new one for fontawesome enhancements?
Thank you Chris. That did the trick! I love this theme!
FYI for updating in the future.. In version 1.2.5 it is a drop down and at the bottom of the list is the "No Icon" option. These icons are only present on the Default and evolve-D presets.
I notice the gear is sometimes there and sometimes not. Is this intentional?
-Derek
That is the new functionality of Boost based themes. It only appears on the main course page. Once inside a course it appears below for activities but it is not the same menu.
Chris, I appreciate the thought you have put into various UI aspects of Fordson.
On this line, considering the page below:
On the drawer, my site admin link is way way down.
-Derek
Who is doing a bit of work on fixing my site, and is just wondering about things.
1) This Course Drop Down includes activities as well as: Enrollments, Manage Groups, Question Bank, and Question Categories. These items were chosen because they were buried deep in the Gear Icon and our teachers use these quite often to manage classes.
2) These links do have a permission check for users before they display. Adding Site Admin is quite easy but is it needed on every course?
Best practice, I would think, is that Site Admin is not enrolled in courses. Site Admin is not a regular user login. The site admin account should only be doing site admin stuff while a regular account (Maybe bumped to manager) does normal day to day stuff.
Chris, a little glitch.
-Derek
Derek,
I will look into the header. Not quite sure what's going on there. Might be best to post bugs in GitHub and leave this here for general questions now.
I don't think My courses is a link in Boost either. It might be part of core.
Chris
Simple enough fix. I am going to add this css which hides the This Course menu once off the main course page. It's too cluttered especially when the forum searchbox appears.
Just an FYI: I discovered a slight bug for mobile where if you had the header image height set to a small number like 100px and a long course title the whole thing would display weird.
This has been fixed and will be included in the next update for V1.2.4
The solution was to automatically adjust heights based on screen size. 768px and below get the default height which is like the normal boost theme.
Hi Chris!
First of all thank you for the quick fix of the footer issue. Works fine now.
I came across another (small) problem. The text 'this course' is somehow messed up.
A second problem which is actually causing a bit more trouble (although probably not a theme issue but related to H5P) is this behavior:
The module's interaction field is so small that you can hardly use it. I needed to switch to the Clean theme in which it works as expected. Any ideas?
Moodle 3.2.1+, latest H5P and your latest Fordson 1.2.4
Have a great weekend,
Stefan
The H5P Editor problem is a Moodle BUG and is being looked at. The fix if you want to try adding that to your Fordson theme is as follows:
This Course Dropdown.jpg
Screenshot from 2017-02-07 14-45-31.png
Screenshot from 2017-02-07 14-52-04.png
new presets.jpg
Americana.png
michigan ave X.png
Moodle 3.2 Sandbox Administration Appearance Themes Fordson.png
@media (min-width:544px) {
.form-inline .form-control-static {
display: block!important;
}
}
The discussion thread for this is HERE
Hope this helps?
Thanks
Mary
Stefan,
Mary's solution looks like it will work.
As for the this course drop down, did you clear all cache? I cannot replicate this issue. What browser are you using?
Hi Chris
does this help any further?
Have a great day,
Stefan
I see you have a 3rd party course format. Can you see if the issue with the This Course drop down is present on topic and weekly course formats?
I will install the course format you have there on my dev site and see if that is the issue.
Chris, the issue appears in all the formats I have installed including the standard ones.
Hi Mary, Hi Chris!
Thanks for responding and handing over very good hints I actually haven't come across yet.
Unfortunately none of the solutions work for me. Have tried Mary's patch, cleared the cache and tried on Chrome and Firefox without success.
I think I'm gonna wait til the H5P team offers a solution as it seems to be related to the H5P code conflicting with the Boost code.
@Chris: I couldn't get rid of the 'this course' issue - neither in Chrome nor in Firefox. I'll try to investigate further...
Best regards and again thank you so much for all your work and the help you offer here!
Stefan
Hi Stefan,
Can i ask where did you add the fix I added for the h5p editor ?
it needs to go into thr Raw SCSS box in the Fordson settings.
If you added it there and it didn't work then the fix is wrong!
Mary
Hi Mary
Your fix works perfect. I just mistakenly followed the instructions from the other thread and put it to the Boost theme's advanced settings...
Now in Appearance - Themes - Fordson - Colours - Raw SCSS and.....tataaaaa
That did the trick!
You saved my day!
Cheers,
Stefan
Hi Stefan,
Can i ask where did you add the fix I added for the h5p editor ?
it needs to go into thr Raw SCSS box in the Fordson settings.
If you added it there and it didn't work then the fix is wrong!
Mary
Yeah, still trying to figure out mustache. It was a lot simpler to just not have the button show up on previous themes using a simple PHP IF statement.
If you are going to use them use all the fields for now. I will keep it on a list for future improvements.
Thanks for sharing!
Chris
Hi Chris,
I am very excited about the theme Fordson. Thank you for developing it.
I am wondering whether it is possible to have the header row also appearing in the login page?
With kind regards,
Hartmut
It might be possible but we always ask questions like would it increase the ability of the user to login quickly?
Once a user reaches the login page do we want them looking to leave for somewhere else in the navbar?
From a usability standpoint does including this make sense? That is what we focus on. If that case/need from our users can be made then I'd pursue it.
What I am working on is better presentation of available courses, category icons, and course tiles. I'm also looking to see if a slideshow might work out on the homepage somehow without making it over-crowded.
I'd have to look, but I think the navbar is controlled in core_renderer.php. That might be where it gets determined where to show up on the site if you wanted to look to hack it.
There is nothing stopping you adding the top navbar with custommenu in the login page, it just means you would need to add the template/login.mustache to your theme and then customise it accordingly.
I am assuming you would also need a layout/login.php file too that links to the template as well as add the $THEMES->layout for the login page if it is not already there.
At lease I would assume one can do that as I have not tested out the idea yet!
Mary
Thank you for your replies. As I am not familiar with PHP, I will stay away from hacking the code. But your replies helped me to get a better idea how to accomplish a visual clue for users who are logging in. As I don't need any functionality of the top navbar, I will use the background image for the login page and add the top navbar to the image. Keeping it simple is a good motto, especially for the login page.
Hi Chris - I think there may be a minor bug in the buttons at the top of the main content on the front page.
I've just installed it on a test site which is in subdomains http://mymoodle/moodletest and http://mymoodle/moodledev rather than the straight domain http://mymoodle but the default links for those buttons are simply /my or /course/edit.php so this means they end up at http://mymoodle/my instead of http://mydomain/mysubdomain/my
eg
localhost/my when the site is installed at localhost/moodledev so should link to localhost/moodledev/my
R
In the instructions on the icon page it tells you how to adjust the URL for sub directory installs.
Can someone share how I can dynamically gather the URL during install?
Here is where they are set: https://github.com/kennibc/moodle-theme_fordson/blob/master/settings/fpicons_settings.php
Hi Chris,
Maybe not a 'bug' then - but hopefully a possible enhancement for you
Just add the $CFG->wwwroot at the beginning of where you have set the defaults for the links. So for example
$name = 'theme_fordson/nav1buttonurl';
$title = get_string('naviconbuttonurl', 'theme_fordson');
$description = get_string('naviconbuttonurldesc', 'theme_fordson');
$default = $CFG->wwwroot.'/my/';
$setting = new admin_setting_configtext($name, $title, $description, $default, PARAM_URL);
$setting->set_updatedcallback('theme_reset_all_caches');
That should pick it up whether its in the top level domain, or a subdomain
It's looking really great! Hoping to see whether I can mix the work you've done on the front page tiles with the work we did last year on the slider to make tiled panels for tagged and promoted courses too.
R
I have some ideas for promoted courses but I can't get the old code working. Maybe we could collaborate on that.
Thanks for the help on those defaults. I will push that out with the next release.
Hi,
Thanks for the awesome theme.
I'm trying the Multi-Language Content filter plugin with the Fordson theme in the front page text area and marketing tiles, BUT it's not working as it should!!
Does the theme supports such kind of filters?
Best regards,
Currently it must not support such a plugin. If someone knows how to make it support this plugin and can send me the fix I would be more than happy to include it.
Thanks Chris,
I'd posted a comment in the plugin page inhere: https://moodle.org/plugins/filter_multilang2.
Hope this gives us a starting point.
Naaman Fallouh,
Please download the attached file and place it into the following folder on your server and overwrite the existing file.
/moodle/theme/fordson/classes/output/core_renderer.php
This file has the changes the Richard pointed out. If it works I will include this with the next release of Fordson. Please note that I only changed the frontpage textbox, frontpage textbox logged out, , footnote, and the marketing tile content areas.
Have you checked to see if the filter works in Boost theme?
If it does then it should work in any child theme of Boost.
If it does not then the filter needs some extra setting or Boost need to get its act together!
I think it does work but it doesn't work on some of the customized text areas for Fordson. Not quite sure how to fix it at the moment.
Chris,
Clean and More use a function to grab the html from content settings which uses the format_text([setting_here]) for the footnote (where the multilang filter works)
https://github.com/moodle/moodle/blob/master/theme/clean/lib.php#L151-L154
I don't think Boost has a content area setting in it to check, but the multilang2 works in things like the topic headers in both Boost and Fordson.
I think if you change your core_renderer function to be (for example)
$hasmarketing1 = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1 && $PAGE->theme->settings->togglemarketing == 1)) ? false : $PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1;
$marketing1content = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1content)) ? false : format_text($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1content);
$marketing1buttontext = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1buttontext)) ? false : format_text($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1buttontext);
$marketing1buttonurl = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1buttonurl)) ? false : $PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1buttonurl;
$marketing1target = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1target)) ? false : $PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1target;
$marketing1icon = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1icon)) ? false : $PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1icon;
$marketing1image = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1image)) ? false : 'marketing1image';
But I still can't see it working when the setting is a text entry rather than an html box, so... (although not sure it's ideal to give an html editor for what is essentially a title.)
$name = 'theme_fordson/marketing1buttontext';
$title = get_string('marketingbuttontext', 'theme_fordson');
$description = get_string('marketingbuttontextdesc', 'theme_fordson');
$default = '';
$setting = new admin_setting_configtexthtmleditor($name, $title, $description, $default);
$setting->set_updatedcallback('theme_reset_all_caches');
$page->add($setting);
R
Thanks Richard. I am going to try this out and see about adding the code in.
Hi,
Unfortunately, it dos not work.
It renders nothing in the page, as if the format_text([string here]) function returns FALSE!!
The original code used to display all the content in all languages.
Ah - one correction: applied the fix to the content and the button in the example above instead of the header. So should be:
$hasmarketing1 = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1 && $PAGE->theme->settings->togglemarketing == 1)) ? false : format_text($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1);
$marketing1content = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1content)) ? false : format_text($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1content);
$marketing1buttontext = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1buttontext)) ? false : format_text($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1buttontext);
$marketing1buttonurl = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1buttonurl)) ? false : $PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1buttonurl;
$marketing1target = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1target)) ? false : $PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1target;
$marketing1icon = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1icon)) ? false : $PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1icon;
$marketing1image = (empty($PAGE->theme->settings->marketing1image)) ? false : 'marketing1image';
and
$name = 'theme_fordson/marketing1';
$title = get_string('marketingtitle', 'theme_fordson');
$description = get_string('marketingtitledesc', 'theme_fordson');
$default = '';
$setting = new admin_setting_confightmleditor($name, $title, $description, $default);
$setting->set_updatedcallback('theme_reset_all_caches');
$page->add($setting);
$name = 'theme_fordson/marketing1buttontext';
$title = get_string('marketingbuttontext', 'theme_fordson');
$description = get_string('marketingbuttontextdesc', 'theme_fordson');
$default = '';
$setting = new admin_setting_confightmleditor($name, $title, $description, $default);
$setting->set_updatedcallback('theme_reset_all_caches');
$page->add($setting);
But beyond that, its working for me (having only changed marketingspot1 for testing purposes:
Using the text (for English and Welsh/Cymraeg)
Screenshot from 2017-02-21 08-38-38.png
Screenshot from 2017-02-21 08-48-36.png
{mlang en}content in language XX{mlang}
{mlang cy}content in language YY{mlang}
Other content for all languages Richard
Thanks Richard,
It's now working fine in all areas in the frontpage EXCEPT in the marketing tile Header and Button!!
Am I missing something except the modifications in the core_renderer.php and markettiles_settings.php files?
Naaman,
I will implement the changes for everything but the marketing Title and Button text. That can be a change you operate for your instance of Moodle. The content areas such as the frontpage textboxes and the marketing tile content areas are ready to go for the next release. However, my reasoning is that I do not want the htmleditor for simply grabbing a title. It can make things look weird. You could always provide a complete translation in the marketing content area or implement the full changes as described by Richard for your own site and needs.
Chris,
Thanks in advance, I appreciate your help and patience.
I'll work on the new version and try to customize it in as you'd recommended.
Best regards,
I hope to post the new version later today.
Richard, thank you!
Naaman, I will get these changes into the next release. I didn't change the settings for the button or title text. I only did text boxes in the file I posted.
I might try to get this out before the weekend. It's 6am here in Michigan.
Hello Naaman Fallouh,
I'm also testing on the fordson theme with https://moodle.org/plugins/filter_multilang2.
See:
and result
but without success. You did it?
Gisele,
Thanks for bringing this up. I think I have a fix and it will allow you to use the text filters with the icon text.
This fix will be in the Fordson 1.4.8 release later this week it will be in the repository.
I do believe me making this change will allow it to use text filters:
https://github.com/dbnschools/moodle-theme_fordson/commit/ba27f560ed69006c6390e14e920c94a6515fff43
We really like the Fordson theme, and we are trying to make either a child theme or a clone of Fordson (including the settings). What is the best way to do either. We haven't been able to do either without errors.
Fordson is a child of Boost. Any of the tutorials on making child themes should apply. I think the docs on making Photo theme touch on this. I do believe there was a question or two in here related to child themes of boost being different.
However, we added some new features and functionality to the homepage so I am not sure what you'd need to do.
Are you making significant changes?
There are many places throughout the theme code that require the actual theme name such as settings like
return $this->render_from_template('theme_fordson/fpwonderbox', $fp_wonderboxcontext);
You would need to do a complete search and replace in code for every file and change a few file names such as the language file.
It's probably more work than you think just to have a client name in the theme.
Glad you like the theme and I hope you continue to use it with Fordson or your own naming convention.
Thank you for your advice Chris and Richard. I have eventually been able to clone the theme.
I have previously cloned the Photo theme, so know about doing a global search and replace, and remembering to rename the language file. However, I was receiving an error which broke the site when installing my cloned Fordson theme. I turned on debugging and realised there is a file in the lib directory called fordson_lib.php. I've renamed the file and the clone is working great!
Of course, you are still credited as the theme developer Chris.
Sheila
Enjoy and please report back any bugs.
Chris
Will do
What version of Moodle exactly? Did you clear purge all cache in Moodle after updating ?
Also, are you pulling from github or Moodle.org for Fordson?
Is it the very latest nightly build? I'm wondering if Boost got updated again and it breaks child themes. That happened not too long ago when a renderer got changed.
We are without power at work due to wind storms here in Michigan.
I wonder if anyone else has this issue?
OK. I can see the issue now. These dang "+" releases are causing issues because of changes to boost. I can get the same issue on Google Chrome too. I will look into it and see if I can get it fixed.
This is the code for the "This Course" drop down.
If anyone thinks they can see the issue.
I've identified the issue and it relates to how Boost is constantly changing the function that writes the header: https://github.com/moodle/moodle/blob/master/theme/boost/classes/output/core_renderer.php#L73-L99
The drop-down "This Course" menu doesn't like the "pull-xs-left" changes added to core.
I'm working on a fix.
We really do need some level of stability in a theme that's designated as 'Default'!
The course header render changed and possibly the css and other things too. The last time this happened the button to turn editing on and off broke things. Today it is the This Course Drop Down.
It looks like I have a fix and it is nicer than before. That being said, everyone who uses the 3.2.+ versions might experience these bugs with each new change to the core theme.
I think the major pain point for me is Mustache. I don't like it. It seems like a middle man that adds a hefty price to display an element.
Completely agree re Mustache. Its another layer of code obfuscation that adds no visible benefit that I can see.
Have been very tempted to recreate Boost with standard php/html and no mustache, but haven't had the time the last couple of weeks - major server issues in work and now those are fixed need to catch up on everything else.
Hmm - Mustache is basically creating html layout files, the functionality is all in functions/classes in renderers or lib files...
It shouldn't be that hard.
I'm also very tempted in doing that to port it back to BS3 to avaoid the upstream changes in using an alpha library there too, but that might be a bigger undertaking because of the LESS/SASS differences too...
But that's a topic for a different thread if I do it, not to hijack your Fordson thread :D
R
Richard, i agree mustache is not something that is easy to understand, but then neither is PHP, JavaScript, nor any other coding language for that matter. So using 'obfuscation' is I feel the wrong word in the context of this discussion.
Obfuscation is the willful obscuring of the intended meaning of communication, usually by making "the message" confusing, ambiguous, or difficult to understand.
I doubt very much that Damyon's intention was to obscure the meaning of how the certain elements of coding using mustcache transformed into readable content on a Moodle page.
As much trouble as I am having with understanding mustache, I do like the consistent look and results. I think long term this is a good move but growing pains are very rough. If I had the customizations of essential, I'd be pulling hair out. It's a big jump to recreate those features.
I know what you mean Chris, there are some things in Boost that work great, and others that don't. I'm finding that everything seems to be styled as a card, which in the Morecandy theme is hard to make it work like it was intended, since the card-block does not collapse, so the rotation of the header is not that much of a feature, unless alternate card-blocks have horizontal headers and all the others vertical headers.
I must admit the Fordson theme is looking good with all the changes, and the Morecandy sideway headers look great.
I'm hoping with time Boost and Mustache will grow on me. There are only a few things we still want to do with Fordson before I think it will be a solid release:
I'd like to see My Courses drop down next to user menu in upper right. Then the sidebar would only show menu items for courses such as topics, participants, etc.
That sidebar menu needs to be customizable without hacking core.
I think I have a fix. Testing and will publish later today.
If you want to try it you need to alter two files:
fordson/scss/styles.scss
add .thiscourse {float:left;}
fordson/classes/output/core_renderer.php
Line ~75 replace the entire public function full_header() with:
/**
* Wrapper for header elements.
*
* @return string HTML to display the main header.
*/
public function full_header() {
global $CFG, $COURSE, $PAGE;
// Get course overview files.
if (empty($CFG->courseoverviewfileslimit)) {
return array();
}
require_once($CFG->libdir. '/filestorage/file_storage.php');
require_once($CFG->dirroot. '/course/lib.php');
$fs = get_file_storage();
$context = context_course::instance($COURSE->id);
$files = $fs->get_area_files($context->id, 'course', 'overviewfiles', false, 'filename', false);
if (count($files)) {
$overviewfilesoptions = course_overviewfiles_options($COURSE->id);
$acceptedtypes = $overviewfilesoptions['accepted_types'];
if ($acceptedtypes !== '*') {
// Filter only files with allowed extensions.
require_once($CFG->libdir. '/filelib.php');
foreach ($files as $key => $file) {
if (!file_extension_in_typegroup($file->get_filename(), $acceptedtypes)) {
unset($files[$key]);
}
}
}
if (count($files) > $CFG->courseoverviewfileslimit) {
// Return no more than $CFG->courseoverviewfileslimit files.
$files = array_slice($files, 0, $CFG->courseoverviewfileslimit, true);
}
}
// Get course overview files as images - set $courseimage.
// The loop means that the LAST stored image will be the one displayed if >1 image file.
$courseimage = '';
foreach ($files as $file) {
$isimage = $file->is_valid_image();
if ($isimage) {
$courseimage = file_encode_url("$CFG->wwwroot/pluginfile.php",
'/'. $file->get_contextid(). '/'. $file->get_component(). '/'.
$file->get_filearea(). $file->get_filepath(). $file->get_filename(), !$isimage);
}
}
// Create html for header.
$html = html_writer::start_tag('header', array('id' => 'page-header', 'class' => 'row'));
$html .= html_writer::start_div('col-xs-12 p-a-1');
$html .= html_writer::start_div('card');
// If course image display it in separate div to allow css styling of inline style.
if ($courseimage) {
$html .= html_writer::start_div('withimage', array(
'style' => 'background: url("'.$courseimage.'"); background-size: cover; background-position:center;
width: 100%; height: 100%;'));
}
$html .= html_writer::start_div('header-position');
$html .= html_writer::start_div('headerfade');
$html .= html_writer::start_div('card-block');
$html .= html_writer::div($this->context_header_settings_menu(), 'pull-xs-right context-header-settings-menu');
$html .= html_writer::start_div('pull-xs-left');
$html .= $this->context_header();
$html .= html_writer::end_div();
$pageheadingbutton = $this->page_heading_button();
if (empty($PAGE->layout_options['nonavbar'])) {
$html .= html_writer::start_div('clearfix w-100 pull-xs-left', array('id' => 'page-navbar'));
$html .= html_writer::tag('div', $this->navbar(), array('class' => 'breadcrumb-nav'));
$html .= html_writer::tag('div', $this->thiscourse_menu(), array('class' => 'thiscourse'));
$html .= html_writer::div($pageheadingbutton, 'breadcrumb-button pull-xs-right');
$html .= html_writer::end_div();
} else if ($pageheadingbutton) {
$html .= html_writer::div($pageheadingbutton, 'breadcrumb-button nonavbar pull-xs-right');
}
$html .= html_writer::tag('div', $this->course_header(), array('id' => 'course-header'));
$html .= html_writer::end_div(); // End card-block.
if ($courseimage) {
$html .= html_writer::end_div(); // End withimage inline style div.
}
$html .= html_writer::end_div(); // End card.
$html .= html_writer::end_div(); // End card.
$html .= html_writer::end_div(); // End card.
$html .= html_writer::end_div(); // End col-xs-12 p-a-1.
$html .= html_writer::end_tag('header');
return $html;
}
Thanks for finding the bug. Luckily we were able to identify and fix it.
Chris
I really like the theme Fordson. Thank you all.
Can you use Boostrap 4?
Boost itself and therefore its child themes like Fordson use Bootstrap4-Alpha
Hello Richard, thanks for replying.
Yes, that's what I understand. What am I doing wrong?
Font awesome icons works fine, Bootstrap icons not working.
That is because Glyphicons are not in BS4 alpha - https://v4-alpha.getbootstrap.com/components/ vs http://getbootstrap.com/components/ vs http://getbootstrap.com/2.3.2/base-css.html#icons.
Thanks, reviewing links.
Resolved.
<ul class="list-inline">
<i class="fa fa-link" aria-hidden="true"><a href="#">Tecvin357</a></i>
<i class="fa fa-link" aria-hidden="true"><a href="#"> Cursos</a></i>
<i class="fa fa-link" aria-hidden="true"><a href="#"> Blog</a></i>
<i class="fa fa-link" aria-hidden="true"><a href="#"> Contacto</a></i>
</ul>
Thats because Chris has included FontAwesome as part of the theme (and its coming into core Moodle too), but Glyphicaons aren't included as part of BS4 and Boost.
Ah - just saw Gareth's post: See that for more detail on the BS links...
I believe Boost was originally written with alpha 4 (but could be mistaken). I'm not sure what has been done to keep up with the alpha releases.
Boost is still using Alpha 4 as you can see here:
https://github.com/moodle/moodle/blob/master/theme/boost/scss/bootstrap/bootstrap.scss#L1-L6
Is Alpha 4 no Alpha 6.
| /*! | |
| * Bootstrap v4.0.0-alpha.4 (http://getbootstrap.com) | |
| * Copyright 2011-2016 The Bootstrap Authors | |
| * Copyright 2011-2016 Twitter, Inc. | |
| * Licensed under MIT (https://github.com/twbs/bootstrap/blob/master/LICENSE) | |
| */ |
Thank you Mary,
Hello Mary. I do not speak English, I use a translator. Sorry.
I am interested in the opinion of an expert.
I'm doing tests on version 3.2 on localhost. I love the interface of this version. I am creating an E-learning for myself and my associates.
My Doubt is. 3.2 is it safe or should it be installed in 2.9 stable ?:
Best Regards, José
3.2 or even 3.1 would be the ideal platform to start from. If I was starting brand new I would go with the latest version. Moodle 3.3 is right around the corner. You don't want to be too far behind.
Chris, thank you for your advice. So I will.
Ola Jose,
Moodle 3.2 is stable, but the Boost theme is NOT stable and so you would not be able to use the Fordson theme on a production site.
This means that the only other themes you could use would be Clean or More themes
I hope this helps you?
Mary
Thank you Mary. Very accurate advice.
Now I have other concerns but I will not do it in this thread.
Learning curve...
Thank you all
Not sure I agree with you entirely here Mary, where you say "but the Boost theme is NOT stable". This depends on what aspects of 'stable' you are concerned about.
We are using Boost + Fordson on a production site. Got problems with Atto https://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-58084 whenever I use some BS4 elements in a page. Got a few oddities with placement of links, but nothing terminal.
Responsiveness seems to be a strength, and in no way unstable. But I could be wrong. I don't use everything Moodle + Fordson can serve up.
-Derek
its up to Admins like yourself...but at the end of the day it is not considered a theme to use on a production site. They are still working on it for goodness sake. Have you seen the number if errors they are trying to fix?
But if you want to use it on your production site, then do so...at the end of the day I am only stating a fact...take it or leave it...makes no odds to me.
Just don't cry if things start to go wrong!
"...but at the end of the day it is not considered a theme to use on a production site....at the end of the day I am only stating a fact..."
IMHO you are only stating your opinion not a fact; or are you saying that Moodle HQ has lost the plot that much it is shipping a default install that shouldn't be used in production?
Don't get me wrong, I tend to agree with the thrust of your opinion (I think it was ludicrous to hold up a scheduled release for a brand new theme of all things and to change the default theme to a theme based on alpha code even more ridiculous, so personally, I do think HQ lost the plot a little) but given your standing in the community I don't think you should be stating opinions as facts.
Putting forward opinions strongly all good of course
It is NOT my opinion, it is a FACT Damyon Wiese said so in a forum post not that long ago.
If you do not believe me then ask him.
Includes several BS-v4.0.0-alpha.6 components and worked fine.
jose, what do you mean by this? Can you be more specific? What components?
I have had trouble with the editor. https://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-58084
Do you use Atto?
derek, if I use ATTO, by default.
I mean BS4 components, for example Carousel https://v4-alpha.getbootstrap.com/components/carousel/
There will be a lot of Alpha6 that will work because those elements have not changed dramatically from Alpha4 - and some of the background code may have changed but effectively does the same thing. BUT there are no guarantees. If you find some BS4A6 code snippets they may work, they may not
As for whether Boost is stable - its not stable for developers and may not be suitable for anyone who maintains their site by frequently upgrading to the latest weekly, but if you do your planned upgrades infrequently (6monthly/annually) as many institutions do for production sites, then it isn't going to crash your site, but there are very frequent changes and the upstream bootstrap library itself is changing. That said, having worked (and still working) on Boost child themes, I will not be putting it on my production server for sometime yet, because of those constant changes.
Stable - wont crash your system: yes
Stable - free from constant updates: no
Is it possible to use the default header image at all times? Our course images do not look good when used in the header.
If you remove the images from the courses it will default to the main image. I am sure it could be programmed to do so but we are not pursuing that option as an organization right now. My previous theme, Pioneer, had the option to override course uploads but we took a different approach to design the theme with minimal settings.
Hi,
About the custom menu in the navigation bar, it disappears on less than md screens and appears in the footer as a menu list.
Is there any future plans of making it much more responsive, like collapsing on the top menu? or it's a thing we should take care of our owns?
Best regards,
That is how all Boost based themes are. It's part of core functionality.
Chris
I doubt this is theme related - but how about you tell us what you mean by "broken"?
Purge all cache. It most likely is because of SSL. If not done correctly it will try to serve mixed content which gets blocked and makes the page look funny.
I've not encountered this issue so I am not of any help. The inspector on chrome will give you issues and warnings when viewing the page.
Hi Chris,
We're really liking the fordson theme - definitely a lot of innovative features that just make moodle both easier and better looking.
Suggestion/Feature request:
Can you build in an option to override the Header Box colour on a per-course basis ?
I like giving teachers the ability to customise their courses with their own background/course summary images - but I also don't trust all of them to pick images that otherwise 'go' with the general colour palette that we set for the theme.
Being able to set the main colour that sits in front of the background image alongside setting the image would give a bit more flexibility for customisation and help ensure some courses don't look terrible (and/or give them more flexibility to make them look worse than terrible
)
Many years ago I went about 'fixing' this sort of thing by duplicating the theme several times, changing a couple of lines of CSS on each just to set the overall colour, and then enabling teachers to set the theme for their course (but more work than I want to go to if there is a smarter option )
I haven't really played with presets much yet - all operate at a site level tho it seems ?
I don't yet have a good grasp of sass/scss - is it possible to define a variable for the course_id in the Raw initial SCSS and then reference that with a colour in Raw SCSS ?
Tangent thoughts/suggestions:
Possibility for being able to set both a background image and a colour pallete on course-category level - to allow for a different look per faculty.
Cheers
A theme setting on a per-course basis is always difficult to manage for any more than a small number of courses (my site has over 2000!) And while the course image succeeds because it uses the course summary file on the course settings page rather than a theme setting, a per-course colour setting is harder to make usable on bigger sites.
However, there is a solution you can use that doesn't involve multiple child themes.
In the body tag for each course you will find the course-xx class (where xx is the course id). You can use that to target css to any particular course
so something like
.course-xx .header {background-color:red;}
.course-yy .header {background-color:yellow;}
.course-zz .header {background-color:blue;}
Use firebug or Chrome developer tools to identify the actual css selector you want, and add those lines to the rawscss setting (it takes standard css too )
You might look at the generico plugin - I think you might be able to achieve something like this with that...
Tangent thoughts/suggestions:
Possibility for being able to set both a background image and a colour pallete on course-category level - to allow for a different look per faculty.
The Generico plugin is perfect for that. They simply edit one of the summaries, inject the generico filter and bam they can pick one of your specific backgrounds. You can customize the generico plugin a million ways.
Hi
Thanks for a great theme!
I created a child theme of Fordson, and now I would like to override frontpage_categories_list. I tried defining it in classes -> output-> core_rendere.php, but that doesn't seem to work.
What is the correct way to do so?
Fordson is a child theme of Boost, so I am not sure what the proper protocol is for child themes of child themes.
Hi -
I wanted firstly to say a huge thank you for an amazing theme. The work gone into this is substantial.
My question is quite simple: is there a way to make the main site title on the landing page centred rather than pulled to the left? I've attached a screenshot to show you what I mean.
Currently, the site title is wrapped in a bootstrap 'pull-xs-left' class, but of course if I modify this in the custom CSS panel, then it has the same effect on anything else wrapped in the same class throughout the site, which I don't want to do. Ideally, I would like to only modify the main site title on the landing page without affecting anything else.
Thanks again for a brilliant theme
If you are using the Fordson custom frontpage textbox then you should have no problem doing so. Because people add in custom html in the text editor I'd need to see the site in order to help. I would suggest viewing your code in HTML mode in the ATTO editor to see where pull-left code is and delete it.
Hi Chris -
Thanks for the reply. The problem is that the site title is placed there automatically either by the theme itself or Moodle (I think) - I've not had any input to this via Fordson's custom front-page content. I've attached a screenshot below to show what content I have specified. Apologies if I'm missing something obvious - I usually am!
OK. Now I better understand. That is part of the header renderer.
https://github.com/dbnschools/moodle-theme_fordson/blob/master/classes/output/core_renderer.php#L77
While it might be possible to make the text align center it most likely would not be done without modification to the renderer linked above and some css styling.
Thanks Chris - I had a feeling it would require some deeper modifications. I'm still finding my way around Moodle, and whilst I am confident modifying CSS am still quite lost when it comes to updating renderers. Is there a straightforward way you could walk me through how to do this, or does it require me learning the mechanics of Moodle? If so, I'm not worried about getting my hands dirty, but are there any good tutorials you could recommend?
I linked to the code you can change. You might be able to just put in your own css selector and style it from there using the Fordson Custom CSS box in theme settings.
https://github.com/dbnschools/moodle-theme_fordson/blob/master/classes/output/core_renderer.php#L76
Change the pull-left to whatever you want.
Thanks Chris - I'll give it a shot.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the help with the positioning of the main site title - I've got it centred now.
I recently moved my localhost site to a live server, and transferred my database via Adminer. I then used the DB search and replace tool that can be accessed via admin/tool/replace to update any hard coded URLs still pointing to my localhost server. So far so good. However the HOME link in the top custom menu included with the Fordson theme still points to the old localhost server. I've attached a screenshot showing which link I mean, together with the different URL it points towards.
How would I update this?
Have you changed your Moodle site's config.php as this holds the key to the door of your site. It may look something like this.
$CFG->wwwroot = 'http://localhost/moodle';
Whereas it should look like this:
$CFG->wwwroot = 'https://www.learnjerriais.org.je/moodle';
PS: As an after thought it maybe helpful if you read about Moodle migration.
Hope this helps?
Mary
Hi Mary,
Yes - the config file is set up correctly. It has the new URL together with the new moodledata folder position set up correctly. What is strange is that this is the only link on the site that has not updated correctly, as far as I can tell.
In that case it could be coming directly from the theme. Not having use Fordson, are there any settings whereby you needed to add your site address?
I've just been looking at the Fordson code and see that it could be the menu settings itself.
The places to look are:
Theme settings: Where you will find the text area where you add menu items.
Site Administration > Appearance > Themes > Theme settings
Custom menu settings: If these exist then they are similar menu settings as above but found in the theme itself.
Site Administration > Appearance > Themes > Fordson settings
Hope this helps?
Mary
Wonderful! Yes there it is. I'd bookmarked the Fordson page that displays custom CSS etc, but not the actual Theme Settings page. Thanks Mary
Cool!
Cheers
Mary
It looks like Mary helped you out.
The other place that you might need to look at is the Custom Icon Navigation. It generates the URL for the various homepage icons from your moodle settings. So My Dashboard, calendar, badges, etc are all based off your root url. You can easily edit those from the theme admin tab for Icon Navigation. You will see where the old URL might be present.
Thanks Chris - I've just checked and they seem to have updated fine. For some reason it just seems as though that one link failed to update with the others.
I'll check through the rest of the site, though, and make sure.
Is there a way to add a target="_blank" clause to the Link URL for the Icon navigation items? I've tried appending target="_blank" at the end of the URL string but get a message "Some settings were not changed due to an error." when I try to save the changes.
I found the solution here: https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=339564#p1368358
When you add the target="_blank" you do not need the last " so your menu item should look like this...
Resources PRINCE2
-Handleiding voor deze site | http://www.prince2leren.nl//MoodleCommon/Common_Docs/UG-NL-Essential-1.pdf" target="_blank | | nl
-Userguide for this site | http://www.prince2leren.nl//MoodleCommon/Common_Docs/UG-EN-Essential-1.pdf" target="_blank | | en
Those are built using a loop so it would need to be an drop down option and each item would need it from the settings page. Then it could be included in the mustache template as an option when making the link.
I can add it as a feature request but currently our organization doesn't need it so it might not be on the shortlist. Our next major focus once we get other summer projects done is making items teachers need to grade more discoverable inside the course.
In your Youtube video showcasing the theme, the header images look like the first image below, but in v1.5.4 the header images look like the second mage below. Was there a reason to move the image and creating the extra space around the course content area? Is there a way to change this?
Edit: I also have a feature request, the My Courses dropdown is capped at 10 courses. In future updates could you consider allowing options to display more than 10 courses here. We use Moodle for clubs and teacher training modules, so some staff have many more than 10 enrolled courses.
Hello Lindsey,
Glad you are trying out the Fordson theme. Initially, we just wanted to enhance Boost with some features. What we discovered with the header image was that it was wasting a lot of space right at the top of each page. It also was making it difficult to include new features we wanted to implement like the course management panel and the student panel. It seemed like it was an awful long scroll just to see the first topic of a course. We moved the image to the background and added space on the edges to make the content appear as a single page in the middle of the screen.
With simple CSS you can manipulate the space on the sides. Right now it is 6rem and default is 2rem.
MyCourses drop down doesn't have a limit. It should display as many as are enrolled. We are kinda torn on this feature as it is duplicated with the new dashboard. I like what Essential did with the "Latest Courses" where it lists the last 5 or so courses you viewed. We are looking for feedback from our users if they like the idea of latest courses.
You mentioned you use moodle for clubs and teacher training modules. We created an enrollment plugin (Easy Enrollment) which is fully integrated with Fordson that allows unique enrollment codes just like Google Classroom where right from the homepage you enter in the code into a form and it instantly enrolls and takes you to the course page. It generates a code for the main course as well as any groups in case you want to instantly enroll students into groups.
Thanks for the quick reply! You're right about the My Courses setting. It works as intended. Regarding the feature, our users (both students and staff) tend to use My Courses and rarely navigate to the Dashboard. We are using Adaptable on the live server, so that may just be the result of the theme layout.
I've downloaded Easy Enrollment but the test server returned a validation error when I tried to install it. I'm not sure why. The plugin will be much more efficient for our students compared to the default self-enrollment options.
Thanks for the tip for the course content. I'll reduce the space on the sides a touch.
I've been testing the site on mobile devices and it works perfectly. It also looks brilliant on a 21:9 monitor. I recently tested RemUI and it tended to have issues with small screens and ultrawide monitors. I'm sold on Fordson!
Lindsey,
Happy to hear you like Fordson. We appreciate any and all feedback so don't be shy about letting us know what your users say.
The code to change is this:
@media screen and (min-width: 992px) {
#page.container-fluid {
padding: 0 6rem !important;
}
}
https://github.com/dbnschools/moodle-theme_fordson/blob/master/scss/styles.scss#L55-L59
Change the 6rem to 2rem or add the code above in the Custom SCSS tab on the Fordson Admin pages.
Hi Chris
I finally installed Moodle 3.2.2 two days ago. And I also tried out your Fordson theme. Nice, very nice.
Regards
Frankie Kam
Glad to hear you like it. The 3.3 version is where all the development is happening. If you get on 3.3 try it out. Much better.
Please excuse what I am sure is a daft question...
In my zeal, I uploaded an image for the Header Logo. I'd like to remove this, but can't seem to find anything to do so. Could you point me to the correct way?
Thanks very much, Graham
You go back to the upload box and click the image file icon. Then click the button to delete it in the popup window.
Thanks. I have done so, but now it seems to be timing out while loading so I get a rather strange text version of Moodle.... www.oxford-vle.uk
Any ideas how to resolve this? Thanks, Graham
I am unsure of what you might have done. I am unable to reproduce this issue simply by deleting a photo.
Yes, after staring at it for a little while, I decided something had probably got corrupted somehow.
So I updated the Moodle install and it appears to have fixed the problem. Must have been a glitch that just happened at the same time as deleting the image file.
Best wishes, Graham
May i know how to change each of the course header/banner as below?
thank you.
I'm able to update the course header. Now, my question is can the image change to responsive instead of static? Thanks.
The image will adjust to the size of the tile or page. The images are not meant to maintain proportion or contain text or information that must be read. They will be used to fill the width of the box and fill from the center of the image.
Mainly, the images are used as a visual cue for the students and to provide some customization for teachers.
Though it would be a huge benefit if you could add responsiveness to header and slider images....please....!!
If you can figure out the CSS I'd be happy to try.
My only requirement is that the image fill 100% the space regardless of width or height and screen size. I think what i have meets that requirement.
Greetings,
I really like this theme and am planning to incorporate this into our school's moodle site - fantastic job, Chris. Just wondering if I've made a mistake here... Should these points not align in the attached image?
Garth Brady,
It's very possible the two do not line up. I would look to move the blocks down instead of the topics. Just add more margin to the block column if you want. I think there is space at the top for course completion text. However, something like this might help:
Screenshot from 2017-03-09 10-44-45.png
centre-main-title.jpg
fordson-front-page.jpg
wrong-url-on-migration.png
sampleScreenshot.png
[data-region="blocks-column"] { margin-top: 3rem; }Copy and paste this into the bottom SCSS box on the Colours page of the Fordson Admin.
When I use mobile device, the theme is not responsive: the navigation bar overlapped the main content.
Would you be able to have a look ?
Hi,
I tried to install the latest version of Fordson in Moodle 3.5. It seems like CSS files are not found.
I enabled theme designer mode and I found that the included file theme/styles_debug.php?theme=fordson&type=scss is empty.
Is Fordson already compatible with Moodle 3.5?
Thank you!
Sara
How did you install? Have you checked permissions? Have you tried clearing caches?
As far as I am aware, FORDSON is NOT 3.5 compliant because Boost theme is using a new version of Bootstrap. So unless lots of changes have been made to update Fordson, then NO it is not going to work.
Cheers
Mary
I tried latest Fordson on my 3.5 QA Testing site, and get the same results as Sara. Need to wait for the new compatible version.
The Boost changes are quite significant (as are the changes in Bootstrap itself between Alpha and Stable).
I'm just starting to look at Waxed and Handlebar now - Chris, let me know when you're starting work on Fordson for 3.5 and I'll see what advice I can give you
Richard,
I'm working on it now. I put off working on my computer because I wanted to make sure I don't screw up my dev environment. Let me know what you discover because the roots of Fordson started with Waxed. They should be very similar.
Thank you,
Chris
Sara,
We plan on updating to Moodle 3.5 this summer. I am re-imaging my computer today, but we plan on taking a look at 3.5 very soon.
As long as there are no drastic unforeseen issues there will be a 3.5 version very soon. I haven't had a chance to take a look at all the changes.
Hello Sara,
After a day of working over the code we have made some good progress on Fordson and all the changes to Boost for Moodle 3.5. Richard Oelmann and others helped get things on track and now we are running!
I have a working version and we plan on doing some things to try and set a new direction for Fordson. Some of this deals with making the style presets more compatible with Boost core so that you can use Boost presets without breaking the Fordson layout. Some of this will be converting existing stylesheets to utilize default bootstrap variables. We'll also be redoing color choosers to target the standard bootstrap variables. This should allow you to change and modify most of the presets that are for Boost.
We want to setup Fordson to be as compatible with Boost as possible and will be streamlining the admin settings to help get new site admins up and running faster.
This has been a good opportunity to really look at how we want to move forward and what features are essential and what can be dropped in order to better adapt to future changes.
I'm looking forward to release Fordson for Moodle 3.5 in a few weeks.
Chris, I am in the process of setting up a 3.5 dev server if you need a tester...have to admit you have scared me a little with the mention of dropping features...!!
I wouldn't worry too much. There are some things I want to add which are highly desired and I'm just pouring over the code to see what is essential moving forward. I clearly see that we want to keep things lean and clean so that moving forward it isn't a mess if bootstrap gets updated or other elements change in core.
I'm thinking for Moodle 3.5 I will be introducing some type of ability to show or hide blocks. I kinda like the idea of using blocks to build dashboards in courses but I'm not quite sure what that would look like. Maybe just hiding the sidebar is all that is needed.
In short, I want to really focus on the functionality and things that improve the user experience and we are evaluating anything else that isn't related to that.
For instance the new font chooser isn't the best implementation, so I might drop it initially to revisit it later. Many of the color choosers will be removed so that we can add bootstrap color choosers for default variables. Along with that the style presets will be changed to use default variables to change colors.
I'm hoping to move more in line with core settings etc so changing the colors can be more compatible with Boost and Boost style presets.
Thank you Chris!!!
