Hi everyone,
I have experience in HTML, CSS, Javascript & PHP, but I have never created a theme in Moodle, so I am looking for some pointers.
Specifically, I would like to add several sub-pages, which are displayed as picture blocks. For example, the student can access a subject, such as "Chemistry", he would then be redirected to a page listing "year1", "year2", "year3", "year4" etc (displayed as pictures). By clicking on one of these pictures, he would get to the next page listing different sub-subjects for each year (displayed as pictures)...and so on.
My issue with current themes is that when you click on a course, it immediately links you to a "topics page". I need a lot of pages in-between to list sub-subjects before ever getting to topics.
1) Does anyone know of a theme that already provides this functionality?
2) If not, any tips on how to accomplish this? Ideally, I would want to code it, so that the "teacher" can add as many sub-subject pages as he wants (maybe a dropdown at the top, where he can select whether it is a sub-subject page, or a "topics" page). We want to apply this to a lot of different subjects, so it would be good if it was customizable that way!
Thank you for any input!
In reply to Sophie Kamuf
Re: Creating a custom theme with sub-subjects and sub-topics
by Gareth J Barnard -
Hi Sophie,
I thought the ethos of good user interface design was to reduce the number of clicks required to get to where you want to go, not increase them!
Having said that, you might consider using category lists on the frontpage etc. Or use 'site' pages. In any event you'll have to disable the course listing on the user's dashboard if you want them to go through all the clicks each time they log in. Unless this is purely a 'pre-enrolment' process.
The ideal solution would be that the student logs in and immediately sees the courses they are enrolled on, then they can concentrate on their learning rather than how it has been organised for them.
Kind regards,
Gareth
In reply to Gareth J Barnard
Re: Creating a custom theme with sub-subjects and sub-topics
by Sophie Kamuf -
Hi Gareth,
I know about reducing the number of clicks...unfortunately the design and layout are not up to me. I was asked by the content creators to make this Moodle site and they have a *very* specific idea on how the site should look like. I am still a student and this is a part-time project for me - Unfortunately I've never created a Moodle theme. I have an idea of how to achieve the layout on a regular website (front-end), but I'm unsure how I would translate that to a Moodle theme.
What do you mean by disabling the course listing on the user's dashboard? (I've personally never used Moodle, why would the course listings keep the user from clicking through?)
Regarding your last comment: all the clicking through would be within ONE course. E.g. "Biology", The idea is actually that students can access material from the different high school years, in case they want to review older or newer material. Also there are different levels within the high school years (honors, regular etc), and the idea is that even if you are a "regular" student, you have access to "honors" material whenever you want!
In reply to Sophie Kamuf
Re: Creating a custom theme with sub-subjects and sub-topics
by Gareth J Barnard -
Hi Sophie,
Tricky to explain things easily at a technical level if you've never used Moodle before. Ok, I suggest that you install your own Moodle server locally - what machine do you have? Windows? Mac? Then read 'Installation_quick_guide', 'Admin_quick_guide', 'Teacher_quick_guide' and finally 'User_quick_guide'. Then have a practice on your local Moodle, then read 'https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Themes' so that things make sense.
Kind regards,
Gareth
In reply to Sophie Kamuf
Re: Creating a custom theme with sub-subjects and sub-topics
by Mary Evans -
Hi Sophie,
How about you create the look you want first in HTML and then marry up the links to the individual courses? Just Imagine all this as an Introduction or Forward to your Moodle site.
This way you can add all the pages you want which you can manage easily since you know enough about coding to do this otherwise you would not have taken on the task.
Just a thought...
Mary
In reply to Mary Evans
Re: Creating a custom theme with sub-subjects and sub-topics
by Sophie Kamuf -
I've thought about doing that. However, the courses are currently a work-in-progress. There are plans for adding a lot more courses as well as content over the next year. By making a moodle theme, the group would be able to apply it easily to all their courses and content in the future, rather than needing a web developer to re-create every single sub page for future courses (we are talking about 100s of sub-pages)
And just to clarify, the sub pages are part of the same course. E.g. the course "Biology" would have a lot of different sub pages for different levels and topics. So it would need to be within Moodle. (Especially since the students are supposed to use the moodle login before access a course)
In reply to Sophie Kamuf
Re: Creating a custom theme with sub-subjects and sub-topics
by Mary Evans -
Ah I see,
In that case I wonder if it is possible to incorporate all this inside a tailor made Course Format?
Gareth is the lead on that side of things...would this be possible Gareth?
Cheers
Mary
In reply to Mary Evans
Re: Creating a custom theme with sub-subjects and sub-topics
by Gareth J Barnard -
In reply to Gareth J Barnard
Re: Creating a custom theme with sub-subjects and sub-topics
by Sophie Kamuf -
That might work! Thank you for the suggestion!