David Scotson

Two potential approaches:

• create icons that are black with a white outline, or vice versa. (takes a lot of time, and probably even more skill)

• use the following CSS rule to put a standard color background behind the images (kind of ugly, but works)

  .commands img, a.icon img, .right img { background-color: #fff; padding: 2px; }

The bigger answer is that the icons are currently hardcoded as html (with totally obtuse names) and that should really all be moved to CSS so that you can change any image via the theme.

I've recently returned to working on my Kubrick theme with the intention of breaking it down into its component parts in order to make it easier to re-use.

I've had some success with this, though it may not be very noticeable from using the theme. In fact, it may actually look as if I'm going backwards as I know I've broken the tabs implementation. (to be honest fighting with the rather yucky tab html was getting frustrating, I need to take a deep breath before working on it again). In fact the only major change to functionality was incorporating Joseph Rézeau's innovation, so that stray sideblocks in the left column will show up in edit mode. But hopefully those that want to extend or re-use the theme will see the benefits of the re-arrangements behind the scenes.

In fact I know that's true as I managed to implement a fair stab at the K2 theme for wordpress (note that that site, belonging to the original author of Kubrick and K2 is running a half-finished remix of K2 called Invader) within about half an hour by building on this base, and then implemented a bunch of K2 Schemes provided by Improv, Pastence in around 5 minutes each.

Zip's and screenshots to follow shortly.

Well I'm running Ubuntu on my desktop, and Ubuntu often gets pigeonholed as a desktop distribution, but it is after all based on Debian.

There is also a brand new entry to the field: Edubuntu, which is based on Ubuntu (and therefore Debian) but with an education focus and it aims to come with a variety of educational tools (including Moodle, I believe) out-of-the-box, with many more available with ease.

I'd suggest it's worth keeping an eye on though as it is totally brand new it might not be the safe option at the moment. I've not used Edubuntu myself, but I've been using Ubuntu now for three releases (one every six months) and I've been very impressed with its progress.

Another similar tool that uses Python to control apps via accessibility code:

Dogtail

It's really more aimed at Linux desktop apps, but you can drive web apps via the Epiphany browser.

I'd hate to put words into anyone's mouth, especially a strong word like 'hate' but I believe Martin has mentioned that his experiences as a WebCT administrator influenced his creation of Moodle, and there is certainly a feeling within the community of dissatisfaction with current/ex solutions that Moodle is replacing.

I mention it because this award winning advert (and it's highly catchy tune, which is currently stuck in my head) makes me think of Moodle every time I see it.

Check it out: