Moodle plugins directory: Morecandy | Moodle.org
Morecandy
Morecandy
Morecandy has the added ability for Admins to add a Carousel slide-show to the site topic area, and also within the topic areas of the course pages. The individual images can be uploaded using the Text Editor, so this makes it easier for Admins and Editing teachers.
My intention for this theme is to keep building on it and add 'more candy' such as a 'dropdown' hidden block region like Aardvark Post-IT had, Marketing blocks, and other functionality.
You can add marketing spots in any section of the frontpage where there is either a 'Welcome note' or a 'Footnote' area in the Morecandy setting's page.
The HTML is pretty simple: This adds two sections to the page wherever you wish to add them.
<div class="container-fluid">
<div class="row-fluid">
<div class="span6">
<h2>What's new?</h2>
<p>Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo, tortor mauris condimentum nibh, ut fermentum massa justo sit amet risus. Etiam porta sem malesuada magna mollis euismod. Donec sed odio dui.</p>
<p>
<a class="btn" href="https://moodle.com">View details »</a>
</p>
</div>
<div class="span6">
<h2>Is it free?</h2>
<p>Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo, tortor mauris condimentum nibh, ut fermentum massa justo sit amet risus. Etiam porta sem malesuada magna mollis euismod. Donec sed odio dui.</p>
<p>
<a class="btn" href="https://moodle.com">View details »</a>
</p>
</div>
</div>
Customising the Frontpage
Just read the text in the image below and follow the arrows to see how easily you can change the frontpage of your Moodle site to suit your organisation.
Screenshots
This is my first review (I'm helping David, Anthony et al) so I'll leave the code review for others here, but will comment on Usability and Meta-data.
My environment: Apache, MySQL, Moodle 2.8.5+
Usability
Installation: plugin installed from .zip without error.
Dependencies: Dependencies for Moodle, theme_bootstrapbase, and theme_clean clearly stated.
Functionality: Did not give any PHP errors.
However, the vertical formatting of text in Blocks is truncated e.g. Recent Activity Block only shows "Recent A". There may be no way around this due to the orientation and space available, but the impact on what users see could be significant?
Cross-DB compatibility: I only tested on MySQL
Meta-data
Plugin description: The description "A simple theme based on More theme." seems a little light. Perhaps if it mentioned the key enhancements over the standard More theme this would be good?
Code repository name: Name follows standard Moodle plugintype_pluginname format.
Source control URL:
Bug tracker URL:
Documentation URL:
Should the above three be added to this plugin? Maybe they have been and I'm just not seeing them?
Illustrative screenshots: I think a Theme should definitely have a screenshot on the description page. Nothing is showing for me.
Licensing: I don't see any issues regarding licensing here.
Subscription needed?: Not applicable
First of all thank you for reviewing Morecandy. The problem with the sideway block header title truncating is that I have perhaps not included that actual block in the list which carries the different heights for the blocks based on their title length. It's easy enough to fix.
I thought the Source control URL, Bug Tracker and Documentation were optional, but I will attend to those if needed. Same too for the images.
What happens now do I delete this and start again or just continue to upload edited versions?
Thanks
Mary
I'm reviewing against the Usability and Meta-data sections on the Plugin contributions checklist page: https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Plugin_contribution_checklist.
There is a general push to have plugins approved more quickly, but also to have more consistency etc.
So I'm not 100% sure if these items you mention are optional, or in fact just 'highly encouraged' - perhaps David or one of the more experienced reviewers can confirm this here please ?
I believe you just continue to upload edited versions.
Once someone has reviewed the plugin code it then gets approved.
Stu
Cheers
Mary
Thank you and God bless.
Mary
While reviewing the theme, I spotted two issues that would discourage me personally from using this at production site for now - and I reported them as issues #1 and #2 in the plugin's big tracker.
I am sure the raised issues will be fixed soon in an updated version of the theme and so I am going to approve it now. You are cleared to land now, welcome to the Plugins directory!