This year, instead of hacking the Moodle core to death we have decided to stick with core Moodle code, and this time we have put all our custom pages in their own folder.
I am in the process of converting many custom code projects into blocks and mods. An it’s surprisingly easy with Moodle 2.
Today I built a simple course header block that displays the course title with a nicely rounded CSS background image.
Previously we used to draw course headers in Photoshop but now we don’t need to.
And because we can place blocks in the centre of our theme the headers sit very neatly at the top of the course content above the resources.
At present it’s limited to 1 image but the plan is to develop it further whereby the tutor can select from a variety of images when in editing mode.
For example, there may be an image for construction courses, one for hairdressing courses etc… Plus a few generic ones.
This saves hours of time – no more Photoshop!
The next mod we need to build is similar to a label but instead creates a pre-drawn banner and associated link to a child course. At present we draw images, add them to a label and hyperlink them to a hidden child course. Painful and time consuming!
However, time is always the issue. And we are fully stretched with a new term just a few days away so finding time to code is harder than the code itself!
It will be non stop tech support for the next month and then we will see how we go!
And the senior powers that be require a Moodle reporting engine that links to our MIS system! I’d rather build the fun stuff but need to keep the bosses happy!
