[Eclass-users] Re: suggestions

[Kevin O. <ke...@tu...>]

Hi BJ,

On Apr 19, 2004, at 1:39 PM, BJ Cameron wrote:

> Hi Kevino,
> =A0
> No new bugs to report!!!
> =A0
> A suggestion for the next version if possible. I have been working=20
> with the themes and templates and I have noticed that all the course=20=

> media gets lumped into
>  "--[Content}--"
>  Would it be possible to break that down into the individual parts?=20
> For instance, if I wanted to put course text before the audio, I could=20=

> set up my template to reflect this. Or it I just wanted to put a=20
> horizontal line between my page image and text, I could do it very=20
> simply. I know I can do all this easily in my html page but it would=20=

> be nice if EClass could do it for me. I know pedagogically, it makes=20=

> sense to have the media at the top (true?), but as a designer, I would=20=

> like to have a little more control of the layout.
> =A0
> Your thoughts?

Actually, it used to be this way but I changed it. The reason is that=20
'breaking it down' means different things for different plugins. For=20
Web Pages, for example, it should just be "-[content]-" as the author=20
works directly with the HTML page. It's important to remember that=20
layout options that would be useful for EClass Pages, such as=20
"-[video]-", would make no sense if you were publishing either a HTML=20
page or a Quiz. So we'd have to have some separate template system just=20=

for EClass Pages to make things work.

BTW, there are no pedagogical reasons (to my knowledge) for placing the=20=

video or image anywhere particularly in the page, or that a page needs=20=

to be limited to one image, video, audio file, etc. In fact, I would=20
think that the opposite is true - that in many cases having more than=20
one image, or audio/video files per page, placed close to the content=20
they reenforce, would be more conductive to learning.

But as long as we use the EClass Page format, EClass needs to know=20
where to put those file(s) programmatically, so it is going to have to=20=

make some sort of decision about where the file goes. We can never give=20=

the author total flexibility in terms of layout. The EClass Page format=20=

is in my mind a very limited format, and it's simplicity comes=20
primarily from the fact that it gives users so few options on how to=20
design their content. I think 7 years ago, with many people still=20
getting comfortable with computers in general, that was a decent=20
approach, but today there's no reason not to make things visual and=20
give the author more control over the layout of their content. The=20
EClass Page editor, by design, will never allow authors much=20
flexibility, which is why I'm pushing towards the HTML editor.

Which reminds me, I need to write some macros for audio/video support=20
in the HTML editor. =3D)

> How about a template to mange the menu.htm frame? I know it is easy=20
> enough to edit it, but it be great to set it up once.

How would the menu.htm template be different from menu.htm itself?

> =A0
> Another style issue...
> If you change the background color of the EClass pages (try a dark=20
> color), on the quiz pages you get a white box, where your check (good)=20=

> an X (bad) response to the submission appear. Would it be possible to=20=

> have this transparent so you do not see the white box prior to the=20
> submission? Try it out and see what you think.

Oops, I thought they were transparent. I'll fix this for the next=20
version.

Thanks,

Kevin