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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Some good points Peter and I’ve briefly discussed bits of this
with Julian too but less about local customisation and more about us all being
able to add to the Nottingham developed templates (and share with the
community) in a way that is efficient and not overridden by future releases.
For example...<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been looking at and
testing the differences between different swf and video file formats and how to
get them to work with either the existing page types or where necessary a
custom page type. As a result Julian has added some code to cope with moletv
links and a new page type specifically for Jing movies. But the team at Notts
can’t possibly keep up with all the variations out there and not everyone
would need those extra pages either. We can create customised stuff for local
needs which is obviously one of the big benefits of what is a fantastic tool.
However I think we need a way to build additional templates, to share those
with the community and somehow allow an author to use any of the templates
available in the same LO.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>I think Julian had some ideas of how this might be achieved but
I doubt that will be in time for the imminent release of toolkits v1. In fact I
don’t think we should distract Julian and Pat from getting that finished
or do anything to stop the frequent updates and improvements that have been added
recently or in the future. I think we just need a solution to prevent
duplicated effort.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> xerte-bounces@lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces@lists.nottingham.ac.uk] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Peter
Huppertz<br>
<b>Sent:</b> 11 March 2009 21:59<br>
<b>To:</b> xerte@lists.nottingham.ac.uk<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Xerte] Creating custom templates on the basis of
Nottingham.rlt<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Dear
List,</span> <br>
<br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>the
Nottingham-template of the xerte installation includes many nice features I
would like to have in my own template. On the other hand I want to tailor the
design of my learning piece to the ci of my institute and to the needs of the
project I work on.</span> <br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>So my approach
in the past was to take the Nottingham template and redesign it. For example:</span>
<br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>- change the
size of the project to my needs</span> <br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>- change the
interface with custom header, buttons, panels, fonts, etc.</span> <br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>- change the
position of the different items that are generated/loaded/etc.</span> <br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>- include
custom exercises</span> <br>
<br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>In the last few
days literally every hour a new version of the template arrived. Which is good
in terms of development, but which is bad for me, cause I must either change my
template to include the new features, or tailor the Nottingham-template again.</span>
<br>
<br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>So now my
question is: is my process the right way to tailor a template to my needs or is
there a completely different approach which is much simpler? If there is no
simpler way, would it be possible to make the Nottingham-template easier to
tailor. Some ideas I have:</span> <br>
<br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>- store all
positing data in variables based on the size of the stage</span> <br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>- use css
styles for all text which is displayed</span> <br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>- create a
template for a custom interface (including next/previous buttons, help button,
etc.)</span> <br>
<br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>So, please tell
me what you think. If you see some value in my idea I would be happy to help
you!</span> <br>
<br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Before I forget
it: Xerte is really a great tool. The best balance between userfriendlyness and
totally customizable I have ever seen! Good job.</span> <br>
<br>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Peter</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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