21 November 2012, 6:45

I am trying to built a template containing placeholders such as 'Artefact 1' 'Outcome 1' etc. I am presently using empty textboxes for that.

I would like it to be just a placeholder or label that can not be edited by the user, so that the user could choose to add whatever they want underneath it and not think they have to add the artefact 1 into the 'Artefact 1' textbox but could drag a picture under it for example. What do others do? Thnaks

21 November 2012, 9:23

Hello Dirk,

That's interesting. How would your users know what to do? Would they then drag any block below that placeholder heading and then know to delete the placeholder?

Templates that I have built often include an instruction block which gives the user some ideas of what to do and then the standard text box block because then I can be more specific about what to say in there. Such a text box could for example include the instruction to place any artefact right there and delete that placeholder block.

I wonder if we should also be able to easily color placeholder blocks. Currently, you have to do that manually in the box below the heading. But what if the entire block could look differently so you can distinguish it quite easily from the rest?

Cheers

Kristina

21 November 2012, 14:41

Hi Kristina,

the problem with text boxes as labels right now is a) they can be deleted b) they appear in the list of reusable texboxes (who wants to re-use an empty textbox?) and c) they may lead the learner to believe to just edit the text box and not add other artefacts.

I love the idea of colourd labels. It would provide reviewers/instrutors/markers a consistent visual cue to what it is they are looking at. It could provide the learner with a visual cue that something is still missing from the page ie. they 'fill in holes' on their page. You could allow for different colors on these blocks ie. all red blocks/label are must dos, all yellows are bonus or all red are worth 10 points, all yellows 5, you need 5 red boxes to get badge 'A' and 5 red and two yellow to get badge 'B'..I am thinking out aloud...a marker simply adds the values of the boxes and assigns a mark.

Some possible features to consider:
The original page author could set if labels can be deleted or not.
Label has a field to enter instructions, URL, link, embedded video. When on a page, this textfield is closed by default but opens up, similar to how the preview of pages works during the copy page process. Think of it almost as an inline scaffolding where the leaner has access to help, exemplars, goals etc. right within the page they are constructing...almost like the tooltips already in place within mahara. (Thinking of tooltips---> what about a tooltips blocktype?)
Ability to provide spacial representation of importance. By this I mean, more space below the red boxes then below the yellow boxes.

Some of these may not make a lot of sense tomorrow :) but I do think it could be usefull to have something that allows for putting together a framed page.

Cheers