Forums/ScreenSteps Desktop/Workgroup/ScreenSteps Desktop Feature Requests

PlannedDoneNot planned

Community Contributed HTML Export Templates

andrew
suggested this on May 29, 2010 18:28

Hello Trevor and Greg,

Let me state firstly that ScreenSteps is an elegant and eminently useful product.

I export lessons to HTML daily, and whilst the built in html templates are very nice, there are times when I take the web pages generated by ScreenSteps and using a PHP script rewrite the pages to include support for Google Adsense within your existing template, and at other times I adjust for the styling already in place on a clients web site. This is no great imposition for me, however for some I imagine tinkering with the web pages would be very difficult.

I envisage that you could perhaps release some basic guidelines, then graphic artists, web designers, and coders could contribute templates to a BlueMango Community Portal. A template or a themed group of templates may then be downloaded as required (wow! I like the look of that template, user clicks Import Web Template From BMCommunity and it is then available as a HTML export option).

I was part way through developing a little companion Rev app (which I would be happy to give you if I ever get time to finish it), that is a wizard for placing Adsense ads of different sizes to your existing HTML templates. The wizard allows you to pick one of several wrappers using differing size Adsense ads. Before outputing new (doesn't touch the existing files) web pages. Before starting the wizard a PHP script did the trick.

I am sure you had already thought of this - but if you haven't, it may be useful to ScreenSteps users whom are web publishers, or for general users seeking more choice in export templates.

I hope my suggestions are helpful.

- Andrew

 

Comments

User photo
Trevor DeVore
Blue Mango Learning Systems

Hi Andrew,

You can actually create and customize your own templates so you don't need to make any tweaks after exporting. You can find all of the template documentation in this manual (creating, installing, examples, etc.):

http://help.screensteps.com/spaces/screensteps/manuals/customizing_...

Having a template browser built into the software would definitely be a nice addition but most likely won't appear in the short to mid term.

June 01, 2010 10:01.
User photo
andrew

Hello Trevor, thank you for replying and the lesson link. I will still finish my adsense piece next month and forward a copy just in case it is useful to someone down the road.

All the best - Andrew

June 01, 2010 22:20.
User photo
Trevor DeVore
Blue Mango Learning Systems

That would be great Andrew. Even though we might not automate template installation right now it would be nice to have a section on our site containing user contributed templates that people could download and install.

June 02, 2010 01:29.
User photo
Ward Clark

I just created the first of several planned tutorials for a client.  Since the last time I used ScreenSteps, the collection of built-in HTML templates has changed.  Former "bold" templates have been replace by a "subdued" set.

I came to the Blue Mango product site and this forum seeking user-contributed templates.  Since custom templates are a prominent feature, I'd like to encourage Blue Mango to promoting sharing by picking up Trevor's ball: "it would be nice to have a section on our site containing user contributed templates that people could download and install."

Borrowing from Field of Dreams: "If you build it, [they] will come."

December 14, 2010 23:49.