>> Installing Moodle Themes
>> Installing Joomla Themes
>> Installing Dokeos Themes
>> Customizing Themes
Installing Moodle Themes - 1.8x, 1.7x
First extract the theme zip file to a folder. Then put this folder into your Moodle's 'theme' folder. Next login to your Moodle site as admin. Locate the 'Site Administration' panel on the left. Locate and click 'Appearance' in this panel. Two more options will appear - 'Theme Settings' and "Theme Selector'. Click 'Theme Selector' and then locate the theme you want and click the 'Choose' button. Finally, in the next page giving the theme details, click the 'Continue' button.
Note: When you extract any theme zip file to a folder using WinZip the actual theme folder may be inside that folder! For instance when you extract blueseek18.zip to a folder a folder named blueseek18 is created. Inside this you would see another similarly named folder. This is the folder that contains the theme files, and has to be put into your Moodle's theme folder.
Note Again: But if you use Winzip's 'Extract to Here' option..right-click context menu.. this problem may not occur.
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Installing Joomla Themes
Get to your Joomla administrator backend by typing in something like this in your browser's address box - 'http://yourjoomlasiteurl/administrator' and log in. When on admin home page, in the top menu locate the 'Installer' link, then from its drop-down choose 'Templates - Site'. Then, in the 'Install new Template' page locate the 'Browse' button and select our joomla theme zip file you have downloaded. Then, to install, click on the button 'Upload File & Install'. Follow the screen instructions. When you reach the 'Template Manager' page select the radio button on left of the template's/theme's name, then click the 'Default' icon in the group of icons to the right just below the top menu links. A tick mark will appear next to the freshly assigned template. Now log out and open your Joomla main site to see your Joomla wearing the new theme.
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Installing Dokeos Themes
First extract the dokeos theme zip file to a folder. Then put this folder in the 'css' folder which lies inside the 'main' folder of your dokeos 1.8x installation. Now log in as admin from your main dokeos home page. Click on the 'Portal Administration' tab/link on top left. In the Portal Administration page locate the 'Platform' configuration block (below the 'Users' block). In 'Platform' block click 'Dokeos configuration cettings'. In the next page click 'Style sheets'. A theme preview section will appear below 'Style sheets'. Below the preview section you will see the theme names. Select the radio button on the left of the theme and click the 'Submit' button.
Note: When you extract any theme zip file to a folder using WinZip the actual theme folder may be inside that folder! For instance when you extract blueseek18x.zip to a folder a folder named blueseek18x is created. Inside this you would see another similarly named folder. This is the folder that contains the theme files, and has to be put into your Dokeos's 'css' folder.
Note Again: But if you use Winzip's 'Extract to Here' option..right-click context menu.. this problem may not occur.
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Customization
Step 1
We have made customization of the theme header an easy process. I am using peachplate_PSD.psd as an example. This and all the PSD files in downloads are Photoshop 7 Files.When you open the PeachPlate header PSD file in Photoshop (we use Photoshop 7) you will see the header divided in two halves by a ruler line. You will also see 2 slices. 01 on the left and 02 on the right. If you don't see the ruler and the slices, turn on Extras from the View menu.O.K. now make a copy of peachplate_PSD.psd by Saving As say peachplate_mylogo.psd. This way you preserve the original file while you experiment on the duplicate. Not a necessary step but a good habit, generally speaking.
Step 2
On the Layers panel look for the folder Logo. Click the arrow next to it and two text blocks will appear - My Logo and your slogan. Change these two blocks as you wish. Or turn them off by clicking on their eye icons and put in new stuff etc.The left part of the header is what we will use here.
Step 3
The next step is to go to the File menu and choose Save For Web. When the Save For Web panel opens click on the left (01) slice to slect it with that arrow and knife cursor which appears.Now on the right side of the panel choose GIF and 256 Colors as quality. GIF is necessary in peachplate's case because the logo header image file is stored in the peachplate theme folder as new_looks_01.gif.Now click the Save button and save the file as new_look_01.html in a new folder. Locate this new folder and you'll see two image files in the images folder that has been created, new_look_01_01.gif and new_look_01_02.gif. The logo header file is new_look_01_01.gif. Rename it to new_look_01.gif, copy it and paste it in the peachplate folder which should be in your Moodle's theme folder. The earlier file will be replaced and your logo inserted.
Important:
The logo header file will sometimes be a gif and sometimes a jpeg. To check, install the chosen theme in moodle and when it appears in the browser window right-click on the left header image and do a Save Picture As (IE). You'll get the file name and the file format.
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