Permanently show block in Moodle? - moodle

Question

Is there a way to permanently show a block within Moodle? I am working on configuring a theme, and I wanted to know if there's a way to ensure that a block is visible no matter which page you're on.

Answer 1

One solution should be to add a new block region.
In your theme directory, in config.php file, modify the layout option and add your new region to all your used layouts:
$THEME->layouts = array(
'base' => array(
'file' => 'admin.php',
'regions' => array('your-region'),
'defaultregion' => 'your-region',
),
'standard' => array(
'file' => 'admin.php',
'regions' => array('your-region', 'side-post'),
'defaultregion' => 'your-region',
),
// The site home page.
'frontpage' => array(
'file' => 'general.php',
'regions' => array('tools-menu', 'side-post'),
'defaultregion' => 'tools-menu',
'defaultregion' => 'tools-menu',
),
'course' => array(
'file' => 'general.php',
'regions' => array('your-region'),
'defaultregion' => 'your-region',
'options' => array('nofooter'=>true, 'nonavbar'=>true, 'nocustommenu'=>true),
),
etc...
Then you edit all your layout files theme/your_theme/layout/*.php and add this line where you want your block to appear:
echo $OUTPUT->blocks_for_region('your-region');
Now, you will have to add your block to this region for all page type, simply execute this sql in you database:
INSERT INTO `mdl_block_instances` (
`id` ,
`blockname` ,
`parentcontextid` ,
`showinsubcontexts` ,
`pagetypepattern` ,
`subpagepattern` ,
`defaultregion` ,
`defaultweight` ,
`configdata`
)
VALUES ( NULL , 'your_block_name', '1', '1', '*', NULL, 'your-region', '0', NULL );