1. Templates have different elements for the five Early Essentials applications, but they all have at least a menu icon, a menu sound file, and a configuration file. The configuration file controls how large the template is, which graphics are displayed and which areas of the templates can be drawn or typed in.

To view the configuration files, go to the Early Essentials folder, double click on templates, then on the folder for the type of template you are editing (eg. Write). You will now see a .eet file (Early Essentials Template) for each template in that category.

2. Double click the template you want to edit; a window will appear to ask you which application you want to use to open the file. Select Notepad from the list, tick Always use this program to open these files and click OK.

You are now able to view and edit the configuration files in Notepad. Each type of template has its own set of attributes, so we will discuss them individually.

Please note: Since you will be editing a text file, it is easy to make a mistake and 'break' the template. It is therefore a good idea to make a copy of the file you are working on.

Write

The details below are for the Artwork template.

[Options]
VerticalSize = 297
HorizontalSize = 210

This defines the proportions of the page - the default values are for a portrait A4 page. You can quickly make the page landscape by switching the values for Vertical and Horizontal Size.

Please note: This is not the size of the image in pixels or millimeters, it is merely the relation between the height and width of the page

PaintAreas = [[5 3 90 65]]
TextAreas = [[5 73 90 10] [5 87 90 10]]

These numbers define the areas of the page that you can paint and write in.

• The first number is the percentage of the page the left margin takes up
• The second number is the percentage of the page the top margin takes up
• The third number is the horizontal percentage of the page the area takes up
• The fourth number is the vertical percentage of the page the area takes up

If you look at the Artwork template, the left margin is 5% of the horizontal page size, so approximately 10mm. The top margin is 3% of the vertical page size, so 9mm. The Paint area then takes up 90% x 65% of the page. It will therefore cover most of the width, but leave enough vertical space for the text areas, which are each 10% high, and start at 73% and 87% down the page.

This can be a bit confusing, so you may want to experiment with different numbers. You can have both the Notepad window and Early Essentials open. As soon as you save the .eet file, you can open the template again in Early Essentials to check how it has changed.

Text = [|| |Name:|]

Text defines the text that appears in all of the text boxes on a page. The text for each box is displayed between a set of two vertical lines. The first two vertical lines in this example mean that the first of the two text boxes on this page is empty. Anything you type in between these lines will appear in the box when the template loads.

TextSize = [2 2]
TextFont = [1 1]

These define the size and font of the text in the text boxes - one number per box. The numbers refer to the sizes and fonts you predefined in Teacher Setup. Click here to learn more about using Teacher Setup.

Icon = Artwork.lgf
Wave = writetemplate6.wav
Description = Artwork

You should not need to change these values - they define the icon, sound and description for the template and appear in the menu for this activity.

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Turtle

The details below are for the Alien Invasion template.

[Options]
SizeGrid=8
InitialPos=[-0.5 -3.5]
InitialHeading=90
Pen=pd

PenColour=[255 255 0]
Background=alien.lgf
Icon=alien.lgf
ShapeBig=shuttle.lgf
ShapeSmall=shuttle.lgf

Grid=true
Wave=alien.wav
Description=Alien Invasion

The number of cells per row
The initial position of the turtle
The initial heading of the turtle in degrees
The pen position: pd=Pen down - pu=Pen Up. Use the Pen Up position if you do not want a line to show.

The pen colour in Red/Green/Blue values
The background used
The menu item
The graphic used for the turtle - you can change this easily by picking another filename from the /shapes folder

Grid toggle: true=grid on - false=grid off
The menu sound
The menu description

Chart

The details below are for the Eye Colour template.

[Options]
Icon=Eye Colour.lgf
Library=Eye Colour.lgf

Wave=eye.wav
Columns=4
SmallElements=[1 2 3 4]
BigElements=[1 2 3 4]
Hints=[|Grey| |Brown| |Green| |Blue|]
Description=Eye Colour
Title=Eye Colour

The menu icon
This is a multiple frame graphic that contains the different icons that appear at the bottom of the Chart

The menu sound
The number of columns on the Chart
The order in which the Chart icons appear in the multiple frame graphic
The popup hints

The menu description
The chart title

Paint

The details below are for the Copy the Cars template.

[Options]
VerticalSize = 210
HorizontalSize = 297
PaintAreas = [[2.5 3 95 94]]
DefaultTool = Fill
Icon = Copy this pattern1.lgf
Backgrounds = [|Copy this Pattern 1.lgf|]
wave = cars.wav

The page size

See earlier
Can be Pen, Fill or Spray
The menu icon

You can define a background for each Paint area. Each one should be surrounded by "|".
The menu sound

Graph

The details below are for the Beans template.

[Options]
Icon=beans.lgf
Texts=[|Week 1| |Week 2| |Week 3| |Week 4| |Week 5| |Week 6|]
Colours=[[0 255 0] [0 255 0] [0 255 0] [0 255 0] [0 255 0] [0 255 0]]
Numbers=[0 0 0 0 0 0]
DefaultGraphic=5

Title=Measuring a Growing Bean
wave=bean.wav
Description=Measuring a Growing Bean

The menu icon
The text labels

The Red/Green/Blue colour values for the categories

The starting value for each category
The default Graph type: 1=pie, 2=bar, 3=horizontal bar, 4=squares, 5=line

The Graph title
The menu sound
The menu description