Course homepage: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 12:20, 3 May 2012

Standard view of a blank course

Our examples will be for a course homepage that is the standard default for a new install on a site. There are many course options that determine a course's appearance and make it look very different from our examples. The example course has a header, a footer (both content largely determined by a theme) and 3 columns in the middle.

Here are basic elements of a course page and links to Moodle documentation.

Example of Weekly format, teacher view, edit off - full resolution here

Parts of a course homepage

Using the above image, here are the parts of a typical course homepage. It is possible to move and hide parts of the page and different themes display blocks in different regions, so not all courses will look like this.

Column left	Course sections - Center	Column right
*1 Course full name	*6 Section header & News topic	*9 Login information
*2 Navigation bar	*7 Current week - First section	*10 Turn editing on button
*4 Navigation block	*8 Future week - Second section	*11 Latest news
*5 Settings block	*14 "Show only this section"	*12 Upcoming events
*15 "Switch role to"		*13 Recent activity
*16 User profile settings
*17 Site Administration

Adding elements to your course home page

Turn on the editing by clicking the button top right or the link in Settings>Course Administration.
For resources and activities, dropdown menus will appear in each section. Click the appropriate dropdown menu to add your item.

For blocks, click the "add block" dropdown which is usually situated bottom right of the screen.

Editing elements on your course homepage

With the editing turned on, each item on your course homepage and each section/block will have icons next to it which all perform different functions such as edit/move/copy/delete/hide. Note: your theme may have icons different from these below::

- the edit icon allows you to change the wording or settings of the item.

- the duplicate icon allows you to copy an activity or resource within your course

- the open-eye icon means an item is visible to students. It will close when you click on it

- the closed-eye icon means an item is hidden from students. It will open when you click on it

- the right icon is used to indent course elements (there is also a left icon)

- the move icon allows course elements to be placed anywhere

- the move here icon appears when moving a course element. Click into the box to re-locate your item.

- the up/down arrows allow you to move course sections up or down.

- the "crosshairs" move icon allows you to move items or sections by dragging and dropping. It appears if your admin has enabled Ajax in Settings > Site Administration > Appearance > Ajax and Javascript

- the delete icon will permentantly delete something from the course

- the groups icon allows you to change between no groups or separate/visible groups

- the roles icon allows you to assign roles locally in the item.

The following icons are visible when editing is both on and off

- This icon is used to show only the selected section

- This icon is used to show all sections in a course

The following icon only applies to sections

- the highlight icon allows you to highlight a section as current

Moving sections or blocks on your course's homepage

To move a Block

Blocks appear at the side(s) of your course area. To move one,

Turn Editing On and *click and release* the Block's crosshair icon. Place holders - zones with a dashed border - appear on the screen indicating the possible areas where your Block can appear.

Click the placeholder where you want the Block appear. On course area homepages, you can move Blocks from one side to the other, but not into the middle.
The block should now appear in the location you chose.

To move a Section

To move a Topic or Week section:

turn editing on
click the up or down arrow or the crosshairs icon to move the section

Displaying activity descriptions on the course page

New feature
in Moodle 2.2! Activity and resource descriptions can be displayed on the course page just below the link to the activity or resource by clicking the 'Display description on course page' checkbox in the activity or resource settings.

Tips and tricks

Make your course home page look more like a webpage - see Course FAQ

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-A new course entered for the first time will be mostly blank. Course templates have [[Blocks (teacher) | block areas]] on the left and right sides, with course [[Activity modules]] and [[Resources]] grouped by [[Course sections | sections]] to fit your needs.
+{{Courses}}
+== Standard view of a blank course==
+Our examples will be for a course homepage that is the standard default for a new install on a site.  There are many course options that determine a course's appearance and make it look very different from our examples. The example course has a header, a footer (both content largely determined by a theme) and 3 columns in the middle.
-Generally speaking, the first or top section is not numbered and was designed for general information and to contain activities and resources useful during the course.  Most courses will have at least one additional [[Course sections | section]].
+Here are basic elements of a course page and links to Moodle documentation.
+[[Image:Blankcourselayout.png|thumb|600px|none|Example of Weekly format, teacher view, edit off - [https://docs.moodle.org/20/en/File:Blankcourselayout.png full resolution here]]]
-The view of your course homepage depends on which block areas you choose to appear using the Blocks field. All of the blocks can be shifted around according to one's liking, due to which the view of the course homepage may differ.
+===Parts of a course homepage===
+Using the above image, here are the parts of a typical course homepage.  It is possible to move and hide parts of the page and different themes display blocks in different regions,  so not all courses will look like this.
+{| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
+|-
+| Column left || Course sections - Center || Column right
+|-
+|-
+| *1 [[Course_settings#Full_name|Course full name]] || *6 Section header & [[News forum|News topic]] || *9 Login information
+|-
+| *2 [[Course_settings#Short_name|Navigation bar]] ||*7 Current week - First section || *10 Turn editing on button
+|-
+| *4 [[Navigation block]]|| *8 Future week  - Second section|| *11 [[Latest News block|Latest news]]
+|-
+| *5 [[Settings block]]||*14 "Show only this section"  || *12 [[Upcoming Events block|Upcoming events]]
+|-
+| *15 "Switch role to"||  || *13 [[Recent Activity block|Recent activity]]
+|-
+| *16 User profile settings ||  ||
+|-
+| *17 Site Administration || ||
+|}
-== Standard view of a blank course==
+==Adding elements to your course home page==
-[[Image:Course edit on new 3w.JPG|thumb|600px|none|Example of Weekly outline, teacher view, edit on]]
-[[Image:Course edit on new wly sv.JPG|thumb|600px|none|Example of Weekly outline, student view]]
+*Turn on the editing by clicking the button top right or the link in ''Settings>Course Administration.''
+*For [[Resources| resources]] and [[Activities| activities]], dropdown menus will appear in each section. Click the  appropriate dropdown menu to add your item.
+[[File:Addresourceactivitydropdown.png]]
+*For [[Blocks| blocks]], click the "add block" dropdown which is usually situated bottom right of the screen.
+==Editing elements on your course homepage==
+With the editing turned on, each item on your course homepage and each section/block will have icons next to it which all perform different functions such as edit/move/copy/delete/hide. '''Note:''' ''your theme may have icons different from these below:'':
+:[[Image:Edit.gif]] - the edit icon allows you to change the wording or settings of the item.
+:[[File:Duplicateicon.png]] - the duplicate icon allows you to copy an activity or resource within your course
+:[[Image:Open.gif]] - the open-eye icon means an item is visible to students. It will close when you click on it
+:[[Image:Closed.gif]] - the closed-eye icon means an item is hidden from students. It will open when you click on it
+:[[Image:Right.gif]] - the right icon is used to indent course elements (there is also a left icon)
+:[[Image:Move.gif]] - the move icon allows course elements to be placed anywhere
+:[[Image:Movehere.gif]] - the move here icon appears when moving a course element. Click into the box to re-locate your item.
+:[[File:Updownarrow.png]] - the up/down arrows allow you to move course sections up or down.
+:[[File:Ajaxmoveicon.png]]- the "crosshairs" move icon allows you to move items or sections by dragging and dropping. It appears if your admin has enabled Ajax in ''Settings > Site Administration > Appearance > Ajax and Javascript''
+:[[Image:Delete.gif]] - the delete icon will permentantly delete something from the course
+:[[File:Groupsicon.png]] - the groups icon allows you to change between no groups or separate/visible groups
+:[[File:Rolesicon.png]] - the roles icon allows you to assign roles locally in the item.
+The following icons are visible when editing is both on and off
+:[[Image:One.gif]] - This icon is used to show only the selected section
+:[[Image:All.gif]] - This icon is used to show all sections in a course
+The following icon only applies to sections
+:[[Image:Marker.gif]] - the highlight  icon allows you to highlight a section as current
+===Moving sections or blocks on your course's homepage===
+====To move a Block====
+Blocks appear at the side(s) of your course area. To move one,
+#Turn Editing On and *click and release* the Block's crosshair icon. Place holders - zones with a dashed border - appear on the screen indicating the possible areas where your Block can appear.
+[[File:Moveblocks.png]]
+#Click the placeholder where you want the Block appear. On course area homepages, you can move Blocks from one side to the other, but not into the middle.
+#The block should now appear in the location you chose.
+====To move a Section====
+To move a Topic or Week section:
+#turn editing on
+#click the up or down arrow or the crosshairs icon  to move the section
+==Displaying activity descriptions on the course page==
+{{New features}}Activity and resource descriptions can be displayed on the course page just below the link to the activity or resource by clicking the 'Display description on course page' checkbox in the activity or resource settings.
+==Tips and tricks==
-==Course themes==
+*Make your course home page look more like a webpage - see [[Course FAQ]]
-In Moodle 1.6 and above, a site may allow its teachers to use color [[Themes |themes]] that are different from the Moodle site homepage.
-The site administrator must go Administration>Configuration>Variables and change the allowcoursethemes to yes.  Then teachers will see the new property at the bottom of course settings called Force theme, with a drop down menu of different available themes.  Non-editing teacher can not alter this setting.  The default course theme is the site theme.
+==Course homepage capabilities==
-==Drag and drop==
+*[[Capabilities/moodle/course:sectionvisibility|Control section visibility]]
-Be aware that drag and drop for course sections currently (25th Feb 2008) has an issue and only support dragging a course section onto an adjacent section. Fix on the way: MDL-11539
+*[[Capabilities/moodle/course:setcurrentsection|Set current section]]
 ==See also==
-*[[Course sections]] - some information about weekly and topic sections
+* [[Course settings]] for details of how to change the number of sections displayed on the course homepage
-*[[Blocks (teacher)]] - some links to different types of blocks
-*[[Adding/editing_a_course]] for more information about a course
-*For Administrators- Administration block, configuration, variables and interface [[Theme_config#Course_themes |settings]].
 [[es:course/view]]
 [[fr:Page de cours]]
-[[ru:Главная страница курса]]
 [[ja:コースホームページ]]
-[[Category:Teacher|Course/view]]
-[[sk:kurz/prehľad]]
 [[de:Kursseite]]

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