Course homepage

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.

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

Course sections

Course sections are displayed in the centre of the course page.

To edit a course section:

1. Turn editing on
2. Click the edit icon after the section title

New feature
in Moodle 2.3! If Conditional activities are enabled for the site, access to the section (including all activities and resources within it) may be restricted.

New feature
in Moodle 2.3! The number of course sections in the centre column may be changed in Settings > Course administration > Edit settings or by clicking the plus or minus icons at the bottom of the course page when editing is turned on.

Editing a course section

Changing the number of course sections

To move a course section:

1. Turn editing on
2. Click the up/down arrow or the crosshairs icon to move the section
3. Drag the section to where you want to position it and let go

Blocks

Blocks are displayed in the right and/or left columns of the course page.

To add a block to the course page

1. Turn on the editing by clicking the button top right or the link in Settings > Course administration
2. Select a block from the "Add block" dropdown menu (usually situated bottom right of the page)

New feature
in Moodle 2.3! To move a block

1. Ensure editing is turned on then click onto the block title until the crosshair icon appears
2. While keeping the block selected, drag it to where you want to position it and let go.

Alternatively

1. Click on the up/down arrow
2. Click on the place holder (a zone with a dashed border) where you want the block to appear.

Crosshair icon for moving a block

Up/down arrow icon for moving a block

Activities and resources

To add an activity or resource to the course

1. Turn on the editing by clicking the button top right or the link in Settings > Course administration.
2. Click 'Add an activity or resource' to open the new activity chooser. Select an activity or resource then click the Add button, or simply double-click on the activity or resource name.New feature
   in Moodle 2.3!

If desired, the activity chooser can be switched off via Settings > Course administration > Activity chooser off. Activities and resources can then be added using dropdown menus. (The setting appears only when editing is turned on.)

Note: The Moodle admin can switch this off by default in Settings>Site administration>Appearance>AJAX and Javascript to avoid confusion for people coming from 1.9 to Moodle 2.3. (This feature is available from 2.3.2)

The activity chooser

New feature
in Moodle 2.3! Alternatively, certain resources and activities may be added using drag and drop:

• To add a file, simply drag and drop it onto the course section where you'd like it to appear
• To add a folder of files, simply zip the folder then drag and drop it onto the course section where you'd like it to appear, answer 'Unzip files and create folder' to the popup dialogue, then click the upload button
• To add a SCORM package, simply drag and drop it onto the course section where you'd like it to appear, answer 'Add a SCORM package' to the popup dialogue, then click the upload button

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 pencil icon allows to rename your item directly on the course page without entering the settings for that item. New feature
in Moodle 2.3!

- 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 "crosshairs" move icon allows you to move items or sections by dragging and dropping.

- the up/down arrows allow you to move course sections up or down. It appears if you do not have Ajax enabled in your browser or if it has been disabled by an admin for the site in Settings > Site administration > Appearance > Ajax and Javascript.

- the delete icon will permanently 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

The following icon only applies to sections

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

Tips and tricks

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

Course homepage capabilities

• Control section visibility
• Set current section

See also

• How to quickly rename activities and use the activity chooser screencast
• Quickly add a course section in Moodle 2.3 screencast
• Drag and drop blocks in Moodle 2.3 screencast