Roles FAQ

What is the definition of a...

Role

An identifier of the user's status in some context, for example Teacher, Student and Forum moderator

Capability

A description of a particular Moodle feature, for example moodle/blog:create

Permission

A setting for a capability - inherit, allow, prevent or prohibit

Context

A "space" in Moodle, such as courses, activity modules or blocks

Why isn't my role change taking effect?

Role changes only take effect after the next login from that user. Regarding testing new roles, please refer to the information in Manage roles.

Also, please check the context in which the role is assigned. Certain capabilities e.g. moodle/user:update may only be applied in the system context, so assigning a role in the course context will result in the role change not taking effect.

Why are participants being added automatically when a new course is created?

If a user is assigned a role in the site/system or course category context then the user has this role in ALL courses in that context. Thus users who are students or teachers at the category level appear as course participants in all courses in that category.

Please check Administration > Users > Permissions > Assign roles and also the Assign roles link in course categories page and unassign users as necessary.

Why are there differences in the users listed as course participants and users assigned roles in a course?

Users assigned roles in a higher context, for example users assigned the role of teacher in a course category context, may appear as course participants. The discussion Discrepancies between Assign Roles lists and Participants list contains a longer explanation.

How can I prevent administrators being listed as course participants?

Ensure that administrators are not assigned another role in addition to their admin role.

Why are hidden assignments still visible?

Hidden assignments are not hidden from admins or teachers i.e. users with the viewhiddenassigns capability.

What is a hierarchy of permissions?

This determines which permission wins or is going to be in effect if there is an apparent conflict. For example, the site allows all students the permission to to post in forums, but a teacher might prevent that right in a particular course. The hierarchy of permissions would allow a student to post in one course but not in another course.

Are there any differences in Roles in Moodle 1.7 and 1.8?

Template:Moodle 1.8 In addition to many Roles fixes and refinements (see the list of Roles improvements in the Tracker), in Moodle 1.8 the system context is separated from the site context.

The site context in Moodle 1.8 is the "front page course" and its activities. Roles may be assigned in the site context via Administration > Front Page > Front Page roles.

How do I change the name for "teacher" in the course description?

Either

• Edit the role of Teacher via Administration > Users > Permissions > Define roles and rename it.

Or

• Create a duplicate teacher role with an alternative name and assign users the duplicate teacher role as appropriate in the course context. In Administration > Appearance > Course manager select the alternative name for teacher that you wish to be displayed in the course description.

The feature request Ability to assign or display custom title for role of person in course contains a further method.