Import and export FAQ

How do I import users?

• See Upload users.

How do I import course data?

• See Import course data.

How do I import and export grades?

• Grade import (for Moodle 1.9 onwards).
• Grade export

How do I import glossary entries?

For details see Import glossary entries.

Very useful tools are:

• Online XML converter Create XML online from text. Supports all glossary options and supports different types of input entries - Excel, concept - definition, Concept <break> definition, and some others.
• David Fountain's Excel macro An Excel workbook with macros to create an XML file.
• Yasu Imao's Moodle glossaryXMLconverter_html 4 A JavaScript based converter, works directly in your browser.

How do I import and export database entries?

See

• Database export
• Adding a database entry

How can I enable Excel export for students?

With the Database activity you have the ability to allow students to export all the data in the following formats: CSV, Excel and ODS (OpenDocument Spreadsheet from OpenOffice).

With this functionality students can choose to export the data of all fields or only of selected fields. (Picture fields cannot be exported.)

However, this feature is not enabled by default for students. You need to override the student permissions for the Database activity and choose 'Allow' for the permission to 'View presets from all users'.

This will result in the 'Export' tab being visible to students in the Database activity.

Also see this thread for a discussion on this.

How do I import and export questions?

• See Import questions and Export questions.

• Moodle XML converter Free online service to create quizzes and glossaries from existing files.

• OpenOffice template for creating questions in GIFT format: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=20705&parent=168385

• MS Word template for creating questions in GIFT format: http://www.soberit.hut.fi/sprg/resources/moodle/GiftConverter.html
• Excel to GIFT format export tool: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=66660
• The complete list: Word processors and Spreadsheets tools that create GIFTs

• Importing "GIFT" format files: https://www.acquin.org/moodle/help.php?file=formatgift.html&module=quiz

• ATutor to Moodle converter - see http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=115338.

• Eoin Campbell is working on a XSLT based import/export module for Word - stay tuned!

See also his website for converting Moodle Questions into tables in a Microsoft Word file, and vice versa.

Which formats are used for importing questions?

If you want to create questions outside of Moodle these two text based formats might be the most important:

• GIFT - Moodle 'proprietary' text format for import and export. Reasonably comprehensive.

See GIFT format.

Here is a 2-column GIFT format reference sheet: GIFT Reference Sheet

• Moodle XML - Moodle 'proprietary' xml format for import and export. Very comprehensive.

You find the complete list of supported formats under Import questions.

What encodings should I use?

The recommended standard encoding for all Moodle files is UTF-8.

• See Importing Entries Using a Text File for an example where a UTF-8 file with BOM caused Database Activity entries not being imported. See also MDL-9075 ("User Upload Failure when file contains UTF-8 BOM").

Some of this information is collected at UTF-8 and BOM.

See also:

• Changing File Encoding on a CSV with OpenOffice Calc
• UTF-8 CSV
• Category:UTF-8

See also

• Search Moodle Forums subject:import.
• Search Moodle Forums subject:export.

• XML FAQ
• IMS Common Cartridge import

• There's an interesting project on integrating Drupal and Moodle quizzes in the Drupal in Education User Group.