Course homepage: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 10:16, 14 November 2022

Parts of a course homepage

A Moodle course can look very different according to the theme and course format (layout). Here are a blank course page using the Boost theme and the Classic theme, both with standard weekly format:

Empty course with Boost theme

Empty course with Classic theme

Boost theme

Overview of course editing

1. Course navigation. These provide a quick way for the teacher to access important aspects of the course. The More link takes you to, for example, the Content and Question banks and Course reuse which incorporates Backup, Restore, Import, Reset and Copy.

2. Course index. This is a scrollable, collapsible drawer that displays course sections and elements. As you move up and down the central course area, your location is highlighted in the Course index. Clicking on an item in the Course index will open it up directly in the course central area.

3. Edit mode toggle. An easy way to toggle edit mode on and off.

4. Block drawer. This is not visible until you have enabled edit mode and added a block. The block drawer can be collapsed and expanded as a user preference.

5. Course sections

Here is where the learning materials are displayed. This element may be arranged in one or multiple weeks, topics, forums or other (non-standard) layouts.

6. Collapse all. Sections can be collapsed and expanded individually or you can use the Collapse all link to collapse them all at once.

Classic theme

1.Navigation block

Normally visible on all pages, this block helps you find your way around the course and site.

2.Administration block

Again, normally visible on all pages, this block gives different levels of access to teachers and students.

3. Turn editing on A clearly visible button allows you to turn editing on and off.

4. Course sections

Here is where the learning materials are displayed. This element may be arranged in one or multiple weeks, topics, forums or other (non-standard) layouts.

5. Collapse all. Sections can be collapsed and expanded individually or you can use the Collapse all link to collapse them all at once.

6.Side blocks

Side blocks can be added when the editing is turned on.

Which blocks you see depend on what the administrator has selected and what you as teacher choose to add.

To edit a course section

Enable Edit mode/turn editing on
Quickly rename sections from the pencil icon.

If Restrict access is enabled for the site, access to the section (including all activities and resources within it) may be restricted.

To move a course section

(Note:The ability to move course sections is controlled by the capability moodle/course:movesections, which is allowed for the default role of teacher.)

Enable edit mode/turn editing on
Drag and drop the section either from the course central area or the Course index to your chosen location.

If your course is long you can also drag from the central area to a location in the Course index, and/or you can click the three dots next to a section, select Move and choose the location to move it to.

To add course sections

Enable edit mode/turn editing on.
If you are using Topics then find the location you want to add a new section and click Add topic.
If you are using Weeks then go to the bottom of the course page and click Add week.

Adding sections

To delete a course section

With the editing turned on, click the 'Edit' link to the right of the course section you wish to delete and then, from the menu that displays, click 'X Delete'. You will be prompted to confirm your wish to delete the section and its contents. Note that all activities inside the section and their user data will also be deleted. Use the Recycle bin to reverse this if you do it by mistake.

To link course sections

An admin setting Always link course sections can be enabled from Site administration > Appearance > Navigation and will link course sections so that when a course section name is clicked in the navigation block or the central content area, it will go directly to that section.

Blocks

The Boost and Classic themes only only displays blocks on the right, although contributed themes might display them on the left.

To add a block to the course page

Enable Edit mode top right.
Expand the block drawer and click Add block. Select your block.

To move a block

With Edit mode on, click the crosshair icon on a block.
While keeping the block selected, drag it to where you want to position it and let go.

Activities and resources

To add an activity or resource to the course

Enable Edit mode.

Click 'Add an activity or resource' to open the activity chooser. Double-click to add an activity or resource; click the i for more information and click the star icon to add it to a separate, starred tab.

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

Course homepage capabilities

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Improve}}
+{{Courses}}
+===Parts of a course homepage===
-{{Course appearance}}
-There are several formats for a course homepage (see below). Most course formats have [[Blocks (teacher) | block areas]] on the left and right sides, with course activity modules and [[Resources]] grouped by [[Course sections | sections]] in the center column.  However, it is possible to have a simple one column course homepage and no sections.
+A Moodle course can look very different according to the theme and course format (layout). Here are a blank course page using the [[Boost theme]] and the Classic theme, both with standard weekly format:
+[[File:BlankBoost4v.png|thumb|center||600px|Empty course with Boost theme]]
+[[File:BlankClassic4v.png|thumb|600px|center|Empty course with Classic theme]]
+====Boost theme====
-== Standard view of a blank course==
+{{MediaPlayer | url = https://youtu.be/ScT3hBTT3ps | desc = Overview of course editing}}
-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.
+. Course navigation. These provide a quick way for the teacher to access important aspects of the course. The More link takes you to, for example, the Content and Question banks and Course reuse which incorporates Backup, Restore, Import, Reset and Copy.
-Here are basic elements of a course page and links to Moodle documentation.
+. Course index. This is a scrollable, collapsible drawer that displays course sections and elements. As you move up and down the central course area, your location is highlighted in the Course index. Clicking on an item in the Course index will open it up directly in the course central area.
-[[Image:Course edit on new 3w.JPG|thumb|600px|none|Example of Weekly format, teacher view, edit off - [https://docs.moodle.org/en/images_en/d/dc/Course_edit_on_new_3w.JPG full resolution here]]]
-===Parts of a course homepage===
+. Edit mode toggle. An easy way to toggle edit mode on and off.
-Using the above image, here are the parts of a course homepage.  It is possible to move and hide parts of the page, so not all courses will look like this.
-{| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
+. Block drawer. This is not visible until you have enabled edit mode and added a block. The block drawer can be collapsed and expanded as a user preference.
-|-
-| Column left || [[Course sections]]-Center || Column right
-|-
-|-
-| *1 [[Course_settings#Full_name|Course full name]] || *7 Section header & [[News forum|News topic]] || *10 [[Log in|Login information]]
-|-
-| *2 [[Course_settings#Short_name|Navigation bar]] ||*8 Current week - First section || *11 [[Getting_started_for_teachers#Editing_course_section|Edit on button]]
-|-
-| *3 [[Course_settings#Summary|Course description]]|| *9 Future week  - Second section|| *12 [[Latest News block|Latest news]]
-|-
-| *4 [[Participants|Participant list]]||  || *13 [[Upcoming Events block|Upcoming events]]
-|-
-| *5 [[Forum module|Forum list]]||  || *14 [[Recent Activity block|Recent activity]]
-|-
-| *6 [[Course administration block|Course administration block]] ||  ||
-|}
-==Examples of course formats==
-===Topic format example===
+. [[Course formats|Course sections]]
-[[Image:Course top topic mu1.jpg|thumb|300px|none|Example of Topic format.  Click on image to enlarge]]
-This is a downloaded version of demo.moodle.org, using the Topic course format.
-===Weekly format example===
+Here is where the learning materials are displayed. This element may be arranged in one or multiple weeks, topics, forums or other (non-standard) layouts.
-[[Image:Course top weekly mu1.jpg|thumb|300px|none|Example of Weekly format, teacher viewing as student]]
-This is a downloaded version of demo.moodle.org, using the weekly course format.
-===Social format example===
-[[Image:Course top social mu1.jpg|thumb|300px|none|Example of Social format.  Click on image to enlarge]]
-This is a downloaded version of demo.moodle.org, using the Social course format.  The existing activities  seemed to disappear.  The teacher added two forums and a student added a third popular topic.
-===Other format examples===
+. Collapse all. Sections can be collapsed and expanded individually or you can use the Collapse all link to collapse them all at once.
-There are also [[SCORM/AICC module|SCORM]] and [[LAMS]] course formats.
+====Classic theme====
+.[[Navigation block]]
-==Course themes==
+Normally visible on all pages, this block helps you find your way around the course and site.
-Some sites may allow teachers to select [[Themes |themes]] for their courses that are different from the Moodle site homepage. A theme can effect colours, font sizes and page layouts.
-In [[Course settings#force|course settings]], Teachers will see a "Force theme" drop down menu in the general section that contains a list of available themes.  Non-editing teacher can not alter this setting.  The default course theme is the site theme or the category theme.
+.[[Administration block]]
-The site administrator or course manager should look at [[Theme_settings]] or Administration>Configuration>Variables (older versions of Moodle) and change the allowcoursethemes to yes.
+Again, normally visible on all pages, this block gives different levels of access to teachers and students.
-==Moving elements on your course's homepage==
+. Turn editing on
+A clearly visible button allows you to turn editing on and off.
-There are some variations in how you move things around on your course's homepage. Moving whole [[Blocks]] (the regions to the side(s) of the screen) is different from moving Sections (the central stack of regions in Topic or Weekly format where the main content is displayed) or their individual resources and activities.
+. [[Course formats|Course sections]]
-===To move a Block===
+Here is where the learning materials are displayed. This element may be arranged in one or multiple weeks, topics, forums or other (non-standard) layouts.
-Blocks appear at the side(s) of your course area. To move one,
-#Turn Editing On and *click and release* the Block's crossed arrows 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===
+. Collapse all. Sections can be collapsed and expanded individually or you can use the Collapse all link to collapse them all at once.
-To move a Topic or Week section:
-#click and hold its crossed arrows icon
-#without releasing, drag it up or down to its required position; this may take a little practice
-===To move a Resource or Activity===
+.[[Blocks|Side blocks]]
-To move an individual Resource or Activity within or between sections:
-#click and hold its crossed arrows icon
-#without releasing, drag it up or down to its required position; different from moving a Section, you will see a skinny horizontal line - when this displays where you want your element to appear, then you can release.
-==Tips and tricks==
+Side blocks can be added when the editing is turned on.
-===Make your course home page look more like a regular webpage===
-Often when a course has a lot of content, students and teachers find the long scrolling tedious and would prefer a 'neater' appearance with hyperlinks to sections in a similar way to the way pages on websites work.
-*Anchors/section links can help. But the course page can still be long.
+Which blocks you see depend on what the administrator has selected and what you as teacher choose to add.
-*Hiding the activities shortens the list for students, but then they can not be selected by students.
-One method which might be useful is to put the activities into sections which are then made 'unseen' to the student.
-''Basic Example''
+===To edit a course section===
-*Set the number of topics in the course setting to 1 more than students will see.
+# Enable Edit mode/turn editing on
-**For example, you plan on the students being able to see 6 topics, set it for 7.
+#Quickly rename sections from the pencil icon.
-*Add activities in topic 7, such as a quiz (in our example)
-*Get the url of your quiz
-**Copy it and keep it somewhere (such as notepad) for later use
-*Go back to course admin>settings and change your topic/weeks to 6
-**Or one fewer than you had before
-*The section with your quiz will no longer be on the page that the student sees
-*In another section, make a hyperlink to the quiz using its url
-**You can also put it in a topic summary, label or
-**as a resource (link to a file or website)
-You will find that the quiz is accessible to students even though the section  does not physically appear on the course page for the students.  You have shortened the page.
-''More advanced example''
+If [[Restrict access]] is enabled for the site, access to the section (including all activities and resources within it) may be restricted.
-*There is a youtube video that gives an example of how to do this [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XtHPUh_BaxM here]
+===To move a course section===
-*You can actually set up your whole course using this method.
+(Note:The ability to move course sections is controlled by the capability [[Capabilities/moodle/course:movesections|moodle/course:movesections]], which is allowed for the default role of teacher.)
-*Set  your course to have two topics (or more if you wish)
+#Enable edit mode/turn editing on
-*Ignore topic 1 - do not place anything in it.
+#Drag and drop the section either from the course central area or the Course index to your chosen location.
-*In topic 2, use the resource: ''Compose a webpage'' to make webpages relating to your units of work/topics
+If your course is long you can also drag from the central area to a location in the Course index, and/or you can click the three dots next to a section, select Move and choose the location to move it to.
-*Add all your resources to topic 2
+[[File:Move34.png|thumb|center|400px]]
-*Copy the resources urls into the relevant webpage as hyperlinks
+===To add course sections===
-*In topic 0, the course summary make hyperlinks -or better- images hyperlinked - to each webpage which contains the activities of that unit/topic
+#Enable edit mode/turn editing on.
-*Go back to course settings and set the number of visible topics to 1.
+#If you are using Topics then find the location you want to add a new section and click Add topic.
+#If you are using Weeks then go to the bottom of the course page and click Add week.
+[[File:Addtopic4.png|thumb|400px|center|Adding sections]]
+===To delete a course section===
+With the editing turned on, click the 'Edit' link to the right of the course section you wish to delete and then, from the menu that displays, click 'X Delete'. You will be prompted to confirm your wish to delete the section and its contents. Note that all activities inside the section and their user data will also be deleted. Use the [[Recycle bin]] to reverse this if you do it by mistake.
+===To link course sections===
+An admin setting ''Always link course sections'' can be enabled from ''Site administration > Appearance > Navigation'' and will link course sections so that when a course section name is clicked in the navigation block or the central content area, it will go directly to that section.
+==Blocks==
+The Boost and Classic themes only only displays blocks on the right, although contributed themes might display them on the left.
-The student will only see the top of the page. When they click on a link in the header, they are taken to the hidden webpage resources, where they select the resource or activity they wish.  This creates a very short visual page but keeps all the course material within the course.
+To add a block to the course page
+#Enable Edit mode top right.
+#Expand the block drawer and click Add block. Select your block.
+To move a block
+#With Edit mode on, click the crosshair icon on a block.
+#While keeping the block selected, drag it to where you want to position it and let go.
-Note: The method in Moodle 2.0 will be slightly different. See MDL-24316 for details.
+==Activities and resources==
+To add an activity or resource to the course
+*Enable Edit mode.
-==See also==
+*Click 'Add an activity or resource' to open the activity chooser. Double-click to add an activity or resource; click the i for more information and click the star icon to add it to a separate, starred tab.
+Alternatively, certain resources and activities may be added using drag and drop:
+*To add a [[File|file]], simply drag and drop it onto the course section where you'd like it to appear
+*To add a [[Folder|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 module|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
+:
+==Course homepage capabilities==
+*[[Capabilities/moodle/course:sectionvisibility|Control section visibility]]
+*[[Capabilities/moodle/course:setcurrentsection|Set current section]]
-*[[Course sections]] - some information about weekly and topic sections
-*[[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]]
+[[es:Página principal del curso]]
-[[fr:Page de cours]]
+[[fr:Page d'accueil de cours]]
-[[ru:Главная страница курса]]
 [[ja:コースホームページ]]
-[[sk:kurz/prehľad]]
 [[de:Kursseite]]

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