Course homepage: Difference between revisions

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{{Courses}}
{{Courses}}
== Standard view of a blank course==
===Parts of a course homepage===
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.
[[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]]]


===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:
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.
[[File:BlankBoost4v.png|thumb|center||600px|Empty course with Boost theme]]
{| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
[[File:BlankClassic4v.png|thumb|600px|center|Empty course with Classic theme]]
|-
====Boost theme====
| 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 || ||
|}


==Editing elements on your course homepage==
{{MediaPlayer | url = https://youtu.be/ScT3hBTT3ps | desc = Overview of course editing}}
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:'':
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.


[[Image:Edit.gif]] - the edit icon goes to the "update" or "settings" screen.
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.


:[[Image:Open.gif]] - the open-eye icon means an item is visible to students. It will close when you click on it
3. Edit mode toggle. An easy way to toggle edit mode on and off.


:[[Image:Closed.gif]] - the closed-eye icon means an item is hidden from students. It will open when you click on it
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.


:[[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
5. [[Course formats|Course sections]]


:[[Image:Movehere.gif]] - the move here icon appears when moving a course element. Click into the box to re-locate your item.  
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:Delete.gif]] - the delete icon will permentantly delete something from the course
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]]


The following icons are visible when editing is both on and off
Normally visible on all pages, this block helps you find your way around the course and site.


:[[Image:One.gif]] - This icon is used to show only the selected section
2.[[Administration block]]


:[[Image:All.gif]] - This icon is used to show all sections in a course
Again, normally visible on all pages, this block gives different levels of access to teachers and students.


==Moving elements on your course's homepage==
3. 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.
4. [[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===
5. 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:
#turn editing on
#click the up or down arrow to move the section


===To move a Resource or Activity===
6.[[Blocks|Side blocks]]
To move an individual Resource or Activity within or between sections:
#click the up/down arrow
#Empty boxes will appear and your chosen item will temporarily disappear from view.
#Click into an empty box where you want your item to  be moved to and it will reappear in its new location.


==Moving by dragging and dropping==
Side blocks can be added when the editing is turned on.
If the administrator has enabled Ajax  for the site and course editing in ''Settings > Site Administration > Appearance > Ajax and Javascript'' then the icon will appear as a crosshair which may be dragged and dropped to wherever you want to move the section or individual item to.


==Displaying activity descriptions on the course page==
Which blocks you see depend on what the administrator has selected and what you as teacher choose to add.


{{Moodle 2.2}}In Moodle 2.2 onwards, 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==
===To edit a course section===
===Make your course home page look more like a regular webpage===
# Enable Edit mode/turn editing on
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.
#Quickly rename sections from the pencil icon.


*Anchors/section links can help. But the course page can still be long.
*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.
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 [[Capabilities/moodle/course:movesections|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.
[[File:Move34.png|thumb|center|400px]]
===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.
[[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.  


''Basic Example''
To add a block to the course page
*Set the number of topics in the course setting to 1 more than students will see.
#Enable Edit mode top right.
**For example, you plan on the students being able to see 6 topics, set it for 7.
#Expand the block drawer and click Add block. Select your block.
*Add activities in topic 7, such as a quiz (in our example)
To move a block
*Get the url of your quiz
#With Edit mode on, click the crosshair icon on a block.
**Copy it and keep it somewhere (such as notepad) for later use
#While keeping the block selected, drag it to where you want to position it and let go.
*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.
==Activities and resources==
To add an activity or resource to the course
*Enable Edit mode.


''More advanced example''
*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.
*There is a youtube video that gives an example of how to do this [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XtHPUh_BaxM here]The video is of a Moodle 1.9 course but the principle still applies.
Alternatively, certain resources and activities may be added using drag and drop:
*You can actually set up your whole course using this method.
*To add a [[File|file]], simply drag and drop it onto the course section where you'd like it to appear
*Set  your course to have two topics (or more if you wish)
*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
*Ignore topic 1 - do not place anything in it.
*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
*In topic 2, use the resource: [[Page]] to make pages relating to your units of work/topics
:
*Add all your resources to topic 2
==Course homepage capabilities==
*Copy the resources urls into the relevant webpage as hyperlinks
*[[Capabilities/moodle/course:sectionvisibility|Control section visibility]]
*In topic 0, the course summary make hyperlinks -or better- images hyperlinked - to each webpage which contains the activities of that unit/topic
*[[Capabilities/moodle/course:setcurrentsection|Set current section]]
*Go back to course settings and set the number of visible topics to 1.


The teacher will see the hidden sections as "orphaned" items on their course page. However; 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.


[[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]]
[[ja:コースホームページ]]
[[sk:kurz/prehľad]]
[[de:Kursseite]]
[[de:Kursseite]]

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

  1. Enable Edit mode/turn editing on
  2. 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.)

  1. Enable edit mode/turn editing on
  2. 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.

Move34.png

To add course sections

  1. Enable edit mode/turn editing on.
  2. If you are using Topics then find the location you want to add a new section and click Add topic.
  3. 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

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

To move a block

  1. With Edit mode on, click the crosshair icon on a block.
  2. 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