About the Dashboard
The Dashboard is a customisable page for providing users with details of their progress and upcoming deadlines.
The default Dashboard includes a Course overview and Timeline in the centre, with the Calendar visible in the block drawer.
Quick access to Dashboard is also available from the site navigation at the top of the screen once logged in.
Users can normally customise their Dashboard, adding or removing blocks and changing block positions. They can revert their Dashboard back to the original blocks as follows:
- Activate the 'Edit mode' switch.
- Click the 'Reset page to default' button.
(Note that an administrator can reset the Dashboard for all users from 'Default Dashboard page' in the Site administration).
Hiding the Dashboard
If deadlines and calendar events are not used in your site then the Dashboard may be removed from the top navigation from Site administration > Appearance > Navigation and unchecking 'Enable Dashboard'. A different start (home) page can then be set for users.
Default start (home) page
For new installations, Dashboard is the default start page for logged in users. An administrator can change the default home page in Administration > Site administration > Appearance > Navigation.
New installations also have Enable Home and Enable My courses turned off on the same settings page. When one of these pages is turned off, its link is removed from the navigation. Logged-in users who go to the page are redirected to their start page, and visitors who are not logged in are sent to the login page. The start page can only be set to a page that is turned on. Sites upgraded from Moodle 5.1 or earlier keep Home and My courses turned on.
If 'User preference' is selected as the start page, each user chooses their own under User menu > Preferences > User account > Start page. Only the pages that are turned on are listed. Moodle remembers the choice each time they log in.
Setting the default Dashboard
An administrator or manager (or other user with the capability moodle/my:configsyspages) can set the default blocks for all users from Administration > Site administration > Appearance > Default Dashboard page.
Clicking the button 'Reset Dashboard for all users' will then apply these settings to the Dashboard for everyone on the site.
Default blocks (new installations):
- Course overview
- Timeline
- Calendar (visible in the block drawer)
Note: If you have previously customised your Dashboard, your customisations will be retained after upgrading and you will not see the new default layout. Sites upgraded from an earlier version also retain their previous default block configuration unless an administrator resets it.
Preventing users from customizing their Dashboard
By default, users can customize their Dashboard and add blocks. An admin can prevent this as follows:
- Go to Administration > Site administration > Users > Permissions > Define roles
- Edit the authenticated user role and untick the Manage Dashboard blocks capability
Dashboard capabilities
In addition, all blocks which may be added to a Dashboard have a myaddinstance capability (e.g. block/comments:myaddinstance) for controlling whether a user with a particular role can add the block.
Preventing users from adding a block to their Dashboard
By default, users can add many blocks to their Dashboard. An admin can prevent them from adding a particular block, such as the Online users block, as follows:
- Go to Administration > Site administration > Users > Permissions > Define roles
- Edit the authenticated user role and untick the Add a new online users block to the Dashboard capability
Blocks not available on the Dashboard
The following blocks may not be added to a user's Dashboard (because it wouldn't make sense):
See also
- Show Categories of courses on Dashboard after sign in forum discussion
