Course homepage: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 12:20, 3 May 2012

Standard view of a blank course

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.

Example of Weekly format, teacher view, edit off - full resolution here

Parts of a course homepage

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.

Column left	Course sections - Center	Column right
*1 Course full name	*6 Section header & News topic	*9 Login information
*2 Navigation bar	*7 Current week - First section	*10 Turn editing on button
*4 Navigation block	*8 Future week - Second section	*11 Latest news
*5 Settings block	*14 "Show only this section"	*12 Upcoming events
*15 "Switch role to"		*13 Recent activity
*16 User profile settings
*17 Site Administration

Adding elements to your course home page

Turn on the editing by clicking the button top right or the link in Settings>Course Administration.
For resources and activities, dropdown menus will appear in each section. Click the appropriate dropdown menu to add your item.

For blocks, click the "add block" dropdown which is usually situated bottom right of the screen.

Editing elements on your course homepage

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::

- the edit icon allows you to change the wording or settings of the item.

- the duplicate icon allows you to copy an activity or resource within your course

- the open-eye icon means an item is visible to students. It will close when you click on it

- the closed-eye icon means an item is hidden from students. It will open when you click on it

- the right icon is used to indent course elements (there is also a left icon)

- the move icon allows course elements to be placed anywhere

- the move here icon appears when moving a course element. Click into the box to re-locate your item.

- the up/down arrows allow you to move course sections up or down.

- the "crosshairs" move icon allows you to move items or sections by dragging and dropping. It appears if your admin has enabled Ajax in Settings > Site Administration > Appearance > Ajax and Javascript

- the delete icon will permentantly delete something from the course

- the groups icon allows you to change between no groups or separate/visible groups

- the roles icon allows you to assign roles locally in the item.

The following icons are visible when editing is both on and off

- This icon is used to show only the selected section

- This icon is used to show all sections in a course

The following icon only applies to sections

- the highlight icon allows you to highlight a section as current

Moving sections or blocks on your course's homepage

To move a Block

Blocks appear at the side(s) of your course area. To move one,

Turn Editing On and *click and release* the Block's crosshair 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

To move a Topic or Week section:

turn editing on
click the up or down arrow or the crosshairs icon to move the section

Displaying activity descriptions on the course page

New feature
in Moodle 2.2! 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

Make your course home page look more like a webpage - see Course FAQ

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Improve}}
+{{Courses}}
-{{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.
 == Standard view of a blank course==
-Our examples will be for a course homepage, that is the standard default for a new install on a site.  Sites differ, as do many of the options that determine a course's appearance. The example course has a header, a footer (both determined by a theme) and 3 columns in the middle.
+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: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]]]
+[[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===
-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.
+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.
 {| style="width:75%; height:200px" border="1"
 |-
-| Column left || [[Course sections]]-Center || Column right
+| 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]]
+| *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]] ||*8 Current week - First section || *11 [[Getting_started_for_teachers#Editing_course_section|Edit on button]]
+| *2 [[Course_settings#Short_name|Navigation bar]] ||*7 Current week - First section || *10 Turn editing on button
 |-
-| *3 [[Course_settings#Summary|Course description]]|| *9 Future week  - Second section|| *12 [[Latest News block|Latest news]]
+| *4 [[Navigation block]]|| *8 Future week  - Second section|| *11 [[Latest News block|Latest news]]
 |-
-| *4 [[Participants|Participant list]]||  || *13 [[Upcoming Events block|Upcoming events]]
+| *5 [[Settings block]]||*14 "Show only this section"  || *12 [[Upcoming Events block|Upcoming events]]
 |-
-| *5 [[Forum module|Forum list]]||  || *14 [[Recent Activity block|Recent activity]]
+| *15 "Switch role to"||  || *13 [[Recent Activity block|Recent activity]]
 |-
-| *6 [[Course administration block|Course administration block]] ||  ||
+| *16 User profile settings ||  ||
+|-
+| *17 Site Administration || ||
 |}
-==Examples of course formats==
+==Adding elements to your course home page==
+*Turn on the editing by clicking the button top right or the link in ''Settings>Course Administration.''
+*For [[Resources| resources]] and [[Activities| activities]], dropdown menus will appear in each section. Click the  appropriate dropdown menu to add your item.
+[[File:Addresourceactivitydropdown.png]]
+*For [[Blocks| blocks]], click the "add block" dropdown which is usually situated bottom right of the screen.
+==Editing elements on your course homepage==
+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:'':
+:[[Image:Edit.gif]] - the edit icon allows you to change the wording or settings of the item.
-===Topic format example===
+:[[File:Duplicateicon.png]] - the duplicate icon allows you to copy an activity or resource within your course
-[[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===
+:[[Image:Open.gif]] - the open-eye icon means an item is visible to students. It will close when you click on it
-[[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===
+:[[Image:Closed.gif]] - the closed-eye icon means an item is hidden from students. It will open when you click on it
-There are also [[SCORM/AICC module|SCORM]] and [[LAMS]] course formats.
-==Course themes==
+:[[Image:Right.gif]] - the right icon is used to indent course elements (there is also a left icon)
-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.
+:[[Image:Move.gif]] - the move icon allows course elements to be placed anywhere
-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.
+:[[Image:Movehere.gif]] - the move here icon appears when moving a course element. Click into the box to re-locate your item.
-==Moving elements on your course's homepage==
+:[[File:Updownarrow.png]] - the up/down arrows allow you to move course sections up or down.
-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.
+:[[File:Ajaxmoveicon.png]]- the "crosshairs" move icon allows you to move items or sections by dragging and dropping. It appears if your admin has enabled Ajax in ''Settings > Site Administration > Appearance > Ajax and Javascript''
-===To move a Block===
+:[[Image:Delete.gif]] - the delete icon will permentantly delete something from the course
+:[[File:Groupsicon.png]] - the groups icon allows you to change between no groups or separate/visible groups
+:[[File:Rolesicon.png]] - the roles icon allows you to assign roles locally in the item.
+The following icons are visible when editing is both on and off
+:[[Image:One.gif]] - This icon is used to show only the selected section
+:[[Image:All.gif]] - This icon is used to show all sections in a course
+The following icon only applies to sections
+:[[Image:Marker.gif]] - the highlight  icon allows you to highlight a section as current
+===Moving sections or blocks on your course's homepage===
+====To move a Block====
 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.
+#Turn Editing On and *click and release* the Block's crosshair icon. Place holders - zones with a dashed border - appear on the screen indicating the possible areas where your Block can appear.
+[[File:Moveblocks.png]]
 #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===
+====To move a Section====
 To move a Topic or Week section:
-#click and hold its crossed arrows icon
+#turn editing on
-#without releasing, drag it up or down to its required position; this may take a little practice
+#click the up or down arrow or the crosshairs icon  to move the section
-===To move a Resource or Activity===
+==Displaying activity descriptions on the course page==
-To move an individual Resource or Activity within or between sections:
-#click and hold its crossed arrows icon
+{{New features}}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.
-#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==
-===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.
-*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''
-*Set the number of topics in the course setting to 1 more than students will see.
-**For example, you plan on the students being able to see 6 topics, set it for 7.
-*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''
+*Make your course home page look more like a webpage - see [[Course FAQ]]
-*There is a youtube video that gives an example of how to do this [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XtHPUh_BaxM here]
-*You can actually set up your whole course using this method.
-*Set  your course to have two topics (or more if you wish)
-*Ignore topic 1 - do not place anything in it.
-*In topic 2, use the resource: ''Compose a webpage'' to make webpages relating to your units of work/topics
-*Add all your resources to topic 2
-*Copy the resources urls into the relevant webpage as hyperlinks
-*In topic 0, the course summary make hyperlinks -or better- images hyperlinked - to each webpage which contains the activities of that unit/topic
-*Go back to course settings and set the number of visible topics to 1.
-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.
+==Course homepage capabilities==
-Note: The method in Moodle 2.0 will be slightly different. See MDL-24316 for details.
+*[[Capabilities/moodle/course:sectionvisibility|Control section visibility]]
+*[[Capabilities/moodle/course:setcurrentsection|Set current section]]
 ==See also==
-*[[Course sections]] - some information about weekly and topic sections
+* [[Course settings]] for details of how to change the number of sections displayed on the course homepage
-*[[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]]
 [[fr:Page 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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