Editing content is a key part of creating and maintaining a Moodle course.
This page is broken into key locations of a Moodle course and some things may only appear if you’ve got the correct course settings enabled.
Those with the role of Instructor, Staging Manager, Editing Assistant, and Substitute Teacher and/or Client Admin have the ability to modify Moodle courses.
NOTE: Before making any major changes to a course you should archive it and download a copy to your computer to be restored in case of catastrophe.
Enter the course in question.
Enable editing from the top-right corner of the page, toggle Edit mode into the On position (if you haven’t already).
Once editing has been turned on you will see additional menus (three vertical dot icons) to the right of present Blocks, Sections and Activities and Resources.
The main and central part of the page is where the main content of your course will be. This content includes:
Each Week/Topic/Section of your course; you can edit the Section summary of this or change the Section name from its Gear menu if you aren’t fond of the default value that is the week’s date range.
Each Section contains resources and activities, the main content of your course and should contain all the necessities students need to do the assigned work in Moodle.
Sections in Moodle are the containers for each week/module/topic offered in a course and can be displayed with all content on one page or with each section having it’s own page (less scrolling).
Each section has a summary you can edit, change the behavior of or move large selections of content around at once (when you move a section all of it’s activities and resources are moved with it).
In a new course the default section names are the week’s date range as determined by the Course start date in Course Settings.
At the right below each section there will be a link to Add topic or Add week if editing it turned on.
NOTE: If you have a section that calls itself Orphaned (students won’t see these) then adding a section or two should make that section behave normally (and thus allow students to see the section and it’s contents. This is caused by restoring content from a course with content in more sections than your current course is setup to have.)
You can also quickly change the Number of sections your course has in Course Settings.
At the top of each section you can create a special label that is the beginning of that section called a Section summary. This is optional but can be helpful for an overview of the module’s contents or reminders about due-dates and policies.
The Edit menu for sections/topics/weeks appears as three vertical dots icon in the top-left corner and may have the following options:
To quickly rename a section of your course you can click the pencil icon at the end of the section’s name.
If you want to move a Section (and every one of its activities and resources) to change the order of the topics or resources offered in your course you can:
There are a few ways to add new content to the main part of your course. This may be handy for creating new assignments (file turn-ins), documents like your Syllabus and/or Course Calendar, etc.
At the bottom of every Section you’ll find a link/button to Add activities and resources. Clicking that button will open up a list of your options.
Every Activity and Resource will have an Edit Menu with fairly similar contents, here are some common tasks:
NOTE: If this is done in error check out the Recycle bin link in the Secondary navigation under More at the top of the page)
If you want to move an Activity or Resource to change the order or move an item to a different section even you can:
To quickly rename an item you can click the pencil icon at the end of the item’s name.
While not tied directly to the gradebook these can be used by both student and instructor to track a student’s progress manually, automatically, or even with instructor overrides and can help students quickly tell where they left off in a course.
Blocks are mostly supplemental and specialized information found on the right side of pages in Moodle (or below the content on a smaller screen like a mobile device) and are a good place to put helpful resources but not vital-to-the-course information or tasks.
Blocks can be:
Different blocks can have very different functions, here are some common uses:
Enter the course in question
Enable editing from the top-right corner of the page, toggle Edit mode into the On position (if you haven’t already).
Expand the Block drawer (by clicking on the rounded navy button near the top of the right edge of the screen.
The Add a new block button should now show at the very top of the opened Block drawer.
Select the desired block.
The page will reload and you can edit the new block as needed.
If you want to change the behavior or content of a block click the Gear and arrow icon to access block’s Edit menu.
From this menu your most common actions are to:
