Editing Capabilities in Moodle

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Turn Edit mode on
Course Content Area
1. Sections (Weeks or Topics)
2. Activities and Resources (Individual Items and pages)
Block Drawer & Blocks

Editing content is a key part of creating and maintaining a Moodle course. Only participants enrolled with the role of Teacher, Course Manager, or Course Content Editor have the ability to modify Moodle course content.

This page is broken into the areas of a Moodle course where content can be modified. Sections are only available if you are using the Weekly or Topics format under the under course settings.

NOTE: Before making major changes to your course you should backup your course to be restored in case of catastrophe.

Turn Edit mode on

Before you can add or modify course content in your course you will need to turn editing on.

Enter the course.

From the top-right corner of the page, toggle Edit mode into the on position.

Turn Editing On button is found in the top-right corner of a Moodle page you have permission to modify content for.

When Edit mode is enabled you will see additional icons next to the Sections (weeks or topics), Activities and Resources, and Blocks that you have in your course.

Course Content Area

The central part of the page is where the main content of your course will be. This includes the Sections (weeks or topics) that your course is broken up into, and the resources and activities necessary to complete the course.

Sections (Weeks or Topics)

Overview

Sections in Moodle are the containers for each week/module/topic offered in a course. Sections can be expanded or collapsed to limit scrolling.

Each section has a summary you can modify. You may also choose to change the behavior of sections (show/hide) or move sections. When you change the behavior or move sections it affects all the activities and resources inside of the section.

In a new provisioned course the first section is titled Course Essentials, and the other sections are named with the week’s date range as determined by the Course start date listed in Course Settings.

NOTE: This is because provisioned courses have the Weekly format selected in the Course Settings.

Create

Add/Remove Number of Course Sections

If editing is turned on, there will be a link to Add week or Add topic at the bottom of each section that is expanded.

NOTE: If you add or remove a section when using the Weekly format it will adjust the default section names, and adjust which week is highlighted as this week.

Edit

Edit Section Settings

The Edit menu for sections (weeks or topics) appears as three vertical dots in the top-right corner of the section.

Edit week/topic – This will allow you to change the settings for the section including the Summary that is displayed below the name. This is optional but can be helpful for an overview of the module’s contents. You can also change the Section name or Restrict access to the section here.
Highlight (Topics only) – Weekly courses will automatically highlight the current week as determined by the start date of the course. With the Topics format you can manually select a section to highlight.
Hide week/topic – This can hide a section (week or topic) from students. This will allow you to make changes after the course becomes visible. If the week/topic is already hidden you will see the Show option instead.
Delete week/topic – CAUTION! This will delete the section as well as all the activities and resources inside of it.

NOTE: You can restore the activities and resources that were deleted, but the section will be permanently deleted.

Move

Move Sections (weeks or topics)

Method 1: Hover your cursor over the section within the Course Index or the main section of the course and look for a 4-pointed arrow to appear. You can then drag-and-drop the section to the desired location within the course index or main section of the course.
Method 2: Click the Edit menu (three vertical dots) to the right of the section and select Move. From the list select the section you wish it to appear below.

Rename

Quick Rename

You can rename a section by editing the week/topic, but you can also rename a section by clicking the pencil icon at the end of the section’s name.

When you click on the pencil icon a text box will appear. Modify the name as desired and hit Enter/Return on your keyboard to save changes.

NOTE: Clicking outside of the text box will close it and not save your changes.

Activities and Resources (Individual Items and pages)

Overview

Moodle activities and resources are how you add content to your course. You can create assignments, quizzes, documents, etc.

To find out more specific information about activities or resources check out our Intro to Activities and Resources article.

Create

Add New Activities and Resources

To add an activity or resource you will click the +Add an activity or resource link at the bottom the section you want to add the content to. This will open up your options so you can add an activity or resource that meets your needs.

Have a file or two you need to get into Moodle. Here is a quick method to add files to Moodle.

moodle-topic-add-an-activity-or-resource-highlight

Edit

The Edit Menu

Every Activity and Resource will have an Edit menu (three vertical dots) with similar options, here are some common tasks:

Edit settings allows you to change the behavior or content of an existing activity or resource.
Hide allows you to keep an activity or resource hidden from students. When you have an activity or resource hidden you will have the options to Show or Make available.
Duplicate allows you to create copies of existing activities or resources with the same settings. This will help you offer consistency in the content of your course.
Delete allows you to remove an activity or resource from your course.

NOTE: If this is done in error you can use the Recycle bin in Moodle to restore the activity or resource within 7 days of being deleted.

Move

Move Activities or Resources

Method 1: Hover your cursor over the activity or resource within the course index or the main section of the course and look for a 4-pointed arrow to appear. You can then drag-and-drop the section to the desired location within the course index or main section of the course.
Method 2: Click the Edit menu (three vertical dots) to the right of the activity or resource and select Move. From the list select the activity or resource you wish it to appear below.

Rename

Quick Rename

You can rename an activity or resource by editing the settings for the activity or resource, but you can also rename an activity or resource by clicking the pencil icon at the end of the activity or resource’s name.

When you click on the pencil icon a text box will appear. Modify the name as desired and hit Enter/Return on your keyboard to save changes.

NOTE: Clicking outside of the text box will close it and not save your changes.

Completion

Completion Tracking

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.

Block Drawer & Blocks

The block drawer is a column to the right side of your screen. If the block drawer isn’t visible you will need to click the Open Block Drawer button to expand it.

Overview

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:

reordered (but not by students)
removed (by those who can edit course content)

Different blocks can have very different functions, here are some common uses:

If you want a text or custom block you can edit the content of you might want to add an HTML block
If you want to track course completion on a course level you might add the Course Completion Status block
to make it it easier for participants to jump from one section to another and save on scrolling you might add a Course contents block.

Create

Add a New Block

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.

Edit

Editing a Block

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:

Click the Delete [block name] block link to permanently remove a block
Click the Configure [block name] block link to change the content or settings of a given block)
Click the Hide [block name] block to make the block small for you and not at all visible to students.

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Editing Capabilities in Moodle

Turn Edit mode on