Topics Covered In This Article

Editing content

The Editing function within Moodle allows you to edit content and organize the units and activities within your course. To change or update your course you need to be in editing mode, which means you have to turn editing on.

Enter editing mode by clicking the Turn Editing on/off button located in the upper right part of the screen.

Edit Options

Once you have turned editing on, existing resources and activities display a dropdown menu with the following options:

Edit settings - opens the settings window where you can edit the activity or resource.

• Move right - indents the resource or activity to the right; if the activity is already indented, a move left icon appears.
• Hide - this option means that the activity/resource is currently visible to students; choosing it will hide the activity from student view.
• Show - this means the activity is currently hidden from student view; choosing it will make it visible to students.
• Duplicate - choose duplicate to make a copy of the resource/activity. You will be able to edit the duplicated item.
• Assign roles - this option enables you to change the permission of the resource/activity.
• Delete - choosing this option will remove the resource/activity from the course. Note: A warning message will appear when you attempt to delete content.

Group Mode 3-way Toggle

To the far right of each activity there will be a 3-way toggle switch and indicates the resource/activity group mode.

Click it to cycle through the settings:

•  No Groups

•  Groups

•  Visible Groups

Quickly Edit Resource or Activity Title

Clicking on the icon next to an activity or resource title allows you to edit the title without opening edit settings.

Question Marks

 As you navigate around Moodle you will find question marks next to settings and other tools. Click on the question mark to find out more information.

Add an Activity or Resource

Selecting Add an activity or resource opens this menu.  To see a description of an activity or resource, click on the radio button next to the activity or resource. Left-Click the selected activity or resource when you are ready to add it to your course.

Note: Whenever you add a resource or activity to a section, it will appear at the bottom of the section block. To move it, grab the move icon next to the item and move it to a new location in the course.

Text Editor

The text editor has many icons to assist the user in entering content.

Many of these icons and functions will be similar to using a word processor. The text editor is used to edit content in resources and activities.

• Learn more about the editing toolbar buttons in this article. 

Insert Table

When you click on the insert table button in the text editor, there will be a number of options to configure when creating a new table. There are at least four basic settings that you will want to consider when creating a table:

• Caption: the title of your table

• Caption position: where on the table your caption will appear (top or bottom)

• Define headers on: which axis of the table will appear bolded

• Number of columns: The number of columns in the table

• Number of rows: The number of rows in the the table

Uploading Files

When you want to upload a file to a resource or activity that accepts file uploads you have the option to use drag and drop or the File picker.Usually the file is copied into Moodle from wherever you have chosen it (e.g., a repository or your computer).

If the file is accessible from your desktop, you can simply drag and drop it into the rectangular box and then click the save button.

If you do not want to drag and drop a file you can open the File picker by clicking on the Add icon shown in the image above.

After clicking the Add button the File picker screen appears. There are a number of links listed down the side. These are links to Repositories that hold files you may want to use. The most common repositories in use are Server files and Private files, but there could be additional repositories depending on where in the course you are accessing the File picker. There is also an Upload a file link, which you would click on to upload a file located on your computer.

Recent files

This takes you to other areas of Moodle where files have been uploaded and to which you have access. You will only see files and folders for the courses you have permission to access.

To select a file, navigate to the file, click on the file, and click the Select this file button.

Private files

This is a private file storage area for each user. You can add frequently used files to your Private files and then use them in more than one course in Moodle. To select a private file, click on the file and then click on the Select this file button.

To add, delete, download, move, or update files in your private file area, click on the settings button that looks like a gear:

Clicking the settings button will take you to the usual upload file window. From here you can upload a file or you can click on a file to download, delete, rename, move, or update it:

Creating an alias/shortcut

When an uploaded file (or a file from the Private files or other installed repository) is re-used elsewhere on Moodle, you have the option to make a copy (a new, unconnected version) or to create a shortcut or alias. If an alias is created, then when the original file is updated, it will change in all instances of the alias. So you might add a file called 'course notes' to your private files, for example, and then add the file into a number of courses. When you make a change in the 'course notes' file in your private files, this change will be reflected in all instances of the course notes.

An alias can be recognized by its thumbnail. See the difference in the screenshot below between a file alias on the left and a regular file on the right:

Moving Sections, Activities, and Resources

You can reposition your sections, activities, and resources, by using the move icon next to each. For example, you might move a Forum from week 1 to week 2 or you might move the week 4 section up to week 2.

To begin, you need to be in Edit mode. Click Turn editing on.

There are two methods:

Select and Drag

Steps

1. Turn editing on

2. Click and drag the double-arrow to the left of the resource or activity you'd like to move to drag it into the new location.

Click and Select Destination using Menu

Steps

1. Turn editing on

2. Click on the double-arrow to the left of the resource or activity you'd like to move and then select the destination from the menu that appears.