Guide to basic functions in Moodle
Most users find Moodle relatively easy to use and are often able to figure out how to do things by just exploring the environment and by trial and error. This guide is designed to act as an aide-memoire and to cover the main activities a tutor or administrator is most likely to want to do in Moodle. If there is something you want to do in Moodle that is not covered by this guide feel free to experiment, ask a more experienced colleague or, if that fails, contact Marion Manton on marion.manton@conted.ox.ac.uk.
Start editing
To be able to edit anything in Moodle you need to click the 'Turn editing on' button in the top right hand corner of the screen. This will reveal all the extra buttons you need to change things in your Moodle.
Note, if you are not sure what a button or box does, hover your mouse over it or the adjacent icon and this will provide you with more information.
Viewing the site as a student
If, at any point as you are working on Moodle, you want to check how any changes you are making will look to a student or another type of user, use the 'Switch role to...' drop down menu in the top right hand corner of the screen to select another type of user. For example, you will notice that the 'Administration' block for students is much shorter than for tutors. To return to your role, click the 'Return to my normal role' button in the top right hand corner.
Changing the layout of a Moodle course
A standard Moodle course consists of a main central panel, divided into sections (e.g. 'Induction and technical guidance' or 'Communication on your course', as above) which can be filled with on-screen content and images as well as links to other content, resources and activities. The central panel is surrounded by a series of blocks (e.g. 'People' or 'Calendar' as above) which give access to essential tools, resources and other information related to your course. You have complete control over what to display and can change the layout to suit your course.
Adding or removing sections
The main panel of a Moodle course is divided into sections. Although you can put all course content in a single section, the sections can act as useful way of dividing content into logical groups – by topic or week etc. As you start to customise your course you may wish to add more sections or remove those you are no longer using.
To add or remove sections:
1. In the 'Administration' block, (usually in the bottom left of the Moodle page), click 'Settings'.
2. Scroll down to 'Number of weeks/topics'.
3. Increase the number to add sections and reduce it to remove them. Note, Moodle will always remove the last section on the screen so make sure the one you want to remove is at the bottom of the page.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click the 'Save changes' button.
Adding or removing blocks
Moodle provides many 'blocks' which allow students to access functionality and view their course materials in different ways. We have included those you are most likely to want to use by default, but you can delete any of them or include others as you wish.
To delete a block:
1. Click the icon which appears just below the title of the block.
To add a block:
1. Go to the 'Blocks' block (this will always be the bottom block on the right hand side of the screen.
2. Click on the 'Add...' drop down menu and select the block you want to add (see the guide below to the most useful blocks in Moodle).
Descriptions of the most useful Moodle blocks
• The 'People' block provides information about all the people on a course.
• The 'Calendar' block can be set up to include important dates for a course, such as assignment deadlines and any scheduled activities. The calendar may also be used to give suggested dates for starting and finishing course activities.
• The 'Recent Activity' block displays a list of recent activity within the course, together with links to the item changed and a full report of recent activity.
• The 'Activities' block lists the different activity types available in a course. Clicking on the link to the right of an activity icon will display a list of all available activities of that type.
• The 'Blog Menu' block provides access to blogs and enables you to set the preferences.
• The 'Upcoming Events' block displays a list of future events drawn from the course calendar, together with links to create a new event or view the calendar.
• The 'Search Forums' block can be used to search for text in the discussion forums of your course.
• The 'Latest News’ block displays the most recent messages from the News forum.
• The ‘HTML’ block allows you to add text or an image to the side of the main screen.
Adding elements to the central panel
Within the central panel of Moodle you can easily add files, links or activities (such as forums). This can be done by using either the 'Add a resource…' or 'Add an activity…' drop down menu. There are many options here you may never need, but do contact TALL if you want to explore the possibility of using any of them. The following are the ones you are most likely to find useful:
Adding a link
To add a link to a website:
1. Go to the 'Add a resource…' drop down menu in the section where you want the link to appear.
2. Choose 'Link to a file or web site'. This will bring up the 'Adding a new Resource' screen.
3. Fill in the 'Name' box with the actual words you want to act as a link.
4. Enter a brief description of the webpage you are linking to in the 'Summary' box. This will appear in the list of 'Resources' in the 'Activities' block.
5. Enter the URL of the website in the 'Location' box; if you do not know the URL, click on the 'Search for web page…' button. This will bring up Google in a pop-up window. When you have found the required page, copy the URL, shut the pop-up window and paste the URL into the 'Location' box.
6. In the 'Window' drop down menu, change the selected item from 'Same window' to 'New window'.
7. Leave all other buttons and settings as they are.
8. Click the 'Save and return to course' button towards the bottom of the page.
9. You will then be returned to the main course screen with the new link at the bottom of the required section. Clicking the link opens the website in a pop-up window. (If you want to alter the position of the link within the sections, use the instructions below on manipulating items in Moodle).
Uploading a file or document
To include a word file, pdf, PowerPoint presentation or any other type of file:
1. Go to the 'Add a resource…' drop down menu in the section where you want the link to appear.
2. Choose 'Link to a file or web site'. This will bring up the 'Adding a new Resource' screen.
3. Fill in the 'Name' box with the words you want to use as a link to your file
4. Enter a brief description of the file you are linking to in the 'Summary' box. This will appear in the list of 'Resources' in the 'Activities' block.
5. Click on the 'Choose or upload a file…' button under the 'Location' box; this opens a pop-up screen.
6. If it is a file you have used before or you have uploaded it in advance, you will see the file listed in the pop-up screen. In the 'Action' column, click the 'Choose' link associated with your file. The file name will now appear in the 'Location' box.
7. If you have not yet uploaded your file, click the 'Upload a file' button in the bottom right hand corner of the pop up screen. Use the 'Browse...' button to locate the file you want and highlight it. When it appears in the 'File name' box within the 'Explorer' window, click 'Open' to transfer the details to the uploading pop-up window. Click 'Upload this file' to upload the file to your Moodle. Once the filename appears in the list, in the 'Action' column, click the 'Choose' link associated with your file. The file name will now appear in the 'Location' box.
8. In the 'Window' drop down menu, change the selected item from 'Same window' to 'New window'.
9. Leave all other buttons and settings as they are.
10. Click the 'Save and return to course' button towards the bottom of the page.
11. You will then be returned to the main course screen with the new link to the file at the bottom of the required section. Clicking the link opens the file in a pop-up window. (If you want to alter the position of the link within the sections, use the instructions below on manipulating items in Moodle).
Creating a forum
To create a forum:
1. Go to the 'Add an activity…' drop down menu in the section where you want the forum to appear.
2. Choose 'Forum'. This will bring up the 'Adding a new Forum' screen.
3. Fill in the name you want the forum to have in the 'Forum name' box (e.g. forum for term 2 topics)
4. Leave 'Forum type' as 'Standard forum for general use'.
5. Write some introductory text to the forum in the 'Forum introduction' box. (e.g. 'Use this forum to discuss any questions arising from the current topic'). This text will be visible to students at the top of the forum page.
6. Leave all other settings as they are
7. Click the 'Save and return to course' button at the bottom of the page.
8. You will then be returned to the main course screen with a link to the forum at the bottom of the required section. Clicking the link opens the forum window. (If you want to alter the position of the forum link within the sections, use the instructions below on manipulating items in Moodle).
9. You may wish to post a welcome message to students (as a new discussion topic) to reinforce the introductory text. If you are unsure how to do this follow the instructions in http://onlinesupport.conted.ox.ac.uk/CoursewareGuide/DiscussionForums.php.
Dealing with inappropriate posts to forums
Occasionally, users may post inappropriate messages to a forum. Rather than delete these posts, it is preferable to hide them. This can be done by moving them to a hidden forum (the Moodle templates contain a 'Discussion bin' for this purpose). This is done as follows:
1. Unless a 'Discussion bin forum, already exists, create one as in 'Creating a forum' above but ensure that in the setup procedure, in the 'Common module settings' box, 'Visible' is set to 'Hide'.
2. Enter the forum containing the message/thread you wish to move.
3. Open the link to the required discussion thread.
4. Either the whole thread or individual posts can be moved.
5. If the whole discussion is to be moved, use the drop down list 'Move this discussion to …' to select the hidden 'Discussion bin' and click 'Move'.
6. If an individual post needs to be moved, click the 'Split' link below the message posting to separate the message from the rest of the discussion. On the next screen, enter the name of the discussion it is to be moved to (possibly call it 'To be binned'), and click 'Split'. On the following screen, the whole of this 'To be binned' discussion can be moved to the hidden 'Discussion bin' by selecting the bin from the drop down list 'Move this discussion to …' and click 'Move'.
7. Any messages in the hidden 'Discussion bin' are no longer visible to students, but are available to tutors if they need to refer back to them later.
Adding text or images to the main course page
To add text or images to the main course page:
1. Go to the 'Add a resource…' drop down menu in the section where you want the material to appear.
2. Choose 'Insert a label' from the drop down list. This will bring up the 'Adding a new Label' screen containing a text editor.
3. Type your text into the 'Label text' box, formatting it with the tools provided with the editor. Try to avoid cutting and pasting from Word. However, if you really need to do this, ensure you make the text compatible with Moodle by clicking the icon once you have pasted into the editor box.
4. Links to web sites may be added by clicking the icon.
5. To insert an image, click on the icon and follow the instructions. (If you require help with this, please contact the TALL team).
6. When you have finished, click the 'Save and return to course' button.
7. You will then be returned to the main course screen with your new material at the bottom of the required section. (If you want to alter the position of this material within the sections, use the instructions below on manipulating items in Moodle).
Changing or adding images to the side of your course
One of the easiest ways to personalise your course is to add images appropriate to your subject to the side of the course. Each template comes with some images already in place but you can change these or add more. Note these should be images you have permission to use. For more information on good sources of free to use images please see http://cascademoodle.conted.ox.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=2109.
Add HTML Block (which will contain your image)
1. Go to the 'Blocks' block (this will always be the bottom block on the right hand side of the screen.
2. Click on the 'Add...' drop down menu and select HTML
Add an image to an HTML Block
1. Click on the icon to edit the block
2. Click on the icon
3. Either choose an image from the File Browser list of already uploaded images, or click on the ‘Browse’ button in the bottom of the screen to browse to an image from your computer. When you have selected this click ‘upload’.
4. Once you have uploaded your image click on the file name in the File Browser list. You will see the image appear in the Preview box. Usually this will be far too large for the course.
5. To resize the image change the ‘Width’ in the Size box (just above the preview). We recommend you choose 250, if you then delete the figure in the Height box and leave this blank, Moodle will automatically resize the image in proportion.
6. Lastly you need to fill something in the Alternate text box just below the url – this can either be a description of the image or attribution information for the image.
7. When you have done this click ‘OK’.
8. You will see your image in the Configuring a HTML block screen, click ‘Save changes’
9. You will then be returned to the main course screen with your image in a block at the bottom right hand side of the course. If you want to alter the position of this block us the arrows to move the block around. (Note until you turn off the editing mode you will be able to see the editing buttons above the image, but when this is turned off you will only see the image.)
Manipulating items in Moodle
Most items in Moodle have the following icons next to them . These enable you to manipulate the relevant item in various ways.
Moving
Blocks can be moved from one side of the screen to the other using the icons. Items can be moved up or down by using the icons. The icons move the item up or down one place, whereas clicking the button reveals a next to all the places where the item could be placed. Click on the appropriate to move the item to the desired location.
Updating items
The icon enables you to update the item. The options available here depend on the item to be updated (e.g. forum or link to a website), but are always the same as those available to you when you create a new instance of the item.
Deleting items
Any item can be deleted from the main screen by clicking the button next to it. (Note, when the item is a file which has been uploaded to the Moodle this will not delete the file from the Moodle; just the link to it from the main screen and from the 'Resources' list).
Hiding
The and buttons can be used to hide items and blocks from students. If you click on either they will appear as and and all content within them will be greyed. Although this content will then not be visible to students, it will remain visible to tutors and administrators. This is a useful way of uploading materials and editing them in advance of releasing them to students.
Groups in Moodle
Certain activities in Moodle can be restricted to named groups. This is controlled by the icon at the end of the line of icons pertaining to the activity. (If the icon does not appear, then you cannot control access by groups for this activity without consulting TALL). If you roll your mouse over the icon it displays the group set up as below:
• No groups
• Visible groups: students can see what is happening in other groups but can contribute only to their own
• Separate groups: students can see and contribute only to their own group.
Repeatedly clicking the icon cycles through the group settings.
To create groups in Moodle:
1. Click on the 'Groups' link in the 'Administration' block.
2. Click on the 'Create Group' button.
3. Fill in the name of the group in the 'Group name' field. If required, type a relevant description into the 'Group description' editor box. (The description can be formatted using the tools provided within the editor).
4. Click 'Save changes'.
5. Repeat the above for each group you require.
To assign tutors and students to a group:
1. Click on the 'Groups' link in the 'Administration' block.
2. Highlight, by clicking on it, the name of the group you want to assign people to.
3. Click the 'Add/remove users' button.
4. Highlight the names of everyone you want to add to the group and click the 'Add' button.
5. To remove users, highlight their name and click the 'Remove' button.
6. When you have finished assigning people to the group click the 'Back to groups' button.
7. Repeat for all the other groups you want to assign people to.
