Ops: Creating New Courses

Creating a new course shell is the first step in setting up a class. This page details every setting available in the "Edit course settings" page and provides recommendations for our standard operations.

1. Start the Process

1. Go to Site administration → Courses → Manage courses and categories.
2. Select the correct Category on the left (e.g., "Spring 2026").
3. Click Create new course on the right side.

2. General Settings

This section contains the most critical metadata for the course.

Field	Explanation	💡 Operational Recommendation
Course full name	The title displayed at the top of the course and in lists.	Use a standard format: [Code] Subject Name - Intake (e.g., "BUS101 Business Management - Spring 2026")
Course short name	A unique identifier used in the navigation bar (breadcrumbs) and email subject lines. Must be unique across the entire system.	Use a code without spaces. (e.g., `BUS101_S26`)
Course category	Where the course is filed.	Double-check this is correct so students can find it.
Course visibility	• Show: Students can access it (if enrolled). • Hide: Only staff can see it.	Set to Hide while you are building the course. Switch to Show on launch day.
Course start date	Determines when the course appears in the "In Progress" tab on the Dashboard. Also marks the start of the Log files.	Set to the actual first day of class.
Course end date	Determines when the course moves to the "Past" tab on the Dashboard. Note: This does NOT kick students out. They can still enter the course.	Set to the exam date or semester end date. Enable this to keep student dashboards clean.

3. Description

This info appears on the Dashboard card and the course list.

• Course summary: A brief paragraph explaining what the course is about.
• Course image: High Importance. This is the tile image shown on the Student Dashboard.
  • Requirement: Use a high-quality JPG/PNG (approx. 800x400 pixels).
  • Design Tip: Avoid text-heavy images. Use abstract patterns or subject-related photos (e.g., a calculator for Math).

4. Course Format

This setting controls the layout and user experience inside the course.

Format Options

• Topics format (Recommended): The course is divided into thematic sections (Topic 1, Topic 2, etc.). Best for most academic modules.
• Weekly format: The course is divided by weeks, with dates automatically labeled. Best if the course structure is strictly timeline-based.
• Single activity format: The course is just one big quiz or SCORM package. (Rarely used).
• Social format: A big forum page. (Rarely used).

Layout Settings

• Hidden sections:
  • Hidden sections are shown in collapsed form: Students see the topic title but can't open it (Good for "Coming Soon").
  • Hidden sections are completely invisible: Students don't see the topic at all (Cleaner).
• Course layout:
  • Show all sections on one page: Traditional scroll.
  • Show one section per page: Reduces scrolling, students click "Next" to move between topics. Recommended for long courses.

5. Appearance

• Force language: Leave as "Do not force" unless it is a language course (e.g., forcing French interface for a French class).
• Number of announcements: Controls how many recent news items show in the "Latest announcements" block. Default (5) is usually fine.
• Show gradebook to students: Yes. Students need to see their marks.
• Show activity reports: No. This generates a lot of data and is rarely useful for students.

6. Files and Uploads

• Maximum upload size: This limits the file size for both teachers (uploading materials) and students (uploading homework).
• Recommendation: Set to the Site Limit (usually 50MB or 100MB).
• Note: If a student needs to submit a huge video file, do not increase this limit. Ask them to upload to OneDrive/Google Drive and submit the link instead.

7. Completion Tracking

• Enable completion tracking: Yes.
• This enables the "Mark as done" buttons and progress percentages. It is essential for a modern LMS experience.

8. Groups (Optional)

Only configure this if you have multiple cohorts (e.g., Class A and Class B) in the same course shell.

• Group mode:
  • No groups: Everyone is together. (Standard).
  • Separate groups: Students in Group A cannot see Group B's work (e.g., forum posts).
  • Visible groups: Students work in their own group but can see what other groups are doing.
• Force group mode: If set to Yes, this applies the group setting to every activity (Assignment, Forum, Quiz) automatically.

9. Role Renaming (Optional)

You can change the displayed label for roles in this specific course.

• Example: Change "Teacher" to "Professor" or "Instructor".
• Example: Change "Non-editing teacher" to "Tutor".
• This only changes the word shown to users; permissions remain the same.

10. Tags

Add keywords (e.g., "Business", "Level 1", "Fall") to help with searching if you have hundreds of courses.

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After configuring these settings, click Save and display at the bottom.