Add or Remove Sections in a Moodle Course


On this page:

 

As an instructor, you can control the number of Sections students see in different ways. You can add or remove sections using buttons at the bottom of the course page, set the number of sections from the Settings page for the course, or hide particular sections from students.

Add or remove sections from the bottom of the course page

To add more sections to or remove extra sections from your course page:

  1. On your course page, click Turn editing on (green pencil icon Turn editing on (green pencil icon), top right). Editing icons and links appear.
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and, below the last section, locate the small + and - icons (at right).
    •  Click the plus (+) to add an additional section to the bottom of the page. 
    •  Click the minus (-) to remove the bottom section from the page.
  3. If you remove a section containing resources or activities, a new section called Orphaned activities appears, preserving the content. You can move the items into another section, delete them, or leave them for later use.
    Note: The Orphaned activities section displays for instructors when Turn editing is on but is hidden from students.

Set the number of sections from the course settings page

You can change the number of sections from the Course Settings page.

  1. On your course page, select Course management (black gear icon Course management icon, top right). The Course Management panel opens. 
  2. On the Course Management panel, under Course settings, select Edit course settings. The Edit course settings page opens.
  3. On the Edit course setting page, locate and open Course format. The formatting options for course format open. Use the Number of sections drop-down menu to select how many sections you want to show on the course page (choose from 0 to 52 sections).
    Adding or removing a section
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save and display. Your course page updates to show the number of sections you selected.
    If you remove sections containing resources or activities, new sections called Orphaned activities appear, preserving the content. You can move the items into another section, delete them, or leave them for later use.
    Note: Orphaned activities sections display for instructors when Turn editing is on but are hidden from students.

Hide/show sections from students

As an instructor, you can hide a section from students without removing it from the course page. You can also control whether students see only the names (headings at the top) of hidden sections but none of the contents, or whether hidden sections will be completely invisible to students.

To hide or show sections on your course page:

  1. On your course page, click Turn editing on (green pencil icon Green pencil icon, top right). The Edit icons appear.
  2. Locate the Section you wish to hide. At the right of a Section, select Edit. The Edit drop-down menu appears.
    • To hide the Section, select Hide section. The section is colored light grey, indicating it is hidden. 
    • To show a hidden section, click Show section. The Section appears in normal coloring, indicating it is visible.  
      Note: In the instructor's view of a hidden section, the content will always be displayed in grey text rather than hidden entirely, regardless of the settings chosen in the Edit course settings page. For the hidden sections, the instructor will see "Hidden From Students" displayed below the Section name.  

To show hidden sections in collapsed form, or hide the sections completely: 

  1. On your course page, select Course management (black gear icon Course management icon, top right), and the Course Management panel opens. 
  2. On the Course Management panel, under Course settings, select Edit course settings. The Edit course settings page opens.
  3. On the Edit course settings page locate and open Course format. The formatting options for course format open.
  4. For Hidden sections, use the drop-down menu to choose between:
    •  Hidden sections are shown in collapsed form
        For students, only the names of hidden sections show on the course page.
    Screenshot of collapsed section hidden from student view
    •  Hidden sections are completely invisible
        Hidden sections are completely hidden from students.
      Screenshot of student view of hidden section
    Note: Teachers will still see the hidden sections and their contents. This setting only affects the student view of the course.
  5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save and display. You will be returned to your course page.

Delete a section

Deleting a section also deletes any content or activities it contains. This includes student submissions and grades in the gradebook associated with the activities, including assignment and quiz grades. If you wish to save this content, you must move it into another section on your course page. (Instructors often hide a section from students for this purpose: See Hide/show sections from students above.)

Important! Once a section is deleted, it cannot be recovered. Make absolutely sure you have saved and moved all material you want to keep before deleting the section. Note: Only individual resources and activities can be recovered from the Recycle bin (located in the Course management panel) within 7 days. 

  1. Open your course page, click Turn editing on (green pencil icon Turn editing on (green pencil icon), top right). The Edit options appear. 
  2. Locate the section you want to delete. At the top right of the section, click Edit. The Edit drop-down appears.  
  3. From the Edit drop-down, click Delete section. This opens the Delete section page. 
  4. You will be reminded that deleting a section deletes the activities contained within it. If you are certain you have moved any content you want to keep out of the section, click Delete. You are brought back to your course page and the section is gone. 

Note: If you are using a grade calculation and delete a section containing activities which are used in that calculation, you must edit your grade calculation to remove those items. 

Edit a section name or summary

You can edit a Section name right on your course page:

  1. Click Turn editing on (green pencil icon Turn editing on (green pencil icon), top right), and locate the Section to edit.
  2. Next to the Section name, click the Pencil icon (Screenshot of turn editing on pencil icon). The Section name is blank and you see a blinking cursor or highlighted text.   
  3. Enter the new name for the Section. To save changes, press enter/return on your keyboard. 

To edit a Section name along with the Section Summary: 

  1. Click Turn editing on (green pencil icon Turn editing on (green pencil icon), top right). The Edit options appear. 
  2. Locate the Section to edit. At the top-right of the section, click Edit. The Edit drop-down appears.  
  3. From the Edit drop-down, click Edit section. This brings you to the Edit section page. 
    • To edit the Section name, select the Custom check box. Next, in the Section name field, enter the new name.  On this page, you can also add a description. To add a description, in the Summary field enter a description.
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save changes.

Hide/show section summaries with collapsed topics format

When using the Collapsed topics course format, you can control whether or not to show the Section summary when a Section is collapsed:

  1. Select Course management (black gear icon Course Management button (black background, white gear icon), top right), and the Course Management panel opens. 
  2. On the Course Management panel, under Course settings, select Edit course settings. The Edit course settings page opens.
  3. On the Edit course settings page, under Course format, for Show the section summary when collapsed, choose Yes or No.
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save and display.