The Editor Tool

The Editor is your start-to-finish course authoring and content management tool. If you prefer video-based instruction on the Editor Tool, click here.

Editor toolbar

The Editor toolbar includes:

1. The Tools menu, select the wrench icon to view:
   • Course settings, which allows you to control the course's general setup, appearance, Gradebook, and scoring information.
   • The Landing page editor, which allows you to create content to appear on the course's Activities screen.
   • Course Links, which allows you to provide students with links to important course resources. Students can access these links from the Course Links button in the Course Home (Activities tool) toolbar.
   • Edit objectives, which allows you to Import, Add, Edit, and/or Delete objectives.
   • Manage Groups, which allows you to create, edit, and delete group sets.
   • Recycle Bin, which allows you to review and restore deleted content.
2. Find Activity, which allows you to search by activity title or ID. When you find the activity you're looking for, select to jump to it.

Accessibility notes

Two inline help items appear within the Course settings that are not currently supported by screen readers:

• In the Gradebook tab next to the Formative Assessment header: Excuse activities for students who demonstrate objective mastery. Learn more.
• In the Gradebook tab next to the Remediation Assessment header: Encourage students to revisit relevant activities when they fail to demonstrate objective mastery. Learn more.  

Editor tool tabs

The Editor tool is divided into six tabs:

• Use Syllabus to structure your course, author, content, and align it with objectives and badges.
• Use Projects to build robust, student-guided projects.
• Use Weights to define and manage grade weights for activities and categories.
• Use Activity List to review your course structure and preview activities.
• Use Scheduling to review your calendar, create and adjust due dates, and plan your course.
• Use Group Settings to manage existing groups.

Review each in more detail below.

Syllabus tab

The Syllabus is made up of three panels:

1. The Objectives/Badges panel on the left. Use the arrow to expand and collapse the panel.
2. The folder and activity structure in the middle.
3. The Properties/Resources panel on the right. Use the arrow to expand and collapse the panel.

Objectives/Badges panel

With the Objectives tab, you can:

1. Filter the displayed objectives.
2. Review and ensure the number of gradable and non-gradable activities are aligned with each displayed objective.
3. Quickly identify objectives that aren't aligned with any activities by looking for the red dot in the bottom, left corner of objective's row. When objectives have been aligned with activities, the dot is colored to match your chosen theme.
4. Select Edit to add and/or import objectives.
5. Drag and drop objectives to folders and activities to align them.

With the Badges tab, you can:

1. View domain badge details.
2. Drag and drop badges to folders and activities to align them.

Note: To add and edit course badges, go to Course settings > Badges.

Folder and activity structure

With the center panel, you can:

1. Set student visibility settings by toggling the eye (visibility) icon.
2. Edit folders and activities by selecting the pencil (edit) icon.
3. Open the side menu to Preview, reorder, Duplicate, or Delete folders and activities. You can also reorder folders and activities by clicking and dragging them to the desired location.
4. Add folders and activities to the course.
5. Add Choice Activities to folders that have them enabled. 

Properties/Resources panel

With the Properties tab, you can select a folder or activity from the center panel, an objective from the Objectives tab, or a badge from the Badges tab and review its properties (Title, Type, metadata, visibility settings, Completion badges, Due dates, Objectives, etc). Select the photo (preview) icon to preview and the side menu to make edits.

The Resources tab allows you to manage course resources (i.e., create new folders; upload new resources; find, preview, download, and delete existing resources).

Accessibility notes

Two inline help items appear within the Syllabus tab that are not currently supported by screen readers:

• Next to the Name field in the badge editor: Use replacement variables to personalize badges. Learn more.
• Next to the Add to ... syllabus header: Need help deciding which activity type to choose? Learn more.
• Next to the Add POST parameter option in the Content section of the Activity tab; this only occurs with Website activity types: You can use replacement variables in the website URL or in POST-parameter values to pass user-, course-, or domain-specific data to external websites. Learn more.

Projects tab

With the Projects tab, you can:

1. Toggle between a list and tiled view of existing projects.
2. Create new projects, for which you provide a Title, Start date, and End date.  
3. Add content from the Library.
4. Convert existing folders into projects, for which you provide the folder, Start date, and End date.
5. Sort displayed projects by Title, Start date, and End date by selecting the appropriate column headers.
6. Select displayed project data to edit it with the Properties/Resources panel.

Weights tab

Grading Weights define how much impact that activity’s grade has on the final grade, relative to the other gradable activities in the same category and/or course. Learn more.

Activity List tab

Group Settings tab

The Group Settings tab allows you to review and modify group-specific activity settings.

Additional articles

• How do I add activities to my course?
• How do I set up my course structure?
• How do I use activity editors?