The Editor Tool

The Editor is your start-to-finish course authoring and content management tool!

Editor toolbar

The Editor toolbar includes:

1. The Tools menu, which you open with the wrench icon and includes:
   • 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, click to jump to it.

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. Select Edit to add and/or import objectives.
3. Review and ensure the number of gradable and non-gradable activities are aligned with each displayed objective.
4. Drag and drop objectives to folders and activities to align them.

With the Badges tab, you can:

1. View existing course badges.
2. View domain badge details.
3. Drag and drop badges to folders and activities to align them.
4. Select any badge and review its properties in the Properties tab.

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 clicking 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.

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

With the Activity List tab, you can:

1. Filter displayed folders and activities by Title, Type, and/or Location.
2. Select multiple folders and/or activities and:
   
   • Use Bulk Edit in the toolbar to do any of the following for all selected activities (available options vary based on the activities selected):
     • Specify a group you want to edit in the Apply these changes to drop-down
     • Change visibility
     • Change location
     • Remove due date
     • Change late-submission policy
     • Change passing score
     • Change assessment password
     • Change assessment attempt limit
     • Change Grading Category
     • Change Grading Period
3. Select folders and activities to view their Properties.
4. Use the side menu to Edit, Preview, and Delete folders and activities.
5. 

 

Scheduling tab

With the Scheduling tab for Range courses, you can:

1. Toggle the left panel between the
   • Syllabus View, which shows the folder structure and orders folders and activities according to the order created in the Syllabus tab.
   • List View, which lists folders and activities in alphabetical order, doesn't show the folder structure, and allows you to Show All items or only Unscheduled items.
2. Choose to show items on the calendar according to:
   • Due Date
   • Visibility Date
   • Grade Release Date
3. Drag and drop activities onto dates on the calendar to assign Due Date, Visibility Date, or Grade Release Date, depending on what is selected in the calendar drop-down.
4. Select activities displayed in the calendar, Syllabus View, and List View to see their Properties displayed.
5. Use the side menus to Edit, Preview, and Delete folders and activities. Depending on which items you're showing, you can also use this menu to Remove Due Date, Remove Visibility Date, or Remove Grade-Release Date.

 

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?