how to hide all resources at course start up

how to hide all resources at course start up

by Bill W. -
Number of replies: 7

Hi, I re-use several of my courses but when my moodle support team sets up my course, it comes with all the resources shown visible to students as it would be seen on course completion, and I have to manually set them all to hide. Is there a way to re-use the course but with all the resources default to hidden. It would be much easier to then turn them on (to show them) as needed. Either during the course setup (by admin) or after delivery to the instructor (by the instructor)?

many thanks


oops... moodle 3.6


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In reply to Bill W.

Re: how to hide all resources at course start up

by Howard Miller -
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Unless I am missing something... don't you really want Restrict_access (rather than hiding)

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In reply to Howard Miller

Re: how to hide all resources at course start up

by Bill W. -

Thanks for the quick reply Howard. Unfortunately I don't think that will work for me. I teach the same course 3 times per year .... so date restrictions would be cumbersome to implement. I get the course archived and then re-newed every 3 months. So, if I understand correctly, I would have to go in and change the restrict access date on all my resources.

I only test on broad sections and I like to 'reveal' resources as they are needed....so I might have 10 or more resources appearing sequentially before I have a test. Also, I may change delivery order, so progress is not necessarily dependent on a particular previous section.

Having read the FAQ, it seems like it might be just as onerous to implement as if I just go and manually change each resource separately.


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In reply to Bill W.

Re: how to hide all resources at course start up

by Rick Jerz -
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Bill, I think that I know what you mean, and I also do what you do.  In my case, I manage my own Moodle so each semester I backup and restore courses as I prepare for the next semester.  I too like to hide topics and pace the course by turning on a new topic each week.

So, to answer your question, I have never found any "auto-hide all" feature.  The "restore" of a course, without students, restores it to how it looked when the backup was made.  As I prepare the new course, I do "reset" everything, but this doesn't hide topics.

So, I too manually hide topics, usually around 18-20 topics in each of my four courses.

Quite honestly, this doesn't bother me.  It takes me 3 to 5 minutes to hide topics in each course.  I have always assumed that this is just part of working with technology.  Actually, sometimes too much automation can be bad.  I like looking at each course and making sure everything is in order.  But I can appreciate that some might want an auto-hide all feature.

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In reply to Rick Jerz

Re: how to hide all resources at course start up

by Bill W. -

Thanks Rick. I'm glad to know that I'm not alone in this. I have 40 to 50 discreet items that I control through each course so it does take me some time .... but I do appreciate your thought about keeping everything in order....and yes, I'm really just looking for a convenience item, it's not a deal breaker smile

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In reply to Bill W.

Re: how to hide all resources at course start up

by Rick Jerz -
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Bill, you can always create a feature request.  But I am not sure about it.  I think that you are saying that you want a way, like a button, where every activity and resource in a course can be hidden, even those in Moodle first block.  In my own case, when I turn a topic on, I would want some items to always be alive, like a page describing the topic or exercise.  So an All/None wouldn't help me for individual activities and resources.  And trying to make a "selective" All/None, but the type of activity or within a topic could get messy.  So I am not sure.

If you do create a feature request, make sure to be specific about what you want. A mocked-up graphic might also help.

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In reply to Rick Jerz

Re: how to hide all resources at course start up

by Jon Bolton -
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Try https://moodle.org/plugins/block_massaction 😉

This block allows you to perform actions upon multiple resources or activities, rather than having to perform repeated actions on individual items. Supported actions include mass selection, indentation, deletion, hiding, showing, and moving.

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In reply to Jon Bolton

Re: how to hide all resources at course start up

by Rick Jerz -
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Cool, Jon!  cool

I learn something new each day.  This is what makes Moodle so great.

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