Moodle plugins directory: Microsoft Word File Import/Export (Book)

Book tools: Microsoft Word File Import/Export (Book)

booktool_wordimport

Maintained by

Eoin Campbell

Import the contents of a '.docx' format file into a book, splitting it into chapters and (optionally) subchapters, based on the heading styles. The file can be from either Microsoft Word or LibreOffice. Also supports exporting books to Word format, for round-trip editing.

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1k downloads

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This plugin supports importing a Microsoft Word docx-formatted file as chapters to a book. The file is split into chapters and subchapters based on the built-in heading styles "Heading 1" and "Heading 2" in Word. Embedded images are also imported if they are in web-compatible format (GIF, PNG, JPEG).

It imports .docx files only, not the older .doc format. The following Word versions support this format: Word 2007, Word 2010 and Word 2013 (on Windows); Word 2011 and Word 2016 (on MacOS). Note that files in.docm format (i.e. including macros) are not supported.

LibreOffice 5.x can also save files in .docx format, and they will import too, but generally the quality is not as good as those files saved from the native Word editor, even if the document uses the same built-in "Heading 1" and "Heading 2" styles well. Your mileage may vary.

Note also that the PHP XSL extension must be enabled on your webserver, and the plugin requires Moodle 2.7 or higher.

After installation, the Book administration menu should have a new item added, similar to the screenshot below. You must create a new book, or turn editing an existing book on, in order to see this menu.

Book administration menu

The plugin can also be used to export books, or chapters from books, back into Word .doc format. In general heading elements in HTML are converted back into corresponding heading styles in Word, and so on with other styles. The goal is to make books that are round-trip editable in Word, although it is not quite there yet.

Sets

This plugin is part of set Microsoft Word file import/export.

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Contributors

Eoin Campbell (Lead maintainer)

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Isabel Ashburner
Tue, 24 Oct 2017, 10:37 PM
that's great many thanks
Gildredge VLE Administrator
Sat, 2 Dec 2017, 3:36 AM
Hi. I have imported a .docx from Word for Mac 2017, and the headings, etc worked. However, I positioned images and cropped some, and these all failed. The position data is lost, whilst any cropping has been removed, so the whole image re-appears. No idea if you are able to address this, but it'd be excellent if you could.
Eoin Campbell
Sat, 2 Dec 2017, 11:01 PM
Support for images is good but not great. The image dimensions and any alternate text are retained on import, but positioning and cropping information is not. You need to do any image manipulation outside Word, and insert the final image into Word, before importing into Moodle.
MMT Moodler
Wed, 27 Dec 2017, 1:51 AM
Hello... We have installed this plugin and always get an error message, referred to the treatment of images, when we try to export a book to doc. Error messages are like:

booktool_wordimport_base64_images: chapter file: .
line 471 of /mod/book/tool/wordimport/locallib.php: call to debugging()
line 109 of /mod/book/tool/wordimport/index.php: call to booktool_wordimport_base64_images()

booktool_wordimport_base64_images: chapter file: IMG_5004 OK.jpg
line 471 of /mod/book/tool/wordimport/locallib.php: call to debugging()
line 109 of /mod/book/tool/wordimport/index.php: call to booktool_wordimport_base64_images()

We have tried it in two diferents server and always the same error. We are using Moodle 3.3+ (build 20170525), Ms Word File export / import version 1.2.5 (the latest one) and PHP xsl version 1.1.28 installed and enabled.

Thanks in advance for your time...
Best regards.
Tamar Alania
Wed, 7 Feb 2018, 8:18 PM
Hello, when I try to export the book as word document the styles are always differently and accordingly it does not look appropriate. The exported document also does not include any images I have use in the moodle book. Is there some ways to export word document exactly like it looks in moodle?
Eoin Campbell
Wed, 7 Feb 2018, 11:21 PM
Hi Tamar,
An exported book opened in Word will never look like the original Moodle Book. All Moodle books have the look of the theme applied to your course or site, applied via CSS styles. The Word files don't have access to these styles, so they look like ordinary Word documents. However, if you re-import the Word file back in to a Moodle Book, then the content will look as you expect again.

If your Book has images, then you need to download a special Word template to convert the images into Word format. The template is available online at http://www.moodle2word.net/mod/resource/view.php?id=48. Unfortunately, this template contains VBA macros, and these macros trigger warnings on some virus-checking applications, and also on Windows Defender on Windows 10. To download and use it, you will have to turn off Windows Defender, and ignore any warnings.
Eoin Campbell
Fri, 25 May 2018, 11:05 PM
See https://www.moodlenews.com/2017/how-to-import-your-microsoft-word-files-in-moodle-moodleplugins/
Sam Mudle
Sat, 16 Jun 2018, 2:22 AM
I understand that the import process will convert everything to the same font. Is there anyway of getting the importer to recognize some parts should be PREFORMATTED? That would be awesome since my books have many snippets of code that should be in a monospaced font.
Eoin Campbell
Sat, 16 Jun 2018, 6:14 PM
Use the “Macro Text” style in Word to create pre-formatted text in HTML. Use spaces, not tabs, for indentation, because tab spacing is lost in HTML. It might also be better to separate each line with a hard return using the + key, as paragraph spacing might be too large.
Sam Mudle
Mon, 18 Jun 2018, 11:52 PM
Hi Eoin,
I have the MoodleBook Word plugin. I'm not sure where the "Macro Text" style is on that. Is this "HTML Text"?
Eoin Campbell
Tue, 19 Jun 2018, 12:39 AM
"hard return using the + key" should be "hard return using the <Shift>+<Return> key" above
Eoin Campbell
Tue, 19 Jun 2018, 12:44 AM
The "Macro Text" style is not available directly in the MoodleBook Ribbon. To get it, type <Ctrl>+<Shift>+S to open the "Apply Styles" dialog box, then type in "Macro Text in the "Style Name:" field. You can probably add this style to your Styles area if you use it a lot, or else create a shortcut key for it.
Sam Mudle
Thu, 21 Jun 2018, 12:18 AM
Thanks Eoin! That did the trick!
John Henderson
Wed, 11 Jul 2018, 2:13 PM
Hi Eoin,

I've been trying to get the Image Converter to work on Windows 7 with Office 2016. When I run the Image converter, it appears to run for about 30-60s and ends with a notification that it's been disabled to avoid issues with Windows Defender. Windows Defender is disabled, but we are using Microsoft Security Essentials, which I did have an exception in to allow the file.

Would you have any suggestions?

Thanks,
John
Eoin Campbell
Thu, 12 Jul 2018, 5:12 AM
The default publicly available Word template on www.Moodle2Word.net has this function disabled, because various virus checkers believe it contains malicious code. If you register on the www.Moodle2Word.net site and create your own account, you can download an older version that still contains this function, in the WordTable Question conversion course at http://www.moodle2word.net/mod/resource/view.php?id=48. Unfortunately the digital signature on both these template files has just expired, and it will take me a few weeks to get a new signature, so I think you will have to allow untrusted VBA macros to run to get it to work for the moment.

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