Do you speak Moodle? (2) Link to a file or web site

How well versed are you in the use of our main virtual learning environment? There are certain things in Moodle that every teacher should be able to do by him- or herself. Adding a file to a course and displaying it as a link on the course page is one of those things.

If you start with the file you want to upload, saved in a format that everyone can open without problems (so avoid MS Office 2007 formats, or Open Office formats for the time being), you can make this file available to your students on a Moodle course page in 11 clicks and one text string (The amount of additional clicks and scrolling depends on the organisation of your course and course files). Count with us:

1. Turn editing on in your course and scroll to the topic section where you want the file to appear.
2. Click on Add a resource.
3. Click on Link to a file or web site.
4. Fill in the link Name (i.e. the text string that will appear on the course page and link to the file) and scroll down a bit.
5. Click on the Choose or upload file button. (This opens the course Files. If you wish to upload the file to a separate folder that ads a click on the folder. Creating a new folder adds 3 clicks and a text string, i.e. the folder name.)
6. Click on the Upload a file button.
7. Click on the Browse button. (This opens a file upload box that looks at a folder in your PC. If it is not the folder where your file is saved, you need to open that folder, which adds about two clicks.)
8. Click on the file.
9. Click the Open button.
10. Click on the Upload this file button. (This uploads the file to the folder in Moodle.)
11. Click the Choose link behind the file name in the folder in Moodle. (If you use a small browser window, you may have to scroll to the right to see this link.) This adds the file to the location box. Scroll down.
12. Click the Save and return to course button. (This adds the file as a link to your Moodle course page.)

Presto, twelve steps! This process is illustrated on the corresponding page of our Moodle manual.

The previous installment in this series deals with topic sections and the enrolment key (in the course Settings).