Moodle – the best open source LMS in the world is known for its modular nature. You can simple expand the features by using Moodle Plugins which are already available or developing your own. Moodle allows you to expand the features in all areas including themes, activities, filters, course formats, enrollment and all. In this post, we will learn about the Designer Course format plugin which can help you with making eye-pleasing course formats.

Generally, Moodle courses are having only one layout per course. But Designer course format allows you to have a mix course format across sections. You can make any type of layout for each course section which can help your learners to progress across sections easily. You can choose to have collapsible sections, section overview, List layout, link layout and collapsible cards.

How to install Designer Course format plugin

To get started with the Designer course format plugin, you need to download it from the Moodle Plugins directory. Since, it is Course format type Moodle plugin, you need to install it into your_moodle_site/course/format  directory followed by completing the installation process through the Notifications page. You can also follow this guide to learn how to install a Moodle plugin.

How do I setup the Designer Course format?

Once installed, Designer course format will be available for teachers to select from when setting up their course. You can visit the Course settings page to choose the Designer course format as below:

Under the course type, you can choose Normal, Kanban Boards, Collapsible Sections and Flow which will give you various different layouts on the course page. You can choose to either show all sections on all one page or only one section per page.

The plugin is developed by Stefan Scholz with the goal to enable any teacher to create a course that looks and feels great. I am really impressed with this plugin, after testing it briefly on my Moodle dev site. I would suggest you to please test out this awesome course format plugin on your Moodle and you will also be impressed with its amazing course layout options.

What are the other popular course formats you are using for your Moodle learning environment? Please share with us in the comments section below.