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Add a course summary and image
Why use it?
The Course summary is useful to display a brief overview of your course contents and can be seen by anyone before they enter the actual course. In Moodle 4.1, it no longer appears on the main course page, although it can be added as a block in the blocks drawer.
The course image becomes the backdrop to the actual course pages, no longer ‘stealing’ prime webpage real estate!
Step 1: Add a course summary
Go to SETTINGS
Enter a short description into the Course Summary text box then Save and Display.
You can add a course summary block into the blocks drawer, but it isn’t necessary. Enrolled students already know what the course is about!
When using the Moodle text editor, we recommend to type your text directly into the text area or to only copy paste plain text and use the built-in editor tools to style it.
An ideal word limit for the course summary is 100 words, and you should avoid exceeding 200 words if possible.
Step 2: Add a course image
In SETTINGS locate the Course summary files upload area. Drag and drop an image or click on the upload icon to choose an image file.
If there is an image already in the course summary files area you must delete it before uploading an image again. Click on the image and select the Delete button.
Scroll to the bottom and click Save and display.
Image size and ratio
Images should ideally have a 2.7 : 1 aspect ratio. This means that the width of the image should be about 2.7 times the height. You can achieve this using the ‘crop’ feature in any graphics application.
If your image is longer and shorter than this, the image will be cut off at each end; similarly, if it is narrower and taller, then it will be cut off at top and bottom. Normally this will still look OK!
Images should have a minimum width of 1024 pixels. Smaller images can be used, but you may find they look pixellated.
Copyright
Make sure that the image you are using does not break any copyright laws! You can find creative commons images on:
Note: More information on multimedia copyright can be found on the Intellectual Property and Copyright section of our Moodle Baseline guides.