7.3. Developing Course Sections¶

7.3.1. What Is a Section?¶

A section is the topmost category in your course. A section can represent a time period in your course, a chapter, or another organizing principle. A section contains one or more subsections.

7.3.2. Viewing Sections in the Outline¶

In the following image, the Studio view of the course outline is on the left. On the right is the view of the course outline in the LMS.

The numbers represent the following levels.

1. Sections
2. Subsections
3. Units

7.3.3. Sections and Visibility to Learners¶

Learners cannot see any content in a section if the section’s release date is unscheduled or has not passed.

If a section’s release date has passed, learners can see content in the section if:

• The release date for the subsection that contains that content has passed.
• The unit has been published.
• The unit is not hidden from learners.

7.3.4. Release Statuses of Sections¶

As an course author, you control the release status of sections. For the content of a section to be visible to learners, the section must be released. See the following topics for more information about the possible release statuses of sections.

7.3.5. Create a Section¶

If you do not change the course start date default value, 1/1/2030, when you create a new section, its release date will be Unscheduled.

If you have modified the course start date, when you create a new section, the default release date is the course start date.

To create a new section, follow these steps.

1. On the Course Outline page, select New Section. This option appears at both the top of the page and below the current sections in the outline.

   A new section appears at the end of the course content, with the section name selected.

2. Enter the name for the new section. A descriptive name can help learners locate content in the course. It can also help you select content when you analyze performance in edX Insights.

3. Add subsections to the new section as needed.

It is recommended that you test course content as you create new sections.

7.3.6. Change a Section Name¶

To edit a section name, move your cursor over the section name to show the Edit icon.

Select the Edit icon next to the section name. The name field becomes editable. Enter the new name, and then tab or click outside of the field to save the name.

7.3.7. Set a Section Release Date¶

To set the section release date, follow these steps.

1. Select the Configure icon in the section box.

   

   The Settings dialog box opens.

2. Enter the release date and time for the section.

Note

The time that you set is in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). You might want to verify that you have specified the time that you intend by using a time zone converter such as Time and Date Time Zone Converter.

1. Select Save.

For more information, see Release Dates.

7.3.8. Set Section Highlights for Weekly Highlight Emails¶

If your Open edX system adminstrator has configured your instance of the Open edX platform to send course highlight emails, you can send automatic email messages to learners in your course that contain three to five “highlights” of upcoming course content. A highlight is a brief description of an important concept, idea, or activity in the section. Your Open edX system administrator provides the template for this course highlight email, and you enter the highlights for the email in Studio.

For more information, contact your Open edX system administrator.

7.3.8.2. Send Weekly Highlight Emails¶

To send weekly highlight emails to your learners, you must first set highlights for each section. When you have set section highlights, you then enable the Weekly Highlight Emails setting.

The number of highlights that you have set for a section is visible in the course outline, below the name of the section.

7.3.8.2.1. Set Course Section Highlights¶

Note

If your Open edX system adminstrator has not configured your instance of the Open edX platform to send weekly course highlight messages, learners do not receive messages even if you enable highlights and enter highlights for each section.

To set highlights for a course section, follow these steps.

1. On the Course Outline page, locate the section you want, and then select Section Highlights under the section name.
2. In the Highlights for <section name> dialog box, enter three to five highlights for the section. Enter one highlight in each field. Each highlight can include up to 250 characters.
3. Select Save.

7.3.8.2.2. Enable Weekly Highlight Emails¶

After you have set and reviewed the highlights for each course section, you enable weekly highlight emails.

To enable weekly highlight emails, follow these steps.

1. On the Course Outline page, locate the Weekly Highlight Emails setting, and then select Enable Now.
2. In the dialog box that opens, select Enable.

Note

If you do not enable highlights, the edX platform does not send weekly course highlight emails, even if you enter highlights for one or more sections.

You cannot disable weekly highlight emails after you enable them. If you do not want to send weekly highlight emails after you enable them, you can delete highlights in all sections.

7.3.9. Publish All Units in a Section¶

To publish all new and changed units in a section, select the Publish icon in the box for the section.

For more information about statuses and visibility to learners, see Unit Publishing Statuses.

7.3.10. Hide a Section from Learners¶

You can hide all content in a section from learners, regardless of the status of subsections and units within the section.

For more information, see Visibility Settings.

To hide a section from learners, follow these steps.

1. Select the Configure icon in the section box.

   

   The Settings dialog box opens.

2. In the Section Visibility section, select Hide from learners.

3. Select Save.

Now, none of the content in the section is visible to learners.

To make the section visible to learners, repeat these steps and deselect Hide from learners.

7.3.11. Delete a Section¶

When you delete a section, you delete all subsections and units within the section.

To delete a section, follow these steps.

1. Select the Delete icon in the section that you want to delete.

2. When you receive the confirmation prompt, select Yes, delete this section.