Visibility

Last modified by Carina Enke on 16.01.2024

 

The visibility of a course element can be restricted. If the course element is visible to the learner, it will be displayed in the course navigation. If the course element is not visible to the learner, it will not appear in the course navigation. Learners then automatically do not have access to the respective course element's content area.

 

General visibility restrictions

General visibility options are available for all course element types. They can be used to restrict a course element's visibility in the course navigation.

Kurseditor-Tab Sichtbarkeit und Zugang allgemein_en.png

The following options are available for this general restriction:

Open general configuration options ...

General configuration options

Description

 

Blocked for learners

If you select this checkbox, all other configuration options will disappear. The course element content is now only accessible to tutors and administrators of the course.

Kurseditor-Tab Sichtbarkeit und Zugang Lernende gesperrt_en.png

Depending on date

Mark this checkbox to set an access period. You can enter an individual date or a date range by filling in only one or both input fields, respectively. To create new dates or delete existing ones, use the + and - buttons.

Kurseditor-Tab Sichtbarkeit und Zugang datumsabhängig_en.png

Depending on group

Activate this checkbox to make the course element only accessible to learning groups or learning areas. You can then select existing groups or learning areas or create new ones.

If you set restrictions with the Depending on group configuration option, the corresponding course element will be restricted for all non-members of the group. For example, this also includes users who have not yet confirmed the group invitation or are on a group's waiting list. Such users cannot yet see or access the restricted course element.

Kurseditor-Tab Sichtbarkeit und Zugang gruppenabhängig_en.png

Depending on assessment

Here you can find all assessable course elements. These include the Test, Assessment, Task, and Structure elements, among others.

If you select the Check for "passed" option, you will be able to choose from the Course element input field which course element has to be passed as a prerequisite to accessing this course element. 

If you activate the Check score option, you can enter a point value for the selected course element, from which this element should be accessible, in the Passing score input field.

Kurseditor-Tab Sichtbarkeit und Zugang bewertungsabhängig_en.png

Depending on attribute

Whether or not this option is displayed is system-dependent. You can use it to set visibility or access privileges according to user attributes. Only users who meet the predefined conditions will see the course element or have access to its content. If you want to use several attributes, you need to link them with one of the operators (AND/OR) above the attribute list.

The following comparison operators can be used depending on the selected attribute:

  • "contains the value"
  • "does not contain value"
  • "has exactly the value"
  • "does not have value"
  • "starts with value"
  • "ends with value"
  • "greater than" (>)
  • "less than" (<)
  • "greater than/equals" (>=)
  • "less than/equals" (<=)

See the Overview of OPAL-Shibboleth attributes page for a list of attributes available for selected institutions.

OPAL School authors can use the Main school attribute to restrict course access to their own school. An example can be found on the Publish course only for users of one/my school help page.

The verification of the created attribute rules is not case-sensitive to the specified values. That means, for example, if your visibility rule reads "Study group" attribute contains the value "Law", the actual verification will be done with the word "law" in lowercase. As a result, the course element will be visible both to users in the "Law" and to users in the "Family law" study group alike.

Kurseditor-Tab Sichtbarkeit und Zugang attributsabhängig_en.png

Apply rules also for author, owner and tutor

This option does not become visible until one of the other options has been selected. If you activate the checkbox, the same access rules as for users will also be applied to tutors and course administrators.

Kurseditor-Tab Sichtbarkeit und Zugang Besitzer_en.png

Password

This option is only possible in the Access area and can only be applied to the entire course or a structure element within the course. Enter the desired password that users will need to type to gain access to the course content in the text field.

Kurseditor-Tab Sichtbarkeit und Zugang Passwort_en.png

Display expert mode

Click on the Display expert mode button to open an input field, where you can perform a more complex configuration according to your needs. For detailed information on the expert mode, see the Expertenmodus zur Freigabe innerhalb von Kursen help page.

Kurseditor-Tab Sichtbarkeit und Zugang Expertenmodus_en.png

If various restrictive individual options are set, they will be linked with AND, i. e. all of the individual options’ conditions must be met for the user to see and access the course element. The only exceptions are Attributes. If several conditions are selected here, they can also optionally be linked with OR. The OR link only requires one condition to be met to enable visibility or access unless other restrictive individual options prevent this.

All restrictions are also automatically applied to all subordinate course elements in the course structure.

 

Additional visibility restrictions

Hide access restriction note

If a course element is visible, but there are

  • current or future access restrictions or
  • restricted rights for the course element,

the user will be informed accordingly when opening the course element. This information helps the user understand which content or functions are not yet available or when and under what conditions they will become available.

If necessary, you can hide this information text from all users per course element.

 Expand to learn how to hide this information ...

Notification message about existing access and authorisation restrictions in the course view:

Course element with notification text on access restrictions

To hide this message, open the course editor and switch to the Visibility tab of the relevant course element.

In the Information if course node is visible but not accessible (max. 248 characters) section, remove the checkmark in front of the Show access restrictions entry below the text field.

Publish your changes.

Setting in the course editor to hide notification text

The note is now hidden in the course view.

Course element without notification text on access restrictions