Written by Ellen Wildman, Digital Learning Facilitator (ISS)
The text editor we use to create and add content (not just text!) into Moodle has undergone a change. The new editor is called TinyMCE and is now the default editor in Moodle. Additionally, we’ve added in some useful new plugins (or additional tools) to the editor to enhance your experience when using it.
This is what the new editor, or TinyMCE, looks like:
Why the change?
- TinyMCE has been designed with accessibility in mind, to help ensure we keep our online material available to the largest number of learners as we can.
- The old editor, Atto, is shortly due to be retired by Moodle so we’re getting a head start on the future change.
How will it affect me?
- The layout and menu options now more closely match the editing options that you’re probably familiar with – such as in applications like Microsoft Word – with options such as Edit, View and Insert running across the top of the editor.
- There are some additional features added to this new editor:
Components for Learning (C4L)
This option allows you to quickly drop in useful blocks into the content, such as reminder banners for assessment or quotations. This can be a great way to add visual interest to our pages and highlight key information for the learners.
This is an example of what an inserted ‘component’ can look like on a page:
You can also make the ‘component’ wider on the page using the double headed arrow icon when you are choosing which style to add.
Sketch
As the name might tell you, this is a tool that can allow either yourself, or your students in a quiz environment for example, to draw annotations in an online sketchbook. This can be useful for content that might be hard to produce via a keyboard.
This is an example of what an inserted ‘sketch’ can look like on a page:
Through the View option in the editor, there are some useful new features, including:
Show block: this will add a grey block around the text and display what style you are using. This is not displayed when you save, but rather acts as a useful guide when ‘clumping’ the content you’re creating.
This is an example of the dotted grey line you will see when you have the view option enabled:
Who can I ask for help?
If you need help with using the new editor, or anything else Moodle-related, contact the IT Help Centre or post a message in the Digital Education Network (DEN) on Microsoft Teams.
Written by Ellen Wildman, Digital Learning Facilitator (ISS)