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Policy
Currently we can not enforce the limit for the size of the Moodle sites. However, server space is crucial, so please do not take it up, therefore services to other users are not compromised:
- Remove outdated or duplicate files
- Optimize your audio, video and PDF files to reduce their sizes
- Delete all zipped files from your course sites, especially backups (Administration > Files > Backupdata folder)
If one of your sites exceeds 100 MB and you haven't contacted us, we may require more time to copy or restore your site, and will contact you to discuss your file storage needs and options. In extreme circumstances, we also may have to remove excessively large files with little notice.
If you have large files that you want to exchange with your students, please use Netfiles with Moodle. Netfiles is free storage area, and it allows everyone (faculty, students, and staff) to store up to 5 GB of data. Support page on using Moodle with Netfiles: http://umn.edu/moodle/instructor/guides/moodle_netfiles.html
If you have videos, it is better to store them at the streaming server, therefore students would no need to download those. CLA offers MediaMill streaming server for video storage: http://umn.edu/moodle/instructor/guides/moodle_mediamill.html
File management
About
Files area - is a repository of all files related to your course site. The link to it is located in the Administration block and is visible only to users who have full designer/instructor privileges.
If you would like to provide some files to your students, you need to upload them in to the Files area first, and then use Link to a File option on the site homepage to make the file accessible to students.
Controls
- Make a folder - create sub-folders to keep your files organized
- Upload a file - upload files (html, doc, pdf, ppt, jpg, etc)
- Edit link - preview and edit HTML or txt files right inside Moodle site
- Rename link - rename a file
- With chosen files menu:
- Move to another folder - move files between subfolders in Files
- Delete completely - delete selected files and folders
- Create zip archive - zip selected files/folder and download them locally
System folders
You may also see 2 system folders there:
- backudata - will have manual backups of your site that are created when you click Backup link in the Administration block.
- If you backup your site manually , make sure to download and store your zipped file locally. Do not keep zipped files online in this backupdata subfolder, since they may be deleted without warning.
- Do not upload anything inside manually, since content of this subfolder cannot be shared later
- moddata - will contain activity-related files, aka raw-view of all submissions done at forums, assignments, databases, etc.
Those submissions should still be accessed by instructors via regular means, like assignment dropbox area and not via this subfolder.
- Do not delete this folder or files inside, otherwise student work will be gone.
- Do not upload anything inside manually, since content of this subfolder cannot be shared later
Preview files
To preview any file or drill down, click on its name. Your web browser will take care of either displaying it or downloading it to your computer.
Create a subfolder:
- Click the Make a folder button
- Type the name of your subfolder
- Click Create
Note: File and Folder names Moodle will insert an underscore ( _ ) for any blank spaces in a file or folder name. Meta characters such as / \ * ? : ; . , < > are not permitted in file or folder names and will be automatically removed by Moodle. We recommend folder and filenames with no spaces.
Upload a file:
- Go to Administration > Files > needed subfolder
- Click the Upload a file button.
- Click the Browse button.
- Locate your file on the computer and click Save or Open.
- With the file being now listed in the “Upload a file” text box, click the Upload this file button. You will see the message: “File uploaded successfully.”
Warning: If you will upload a file later with the same name as an already existing one, Moodle will simply override the file and will not warn you about a name conflict
Note: Changes to files often will not be visible until refreshing your browser or clearing
your browser cache.
Uploading Multiple Files at once - Unzip
Moodle allows you to upload and open an archived file, also known as a zip file. A zip file is usually comprised of multiple files joined into one, so the goal is to upload the zipped file into the Files area and open, unzip, or un-archive the joined files.
1. Create zip archive locally
2. Upload into the Files area:
- Create subfolder first
- Go inside the subfolder and click the Upload a file button
- Click the Browse button
- Navigate to where the .zip file is located. Click the Open or Save button
- Back on the Files screen click the Upload this file button. The .zip file is added to the Files area
3. Unzip:
- Click the Unzip link near the file that you have uploaded. The archived/zipped file un-stuffs.
- Choose OK on the Unpacking screen for that file
- If the archive contained folders the files are opened into those folders; otherwise the files will be placed in the Files area at the same level as the archived/zipped file
- Delete the uploaded zipped file by selecting it and then choosing Delete completely from the “With chosen files…” menu. Choose Yes when asked if your action is correct.
Download one file
- Go to Adminsitration > Files
- Click the filename once:
- a dialog box will ask what you want to do with the file: Open or Save
- choose Save File and then click OK
- Or righ-click and choose Save as
Download multiple files
If you have multiple files on Moodle, you can zip them first, and then download the zip archive.
Useful tips
- Do not upload any files with special or forewing characters in their names. Such files will become unreadable, and will become stuck in your files area so you will not be able to delete those.
- File and Folder names Moodle will insert an underscore ( _ ) for any blank spaces in a file or folder name. Meta characters such as / \ * ? : ; . , < > are not permitted in file or folder names and will be automatically removed by Moodle. We recommend to have no space in the files and folder names to avoid any trouble later
- To do not upload anything in the backupdata and moddata subfolders.
- Do not delete or rename moddata subfolder or anything inside, otherwise student submissions will be gone
- Files created right in Moodle via Add a resource > Compose a textpage/webpage interface do not reside in the Files area and cannot be downloaded.
- If you upload a file with the same name as an existing file, there is no prompt notifying you of a filename conflict before the new file replaces the one with the same filename that is already in the Files area.
- Changes to files often will not be visible until clearing the cache, or possibly logging out and reentering the site.
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