Adding Content
Links to content documents can be added to a WebCT course in three ways:
  • as a link to a Single Page (a single document or file)
  • as a link to a URL (a webpage not in the My-Files of a WebCT course)
  • as a link on a Content Module page to a document in My-Files

Adding a Link to a Single Page

  1. Click on the [Add page or tool] button and choose Single Page (in Pages column).
  2. In the Add Single Page window enter a title for the item. [Browse] My-Files to select the document (the document must be uploaded to the Manage Files area). Decide whether to open the page in a "New browser window" or the "Same browser window. Decide whether to show the link to the page on the Course Menu, the Organizer Page or both.
  3. After all the selections have been made, click on [Add].

The Add Single page window which asks you to enter a title, browse for the Single page document located in My-Files, and decide where to show the link to the page.

Top

Adding a Link to a URL

  1. Click on the [Add page or tool] button and choose URL (in Pages column).
  2. In the Add URL window enter a title for the item. Add the information for the URL beginning with http://. Decide whether to open the page in a "New browser window" or the "Same browser window. Decide whether to show the link to the page on the Course Menu, the Organizer Page or both.
  3. After all the selections have been made, click on [Add].

The add url window asks you to enter a title for the item, enter the information for the URL, and decide where to show the link to this item.

Top

Adding Links to Files in a Content Module

  1. Click on the [Add page or tool] button and choose Content Module (in Course Content Tools column).
  2. In the Add Content Module window enter a title for the module. Decide whether to show the link to the page on the Course Menu, the Organizer Page or both.
  3. After all the selections have been made, click on [Add].

The add content module window asks you to enter a title for this item, decide where to show the link to this item, and add this item to your course.

Before adding a link to a content document, the assumption will be made that the document has been created (usually outside of WebCT) and that it has been upload to the My-Files folder in the Manage Files area of the course.

To add a link to a content document file:

  1. Click on [Add files] in the Options: Table of Contents.
  2. The Filenames box will either "Show only HTML files in the My-Files folders in Manage Files" or it will "Show all files in the My-Files folders in Manage Files". From the list of files in the Filenames box, select the file you want to add. (You may select more than one file to add by holding down the <ctrl> key on a PC or the apple key on a Mac.)
  3. Click on the [Add] button or, if the file you want to add does not appear in the list of filenames, click on the [Browse] button.

The add files window asks you to select a file located in the my files folder in manage files by clicking on its filesname.

To add a link to a quiz or survey that has already been created using the WebCT Quiz/Survey tool, click on the [Add quiz] button in the Options: Table of Contents section. From the Add Quiz window

the add quiz window asks you to select a quiz from a given list of existing quizzes.

The file links in a Content Module can be organized by:

  • editting the titles of the links, [Edit titles]
  • indenting the files to show the relationship between topics and sub-topics, Indent item more/less
  • moving the items up/down in the Table of Contents

Using the Customize buttons:

  • the page colors can be modified, [Customize page colors]
  • a background image can be added or modified, [Modify/Add background image]
  • a banner image can be added or modified, [Modify/Add banner image]
  • an upper or lower textblock can be added, [Add upper textblock], [Add lower textblock]

Once you have added or revised your content, it is imperative that you [Update student view] so that your students can see the changes. If you upload new files to a Content Module, students will not see them until you [Update student view]. Failure to do this will lead to confusion because you will be able to see the content files, but students will not. You must update the student view whenever you:

  • upload a revised page that has already been made viewable to students in a Content Module
  • edit the text of a content module file/document from the Manage Files area
  • modify the action menu on a content module page

To summarize, here are the four steps that must be completed for content files to be added to a Content Module:

  1. CREATE: Create a document on your LOCAL computer.
  2. UPLOAD: In the "My_Files" folder inside the Manage Files area of your WebCT course, upload the document from the local computer to the remote WebCT server.
  3. ADD FILE: In a Content Module in the Designer Options view, click on [Add files], select a file from the list of filesnames, and click on [Add].
  4. UPDATE STUDENT VIEW: On the Content Module PAGE in Designer Options view, click on the [Update student view] button.

Top

The Action Menu of a Content Module Page

At the top of every document in a content module is an area referred to as the Action Menu area. This area contains navigational links and may also contain links to WebCT tools, files, and URLs, as well. The following action menu example contains three navigational buttons, buttons to the Table of Contents, the previous document, and the next document. The fourth button takes the student back along the path he or she has visited in the pages of content and the fifth button refreshes the screen. This action menu also contains links to a Glossary, a Take Notes page, and a Links page.

This picture of an Action Menu contains navigational links and links to a glossary, the take notes tool, and the links tool.

To add action menu items on every page in a content module:

  1. Click on [Edit Content Module settings].
  2. From the Content Module Settings page, select the items or tools you want to include on every page in the Content Module.
  3. Click [Update].

the action menu window in content module settings

To add action menu items to an individual page in a Content Module:

  1. Go to the Content Module page and select the Designer view tab.
  2. Under Action Menu, you will see a list of tools that can be configured for the particular page. "Configured" means that the information has to be added to the tool. Clicking on the tool will bring up a window that will allow you to enter whatever information is needed. Once the required information has been added, a link to the tool page will appear in the Action Menu area. Note that links to the Glossary and Index will not appear in the Action Menu until the tools are selected in the list of Action Menu items below.

The action menu window contains tools that can be added to the action menu once they have been configured and a list of other action menu items.

The bottom half of the Action Menu contains the same list of items that was in the global content module settings area. You can use this list to override the global setting by unchecking the item for a particular page or you can add one of these tools to a particular page instead of every page in the content module.

Top