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Create a Course Glossary

Learn how to create and manage a course glossary

Updated over 6 months ago

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how to create and manage a glossary activity in a Moodle course

Procedure

Create a Glossary

  1. At your course page, turn Edit Mode on

  2. Click Add an activity or resource in the section you want to place the glossary

  3. Select Glossary from the Activity Chooser and click Add at the bottom of the page

  4. Title the glossary, add a description, and adjust the additional page settings as desired. NOTE: The default is “Secondary glossary” so this may need to be changed to “Main glossary” via the dropdown

    Title and description boxes with red arrows pointing to them

  5. Click the Save and display button at the bottom of the page

  6. Click the Add entry button to add items to the glossary

  7. Title the item and include the definition in the Definition field


    ​Tip: You can insert photos or audio files in the definition area using the editor

    Example icons from the text editor ribbon

  8. Adjust the additional settings as desired and click Save Changes

  9. Repeat steps 6 through 8 to add more entries

Example entries including an entry for cucumber and strawberry

Add a Random Glossary block (Optional)

Your glossary can be displayed as a slideshow in the right “blocks” column of your course. You can even hide the glossary link on the course page and just run the slideshow in the blocks column

  1. Create at least one glossary in your course before you begin

  2. On your course home page, in the upper right corner, turn the Edit mode On

  3. Click +Add a block

  4. Choose Random glossary entry from the blocks menu

  5. Locate the newly added block on the right side of your course page

  6. Click on the gear icon in the block

  7. Choose Configure Random glossary entry block from the drop-down menu

    Gear icon options including Configure Random glossary entry block

  8. This takes you to the Block settings page. There are many different options to consider. Experiment with the settings until the slideshow displays the way you want it to. Be sure to look at the settings inside Where this block appears and On this page. These options allow you to choose which course pages the glossary will display in the right side column. If you need more information on the choices, click the question mark inside the small circle.

Export a Glossary

When you complete a course copy, glossary entries are not imported. This is because the activity is designed to allow students to participate. Regardless, you can export the entries from one course to another in a couple of extra steps.

  1. After a course copy, go to the course that already contains glossary entries

  2. Click on the glossary on the course page. Click the dropdown menu in the upper right side of the glossary page and choose Export

    Button labeled Import entries and link labeled Export

  3. Click on the Export entries to file button. This will download an .xml file. Remember where this file is saved on your computer
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    Button labeled Export entries to file

  4. In your new course, click on the glossary. You’ll see it was copied from the original course, but it’s empty

  5. Click on Import entries button on the glossary page

  6. Proceed with the Upload file process -- Locate the XML file on your computer. Finally, click the Submit button to insert the entries into the glossary
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Contact us if you need help with glossaries!

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