M71 - Sharing Cart

What is it?

The Sharing Cart is a block for duplicating course items into a personal library and an easy way to move those Moodle resources and activities between multiple courses. With just four clicks, the Sharing Cart copies and moves a single course item from one course to another. It copies without user data—similar to the “Import” function on Moodle.  In addition, items can be collected and saved on the Sharing Cart, serving as a library of frequently used course items available for duplication. The Sharing Cart is viewable only by course administrators and tutors.

Why use it?

• Move a resource or activity quickly and easily between two Moodle courses.
• Move a section of content quickly and easily between two Moodle courses.
• Save content in a personal library to copy onto multiple courses as required.

Who can use it?

Course administrators and tutors.

Before I start...

• Please note that the Sharing Cart is a block that needs to be added to a Moodle course for content to be copied to or from that course. Once added, it will show to all course administrators and tutors on the course. 
• Each staff members has their own unique Sharing Cart.
• Students do not see the Sharing Cart block.
• User data is not copied over when copying content e.g. Forum posts, database entries, wiki entries etc.
• If the Sharing Cart is used to share a Quiz activity, the entire Question bank will be copied between courses if any questions have been categorised into course categories. This issue is expected to be resolved in Moodle 4. If you are trying to copy over Moodle Quizzes between courses please speak to IT services. If all questions are categorised at the quiz level then it is possible to copy over just the questions in the quiz and no additional questions from the course question bank. 

How do I set one up?

Adding the Sharing Cart block

1. Go to your Moodle course and use the toggle switch to turn 'Edit mode' on . 

2. On the right-hand side of the screen, click the arrow to ' Open the block drawer' . Check if the ' Sharing Cart ' block has already been added. If it has not been added , follow the instructions below.    

3. Select' Add a block' and click the 'Sharing Cart' block. This will automatically add the block.

     4. After adding the Sharing Cart block, you will notice the block stays "on" the next time you enter that course.

     5.When you go to another course, add the Sharing Cart block to that new course. Then you can use the Sharing Cart block to move content between courses. 

Copying to the Sharing Cart

When the Sharing Cart block is enabled, you will notice a small "Copy to Sharing Cart" icon which appears after each section, resource or activity in a Moodle course.

     1.Click on Sharing Cart icon to send a copy of that resource/activity into the Sharing Cart. User data will be removed, only the activity itself will be copied.

     2. Click confirm. The content will then appear in the Sharing Cart block. Depending on the size of the content copied there can be some delay. 

Copying from the Sharing Cart

1. Click the "Copy to course" icon in Sharing Cart next to the content you want to copy.
2. Go to the bottom of the Section and click the arrow 'drop box' icon.

The content shall appear at the bottom of the section.  You can then move it and edit as normal.

Making folders inside the Sharing Cart

If you copy a section of content, it will appear in a folder automatically.

You can also organise copied content into folders to help identify it and to bulk copy it to courses. To create a folder:

1. Click the "move" arrow icon next to a content item in the Sharing Cart block.
2. You can then either
   1. select an existing folder from the drop down menu, or
   2. click the pencil icon, enter a name for your folder and hit enter to create a new folder. 

Questions & answers  

N/a

Further information  

You can use the 'Duplicate' option to make a copy of an item within the same Moodle course.
Turn Editing On. Select the three dots to the right of the activity and select 'Duplicate'.  The duplicate item shall contain the word 'Copy'.  In the case of a 'Text and Media Area' activities this will only show in the Index on the left.  You should edit the item to remove the word 'Copy'. 

You can remove the word 'Copy' by editing the item within the main page.  

1. Go to the duplicate item from the main body of the Moodle page and select ‘Edit Settings’.
2. Edit the item’s title.  (In the case of a 'Text and Media Area' activity - edit the description text then save your change.) You can add a temporary character then remove it, or re-apply the heading style.  
3. Select 'Save and Return to course' to see the updated item.