Visibility and access

Settings in these two areas have the following basic effects:

Visibility	If a content’s visibility is limited, i. e. the content is only visible to a specified group, it will not be displayed to users in the course menu. However, if the user is a member of the group and thus fulfils the condition for visibility, they can see the course element in the course navigation. The navigation menu of a course is flexible and may change depending on the time and type of use of the course (received assessments, work in groups).  Course menu example ... View of a user who does not meet the condition for visibility: The user cannot see the podcast entry in the navigation. View of a user who meets the condition for visibility: The user can see the podcast entry in the navigation.
Access	If content is limited in access, it will be visible in the course navigation (provided that no visibility rule prevents it), but the actual content will not be displayed to the user. Instead, they will see a message with relevant access information. In the example, the final test is only available to members of the group Group1 who have passed the course element Task.

Correlation between visibility and access

Date-dependent configuration

The following figure shows how the date-dependent configurations of visibility and access interact. In the upper part of the figure, no settings have been adjusted. Visibility and access are thus not limited. In the lower part of the figure, different times were selected for visibility and access. For the period in which the course element is visible in the menu and its content is not accessible, a notification, instead of the course element content, can be displayed to the user.

Group-dependent configuration

This figure shows the group-dependent visibility and access configuration. In the upper part of the figure, no input has been made. All course participants can thus see the course element link and access its content – regardless of whether or not they are in a learning group. In the lower part of the figure, this only applies to the groups "red" and "green".

Create or change visibility and access rules

The following attributes are available in the system to set visibility and access rules in the course editor:

 General attributes ...

In the areas Visibility and Access, authors and course owners can individually determine the presentation of course elements. If no input is made in the access area, the content of a course element will by default be visible to all course participants after publishing the element. Apart from the general options listed below, additional configuration options are available depending on the course element.

The following general options are available for the configuration of visibility and access:

General configuration options	Description
Only blocked for guests	Ist diese Checkbox markiert, ist das Element oder die Funktion ausschließlich für angemeldete Lernende, Betreuer und Administratoren des Kurses verfügbar. Diese Checkbox ist nur notwendig, wenn Sie in einem sonst öffentlichen Kurs (Publikationsstatus "Öffentlich - Für jeden sichtbar" bzw. BARG ) einzelne Kursbausteine oder Funktionsabschnitte dennoch für Gäste sperren und nur für angemeldete Nutzer zugänglich machen wollen. Hat Ihr Kurs den Publikationsstatus "Öffentlich - für registrierte Nutzer" haben nicht angemeldete Nutzer (= Gäste) grundsätzlich keinen Zugang zum Kurs.
Blocked for learners	Wenn Sie die Checkbox markieren, ist der Bereich oder Funktionsabschnitt ausschließlich für Betreuer und Administratoren des Kurses sichtbar bzw zugänglich. Angemeldete Lernende und auch nicht registrierte Gäste sehen das Element nicht bzw. haben keinen Zugang zum Inhalt.
Depending on date	Mark this checkbox to specify a particular access time. You can set individual dates or date ranges by filling in only one or both input fields respectively. You can also create or delete dates via the + and - buttons.
Depending on group	Select this checkbox to restrict the accessibility of the course element to learning groups or learning areas. You can then select existing groups and areas or create new ones. If you set restrictions with the configuration option "depending on group", the corresponding course element will be restricted for all non-members of the group. This includes, for example, users who have not yet confirmed the group invitation or who are on the waiting list for a group. Such users cannot yet see or access the restricted course element.
Depending on assessment	Here, you will find all assessable course elements. These include, for example, the elements test, assessment, task, or structure.  If you select the option Check for "passed", you will be able to choose a course element from the input field Course element, which the user must have passed as a prerequisite to accessing this course element.  If you select the option Check score, you can indicate a number of points in the input field "Passing score", which have to be achieved in order to be able to access the course element.
Depending on attribute	Whether or not this option is displayed is system-dependent. You can use it to set visibility or access privileges according to user attributes. Only users who meet the predefined conditions will see the course element or have access to its content. If you want to use several attributes, you need to link them with one of the operators (AND/OR) above the attribute list. The following comparison operators can be used depending on the selected attribute: "contains the value" "does not contain value" "has exactly the value" "does not have value" "starts with value" "ends with value" "greater than" (>) "less than" (<) "greater than/equals" (<=) "less than/equals" (>=) See the Overview of OPAL-Shibboleth attributes page for a list of attributes available for selected institutions. OPAL School authors can use the Main school attribute to restrict course access to their own school. An example can be found on the Publish course only for users of one/my school help page. The verification of the created attribute rules is not case-sensitive to the specified values. That means, for example, if your access rule reads "Study group" attribute contains the value "Law", the actual verification will be done with the word "law" in lowercase. As a result, the course element will be accessible both to users in the "Law" and to users in the "Family law" study group alike.
Apply rules also for author, owner and tutor	This option does not become visible until one of the other options has been selected. If you activate the checkbox, the same access rules which apply to users will also be valid for tutors and course administrators.
Password	This option is only available in the area Access and can either be applied to the whole course or a structural element of the course. Enter the desired password, which users will need to use in order to gain access to the course content, in the text field.
Display expert mode	Click on the button Display expert mode to open an input field, which allows you to perform a more complex configuration according to your needs. For more detailed information about the expert mode, see the help page Publishing within courses (expert mode).

Advanced configuration options

In the case of individual course element types, there are further attributes to configure access to editing rights for course participants.

If various restrictive single options are set, they will be linked with AND, i.e. all conditions of the single options must be met for the user to see and have access to the course element. The only exceptions are the single options Attributes. In this case, various restrictive single options can also be linked with OR. The OR linking only requires the fulfilment of one condition in order to enable visibility or access, unless other restrictive single options prevent this.

All restrictions are also automatically valid for all subordinate course elements.

Note about hiding access restrictions

If a course element is visible, but there are

• current or future access restrictions or
• restricted rights for the course element,

the user will be informed accordingly when accessing the course element. This information helps the user to learn more about the functions available, e.g. which functions will be available at what time and under what conditions.

If required, however, you can hide this information text (from the user) for each course element individually.

 How to do that? ...

Notification message about existing access and authorisation restrictions in the course view:

1	To hide this message, open the course editor and switch to the Visibility tab of the respective course element. In the section Information if course node is visible but not accessible (max. 248 characters), remove the check mark in front of the entry Show access restrictions below the text field. Publish your changes.
2	The note will no longer be visible in the course view.

 Special attributes for access rights of individual course elements ...

Access rights of individual course elements

For individual course element types, there are further attributes which can be used to regulate access to editing rights for course participants.

The following editing rights can be restricted or extended using the general configuration attributes (depending on date, group, etc.):

	Task	Assignment Edit task folder   Drop box - Delete own solutions Drop box   Return box Assessment Sample solution
	Blog	Read   Read and write Moderate
	File Dialogue	Only file download / read in the forum   File up- and download/ read and write in the forum Edit or delete files / Moderate in the forum
	Forum	Read   Read and write Moderate
	Calendar	Read   Add and edit dates
	Link List	Display   Display and add Display, edit, and delete
	Bibliography	Display   Display and edit
	Messages	Read Write Manage
	Folder	Download Upload Delete
	Podcast	Read   Read and write Moderate
	Page	Display   Display and edit
	Profile	Display Add
	Test	Configurable in the tab Visibility : Conduct test View assessment View results
	Wiki	Read   Add and edit articles

Advanced users can take advantage of an expert mode for configuring these rules to depict complex scenarios.