Folders

Introduction Folder

Folders - Introduction

The use of folders is recommended for all courses and groups with more than a handful of objects. Folders belong (like courses, groups, and categories) to the container objects in ILIAS. They contain other contents and serve the structuring of courses and groups.

A folder can contain all kinds of child objects: These include learning objects such as forums, wikis, and learning modules, but also other folders.

Folders are, therefore, suitable for bundling offered content and presenting it orderly. You can use individual folders, for example, to organize a course's content or group thematically.

Category, folder, course, or group: What is what?
Four objects are available for structuring content in ILIAS: Categories, Folders, Courses, and Groups. These are called "container objects" because they contain other objects.
Note: When you delete a container object, you automatically delete all the child objects contained in that container object.

Each of these container objects is used in different contexts and accordingly offers different possibilities:

• Category: serves to structure the Repository. A category can contain further (sub)categories, courses, groups, and all other objects. Categories are generally visible to all users; regular users can read their content. To restrict access to categories, changes must be made to the permissions.
• Folder: Used to structure courses and groups where categories or other courses cannot be created. A folder can contain other (sub)folders and groups. Folders are normally visible to all users.
• Course: Can contain groups and folders, but no categories or other courses. A course - unlike category and folder - has members. Access to the course is restricted to the members, even without further changes to the permissions.
• Group: Can contain other groups and folders, but not categories or courses. A group's availability to learners can be limited to a specific time period - as with the course. A group - like a course - has members. Access to the group is restricted to the members, even without further changes to the permissions.

Folder settings

Overview of folder settings

In the settings, you define how your folder looks like for members and which functions it offers. In the Settings tab, you can

• change the title and description of the folder,
• if you have didactic templates enabled, you can define how the folder behaves under Type,
• define how the contents of the folder are presented and sorted,
• assign a tile image or icon to the folder.

Rename folder

You want to change the title of your folder.

1. Open the Settings tab of the corresponding folder.
2. To change your folder's title, write the desired name in the Title field.
3. In the Description field, you can optionally add an explanatory subtitle. This will be displayed in a smaller font under the folder title.
4. Click on the Save button.
5. ILIAS reports "Changes saved" and shows the changed title of the folder and the description.

Type: Select didactic templates

In the settings of your folder, the option Type is offered if didactic templates have been activated on your platform. Using didactic templates, you can implement complex application scenarios with folders and files with just one click without changing the rights to the object.

Prerequisite: The templates have been imported and activated on your platform. If the templates are unavailable, please click the "Contact technical support" link at the bottom of the page. The administrator can download the templates from the ILIAS site, import them into the administration and activate them.

You want to apply a didactic template to your folder.

1. Open the Settings tab of the corresponding folder.
2. In the Type section, select the desired didactic template:
   Default: the default settings for permissions will be used. No didactic template will be applied to the folder. Members can view and download all files contained in a folder, but they cannot upload files themselves. The permissions of the default template in your installation may differ if they have been customized in the administration.
   Post Box - submit only and do not look inside: You want to allow members to upload files to a folder. However, they should not have access to the files uploaded by other users. Instead, only tutors and administrators can view the files. Such a scenario is suitable, for example, for submitting homework. However, submitting via folders is more time-consuming for tutors and administrators than via the exercise object, as they have to check by hand whether everyone has submitted.
   Member Work Area - edit your and other people's files: You want to allow members to upload files to a folder to share with others. All users should have access to other users' files and be able to upload new versions. For example, such a scenario is suitable for collaborative work on a large project.
3. Click the Save button.
4. Confirm that you want to apply the didactic template. Click on the Apply button.
5. ILIAS reports "Changes saved" and applies the desired didactic template.

Set presentation view for content.

By default, ILIAS displays all content in a folder as a list. You can customize the sorting of this list as you wish. In addition to the list view, tiles are available as an alternative presentation view.

You want to display the contents of a folder as tiles.

1. Open the Settings tab of the corresponding folder.
2. In the Presentation View for Contents section, click the Tile radio button.
3. Click on the Save button.
4. ILIAS reports "Changes saved" and shows the folder's contents as tiles.

How should the contents be sorted?
By default, ILIAS sorts all content in a folder as it is sorted in the parent group or course.
However, you can also sort the materials according to your needs. In doing so, you have several options. You can

• use object blocks to pack content of different types into 'packages' and place them anywhere on the page.
• choose between different automatic or manual sorting of the contents.

You want to set an automatic or manual sorting of the contents.

1. Open the Settings tab of the desired folder.
2. In the Sorting section, you can specify the order of the folder contents by activating the respective radio button.
   Determined by course/group: In brackets follows the information on how the sorting of the parent course or the parent group is currently set. If the sorting of the course or group is changed, the sorting in this folder will also change. This provides a sense of consistency for learners: all sorts are organized similarly.
   Alphabetical by title: Items in the folder are automatically sorted by their title. You can choose between an ascending or descending sort direction. This sorting is helpful for large sets of files named, for example, by their author. For small sets of objects, alphabetical sorting often does not provide a didactically useful order.
   By creation date: The objects in the folder are sorted, optionally in ascending or descending order, by their creation date. This is useful if you regularly add new content to the folder and always want the newest content to be at the top of the list.
   Manual: The folder's contents are arranged in the order you want. You can activate the radio button to specify new items' position, order, and sorting directions. After saving, navigate to the Sort link directly below the Contents tab. You can now sort according to your preferences. Then click on the Save sorting button.
3. Click on the Save button.
4. ILIAS reports "Changes saved" and sorts the folder's contents in the desired order.

Assigning a tiled image to a folder

The tile view was selected to present the contents in the parent container object.

You want your folder displayed in this tile view with a tile image.

1. Open the Settings tab of the corresponding folder.
2. Use the Select File button in the Tile Image section to select the desired file from your local computer.
3. You can only upload .png, .jpg, and .jpeg files and define them as tile images.
4. Afterward, click on Save.
5. ILIAS reports "Changes saved" and displays the tile image in the overview of the parent container object.

Note: Select the Delete existing file checkbox to remove the tile image again and click Save.

Assigning an icon to a folder

You want to assign an icon to your folder.

1. Open the Settings tab of the desired folder.
2. Use the Select File button in the Custom Icon section to select the necessary file from your local computer. You can only upload files in .svg format and define them as icons.
3. Then click on Save.
4. ILIAS reports "Changes saved" and assigns the desired icon to your folder.
5. For the icon to be displayed in your folder, select the Show title and icon checkbox and click Save.

Note: To remove the icon again, activate the Delete existing file checkbox and click Save.