This page contains instructions on how to transfer information from a previous course to a new one. You can also click on the following links to view videos of the same processes:

• Backing up a course
• Restoring course information

If the course is from a previous term of the same academic year, skip to “Importing a course."

If the course is from a previous academic year, follow the instructions to backup and restore the course.  Note:  This requires uploading your backup to the new course.  As with all uploads in Moodle, there is a file size limit of 50 MB.  If your file size is larger than that, please contact your academic technologist.

To backup the original course information:

1. From the Moodle homepage, click on the “Moodle Archive” link on the left-hand column and log in.
2. Select the course and choose “Backup” from the Administration bar.
   
3. Choose what to save:
   1. On the left-hand side is a list of all the activities of the course. Click “All” to save all of them, “None” to save none, or check a selection of items individually.
      
   2. On the right-hand side, you may see something about “User Data." We strongly recommend that you do not save User Data.  Click the None above the User Data column to deselect all of the User Data.
   3. At the bottom of the page are more options:
      1. The following options may appear: Metacourse: Select No unless the course is a metacourse.  Users: Select None.  Logs: Select No.  User Files: Choose Yes or No. These are files added by students, and we strongly recommend that you choose no.
      2. Course files: Select Yes to include course resources.
      3. Site files: Select Yes to include any files which may be stored separately from your course.
      4. If it appears, ignore the section regarding "Backup role assignments"
4. Click Continue. Note: The default file name includes the name of your course and the time and date of the backup.
5. Click Continue at the bottom of the page.
6. The next page will say “Backup completed successfully” at the bottom of the page. Click Continue again.
7. Click on the name of the backup file to download it to your desktop.
   1. You can keep this file on your computer so that you always have a backup of your course.
8. Select Save to Disk and click OK.
9. The backup is complete. Log out of Moodle Archive.

To restore course information from a backup .zip file:

1. In Moodle, select the course to which you want to add the information.
2. Click “Restore” from the column on the left.
   
3. Upload the backup of the course.  As with all Moodle uploads, there is a size limit of 50 MB.  If your file is larger than that, please contact your academic technologist.  You can check the file size on a Mac by ctrl-clicking (right-clicking) and choosing Get Info or on a PC by right-clicking and choosing Properties.
   1. Click “Upload a file.”
   2. Click “Browse…”
   3. Find the backup file that you downloaded. It will be on your desktop unless you moved it.
   4. Click “Upload this file.”
4. Restore the uploaded backup:
   1. Click “Restore” next to the file name.
   2. Click “Yes.”
   3. Select “Continue” at the bottom of the page.
   4. Select what to restore:
      1. On the left-hand side is a list of all the activities of the course. Click “All” to restore all of them, “None” to restore none, or check a selection of items individually.
      2. If User Data was saved, on the right-hand side is a list of User Data connected to these activities. Restore all by clicking “All”, none by clicking “None”, and some by unchecking the unwanted ones. If you restore the User Data, it will be accessible in the current course.  We recommend against this.
      3. At the bottom of the page are more options, some of which may not be available depending on how the backup was made.
         1. Metacourse: Select No unless the course is a metacourse.
         2. Users: Select None.
         3. Logs: Select No.
         4. User Files: Choose Yes or No. These are files added by students.
         5. Course files: Select Yes to include course resources.
         6. Site files: Select yes to include any files used in the course.
      4. Under “Role mappings” (if it appears) make sure “Teacher (editingteacher)” is selected.
   5. Click Continue.
   6. Click “Restore this course now!”
   7. The next page will say “Restore completed successfully” at the bottom of the page. Click Continue again.
5. The new course now has all of the information from the old course.

To import course information from a previous course in the same academic year:

Note: You must be an editing teacher for both the original and destination course sites to do this.

1. In Moodle, select the course to which you want to add the information.
2. Click “Import” from the column on the left.
3. Select the course and click “Use this course”:
4. You may choose which activities to copy over into the new course. Click “All” to restore all of them, “None” to restore none, or check a selection of items individually.
   
5. Under “Course files” and "Site files" select “Yes.”
   
6. Click Continue.
7. Click Continue on the confirmation page.
8. The next page confirms successful exporting of data. Click Continue again.
9. Wait a few moments until the bottom of the page says the import is complete.
10. Click Continue again.
11. The old course information is now in the new course.