The front page or home page of your Totara Learn site operates much like a standard course page and offers a range of blocks and content options.
Site Administrators and users with permission to edit the front page, can add or remove blocks, add, edit or delete activities or resources, and set general appearance options.
The front page also supports the use of filters, can be backed-up and restored, and offers a range of in-built reports.
(The video above is taken from the Dashboards and basic theming course in the Totara Academy).
Front page settings
The Front page settings area allows administrators to configure a range of site-wide and front page settings.
Front page settings may be found under Administration > Front page settings > Edit settings.
| Setting | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full site name | The full name of your Totara Learn site. | Your site full name will also be displayed across your browser tab(s). |
| Short name for site | The short name appears at the beginning of the navigation bar as a link back to your site front page. | - |
| Front page summary | An optional setting enabling you to add a short description of your site in a block on the front page. | This summary can be displayed on the front page using the Course/site summary block. |
| Include a topic section | This adds a single topic section to the centre top of the front page. | When editing is turned on, resources and/or activities can be added to the topic section using the Add an activity or resource option. |
| The number of Site Announcement forum posts shown on the front page | Select Add a new topic... within the Latest announcement block to add new announcements. | |
| Set the default role all authenticated users will be assigned when viewing the Front page. | Please see Roles for more information on assigning and managing front page roles. | |
| Display an add course button | Check this box to add an Add a new course button to the Front page. | The Add a new course button displays above the front page centre block region, when editing is switched on. |
Front page centre block region
Dashboards and the Front page feature a centre block region, allowing Front page editors to add content and navigation blocks.
Turn editing on and click on the Add Block button (
). Find and select the required block from the list provided. Any number of blocks may be added to this centre area.
Previous front page configuration
In versions 11 and earlier of Totara Learn, administrators were required to add content and navigation items to the centre column of the Front page via Administration > Front page settings > Edit settings.
The following table describes the block replacements from the previous content and navigation display options now available in Totara version 12 onwards:
| Version 11 and earlier | Version 12 and later | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Announcements | Latest Announcements block | - |
| List of courses | Courses and categories block | The Courses and categories block has a range of display options. Select Configure block and choose Display: Courses only |
| Enrolled courses | My Current Courses or My Current Learning | By default administrators will see all courses, displayed as Categories. |
| List of categories | Courses block or Courses and categories block | The Courses and categories block has a range of display options. Select Configure block and choose Display: Categories |
| Combo list | Courses and categories block | The Courses and categories block has a range of display options. Select Configure block and choose Display: Courses nested in categories |
| Course search box | Course search block | - |
| Add a new course button (shown at the bottom of screen) | Add a new course button (shown above the front page centre block region) | - |
Additionally, there were a number of display settings within Administration > Front page settings > Edit settings that, from version 12 onward have been moved to other areas within the site:
| Setting | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum category depth | This can now be set within the Courses and categories block. | This setting determines how many levels of sub/child category will be displayed when using the Courses nested in categories or Categories only display options. |
| Course limit | This can now be set within the Courses and categories block. | This option determines the maximum number of courses to be displayed on the site's front page when using the Courses nested in categories or Courses only display options. |
| This is now available within Administration > Advanced Features. | This option specifies the maximum number of comments that will be displayed, when using the Comments functionality. |
In order for the Current courses block to be available, the Course Progress report block must be enabled at the site level (it is disabled by default).
The Courses and Categories block is also disabled by default.
Please see Blocks for information on enabling and managing blocks
The Totara Academy has a whole course dedicated to using Dashboards and basic theming in Totara Learn. Here you can learn more on how to customise your site's appearance, see best practice, and give it a go yourself.
