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Creating a Template
Introduction
WebCTs Help for: Managing Templates, German Version, French Version.
WebCTs Help for: Creating Templates, in German, in French.
This page provides you with a step by step instruction to create a template. Further information can be found in Part 4, Chapter 36, Sect: "Template Manager" in Designers and Instructors Reference, WebCT Vista 4 (pdf, 2.5 MB). Get UN & PW at edutech Vista Support.
Instructions
Both administrators and designers can create templates, but only designers can build the template by adding tools and course content.
If you are Domain Designers, Institution Designers, Group Designers, and Course Designers do the following:
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- In your 'My WebCT' select the Content Manager tab and there the Template Manager button.
- In the "Template Manager" screen, choose the target Learning Context.
- Click "Create Template". The "Create Template" screen appears.
- In the "Name" text box, enter the template name. This name appears when you search for templates.
- In the "Keywords" text box, enter one or more keywords that identify the template when you search for templates. To separate keywords, use commas.
- In the "Description" text box, enter a useful description for the template. Template descriptions are used to identify templates that have been assigned to sections. Descriptions also appear on the "View Information" pop-up window.
- Save the template.
- Click the name of the new template to go to its homepage and start the design process.
Alternative ways to create templates
- In Template Manager, you can create a template using content you import. Types of content you can import include:
- WebCT Vista assessments (quizzes, self-tests, surveys), learning modules, and questions in the Questions Database.
- WebCT Campus Edition (CE) courses or components which include content modules, quizzes, surveys, and questions
- LRN content from third party applications including, Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, Microsoft FrontPage web sites and HTML files, and Respondus assessments
- e-packs available from third-party content providers
- Importing Content into an existing template. You can import the following types of content into an existing template:
- WebCT Vista assessments (quizzes, self-tests, surveys), learning modules, and questions in the Questions Database
- WebCT Campus Edition (CE) courses, content modules, quizzes, surveys, and questions
- LRN content from third-party applications including, Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, Microsoft FrontPage web sites and HTML files, and Respondus assessments
- Transforming a section into a template
- See next chapter
- Before you begin ensure that the zip file containing the exported content is on your local drive, on an accessible network drive, or already uploaded into the Content Manager.
- When the import process is complete, enter the template to view the imported content. Newly imported components are added to the course's content inventory. You must still add the content to the Home Page or another organizer page.
Transforming a section into a templates
To do this you use the "Copy" tool. You will need to decide if you want to create a linked (Keep subscription) or an unlinked (Full copy) copy of the section. The latter choice means that files from the section are copied into the new template and any changes made to the files in the section are not reflected in the new template.
Important: Member data contained in the section is not copied to the template. Therefore, although Grade Book columns and Group Manager groups are copied, neither contain any member data. In addition, any selective release criteria that are based on section members become invalid in the template. Before assigning the template to a new section, delete the invalid criteria.
- From the Template Manager screen, navigate to the section that you want to copy as a template.
- Click Save this Section as Template. The Content Browser pop-up window appears.
- Navigate to the learning context for which you have the permissions to paste the template.
- Next to Subscription options, select how you want to copy files from the section to the template:
- To keep existing file subscriptions and copy all other files, select Keep subscriptions.
- To copy all files, select Fully Copy. This transforms all existing file subscriptions in the section to file copies in the template.
- Click OK. The Manage Permissions pop-up window appears.
- Under Template status, do one of the following:
- To make the template private, select Private.
- To make the template public, select Public.
- Under Template permissions, from the Ownership drop-down list, select a user in the destination learning context as the template owner.
- If you want to assign editors to the template, next to Editorship, select one or more users in the destination learning context.
- Click Save. The Template Manager screen appears and the section is copied to the template.