Moving and reordering content in a Brightspace course

About this article

This article demonstrates how to move and reorder modules and topics in a table of contents (TOC) in a Desire2Learn (D2L) course. It is intended for instructors.

What's the root?

D2L and this article use the term, root, when describing how modules and sub-modules can be moved in a TOC. Root refers to the top level of the TOC, above which there are no parent modules.

What's moving?

Moving refers to removing a module, sub-module, or topic from its current position in a TOC and placing it in another position. D2L allows instructors to move modules, sub-modules, and topics by dragging and dropping them (see YouTube video) or by using the following functions:

• Move Up/Down - This function moves a topic or sub-module up/down one position in the content outline within their parent modules. It also moves modules on the root up/down one position.
• Move To - This function allows an instructor to select a parent module to which to move a sub-module or topic.
• Send to root - This function moves a sub-module to the root.

Instructions

For all of the instructions below, first open a D2L course and select the Materials menu, and select Content. This will take you to the Manage Content tab of the Content tool.

Moving modules up or down

1. Select modules and/or topics and then select Move (Figure 1). This will take you to the Move Selected Items screen.
2. Select a new parent module and then select the Move button (Figure 2).

Reordering

1. Open up a D2L course, select the Materials menu, and select Content. This will take you to the Manage Content tab of the Content tool.
2. Select the the More Actions drop down menu and select Reorder (Figure 3). This will take you to the Reorder screen. You may have to select the expand + button the the left of module names to display the child items. You can also select the Expand all link to expand all of them at once (Figure 4).
3. Adjust the numbers in the sort order using the drop down arrows next to each number to reorder sub-modules and topics within a parent module and/or to reorder parent modules.
4. Select the Save button to accept the changes.

Additional Information

• If you are trying to move something to a module that doesn't exist yet, you can either go back and create the module or you can use the add module link on the Move Selected Items screen (Figure 2).
• You can also select Reorder from the Actions drop down menu to the right of each module name in the TOC. This will allow you to focus on reordering the items within that specific parent module.

Pro Tips

• Don't try to reorder everything all at once, especially if you have a complex TOC. Make one change and save it, make another change and save it, etc.

Fig 1. Move the module up, down, or to another module

Fig 2. Select a new parent module

Fig 3. Select reorder from the More Actions menu

Fig 4. Adjust the sort order numbers

Related Articles

• Content in D2L
• Adding a content module to a D2L course
• Adding a content topic to a D2L course
• Short titles in D2L
• Enumeration in a D2L table of contents
• Restricting D2L content access
• Learning objectives in D2L (coming soon)