The Welcome Window Widget displays a pop-up message the first time a user logs into a course. This message can include text, images, and even short videos. Course creators and administrators can easily edit and update the content in the pop-up message and can include as many pages in the pop-up window as needed. The Welcome Window Widget is the perfect tool to welcome users, help orient them to the structure and navigation of the course, and set them up for success.

The Course Welcome Window Widget is automatically connected to any module with the title “Welcome” created in the course content. The pop-up will be populated with content you have uploaded within the Welcome module.

The pop-up will be displayed each time a user logs on to the course until they select the “Dismiss” button within the window. This button will appear after the user has visited all pages on the pop-up window.

Once dismissed, the pop-up can also be accessed on the course homepage by scrolling to the bottom widget labeled “Course Welcome” and selecting the large blue button “Launch the Quick Guide”.

Populating the Course Welcome pop-up module content:

Step 1: Go to the course content and create a module with a title that contains the keyword “welcome”.

Step 2: Within the “Welcome” module, upload/create content to be displayed to the learner in the pop-up when they enter the course. A large variety of course content can be displayed within the Course Welcome pop-up, but some items work better than others. HTML files, videos, pdfs, and other items will display within the pop-up window, but items such as Word documents will prompt the user to download the file instead of displaying it within the pop-up. Always test the pop-up to verify that items are displaying properly.

Creating an HTML File with a Template

The Course Welcome Widget can be populated with content created by HTML file templates that are preloaded into the course.

Step 1: Within the Welcome module select “Upload/Create”, then select “Create a File”.

Step 2: After a new HTML file has been created, you will need to give it a Title and then select the dropdown to the right “Select a Document Template”.

The document templates provide a variety of visually appealing preformatted pages that can be customized by replacing the pictures and content. It is also possible to add content without utilizing the Document Templates, simply start typing within the HTML file and format as needed.

Step 3: After adding content to the file select “Save and Close”.

Important Notes

Each File/Video/Object within the Welcome module will add an additional page to the Course Welcome Widget pop-up. This pop-up can contain as much or as little information as needed.

Please note, even if the Welcome module you create is hidden from students in the main content area, the files contained within the module will still show within the pop-up window of the homepage.

Courses without a Content module containing the keyword “welcome” in the title will not show the Course Welcome Module popup. If you want a Course Welcome popup to be included in your course, be sure to rename a module to contain the “welcome” keyword. If you do not want your course to contain a Course Welcome popup but you still see one popping up every time you log in, check the course content and rename any module that has the keyword “welcome” to remove it.