This page provides an overview of how to navigate in Moodle. To learn more about how to navigate in Moodle, check out our detailed article (with video) about Moodle navigation in the Knowledgebase: Moodle - Navigation.

Hamburgers, Drawers, Breadcrumbs, & Gears

We use a lot of seemingly strange terms when we talk about getting around in Moodle. The advantage is, the terms are certainly memorable! It's helpful to know what the terms refer to, what they do, and where to find them:

Screen capture of a Moodle course page

  • Hamburger: Found at the very top right of a Moodle page, the hamburger opens and closes the navigation drawer.
  • Navigation drawer: Found on the left of the course page, the navigation drawer contains shortcuts to the main course content.
  • Gear: Found at the top right of the course page, the gear icon (sometimes called the "cog") opens and closes the administration menu. Note, this menu changes depending on where you are in a Moodle course. For example, if you are on the main course page, the gear opens the course admin menu. If you are in a quiz activity, the gear opens the quiz admin menu. For this reason, we call this menu "contextual".
  • Breadcrumbs: Found at the top of any Moodle page, the breadcrumbs show the path you took to get to where you are and allow you to navigate backwards.

Sections & Blocks

  • Blocks: Found on the right-hand side of a course page (under the gear icon), blocks are shortcuts to sections or activities in Moodle. In the screen capture above, there is one block, providing shortcuts to different activities in the course. Most credit courses have lots of blocks to help students find things quickly.
  • Sections: Usually used to organise different units or weeks of a course, sections separate course activities and resources. Did you notice the horizontal lines separating the different parts of this resource? The lines separate sections of the course. You can also see the different sections of the course in the navigation drawer to your left.
Last modified: Tuesday, 21 March 2023, 2:20 PM