The Announcements feature in the General section at the top of the page is a one-way forum for instructors to post class announcements such as reminders about class sessions and notifications about changes in plan. By default, all class participants are subscribed to this forum, which means that they will receive a copy of each announcement via email—even if the course has not yet been made available to students. Messages will remain posted in the Announcements link throughout the term and the five most recent announcements will be displayed in the “Latest news” block in the right column. Note that there is a 15-minute delay on sending out these posts, so you won't see a copy of an announcement in your in-box for a little while. 

While we recommend using Announcements for posting a welcome message for your students, you may prefer to welcome them in a textbox (for a shorter announcement) or in a web page (for a longer announcement). Instructions for creating messages in textboxes and web pages are found below.

Important Features

• Although Moodle considers this feature a forum, it is not a true discussion forum—only the instructor can post messages to it and students may not reply in it.
• Do not attempt to use the Announcements feature as a discussion forum, as students will not be able to post replies in it.
• By default, all course users are subscribed to this forum; students may not "opt out" of being subscribed to it unless you change the subscription mode (not recommended).

Post an Announcement

A common error with this feature is to begin by clicking on the edit icon. Don't do it! You need to open the link in order to create an announcement.

1. Click on Announcements to open the link.
2. Click on the Add discussion topic link.
3. Enter a subject line and message.

Click on Post to forum to send a simple message or click on Advanced to attach a file or take advantage of other options described below .

Advanced Options

• Drag and drop a file into the file picker to attach it to your message.
• Pin a message to always display it at the top of the list of Announcements.
• Send your announcement without the standard 15-minute editing window.
• Use the Display period options to release a message at a particular date and time and/or remove an announcement from the list beginning on a particular date and time. (Handy for drafting standard messages ahead of time and releasing them at key points of the term!)

Deleting an Announcements Link

When you import a course from a prior term, its Announcements link will be copied over along with all the rest of the course content. The topmost Announcements link is the one you need to keep—any other Announcement links should be deleted (turn editing on in your course and click the item’s edit link to select Delete).

If you try to delete all the Announcements links in your course, you’ll find that Moodle will create a new link the next time you open your course. If you do not plan to use this feature and want to remove it, open the Edit link associated with the Announcements link on the course main page and click on Hide. To remove the link entirely, click on Settings at the top of the page and open the Appearance options. In the Number of announcements field, select zero. Save changes. Now you can delete the Announcements link and it will stay deleted!

Inserting a Textbox as a Welcome Announcement

If you have a short welcome message and you'd like your students to see it whenever they access the course, you can enter your message in a textbox. (If you use a textbox, we recommend hiding it after the first week of class so that students don’t have to scroll past it to access course activities.)

1. With editing turned on, click on Add an activity or resource in the General area at the top of the course.
2. Select Textbox.
3. Enter your message in the textbox.
4. If desired, use the toolbar to apply formatting to your text.
5. You can safely ignore the Restrict access settings. If your course is set up to allow Completion tracking, you may allow students to check off this resource when they have reviewed it.
6. Click on Save and return to course.

Posting a Welcome Announcement in a Web Page

Longer announcements can be posted in a web page with a title such as "Welcome Message." See this article for instructions on creating a web page.