Hosting Onboarding Guide

You’re now part of a vibrant e-learning community spread over more than 200 countries. So, what next?

Getting started

As part of our onboarding process, all new clients get access to the e-Learn Design Moodle space, where you’ll find multiple version-based How to Moodle guides. From admin help to tips on creating app-friendly courses, there’s plenty of information available. But first, follow these basic steps to start your Moodle journey:

Step 1: Update your Moodle password

As soon as we set up your new Moodle site, we send your login details over. In order to maintain security, when you first log in, you’ll be asked to update the generic password to one only you know.

TIP: If you can’t see the email, check your spam folder or get in touch to ask for it to be resent.

Step 2: Configure your DNS

We always set up new Moodle sites on a temporary domain. This gives clients time to decide what they want their personalised domain to be, register it, and then configure the settings at their convenience. There are two bits to this process:

1. Direct your URL to your LMS. If e-Learn Design has handled your domain registration, we can do this bit for you. If you’re using a third-party provider (e.g. 123 Reg), we will provide you with the required settings, then you can log into your domain provider account, go to the control panel, and add the entry yourself.

TIP: Don’t forget to tell us what the new domain is going to be so we can set it up on our servers.

2. Configure your DNS settings. If e-Learn Design is responsible for your domain registration, DNS will be configured as part of the setup completion process. Otherwise, so that Gmail and Outlook users can receive your Moodle site emails, and if you are using our mailservers (Default) and sending from your own domain, you need to add e-Learn Design’s mail servers to your SPF record. If you have multiple domains, you’ll need to do this for all of them.

If you already have an SPF record, it should look something like this:

You’ll need to add mailx.e-learndesign.co.uk to the TXT record. You can insert this manually in the value field, and your TXT record should now look like this:

If you don’t already have an SPF record, simply add the above value in.

TIP: If you’re using a third party and are uncomfortable making the updates yourself but are happy to pass on access details for your DNS control panel, we can make the changes for you.

Step 3: Register with Moodle

Registering your site with Moodle gives you and your users access to the Moodle Mobile App, allowing the use of your site across multiple devices. Log into your site, then go to:

Settings > Site administration > Registration

You can learn more about the benefits of registration here.

TIP: If you’re hosting with e-Learn Design, you get the Moodle Mobile App Premium service for free! Once you’ve registered, let us know, and we’ll get it all set up.

Troubleshooting FAQs

Check your spam folder for an email titled ‘New user account’. Still can’t find it? Then get in touch to ask for the details to be resent.

Check your spam folder for an email titled ‘e-Learn Design Ltd: New user account‘, then mark the domain @e-learndesign.co.uk as Not Junk to ensure you always get our notifications. Still can’t find it? Get in touch to ask for the details to be resent.

Go to your site login page, then click on Forgotten username or password. There, you’ll be given the option to use your username or email address to trigger new access instructions.

There are three places to look for answers if emails aren’t being received:

1. Check your Messaging settings. Go to:

Site administration > Messaging > Messaging settings

Make sure that this is set to Default (Empty), which will then use our email servers. If you have your own mailservers defined, check that these settings are still valid.

2. Check your DNS settings. Go to your control panel for your domain, and ensure that the SPF TXT record contains either our mailservers, or the mailservers you have manually defined.

3. Check your email logs. If you’re using our mailservers, log a ticket with our helpdesk mentioning the email address that is having issues so we can investigate what’s happening. If you’re using external mailservers, you’ll need to contact their helpdesk with the same information.

Usually, it’s because you’re linking images from a resource that students don’t have access to. Images are visible for the admin because they have access to everything, but if you copy/paste an image source, it won’t be visible to a different course user.

To rectify this, upload the image directly to the course, then test by logging in as the user themselves to confirm that the image is now visible. Happily, Moodle will automatically de-duplicate files, so you don’t have to worry about this impacting your data usage.

If a forum has been set to Announcements, students won’t have permission to post there. Alternatively, check Common Module Settings to make sure group mode is set to the group you want to give access to.

e-Learn Design hosting services are priced on resource (data usage). If you use more data than your level allows, you will need to upgrade to cover the extra. Every week, we let you know if you’ve reached your level (for informational purposes) or gone over your level (to allow you to clear down and avoid an upgrade).

For many clients, it’s simply a matter of clearing out unwanted files, so to actively manage your usage, go to:

Site administration > Reports > Course size report

If you don’t have that report enabled, download it here:

https://moodle.org/plugins/report_coursesize

When you delete the files, some will end up in the trash, temporarily increasing usage. After a day or so, they will clear back down, and your usage will drop down again.

If e-Learn Design is handling your domains, we set up your certificate to auto-renew, so you don’t need to worry about security notifications. For peace of mind, click on the padlock icon in your browser, then choose Connection is secure > Certificate is valid to see all dates and details.

If your domain is registered and managed through a third party, you’ll need to get in touch with them directly or update the certificate yourself in the control panel and then provide us with the certificate files so we can apply them to your site.

ELD Moodle space: The best place to get up-to-date guidance is from the Moodle.org Main Page, but finding what you need isn’t always easy, so the ELD Moodle space has a series of version-based How to Moodle Guides that direct you to the appropriate resources.

Moodle forums and FAQs: Go to the Moodle user FAQs page. Still can’t find what you’re looking for? Follow the instructions here to see if the wider community already has an answer.

ELD Helpdesk: If you’re a new hosting client with e-Learn Design, you can take advantage of the Quick Fix Promise. If we can fix it in 15 minutes or less, you get it for free! If a fix will take longer than the QFP can accommodate (or falls outside its remit), we’ll give you a timescale and price. Raise a query through https://helpdesk.e-learndesign.co.uk/.

QuickStart Support: If you just need a boost at the beginning, we offer time-restricted bundles of hours to help you get off the ground. Find an overview of all prices here.