Places, dates, and closing a course

Three separate controls, often confused, in the course settings.

A limit on places

Under Enrollment. Zero means no limit.

When the limit is reached the course page says Course full rather than hiding the Enroll button — somebody who was told to join sees what has happened instead of thinking the link is broken.

The count includes everybody on the course, staff as well as students. A limit of 30 on a course with two instructors and an assistant leaves 27 places.

Dates

Also under Enrollment. Outside the window the course page is readable but cannot be joined, and the Dates line says when it opens.

These dates are about joining, not about the content. People already enrolled keep their access after the end date — the window closes the door, it does not empty the room. If you want the content itself to arrive over time, that is Releasing modules on a schedule.

Three ways to stop a course

Under Status, and they are different sizes of stop:

Hidden

Out of the course list, still reachable by address. People on it carry on normally. Use it for a course that is running but should not be advertised.

Inactive

Out of the list and unreachable by anybody but staff. Enrolled learners lose access — their work is kept, and comes back if you make it active again.

Closed to new people

Not a status at all: set enrolment to by invitation and the Enroll button goes. Everybody already on it is unaffected and carries on. This is usually what people mean by “close the course”.

Which to use

• A cohort has started and you do not want latecomers — close it to new people.
• The course is retired but its results still matter — hidden, or inactive if nobody should be reading it.
• You are about to sell places on it — it must be by invitation, or the places are worthless. See Closing a course before you sell places in it.

Switching a course off while it is in a bundle leaves the bundle promising something nobody can take, and anybody holding an invitation for that bundle is covered for a course that will not open. Grapevine warns you at the moment you do it.