Course Description Rich Text Editor
Course Description Rich Text Editor
Available from: v1.0.76
The course description field now supports rich text formatting. Course authors can go beyond plain prose to create structured, visually clear course overviews that help learners quickly understand what a course covers and what they will gain from it.
Supported Formatting
The editor supports a focused set of formatting options designed for course descriptions:
- Bold — Emphasise key terms, outcomes, or prerequisites.
- Italic — Highlight titles, technical terms, or subtle emphasis.
- Bullet lists — Break down learning objectives, topics covered, or requirements into scannable lists.
- Links — Add inline hyperlinks to external resources, prerequisite courses, or supporting materials.
How to Format a Course Description
- Navigate to Courses in the admin panel.
- Open an existing course or create a new one.
- Click into the Description field — the rich text toolbar appears above the editor area.
- Type or paste your description content.
- Select text and use the toolbar buttons (or keyboard shortcuts below) to apply formatting.
- Save the course — formatted content is immediately reflected on the learner-facing course overview page.
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Windows / Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Bold | Ctrl + B | Cmd + B |
| Italic | Ctrl + I | Cmd + I |
Rendering on Course Overview Pages
Formatted descriptions are rendered in full on the learner-facing course overview page. Learners see the formatted output — not raw markup — so bullet points, bold text, and clickable links display exactly as authored.
Backwards Compatibility
Existing course descriptions that were written as plain text are fully preserved. They continue to display as plain paragraphs. No migration or manual update is required unless an author chooses to enhance a description with formatting.
Tips for Effective Course Descriptions
- Use a brief introductory paragraph to summarise what the course is about.
- Follow it with a bullet list of learning objectives so learners know exactly what they will walk away with.
- Use bold to call out any prerequisites or time commitments.
- Keep links descriptive — avoid raw URLs as link text.