Working with Templates

Think of the course template as a master course. The course template will never contain student data. You will place all of your course content, quiz questions, syllabi, handouts, etc., in your course template. Within the template you will also determine what tools (mail, discussions, grades, etc.) you would like to add to your course toolbar and make available to your students.

At the start of every new semester, Marshall University's WebCT Administrators will create a SECTION (a word Vista uses for "courses"), for each of the course numbers and sections you will be offering. Your assign the TEMPLATE you want to use to the SECTIONS(S) you are teaching. All of the tools and content you added to your course template will appear in the course section to which your template was assigned. Your student data will be uploaded into the sections, and all of your teaching activities will take place in the SECTION. This is your "live" course

For easy instructions on how to assign your TEMPLATE to a SECTION, click here.

To summarize:

• The instructor builds course template
• Template is applied to section
• Student data is uploaded into section
• Instructor teaches the section

Creating or Editing Course Templates

To access an existing template or to create a new one, please follow these instructions:

1. Start your browser and enter the URL for the WebCT Vista Login page (http://vista.marshall.edu) in the address box
2. Login using your MU ID and PIN
3. All courses and course sections to which you have access will display in your Course List
4. Click the title of the course for which you want to edit or create a template

Opening Your Template

1. After you have logged into the course, you will see two tabs: Template Manager and File Manager - Click on Template Manager.
2. Click the title of your template to open it and proceed to the Template Interface step below
3. If you need to create a template, click the Create Template button.
4. On the Create Template screen you will be asked to enter a title, keywords, and a description.
   Tip: Do not use special characters or punctuation in your template title, or Vista will reject it!
5. Click Save. You will be returned to the Template Manager screen and will see your new template title.
6. Click the template title to open it.

Template Interface

When you first login to a newly created template, you will see a default Marshall University Template screen (below). You will not see the Teach or Student View tabs that are available in the SECTION that you teach.

The two tabs at the top of the screen called Build and View Template are the two primary views of the course template interface.

BUILD
When you want to build or add content to the template, you will click the Build tab. The tools available to you in the course template are identical to the ones in the course section.

VIEW TEMPLATE
When you want to preview the template, you will click the View Template tab. Because you are working with a template and not the actual course section you will be teaching, you will not be able to practice taking exams or submitting assignments as a student. You will not be able to compose email or discussion messages, or post grades at the template level either.

Now that I have created a template, what do I do?

You have several options.

	This icon allows you to view the information you included when you created your template. If you want to change the information you will click on the next icon , the edit icon.
	The permission icon allows you to add other people as editors of your template if they have course-level access. If you need to add someone who does not already have course-level access as a designer, you can email our technical staff with your request.
	This icon allows you to copy the template. If you have several variations of the same course and they all include some of the same information, you can create one template, add this information into that template and then copy the template for the other variations.
	If you accidentally created a template in the wrong course area, you can move the template into the correct course area using this icon.
	The last icon is for deleting the template. DO NOT delete any templates. This can create unexpected problems for you. Until further notice, we strongly recommend that you do not delete any templates at all.