Moodle: Blocks: CPS: Request a Blueprint Course

Instructors can use a blueprint course to streamline course creation and maintain consistency across sections. Blueprint courses can be accessed at any time and students are never enrolled in them, allowing instructors to experiment with course design and structure without affecting an active teaching course. Once the content is finalized, instructors can create a backup of the blueprint course and either restore or import it into the teaching course to make it available to students.

Tip: Set your blueprint course visibility to Show while while making changes to ensure that automated weekly backups include the latest edits from the past two weeks. Once your changes are complete, manually create a backup file, as automated weekly backups are deleted after 180 days of inactivity.

For guidance on restoring or importing content into any Moodle course, refer to GROK article #20178: Moodle: Backup and Restore Overview.

Each instructor is allowed one blueprint course per course number using the Course Preferences method described below. For courses not listed on the request form, including LSU Online or 5-week summer courses, instructors can contact the Faculty Technology Center to request manual creation. Additionally, if you need to delete content from an existing blueprint course or remove an unused one, reach out to the Faculty Technology Center.
 

To Initiate a Blueprint Course Creation Request:

1. Log in to Moodle.
    
2. Click on Blueprint Course in the Course Preferences block at the bottom of the front page of Moodle.
   • If you do not see the Course Preferences block, you can add it via the following article: Moodle: Course Tools: Adding a Block

3. Check the box next to any courses for which you want blueprint courses created.
   
   Note: If you have previously checked the box next to a course and you remove the checkmark, you will be removed from that blueprint course when you save. If you then re-check the box next to the course, you will be added back as primary instructor if that blueprint course has not been deleted.

4. Click the Save changes button.