Skip to main content
Version: main (5.1)

Moodle 5.1 developer update

This page highlights the important changes that are coming in Moodle 5.1 for developers.

Code Structure​

Since 5.1

Most of the Moodle codebase, including all plugins, has been moved into a new public directory within the Moodle web root.

Most Moodle tooling has already been updated to support this, but minor web server reconfiguration will be required to support this.

See the Restructure documentation for further information on some of the changes required.

Course format: activity chooser is now in core_courseformat​

Since 5.1

The activity chooser logic and templates have been relocated from core_course to core_courseformat. This change may impact themes that override the activity chooser rendering, but it also enables format plugins to provide custom outputs and templates for activity chooser elements, similar to other course content components. For details on how format can override outputs, see the overriding output classes from course format plugin page.s

How to check if your plugin is affected:

For theme plugins, review whether any of the following templates are overridden:

  • core_course/activitychooser (now in core_courseformat/activitychooser)
  • core_course/activitychooserbutton (now in core_courseformat/local/content/activitychooserbutton)
  • Any template in core_course/local/activitychooser (now in core_courseformat/local/activitychooser)

Additionally, renderer methods for loading the activity chooser have changed. Check if your format or theme overrides the following method:

  • core_course_renderer::course_activitychooser (no longer used)

What you need to do:

  • Move any overridden templates or AMD modules to their new locations in core_courseformat.
  • Follow any deprecation notices for the activity chooser.
Since 5.1

The activity chooser UI now features a dedicated footer button for adding the selected activity to the course. The logic for managing the activity chooser footer has moved to course/amd/src/local/activitychooser/dialogue.js, which now controls the visibility of the back and add buttons based on the modal's content. This update may impact plugins that implement custom activity chooser footers.

How to determine if your plugin is affected:

  • Check if your plugin provides a custom_chooser_footer implementation. You can do this by searching your plugin's lib.php for a function named PLUGINTYPE_PLUGINNAME_custom_chooser_footer.
  • If your plugin implements this function, review your footer AMD module to see if it calls modal.setFooter(...). To identify the AMD module, look at the first parameter passed when creating a new core_course\local\entity\activity_chooser_footer instance in your custom_chooser_footer function—this is the $footerjspath.

What you need to do:

  • In most cases, simply remove the modal.setFooter(...) call from your AMD module, as the new activity chooser footer now manages this logic for you.
  • For more advanced customizations, ensure you use the course/templates/local/activitychooser/footer.mustache template to render your custom footer content.

Course format: max sections setting is now deprecated​

Since 5.1

The maxsections setting in course formats is now deprecated. Previously, this setting was used to limit the number of sections in a course. Starting with Moodle 5.1, courses can have an unlimited number of sections.

Although the maxsections setting remains available for now, it is marked as deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 6.0. Also, the get_max_sections from core_courseformat\base is also deprecated and will be removed in Moodle 6.0.

If your format plugin relies on maxsections, you should add a custom setting in your plugin to control section limits. For reference, see the week format plugin, which now uses its own setting for this functionality.

Course format: new activity chooser rendering​

Since 5.1

The activity chooser in course formats has been refactored to use a new rendering approach. It now includes additional attributes such as data-section-id and data-returnsectionid, and the course renderer method for the activity chooser has changed.

This update primarily affects format plugins that customize section or activity card rendering. If your plugin calls course_section_add_cm_control, you should update it to use the new section_add_cm_controls method.

For themes that override activity chooser templates, ensure that the activity chooser button includes the required data-section-id and the data-returnsectionid attributes.