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Cobra Learning - Manage Files
Manage Files
The Manage Files tool is a file management system for your course. You can use this tool to organize and upload files associated with your course offering. We recommend that you organize your files into folders, creating a folder for each module of content. The functions you can perform in Manage Files can be divided into the following two categories:
- Organizing and managing files and folders Perform basic tasks such as creating, editing, deleting, uploading, moving files and folders, and zipping and unzipping files.
- Creating topics from your files Create topics using files from your course content structure.
Manage Files user interface
Accessing Manage Files
- Click Course Admin on the navbar, then click Manage Files.
Uploading and downloading files in Manage Files
Manage Files enables you to select and upload files from your computer to Cobra Learning. You can upload most file types, but ensure that users have the appropriate software to view these files.
Though you can upload most file types to a content directory in Manage Files, only files with specific extensions can be used as content topics. For a list of unsupported file types and extensions, see Restricted file extensions.
Upload files
- On the Manage Files page, navigate to the folder that you want to upload files to.
- Click Upload.
- Click Browse to locate the file you want to upload.
- You can click Add Another File to upload multiple files.
- Click Upload.
Note File names cannot end with a '.' character, and cannot contain: \ / : * ? " < > |
Download files or folders
- On the Manage Files page, navigate to the folder you want to download files from.
- Select the check boxes beside the files or folders you want to download.
- Click the Download icon from the action bar.
- From the pop-up window, click on the ZIP file that is created.
- Use your browser’s save dialog to save the file to your desired location.
Creating HTML and TXT files in Manage Files
You can create and edit HTML and TXT files directly from Manage Files.
Create a new HTML or TXT file
- On the Manage Files page, click on the folder where you want add a new file on the folder tree.
- Click New File.
- Enter a File Name and create your content with the HTML Editor. To create a TXT file, append .TXT to your file name.
- Click Create.
Editing an existing HTML or TXT file in Manage Files
- On the Manage Files page, locate the HTML or TXT file you want to edit.
- Click Edit File from the file's context menu.
- Use the HTML Editor to edit your content.
- Click Save.
Zipping and unzipping files and folders in Manage Files
Zip a file or folder in Manage Files
Tip This is useful for archiving files on the server.
- On the Manage Files page, select the check boxes beside the files or folders you want to compress.
- Click the Zip icon on the action bar. The files are compressed into the current folder.
Unzip a file or folder in Manage Files
Tip This is a good way to upload multiple files and folder structures all at once.
- On the Manage Files page, go to the folder where you want to extract files.
- Upload your ZIP file. See Uploading and downloading files at the top of this document to learn more about uploading files.
- Click Unzip in the zipped file's context menu. The files are extracted into the current folder.
Creating a new folder in Manage Files
- On the Manage Files page, click on the folder where you want to add a new folder on the folder tree.
- Click New Folder.
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Enter a new folder name and click Save.
Note Avoid using multiple consecutive periods when naming folders. This can create broken links.
Copying a file or folder in Manage Files
- On the Manage Files page, select the check box beside the folder or file you want to copy. You can copy multiple files and folders to the same location by selecting the check boxes beside those files and folders.
- Click the Copy icon in the action bar.
- Navigate to the folder where you want to place the copied content.
- Click Paste.
Moving a file or folder in Manage Files
- On the Manage Files page, select the check box beside the folder or file you want to move. You can move multiple files and folders to the same location by selecting the check boxes beside those files and folders.
- Click the Cut icon in the action bar.
- Navigate to the folder where you want to place the content you want to move.
- Click Paste.
Note Use caution when moving files and folders if they are referenced in the Content area. Moving a file that is currently in use as a topic might result in a broken link.
Opening a file or folder in Manage Files
To view a file or to open a folder on the Manage Files page, click on the name of the file or folder.
If a file requires specific software to open it, then you must have that software installed on your computer. For example, you must have Microsoft PowerPoint installed to open a PowerPoint file.
Renaming a file or folder in Manage Files
- On the Manage Files page, click Rename from the context menu of the file or folder you want to rename.
- Enter in a new name for the file or folder.
- Click Save.
Note If you rename a file in use as a topic in your course, it automatically updates the file reference in the Manage Content area.
Sorting files and folders in Manage Files
Click on the corresponding column header to sort files and folders ascending or descending by name, size, type, or last modified date.
Viewing properties of a file or folder in Manage Files
On the Manage Files page, file and folder properties such as Size, Type, and Last Modified Date are displayed on the file grid. The Link icon beside a file name indicates that the file is in use as a content topic.
Creating a Content topic in Manage Files
You can create a content topic using a file directly from Manage Files. In Manage Files, a link icon displays beside files in use as content topics.
Create a content topic from the Manage Files area
- On the Manage Files page, select the check boxes beside the files you want to designate as topics.
- Click the Add Content Topics icon from the action bar.
- On the Add Multiple Topics page, choose a Parent Module for the topics from the drop-down list.
- Enter new the Topic Titles.
- Click Add.
Note If you rename a file that is a topic in your course, it automatically updates the file reference in the Manage Content area.
Applying content permissions on folders in Manage Files
If your organization enables the enrollment security config variable, users with the role permission Access Course Files When Enrollment Security is Enabled can access Manage Files to view and download course files.
If you want to hide specific course files from users, you can store those files in protected folders using folder names that begin with a dot (for example, “.personal_notes”). You can also rename existing folders to protect them. Protected folders are only accessible to users with the See File Listing role permission.
Apply content permissions on folders
Create a folder, or edit an existing folder and add a period at the start of its name (for example, “.personal_notes”).
Deleting a file or folder in Manage Files
- On the Manage Files page, select the check box beside the file or folder that you want to delete. You can delete multiple files or folders all at once by selecting the check boxes beside those files or folders.
- Click the Delete icon on the action bar.