1. KNOWLEDGE HUB
  2. Lambda Learn (Moodle & Totara)
  3. CONTENT MANAGEMENT: RESOURCES & ACTIVITIES

Setting Up The Seminar Activity (Totara)

In this article you will learn how to use and manage seminars to engage your learners with synchronous (real-time) online learning activities.

Many effective blended learning experiences offer a combination of face-to-face and online learning, and mix self-paced study with periods of direct interaction with a trainer and other learners on and offline. Using the Seminar feature you can incorporate synchronous (real-time) online learning activities as part of your course offering. You can use seminars to schedule live sessions, sign-up learners to attend, send reminders, select rooms and assets and track attendance.

TOPICS


Introduction to the Seminar Activity

The seminar activity module enables a Site Administrator or Editing Trainer to set up a booking system for one or many in-person/classroom based events.

Each event within a seminar activity can have customised settings around training room, start time, finish time, cost, capacity, etc. These can be set to run over multiple days or allow for unscheduled and wait listed events.  An activity may be set to require manager approval and trainers can configure automated notifications and event reminders for attendees.

Learners can view and sign-up for events with their attendance tracked and recorded within the grades area.

The diagram below illustrates how the Seminar activity is structured. A Seminar may hold one or many Events which may be made up of one or several Sessions. Each Session has a start and finish day and time and may be tied to a specific Room and any number of Assets.

Seminar Structure Diagram

In the topics that will follow, we will cover the settings you need to consider and the steps you need to take for effective Seminar management.

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Seminar Administration Settings

In order to add Seminar activities with Events to a course, the Seminar activity must be enabled on your site.  Site administrators can enable the Seminar activity from the Administration menu by going to Plugins > Activity modules > Manage activities. Here you will need to click the Hide/Show toggle icon (show icon,hide icon) next to the Seminar activity so that the eye icon appears open.

Activities administration

dashboard (1)-1  Seminar Administration Dashboard

The Seminar dashboard provides an overview of all seminar events across the site. A Site administrator can access a Seminar administration dashboard under the Site Administration menu via Seminars > Events report.

The dashboard is split into two tabs Events View and Sessions View.

  • Events View: Shows one row per seminar event. 
  • Sessions View: Displays one row per session date. 

Events report

Sessions report

These reports can be configured via the Report builder, the results exported to .csv, excel, .ods, or pdf, new columns and filters can be added, and each column sorted ascending or descending as required.  Administrators and users with the capability of totara/reportbuilder:manageembeddedreports can select Edit this report when viewing the dashboard or go to Reports > Report Builder > Manage embedded reports via the Site Administration menu.

The Actions column displays an icon () which provides a link directly to the corresponding Event's attendee list.

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Seminar Default Settings

To minimize any additional configurations of Seminars and Events for course creators and facilitators, a site administrator can create default settings for these based on the typical workflow or parameters set out by your organization. 

Global Settings icon Global Settings

Site administrators can manage Seminar activity settings across all seminars via Global settings.  These settings can also be accessed via the Site Administration menu via Seminars > Global settings or via Plugins > Activity modules > Seminars.

General Settings

Event roles

A user can be assigned to a particular role at event level rather than activity level. This information can also be reported on.

Available approval  options

The options selected will be available in the Require approval by setting for all Seminar activities.

Text entered below the Learner accepts terms and conditions option will be default for all activities but can be edited for each activity. Selected Site level administrative approvers are automatically added to all Seminar activities and can not be removed from within any given activity.

Site level administrative approvers

Selected Site level administrative approvers are automatically added to all seminar activities and can not be removed from within any given activity.

Other administrative approvers can be added to each seminar activity.

Users select manager

Recommended when manager assignment data is not available. When enabled and a Seminar Activity requires approval by manager, the Event sign-up page will force users to search for and select a user to approve their request to attend a session each time they sign-up. The selected user will receive a notification about the request and instructions on how to approve or decline it.

Export user profile fields

The profile fields listed here will be included in the the seminar attendance export. You will need to ensure that the list is separated by commas. By default the lists is: firstname,lastname,idnumber,institution,department,email

Export custom profile fields

Include any required Custom fields (short names) in Seminar exports, separated by commas.

Add calendar filters

Select one or more fields that will be displayed as filters in the user's Calendar. To select multiple fields, hold down ctrl (Windows) or cmd (Mac) and left click the required number of fields.

Previous event time period

This specifies the length of time you want to see the previous events in the seminar page.

Show records by audience

Configure the site-wide default for showing records by audience. The Show records by audience setting restricts report results by audience so you only see data for that sub-set of users.

 

Notifications

Disable notifications Turn on/off seminar activity notification emails to users
Notification recipients The roles in the Seminar event that will receive notifications about the minimum bookings and minimum bookings cut-off point warning.
One message per date

Send multiple confirmation emails for multi-date events.

If there is more than one event date on a single day then each session will generate an email. One session spanning over multiple days will generate only one email.

Disable iCalendar cancellations Disable sending cancellation emails with iCal information.

 

Additional Features

Display event timezones When enabled the timezone of the Seminar event will be shown otherwise it will be hidden (selecting a timezone for an Event will also be enabled/disabled).
Select job assignment on signup When enabled, a setting will appear in Seminar activity settings to force users with multiple job assignments to choose which job is specific to their signup. All notifications go to the manager related to the job assignment chosen by the user. When disabled, notifications go to all of the user's managers.
Everyone on waiting list When enabled a setting will appear in Seminar event settings to put all users onto the waiting list when they sign-up regardless of event capacity.
Wait-list lottery Enable or disable Wait-list lottery.
Hide cost and discount Hide the cost, discount code and user discount code fields.
Hide discount Hide the discount cost and user discount code fields.

 

In addition to settings that apply to seminars globally, the Seminar activity has two inter-related components: the Seminar course activity and the Event(s) and Session(s) linked to that activity. 

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Seminar icon  Activity Defaults

Site administrators can manage Seminar activity default settings via the Site Administration menu within Seminars > Activity defaults.

Seminar Activity Defaults

Sign-up Workflow

These settings manage the how attendees sign-up for seminars:

  • Limits the total number of sign-ups a user can have within the seminar.
  • Restrict subsequent sign-ups based on the state of previous signups. 
  • Clearing of expired event waitlists
  • Setting Terms and Conditions (default or custom)

See Sign-Up Workflow Settings below for more details.

Manager Reservations

These settings enable Manager abilities to reserve or assign seminar on behalf of their team members:

See Manage "Reservations"  below for more details.

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Event icon  Event Defaults

Site administrators can manage Seminar Event default settings via the Site Administration menu within Seminars > Event defaults.

Event Settings

Default days ahead for added events

When creating a new Event it's start and finish dates will default to this many days in the future.

Default days ahead on week days only

Where a new Event is created, the start and finish dates created by default will only include week days.

Default start time

Default hour and minute start time for new Events.

Default days between start and finish

The default number of days between the Event start and finish.

Default finish time

Default finish hour and minute time for new Events.

Default minimum bookings

Default value for all Seminar Events. All Events can still have a custom minimum bookings when setting up a new Seminar Event.

Default CSV file delimiter

Default delimiter for all Seminar Events when using Add users via file upload under Attendees page.

See Adding attendees for more information.

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Adding Custom Fields

Seminar custom fields can be managed by Site administrators via the Administration block within Administration > Seminars > Custom fields.

Custom fields can be added to a range of forms (Sign-upUser Cancellation, Event Cancellation) and elements (EventAssetRoom) within the Seminar activity to request or provide information. 


Form Elements


Event

Fields that may be populated by a trainer, editing trainer, or administrator whenever a new Seminar Event is created and visible to learners booking/booked on the Event (e.g. whether it is an internal versus external event, what equipment an Attendee should bring).

Asset

Fields that may be populated when a new Asset is added to the system and visible to trainers, editing trainers, or administrators adding an Asset to an Event (e.g. the locations where a trainer is available, areas of expertise for a trainer, the connections/ports available on a laptop).  

Room

Fields that may be populated when a new Room is added to the system and visible to trainers, editing trainers, or administrators adding a Room to an Event and learners booked on the Event (e.g. what equipment is available within the Room, the location/address of the Room, Room layout).

Sign-up

Fields that a user may populate when signing-up/booking on a Seminar Event (e.g. the Attendee's dietary requirements, their previous expertise in the area, Attendee's expectations for the session).

User Cancellation Fields that a user may populate when cancelling their booking for a Seminar Event (e.g. a cancellation reason, an alternative date suggestion).
Event Cancellation

Fields that may be populated and included in the cancellation notification when a trainer or administrator cancels an Event (e.g. reason for the cancellation, a link to new booking options).

 

Any number of custom fields can be added to each of the forms and elements and the selections made by users on the site.  

Custom Field Types and settings

Custom Field Types & Common Settings

Field Types Available
  • Checkbox
  • Date/Time
  • File (for uploads)
  • Location
  • Menu of choices

  • Multi-select
  • Text area
  • Text input
  • URL

Common Settings

Common settings are configuration options that are available across all custom field types.

Full name

The name of the custom field displayed to users. 

Short name

The abbreviated name of the custom field.  Short names must be unique and can only contain alphanumeric characters.

This must be unique.

Description An optional description of the custom field.  This is not displayed to learners/trainers however is helpful for administrators.
This field is required?

If set to Yes, it will be a compulsory field when creating new items.  If set to No, it will be an optional field when creating new items.

Is this field locked? If set to Yes the custom field will only display the information given when the field was first created. The field cannot be edited for existing records but is not locked when creating a record.
Should the data be unique? If set to Yes the custom field will only accept a unique value. If a duplicate value is used in this field the system will not allow the item to be saved. When set to No the custom field will accept any value in the field.
Hidden on the settings page?

If set to Yes the custom field will not be visible on the settings page or elsewhere where it would have been shown. When set to No the custom field will be visible.

NOTE  NOTE

Event custom fields will only appear on the events dashboard.

The seminar activity area on the course homepage is a tightly-summarised version of information, whereas the events dashboard contains a more detailed and comprehensive view.

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Managing Rooms

A Site Administrator can access the Rooms administration dashboard via the Administration menu within Seminars > Rooms.

The Manage rooms area provides a list of all Rooms within the site and, by default, the ability to search for available Rooms by date.

Screen Shot 2016-09-07 at 15.10.40.png

To create a new Room within the site, use the Add a new room button located at the bottom of the Manage rooms page.  Enter in all values within each of the required fields.

Managing Seminar Assets

A Site administrator can access the Assets administration dashboard via the Administration menu within Seminars > Assets.

The Manage assets area provides a list of all Assets within the site and, by default, the ability to search for available assets by date.  Assets can include:

  • Equipment such laptops, projectors, water coolers, cables
  • People such as Trainers, IT technicians
  • Services such as catering, room setup, enabling hearing loops, etc.
  • Any other items you might wish to link to to an Event Session.
manage assets

 

To create a new Asset within the site, use the Add a new asset button located at the bottom of the Manage assets page.  Enter in values within each of the required fields.

add asset

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A Trainer as a seminar asset may also be created and "booked". The advantage of this approach are:

  • Trainers can be assigned on an Event or Session level.
  • From an administrative level, the Trainer asset can be tracked and be set to allow or not allow booking conflicts.

Note: You will still need to enrol a user in a Trainer or Editing Trainer role. For additional details on trainer management see ADD & ASSIGN A TRAINER

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Create a Seminar Activity

Creating a seminar event is a two-part process. First you must add a Seminar activity then you can add Event occurrences within the activity.

  1. Log in as a Site Administrator or Editing Trainer, navigate to (or create) the required course.
  2. Ensure editing is turned on.
  3. Where the Activity chooser is on, select Add an activity or resource within the relevant section and select Seminar from the popup menu and click Add.
  4. Complete the required sections and click...
    • Save and return to course to return to the course homepage,
    • Save and display to create the Event, or 
    • Cancel to discard your changes.

When adding a Seminar activity, the following are key areas to consider:

General Settings

In addition to the Name and Description fields, the following are general setting fields unique to the Seminar activity.

Third-party email address(es)

Third-party email address(es) is an optional field used to specify the email address(es) of a third-party (such as an external instructor) who will then receive all active notification messages for a session, including confirmation messages when a user signs up for a session. When entering multiple email addresses, separate each address with a comma.

Notify third-party about wait-listed events

Enabling this option will send third-party email address(es) a notification when a learner signs up for a Wait-listed event. When this option is not enabled, the third-party will only be notified when a user signs up or cancels for a scheduled event.

Events displayed on course page

This is the number of sessions for each seminar Activity that will be shown on the main course page.

Default 'allow cancellations' setting for all events

Set the default cancellation settings for this seminar and allow users to cancel their bookings 'At any time', 'Never', or 'Until cut-off reached' (x amount of time before the event starts).

Select job assignment on signup

When requesting seminar event attendance, learners can specify their job assignment relating to the training event. For seminar events that require manager approval, learners reporting to multiple managers can choose to select which manager should receive the booking approval request.  

Prevent signup if no job assignment is selected or can be found

Limit registrations for the event to those individuals who have their job assignment(s) specified.

Sign-up Workflow Settings

The Sign-up Workflow settings manage the how attendees sign-up for seminars.

Sign-Up Workflow

 

How many times the user can sign-up

Select from the dropdown how many times a learner may sign-up within a seminar activity: 1-10, or  Unlimited.

A value of 1 disables multiple sign-ups.

This setting does not take cancelled sign-ups or declined requests into consideration.

Restrict subsequent sign-ups to

Restrict subsequent sign-ups based on the state of previous signups. Choose from:

  • Fully attended
  • Partially attended
  • No show

Enabling any of these state restrictions will limit users to a single concurrent sign-up within the seminar, as they will not be able to sign-up to another event until their current sign-up has its attendance set to one of the selected states. If none of these restrictions are enabled users can have as many concurrent sign-ups within the seminar as the maximum limitation allows.

Cancelled sign-ups are not taken into consideration.

Clear expired waitlist The waitlist for events get cleared when when they start, allowing user to signup to new event.  The Waitlisted sign-up expired notification can be used to inform users about this happening.
Users can declare Interest

Displays an option within the seminar activity to allow a user to flag their interest and write a message without signing up. Information about those who have declared an interest can be reported on from within the activity. Choose from: NeverWhen no upcoming events are available for booking, or Always.

Require approval by

Available options are defined by the approval options setting on the seminar administration settings page.  They include:

  • No approval: A user will be immediately booked into a event when signing up. When selected, the Add approver button will not be able to be selected.

  • Learner accepts terms and conditions: A user will be presented the text defined in the text area below and required to accept the configurable terms and conditions.

All users with Event role (e.g., Editing Trainer, Trainer, etc) assignments in the event will immediately be sent a notification with instructions to approve the attendee's request to sign up for the event.

  • Manager Approval: The learner's manager will be immediately sent a notification with instructions to approve the user's request to sign-up for the event.

  • Manager and Administrative approval: All users selected as an approver will be immediately sent a notification with instructions to approve the user's request to sign-up for the event. Approval can then be given by the Manager followed by the Administrator. However, the Administrator may finalize the request without Manager approval.

NOTE  NOTE

If an approval option is disabled in global settings that is already being used within a seminar it will still be honoured within the seminar it has already been selected in. If the disabled option is changed within a seminar it will then disappear from that seminar's settings until it is re-enabled in the global settings.

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Manage Reservations

Where the seminar activity has been set to Allow manager reservations, Staff Managers (users with direct reports) with the relevant Permissions and Capabilities in the context of the course can Reserve or Allocate spaces at a seminar event for members in their team. There is a difference between reserving a space and allocating a space:

    • Reserving spaces: Allows managers to secure a pre-determined number of spaces on a session for their team. This is helpful when it is not yet known who will be attending from a team.
    • Allocating spaces: Allows managers to assign a pre-determined number of spaces on a session for specific members in their team. 

The number of spaces that can be allocated is set per seminar activity, so if a lot of spaces are reserved for a particular event then there will be fewer available for other events. 

Manager reservations settings

Allow manager reservations

If Yes, Managers are able to make reservations or bookings on behalf of their team members.

Closer to the time of the event, a manager or trainer can nominate individual learners for the reserved bookings.

Maximum reservations Set the number of reservations or bookings a Manager can make for members of their team.
Automatically cancel reservations If enabled, reservations will be automatically cancelled based on the number specified in Reservation cancellation days.
Reservation cancellation days

Set the number of days in advance of the session that reservations will be automatically cancelled if not confirmed.

Automatically cancel reservations must be set to Yes to be able to edit the number of reservation cancellation days.

Reservation deadline The number of days before a session starts after which no more reservations are allowed. This must be greater than the number of reservation cancellation days.

 

 

Calendar Options

Learners can view their Seminar Event booking(s) in a number of areas including the:

  • Site-wide Calendar (where shown).
  • Seminar's course Calendar (where shown).
  • Seminar's course home page.
  • Seminar Events Dashboard.
  • User's Bookings area within the My Learning area (where available).
  • User's Dashboard under Upcoming Events.

Calendar options

Calendar display settings

There are a number of options to choose from:

  • Site: Seminar events will be displayed on the site Calendar as a Global event. All site users will be able to view these events.
  • Course: Seminar events will be displayed on the course Calendar and as Course event on the site level calendar and visible to all users enrolled in the course.
  • NoneSeminar Activity events will only be displayed as User events on a confirmed attendee's calendar, provided the Show on user's calendar option has been selected.
Show entry on user’s calendar When active, this setting adds a User event entry to the calendar of an attendee of a seminar event. When turned off, this prevents a duplicate event appearing in a event attendee's calendar, where you have calendar display settings set to Course or Site.

Short name

The description of the event that appears on the training calendar when Show on the calendar is enabled.

 

Seminar Activity Completion

Before configuring activity completion it first needs to be enabled at the course level. You can turn completion tracking on by navigating to the course, then Course administration > Edit settings > Completion tracking. Set Enable completion tracking to Yes, then click Save and display. Now when you edit an activity the Activity completion section will be available.

If enabled, activity completion is tracked, either manually or automatically, based on certain conditions.

For the Seminar activity, it is recommended to use the Require status activity completion condition if the intention is to track completion based on attendance.

seminar activity completion

 

Add a Seminar Activity

After adding a seminar activity to a course page, events should be created that contain the specific date, time, and location (sessions) for the instructor-led/classroom based training (when known).  

Any number of events may be added to a seminar activity with all activity settings applicable to each Event.  And an event can be made up of any number of sessions.

  • Log in as a Site Administrator or Editing Trainer and navigate to (or create) the required course. 
  • Click on the name of the Seminar event or View all events from the course homepage.
  • Click the Add a new event link.
  • Enter the relevant details for the Event as per the below, including any Custom fields
  • Click Save changes to add the Event or Cancel to discard your changes.
add event general settings

 

Date/time (Session)

By default, tomorrow's date and 9am-10am will be given as the (first) Date and time (Session) of the Event.  Use the edit icon () to open the Start and Finish Date time selector and enter the required dates.  

Select the Add a new session button if additional sessions are required or use the Copy icon (two pieces of paper) to duplicate a Session Date/Time and make the required edits.

For additional details on adding a new session, see Add an Event Session below.

Room

Click on Select room under the Room column to choose an existing Room for this Event Session or, if needed, Create a new room. Click Ok to save your selection(s) or Cancel to close the box without saving. (Please see Manage Rooms for more information).

If you Create a new room within a Seminar Event, the Room will only be available for the current Event unless the 'Publish for reuse by other events' checkbox is enabled. This room can be made available to other Events at any time via the Edit Event dialog box.

If your Event is run regularly over a set period of time (for example every Monday for a month) you should create a different Session for each day so you don't book a Room or for the entire month and calendar invites reflect the split training period.

Assets

Click on Select assets under the Assets column to book existing Assets for this Event or, if needed select Create new asset. Click OK to save your selection(s) or Cancel to close the box without saving.  (Please see Manage Assets for more information).

Assets added via the Create new asset option will only be available within the current event unless 'Publish for reuse by other events' checkbox is enabled. This Asset can be made available to other Events at any time via theEdit Event dialog box.

Sign-up opens

If enabled, learners will not be able to sign up for this session until this time has arrived.

Sign-up closes If enabled, learners will not be able to sign up for this session once this time has passed.
Maximum bookings

Sets the number of seats available at an Event. When a Seminar event reaches capacity, the event details no longer appear on the course page. The details will appear greyed out on the View all events page and the learner cannot enrol on the event.   You can either use the selected room capacity or manually override the maximum bookings allowed.

If you expect a certain number of attendees to cancel or not attend the session, you might want to allow overbooking to ensure a full session. If you need to keep seats free for moderators or other trainers, you might choose to reduce the number of bookings available.

Enable Waitlist

When checked, learners will be able to sign up for a Seminar event even if it is already full.  When a learner signs up for a event that is already full, they will receive an email advising that they have been waitlisted for the event and will be notified when a booking becomes available.   

When manager approval is required and a manager has the capability then the user on approval will go directly into the session.

When manager approval is required and the manager doesn't have the  capability then the user on approval will go to the wait-list.

To stop an Editing trainer, Trainer, or Course creator adding learners to the waitlist when it has been disabled, the capability must be switched off in the role.

Learners will only be wait-listed if they have signed up for a session themselves. If the learner is booked by a Site Administrator, Editing Trainer, Trainer, or Course Creator, they will be automatically booked into the course, regardless of whether the session is over capacity or not. Learners who have the Sign up to full events capability set to Allow, will be signed up to the event instead of joining the waitlist.

Allow cancellations Allow users to cancel their bookings At any time, Never, or Until specified period (x amount of time before the session starts). 
Minimum bookings If the minimum bookings has not been reached by the cut-off point, then the appropriate users will be automatically notified. 
Notify about minimum bookings

If the minimum bookings have not been reached by the cut-off point, then the appropriate users will be notified.

Users to be notified is determined by role assignments and the configuration setting under Site administration > Seminars > General Settings > Notification recipients.

Normal cost

Normal cost is the amount paid by learners who do not have a discount code.

Discount cost

The discount cost is the amount paid by learners with a discount code.

If a discount cost is entered, the learner will be required to enter a discount code when signing up for a session.

Details Details are tracked per Event basis. If text is populated in the Details field, the text will be displayed on the user signup page. By default, the details text also appears in the confirmation, reminder, waitlist and cancellation email messages.

TIP   TIP

To create an Event without a known date (or remove a Date/Time) use the corresponding Delete icon (a cross).  This will allow attendees to Sign-up to the Waitlist for this Event where they will be booked automatically once one or more Sessions are added.

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Add an Event Session

An Event can have many Sessions. The Date and time setting of an Event is effectively its session. The more dates and times you add, the more sessions your event has.

By default, tomorrow's date and 9am-10am will be given as the (first) Date and time (Session) of the Event.  Use the edit icon () to open the Start and Finish Date time selector and enter the required dates.  

Select Add a new session if additional sessions are required or use the Copy icon (two pieces of paper icon) to duplicate a Session Date/Time and make the required edits.

When editing a Date and time or adding a new date the Select date dialogue box will display the following options:

  • Timezone: Select the timezone you want this Event to be displayed in e.g. 'Pacific/Auckland'. This will display the start time, finish time and timezone in accordance with the timezone selected. If you choose User timezone, this will display the start time, finish date and timezone in relation to the timezone of the user viewing the event.
  • Start time: When creating or editing a Event, the event timezone may differ from the timezone for the Start time. This is because the timezone for Start time is determined by the timezone of the user creating or editing the Event. The timezone of the user creating or editing the event does not affect the event timezone itself.  Use the calendar icon to open the calendar view date selector. 
  • Finish time: When creating or editing a Event, the event timezone may differ from the timezone for the Finish time. This is because the timezone for Finish time is determined by the timezone of the user creating or editing the Event. The timezone of the user creating or editing the event does not affect the event timezone itself.

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  • Duplicating a session is helpful where only one or two details will be different from the original session such as the day or the Room.
  • If your Event spans several days, you can create one Session with a different day for start and finish time, although you should indicate when breaks/lunch will be offered within the Event Details area.  
  • If you will be in a different Room and/or require different Assets on different days, it would be best to create several Sessions.

scheduling Scheduling Conflicts

When updating the day or time of a Seminar Event, resulting in a scheduling conflict for one or more confirmed Attendees, you will be presented with a dialog box confirming whether you would like to Cancel your update, or Save changes and ignore all conflicts.

User schedule conflict management

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Add & Assign a Trainer

  • Select a Totara role for the trainer.  Your site is currently set to have the Editing Trainer as the role for the trainer. You can continue with this, add the Trainer, or a custom role. To be able to assign this role to the trainer role in a Seminar, go to Seminars>Global Settings and select the role.
event roles
  • Go to the Administration block of the course, then Course administration > Users > Enrolled users. Locate and enrol the trainer(s) in the course in an Editing Trainer role.
enrol trainer
  • Once trainer(s) has been enrolled in the course in the appropriate role, the name of the trainer(s) will appear under the Event roles category when you add or edit a seminar event.
Event roles - editing trainer
  • A trainer can then be assigned in a pre-existing seminar event or when you add a new seminar event.
add trainer to event
  • You will see the results on the Attendees page under the Event Details tab.
assignee-event details

Event Attendance

It is possible for Site Administrators, Editing Trainers, and Trainers to add Learners as attendees to a seminar event.

Add Attendees Manually

To do this you will need to:

  • Go to the seminar activity you wish to add attendees to.
  • Alongside the corresponding event click the Attendees link.

Seminar event list screen.

  • Within the attendees tab, the Actions dropdown choose Add users (manual).

Attendees Page
  • Next, search for the user by first name, last name or email address and/or clicking on their name(s) from the Potential user list.
  • Once you have found the user, click their name and then select Add.
  • Click theContinue button to confirm your updates.
  • You will then be taken to the next steps where you can update your user selection via the Change selected users link.

  • Configure any notifications you wish to send to the selected users and their managers.


Take Attendance

Once Attendees are booked and confirmed for a Seminar Event and the start time of the training has passed, an Administrator, Editing Trainer, or Trainer canTake Attendance.

The Take Attendance area can be accessed via the corresponding Attendees link in the Event.

Take attendance

Individual Attendance

You can mark attendance for each individual by using the corresponding Current status dropdown to select 'No Show', 'Partially Attended', or 'Fully Attended' as required.  A learner's status can be updated at any point once an Event has started.  Click Save attendance to save any changes or Cancel to clear all changes and return to the Attendees tab.

 

Bulk Attendance

Alternatively, you can mark attendance in bulk.  Using the Select dropdown choose AllSet, or Not Set then set the Mark all selected as dropdown to No Show, Partially Attended, or Fully Attended as required.

    • All: Select all learners.
    • Set: Select all learners that have already been marked with an attendance status.
    • Not Set: Select all learners that have not yet been marked with an attendance status.

Click the Save attendance button to save changes or Cancel to clear all changes and return to the Attendees tab.

Classroom Session

Export Seminar Attendance

You can Export all users and their saved Attendance status to Excel, OSD or CSV.  Choose the required format from the dropdown menu and choose either the Open or Save File option when prompted.

Downloading a Sign-in Sheet

From the Attendees tab you can download a sign-in sheet for use in your seminar session. The downloaded sheet will include the attendees' names, any sign-up notes, and a space for them to sign into the session. 

    1. Go to the Attendeestab.
    2. At the bottom of the page there is an option to Download sign-in sheet. 
    3. If you have multiple sessions in your event, use the dropdown menu to select the session you want a sign-up sheet for. 
    4. Select the file format from: CSV, Excel, ODS, PDF landscape, PDF portrait
    5. Click Download sign-in sheet

Download sign-in sheet option, located at the bottom of the Attendees tab.


Manage Seminar Notifications

The Seminar functionality allows Trainers, Editing trainers and Site administrators to set automated and customized system generated notifications for various actions, updates and milestones related to a seminar activity and the associated events.

You can create new templates, edit, delete, activate or deactivate existing ones, and sort the listing by Notification title and Status.

The Status indicates if the notification templates are Active (visible and able to be used) or Inactive (not visible and unable to be used).  Administrators can Activate/Inactivate a notification using the corresponding eye icons (,) under Options.

Notification Templates

There are a number of notification that are available in the system by default. If you wish to edit any of them, then you can find guidance on doing so above. 

All reservations cancelled

A message is sent all participants when all reservations are cancelled.

  • Recipient: All (cancelled) participants
  • Trigger: All reservations are cancelled.

Reservation cancellation

When a specific reservation is cancelled a notification gets sent.

  • Recipient: Cancelled participant(s).
  • Trigger: A participant's reservation is cancelled.

Seminar booking admin request

A message is sent to nominated administrative approvers when a participant requests a booking. 

  • Recipient: Set approver(s).
  • Trigger: A participant requests a booking.

Seminar booking cancellation

A message is sent as confirmation when a participant cancels their own booking. 

  • Recipient: Participant who cancelled.
  • Trigger: Participant who cancelled.

Seminar booking confirmation

A message is sent as confirmation when a participant makes a booking.

  • Recipient: Participant who booked.
  • Trigger: A participant makes a booking.

Seminar booking date/time changed

A message is sent if the date or time of the seminar is adjusted.

  • Recipient: All booked participants and those on the waiting list.
  • Trigger: Seminar date or time is edited (and saved) after bookings have been made (or the wait-list has opened).

Seminar booking decline

If an approver rejects a booking request then a message is sent to the declined participant.

  • Recipient: Participant who made the booking.
  • Trigger: Booking request is declined.

Seminar booking reminder

A reminder email is sent to all participants before the event.

  • Recipient: All booked participants.
  • Trigger: Sent two days before the event starts.

Seminar booking request

A message is sent to approvers when a participant requests a booking.

  • Recipient: Set approver(s).
  • Trigger: A participant requests a booking.

Seminar booking role request

When a session is set to require approval from an event role then any users assigned that role (e.g. Editing Trainer) will receive a notification when there is a pending approval request.

  • Recipient: Required approving event role.
  • Trigger: A user requests a booking.

Seminar event cancellation

When an event is cancelled a message is sent to all participants who had booked. 

  • Recipient: Cancelled participants.
  • Trigger: A trainer/administrator cancels a seminar event.

Seminar event registration closure

When the sign-up period for an event closes a message is sent to all participants who have requested booking approval but had not yet received a response.

Any pending requests are automatically declined at this time.

  • Recipient: All participants with pending booking requests.
  • Trigger: The sign-up period ends.

Seminar event trainer cancellation

When an event is cancelled by a course trainer a message is sent to all participants who had booked.

  • Recipient: Cancelled participants.
  • Trigger: A trainer cancels a seminar event.

Seminar event trainer unassigned

Notifies a user when the Trainer event role is unassigned from them for a seminar.

  • Recipient: Unassigned trainer.
  • Trigger: Unassigning a trainer.

Seminar registration closed

Sent to seminar notification recipients who have event roles on the seminar, when the Sign-up closes time is reached.

  • Recipient: Trainers.
  • Trigger: Event sign-up has been closed.

Seminar trainer confirmation

Send a confirmation email to a user when they are assigned the Trainer event role. 

  • Recipient: Assigned Trainer.
  • Trigger: Assigning a Trainer.

Waitlisting advice for [seminar name]

A notification is sent to anyone on the waiting list if the trainer/administrator confirms, cancels, or plays the lottery on the waiting list for an event.

  • Recipient: Wait-listed participants.
  • Trigger: Administrator/trainer confirms, cancels, or play the lottery on wait-listed places for a seminar event.

Event under minimum bookings for: [name of seminar activity]

Message is sent when a seminar event does not have a minimum number of bookings by the deadline.

  • Recipient: Configured notification recipients.
  • Trigger: Notify about minimum bookings time arrives.

 

Notification Scope and Customization

There are two spaces where you can interact with seminar notifications:

  • Notification templates (site-wide): The default content for these notifications can be set by via the Administration menu within Seminars > Notification templates.
  • Seminar notifications (activity specific): Within a specific seminar activity you can customise and add notifications via Seminar administration > Notifications. 

In both cases you will see a list of all the predefined templates for Seminar Events and custom notifications you have created at the relevant level. 

 

Notification setting Add or Edit a Site-Wide Notification Template

A site administrator can add a new, site-wide notification template that will be available for use across all seminar activities on the site.

    • Open the seminar activity you wish to add a notification for.
    • In the Administration menu go to Seminars > Notification templates. 
    • Click the Add button under the list of notifications. 
    • Complete the settings below. 
Title

The subject line for the notification, this can be constructed using placeholders.

Body

The content of the message, this can be constructed using placeholders.

Manager copy Choose whether a copy of the notification should be sent to the manager.
Manager copy prefix

Any additional content that should be included before the Body of the message, within the manager's copy of the notification. 

Status Allows a notification template to be marked as Active (checked) or Inactive (not checked). Inactive notification templates will not be available to be used when setting up notifications for a Seminar activity.
Update all activities

If you choose to Update all activities then all Seminar activities that have notifications based off this template will be updated with the changes that have been made.

This setting only applies to default notification templates and is not available for custom notification templates.

    • When you are finished click Add

To edit an existing template click the corresponding edit () icon under Options alongside the notification you wish to edit. Remember to click Save changes once you are finished editing. 

 

seminar notification Add a Seminar Activity Notification

    • Open the seminar activity you wish to add a notification for.
    • Under Seminar administration go > Notifications
    • Click the Add  button under the list of notifications. 
    • Complete the settings below.
Scheduling

Choose whether the message should be sent immediately Send Now or scheduled to Send later before the start of the session, after the end of the event or before registration closes.  

Recipients

Choose who will receive the Notification message based on their registration status:

  • Booked: Send the notification to all users who were booked for the session. You can further specify that the message should go to those who Attended only or only those who did not attend with the status No Shows.
  • Wait-listed: Will send a notification to those who are signed up for a event which allows overbooking, but are not yet booked.
  • User cancelled: Will send a notification to users for whom the event was cancelled or users who cancelled their own registration for a session.
  • Pending Requests: Will send a notification to users for whom have requested a booking from their manager/role/admin that has not been approved or declined yet.

Please note, when selecting All booked, notifications will be issued to all booked users, regardless of their attendance status, for events past and present. There are two permissions that are important for adding recipients:

    • mod/facetoface:addrecipients: Allows the assigned role to add any recipients to the seminar's message.
    • mod/facetoface:removerecipients: Allows the assigned role to remove any recepients from the seminar's message.
Template

Select which (if any) Notification Template to use as a basis for your new message.  After selecting a Template, the message content will appear in the Body field.

Title

Enter a name or subject for your message.  This should allow you to distinguish this Notification from all others and will be used as the subject line of the notification email.

Body

This is the body of the notification to be sent.  Within the Body of the notification there are a number of placeholders that can be used where the Placeholder  will be replaced with the appropriate values when the message is sent.

Manager copy

Use the checkbox to send a copy of the Notification message to the learner's manager.

Manager copy prefix

Add an additional message that will appear as a prefix or preamble in the manager's copy of the Notification if required.

Status

Indicates if the notification should be 'Active' (visible and able to be used) or 'Inactive' (not visible and unable to be used).

    • When you are finished click Save

 

For a list of notification placeholders download Seminar Notification Placeholders

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