How do I create a manual or off-line gradebook item?

Sometimes you will have activities that do not have a Moodle component, like an in-class quiz or an extra-credit visit to a museum. In these cases, what you might want to do is create a manual or off-line gradebook item that only appears in the Moodle gradebook (not on the main page of the course as an activity or resource).

Here are the steps for creating a manual grade item in your Moodle gradebook.

  1. Login to Moodle and click on the course, to which you wish to add the manual grade item.
  2. From the main page of your course, look in the upper right corner, next to the course name and under your name, for a small gray gear wheel icon. Click on this icon.
  3. From the drop-down administration menu that appears, click on the ‘Gradebook setup’ option.
  4. On the ‘Gradebook setup’ page, scroll down to the bottom. You should see two buttons; one is labelled ‘Add category,’ the other labelled ‘Add grade item.’ Click the button labelled ‘Add grade item.’
  5. On the ‘Grade item’ screen, complete the grade ‘Item name.’ Insert the maximum grade.
  6. Place the grade item in the appropriate category, if you have categories in your gradebook. If it is not in a category, simply leave the category at the default value.
  7. Scroll down, and click the ‘Save Changes’ button.
  8. You may be brought to an interstitial page, as the gradebook recalculates, depending on your gradebook set-up. If you are, click the ‘Continue’ button once the gradebook is done recalculating.
  9. You will be brought back to the ‘Gradebook set-up’ page. The grade item will be populated at the bottom of the category into which it was placed, or at the bottom of the gradebook, if it was not placed into a category.

Your manual grade item is now created! To enter grades and feedback for a manual grade item, please check out the following FAQ: “How do I enter grades and feedback for a manual grade item?”