Your profile determines what information other users can see about you in a Moodle course. It's also where you choose how you want to receive emails from Moodle, edit default forum preferences and edit text.

When you're first enrolled in a Moodle course, the system creates a personal profile for you. You can:

  • Add an image of yourself, or an avatar, or any other image, which will display next to your contributions - for example, to your posts on discussion forums
  • Add information about yourself and your interests
  • Specify whether Moodle should display your email address to others and, if so, to whom
  • Select the method Moodle should use to let you know what’s happening in your courses (configure your notification settings).
  • Configure your privacy settings

Edit your profile

Instructions for changing the default settings and information in your profile.

It is unwise to add personal details such as your street or postal address, phone number or instant messaging account details to any part of your Moodle profile. If you would like to share your social network handles put them in the Description box of your profile. Formal communications will still go to your UNSW email account (zMail).

On the dashboard, click on the profile picture at the top-right site navigation bar, then click “profile”. 

 

moodle profile drop down menu showing profile highlighted in orange

Click “Edit profile” and edit your settings as desired.

 

image-20231107151419-2

Your basic details will display, along with default selections of a number of different settings.

 

image-20231107151750-3

Email display (1): Select whether to hide your email address, display it to everyone or display it to only fellow course students or hide the email address from non-privileged users (privileged users are teachers, managers, ect.). Note: You cannot change the zMail address within Moodle.

Country and Timezone settings (2): If you are living and studying in another country than Australia, select it from the Select a country drop-down list. If you are studying a Distance Course and are living in a different timezone from Sydney, Australia, select that timezone from the Timezone drop-down.

If studying in Australia, do not make changes to Country or Timezone, or your assignment deadlines will be different from those set by your instructors.

Description (3): To continue editing your profile, enter a description of yourself. Ensure that this is appropriate for display to instructors and to other students in your Moodle courses.

User Picture: To change your user picture, select User picture and use the file picker to upload a file.

Optional: Complete any relevant fields, remembering that these details will display on your profile page for instructors and other students to view.

image-20231107151856-4

Update profile: Click on Update Profile to save your changes. The updated View profile page displays. Check that the image, and all the information, displays as you want it to.

Forum subscription

Learn how to manage forum subscriptions, tracking and automatically mark posts as read options.

Announcements Forum

Each course has its own Announcements forum that is displayed within the course’s quick links section in the course main page. Students cannot unsubscribe from this forum

Other forums - subscribe and unsubscribe

Instructors can also create additional forums for the course. An example could be to create a forum to discuss a particular topic within the course.


If your instructor has set up the forum with optional subscription, you can choose whether you get email notifications from the forum. By default, you will not be subscribed to these forums.

To subscribe/unsubscribe:

  1. Navigate to your course home page.
  2. Click the forum that you would like to subscribe to.
  3. Select Subscribe/Unsubscribe to this forum.

 

moodle assessment forrum with subscribe button example

Limit notifications from forums

You cannot unsubscribe from forums (such as the Announcement Forum) to which you have been forcibly subscribed by a course instructor. However, you can limit the notifications you receive from those forums. Instead of receiving emails, a pop-up alert will notify you when you log in to Moodle. You can choose to limit forum notifications from all Moodle courses, or only specific courses (that you are not forcibly subscribed to).

Limiting Notifications in General:

  1. Click on the profile picture at the top-right site navigation bar, click “preferences”, and then click “Forum preferences”moodle limit notification preferences hyperlink list
  2. Forum Preferences allows you to change forum notifications, read and auto mark post as read options.

The Automatically mark posts as read field allows you to determine whether posts in the standard forum activity are automatically read once you visit the page (generally easier), or whether you must click to mark a specific post as being read (giving you more control).

  1. Messaging allows you to change when email and pop-up notifications are sent to you. Scroll down to the Forums subsection to change forum notification settings.

Limiting Notifications for Specific Forums:

  1. In your course, locate the Activities block (1) on the left hand side of your course, and click the Forums or Advanced Forums link. If you do not see the Activities block, your instructor has not added it to your course and you will not be able to limit forum notifications for specific course forums.
  2. A list of forums in your course will be displayed. Use the dropdown menu Email digest (2) type to choose individual forum notification settings.

Edit your privacy settings

The privacy settings page determines what information is visible to other users in Moodle. By default, the information is only visible to you, your teachers, and support staff. To make this information visible to other students in Moodle, click the relevant boxes and select the “Submit” button. 

Click the profile picture at the top-right of the site navigation bar, then click “Privacy Settings”.  

 

moodle profile drop down menu showing privacy settings highlighted in orange

Edit your privacy settings and who can see your details as desired. 

 

moodle privacy settings in a checkbox list format highlighted in orange

Click “Submit” to confirm changes. 

 

submit button on moodle settings hightlight in an orange circle

Back to top