First Impressions of Moodle 4.0: What’s New, What’s Great, and What’s Still a Bit Clunky
Hi everyone, Chris Richter here — welcome back to Ricochet.com.eu! Today, I want to share my first impressions of Moodle 4.0, which dropped late last year. I’ve spent some time exploring it, and I’m excited to walk you through three standout improvements I noticed right away, all focused on user interface and usability.
I’ll also touch on one aspect I wasn’t immediately thrilled with — although, after some time, it started to make a little more sense. Let’s dive in!
🎸 Quick Shoutout
Before we get stuck in — make sure you check out the band Empire Between! Look them up on YouTube, Facebook, iTunes, Spotify — you name it. Well worth a listen.
1. Edit Mode – Now Fast and Effortless
In previous versions of Moodle, editing a course was a bit clunky. You had to navigate through multiple clicks — More → Edit settings — just to start editing.
Now in Moodle 4.0, there’s a simple “Edit Mode” toggle right in the top right-hand corner.
One click, and you’re editing — no drop-downs, no extra steps. It’s a massive time-saver and makes content management so much smoother.
✅ Verdict: Huge improvement!
User experience: Faster, easier, and more intuitive.
2. Left-Hand Navigation – Clear and Expandable
Navigation within courses has gotten a serious upgrade.
Before, the sidebar was a bit cluttered, with lots of miscellaneous buttons stacked up. Now, it’s been streamlined beautifully. You’ll see clear sections like Start Here and Tasks, and — even better — you can expand each section to view and jump directly to individual activities inside it.
It’s clean, organized, and easy to get around — something many users (myself included) have been hoping for.
✅ Verdict: Absolutely fantastic.
User experience: Organized and efficient.
3. Drag and Drop – Moving Content is a Breeze
If you’ve spent any time building courses, you know that moving activities around used to be tedious — click “Move,” navigate through a maze of clicks, and hope you landed in the right spot.
Now?
Just drag and drop.
With Edit Mode on, you can drag activities directly within the course page or in the left-hand navigation — super flexible and intuitive.
✅ Verdict: Game changer.
User experience: Smoother, faster course design.
😐 The One Thing That Tripped Me Up: Copying a Course
Not everything was perfect out of the gate.
When I first tried to copy a course in Moodle 4.0, I couldn’t find the option! Previously, it was under More → Copy Course. Now, it’s tucked away under Course Reuse.
Click Reuse and you’ll see options like Import, Backup, Restore, Copy, and Reset.
Initially, I found this frustrating and thought the interface had lost some intuitiveness. But over time, I realized that grouping all these options together actually makes the menu cleaner and more organized.
✅ Final Verdict: A little confusing at first, but ultimately sensible and practical.
Final Thoughts
Moodle 4.0 brings huge usability improvements that make content creation and course management much easier and more enjoyable.
The smoother edit mode, better navigation, and drag-and-drop functionality are all fantastic upgrades.
That said, there’s still a bit of a learning curve — especially for those of us used to the old ways of doing things.
I’d love to hear from you!
Have you found anything you love — or hate — about Moodle 4.0? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
Also, stay tuned: I’m currently putting together a Moodle 4.0 Course that will teach you how to use the new system as a teacher and content creator. If you’re interested, leave a comment below so I can let you know when it’s ready!
Thanks for reading — and happy Moodling!
Talk soon,
Chris
