Field Management

Fields define every question and input students fill in when making a submission. You can create as many fields as you need, choose from 8 field types, and arrange them in any order. Fields must be configured before students can submit.

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Required capability: mod/casestudy:managefields — Editing Teacher or Manager role.

Accessing field management

Open the Case Study activity, then click Manage Fields in the activity navigation menu (or secondary navigation).

Activity chooser showing Case Study — The Manage Fields link appears in the activity navigation

Fields management table

The table lists all configured fields in the order students will see them.

Column	Description
✥ (drag handle)	Drag to reorder — order is saved automatically (no Save button needed)
Name	Label shown to students
Short Name	Internal identifier used in templates (e.g., `{field_shortname}`)
Type	Field type: text, dropdown, file, etc.
Required	Whether the field must be filled before submitting
Category	Whether the field is used for completion rules
Actions	Edit / Clone / Delete

Reordering fields

Drag a row by its ✥ handle to change its position. The new order is saved immediately via AJAX.

Cloning a field

Click Clone to duplicate a field with the same type and configuration. The clone gets a new unique short name automatically. Useful for repeating similar field patterns.

Deleting a field

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Warning: Deleting a field permanently removes it and all student data stored in it. This cannot be undone. Confirm carefully before proceeding.

Adding a field

Click Add field. Select a field type from the list, then configure the field on the next screen.

Common settings (all field types)

Setting	Required	Description
Field Name	Yes	The label students see next to the input
Short Name	Yes	Unique identifier
Field Description	No	Help text shown beneath the field to clarify what students should enter
Required	—	If ticked, students cannot submit without filling this field
Category Field	—	If ticked, this field's values can be used as completion categories (see Completion Rules)
Show in List View	—	If ticked, this field value appears in the summaries / list table

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Not all common options are available for every field type — see the per-type details below.

Field types

📝 Text — single line input

A plain text field for short answers: names, codes, titles, etc.

Supports: Required · Show in list view

📄 Textarea — multi-line plain text

A resizable text area for longer free-form answers.

Setting	Description
Width (columns)	Optional. Default visible width of the text area.
Height (rows)	Optional. Default visible height of the text area.

Supports: Required · Show in list view

✨ Rich Text — HTML editor

A full Moodle HTML editor for formatted text, images, links, and embedded files.

Fieldtype richtext — Rich Text field — edit form

Setting	Description
Editor Rows	Default height in rows (minimum 1, default 10)
Maximum File Size (bytes)	Maximum size for embedded files. `0` = use site default.
Maximum Files	Maximum number of files. `-1` = unlimited.

Supports: Required · Show in list view

Does not support: Category (formatted content is too complex for category matching)

🔽 Dropdown — single select list

A drop-down menu where students pick exactly one option from a list you define.

Fieldtype dropdown — Dropdown field — enter one option per line

Setting	Description
Options	One option per line — these are the choices shown to students

Supports: Required · Category · Show in list view

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Use Dropdown or Radio when you want the selected value to drive completion rules — e.g., "require 2 satisfactory submissions in the Business Analysis category".

🔘 Radio — radio button group

Like Dropdown but displayed as visible radio buttons. Students pick exactly one option.

Fieldtype radio — Radio field — one option per line

Setting	Description
Options	One option per line

Supports: Required · Category · Show in list view

☑️ Checkbox — multiple selections

A group of checkboxes where students can tick one or more options.

Fieldtype checkbox — Checkbox field — one option per line

Setting	Description
Options	One option per line

Supports: Required · Category · Show in list view

📎 File — file upload

Allows students to upload one or more files as part of their submission.

Fieldtype file — File field — configure size, count, and accepted types

Setting	Description
Minimum Files	Minimum required. `0` = none required (default)
Maximum Files	Maximum allowed. `0` = unlimited
Maximum File Size (bytes)	Per-file size limit. `0` = no limit
Accepted File Types	Comma-separated extensions or MIME types (e.g., `.pdf,.docx`). Leave blank to allow any type.

Supports: Required · Show in list view

Does not support: Category

📌 Section Heading — visual divider

Displays a styled heading to divide the submission form into named sections. It collects no data from students.

Fieldtype section heading — Section Heading field — purely structural

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Section headings do not appear in list view, cannot be required, and cannot be used as category fields. Use them purely to organise long forms.

Best practices

Use consistent, descriptive short names (e.g., case_type, analysis_body, references) — they are used in templates.
Mark Category only on Dropdown/Radio fields you intend to use in completion rules.
Use Section Headings to group related fields (e.g., Background, Analysis, Conclusions).
Show in List View for fields that help graders identify submissions at a glance (e.g., a case type or student name field).
Set Required on fields where a blank answer would make the submission meaningless.

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