Overview
This guide explains how to create and use the database activity.
Contents
- What is the Database activity?
- Creating the Database activity
- Creating a template
- Editing and deleting a record
- The student experience
- Further support
What is the Database activity?
A database is a collection of resources stored as records within a searchable database, staff and students can contribute to a database, depending on the configuration settings.
Creating the database activity
Navigate to the module / course page that you want to add the Database activity to and ensure that you have editing enabled by clicking the "Edit mode" toggle.
Scroll down to the section on the page that you want to add the activity to and select 'Add an activity or resource'.
From the pop-up window click on 'Database'.
Next you will need to provide a name for the database activity and a description. In the description area you could explain to students what the database is and what they need to do.
When you have added a name and description, select 'Save and display'.
After creating your database, you need to add fields and create a template. For those of you not familiar with database terminology, a database field is essentially an input area for students to add content to and there are a range of field types to select from when setting your database up.
At this stage, you have the option to select and name your own fields, or you can select a Preset. For more information, refer to the 'Database presets’ guide.
Creating a template
Fields
Before adding fields to your database, it’s worth spending a little time to consider what field names and types you want to include. For example, if you were to create a database of famous artists, you may want fields for artist name, birth year, year of death, artistic era, famous paintings and a short biography.
To add a new field, first select "Fields" in the navigation bar, then click ‘Create a field’
Next, you need to select a field type and enter a name and description.
In the example below we have selected the Checkbox field type and have entered options for students to select from in the ‘Options (one per line)’ area.
If the field is required, click to select the 'Required field' checkbox.
Click ‘Save changes’ and repeat the steps to add other fields to your database (in this example a date field and an image field have been added).
When you have finished adding fields to your database, you can test it out by adding an entry.
To do this, click ‘Add entry’ in the navigation bar to see the fields and add your entry.
In the entry below ‘Picasso’ has been selected from the check box options, an (incorrect) date of birth entered and an image of his work ‘The Weeping Woman’ has been added.
To add the record to the database, click ‘Save’.
The next step is to create the database layout.
Creating the layout of a database can be completed without any knowledge of HTML (the programming language used to create webpages on the internet), but if you would like to know more about using HTML to improve the look of your database speak to a member of the DL team using the details at the bottom of this guide for more help with HTML.
To create a database layout, click ‘More’ in the navigation bar and select 'Templates'.
This will open the basic HTML template. Scroll down and click ‘Save’ to apply the template to your database.
To view database entries, click ‘Database’ in the navigation menu, then select ‘List view’
Within List view, you can also select how many entries you want to view per page and search and sort entries.
For users with basic HTML knowledge:
Databases can sometimes benefit from a custom template to help make them more visually appealing. Before editing the database template, you need to have created all of your field names using the first step of this section.
To edit the HTML, click ‘More’ in the navigation menu, and select ‘Templates’.
Then click ‘Add entry template’ and select ‘List view template’ from the drop-down menu.
Scroll to the text editor titled 'Repeated entry', click the ‘show/hide advanced buttons’ icon (down arrow) and select the ‘HTML’ icon (</>).
You will now have access to the HTML and be able to edit it.
The two key elements of the code are explained in the table:
| Element | Example | Purpose |
| Fields | [[Last Name]], [[Date of birth]], [[Example of work]] | The contents of the each field will be placed here e.g. [[Last Name]] could display "Picasso". |
| Actions | ##delete##, ##edit## | These elements dictate the positioning of key buttons. |
In the example below I have modified the HTML and CSS to present the information in a more user friendly way. The top image is the original, and the image below is the updated version. Note I have presented the entry in a left to right format, I have made each field name bold and added padding between each column.
Editing and deleting a record
It can be useful to review database entries to ensure that they are accurate and up to date. To edit or delete an entry, locate the entry in 'List view', click the '3-dot' icon and select 'edit' or 'Delete'.
If you edit an entry, remember to click 'Save changes'.
The student experience
Please refer to the student guide for information about how students use the database activity.
Further Support
For further support on Learning Space, or to report any issues with this guide, please get in touch with the Digital Learning Team via dlsupport@falmouth.ac.uk. Alternatively, please refer to the numerous help guides found on our Knowledge Base.
View the Accessibility Statement for all of our support guides.