Changing words

You can change any of the words or phrases that appear on you Moodle site.  For example, I use the topics format for my courses but I have all the lessons in one topic.  So seeing the word topic in the main menu might confuse users.

As an admin, go to Settings > Site Administration > Advanced Features > Language > Language Customization.  From the drop down choose you language (you might only have English) and click the Check Out Strings Into Translator button that comes up.  You should get a big green bar that says 100% and a continue button, click that.  This process is bizarre, I don't understand what it does but we're where we want to be now.

You'll see a list of all the different php files that generate text on your Moodle.  If you know which one has the word or phrase you want you can click it but I generally just select them all.  In the Only Strings Containing box type in the word or phrase you want to change.  You get a list of phrases your word appears in.  Find the one you don't like and change it by typing in the big box next to it.

Be aware that this will change the phrase every time it is used.  There may be placeholders in the phrase, these are how Moodle puts in a username or email address, you have to copy these exactly or they won't work.

When you're done, scroll right to the bottom and click the Save And Check In Strings Into Files button then click Continue when it comes up.  Done!