Kenai User Guide
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Kenai User Guide
Overview
Kenai is a premium theme for Moodle LMS and Moodle Workplace that features customizable home pages for highlighting content in a structured format, plus robust catalog options for browsing courses and programs.
System Requirements
Supported Versions:
Moodle LMS 4.5 and 5.0
Moodle Workplace 4.5 and 5.0
Dependencies:
local_ratings plugin (included with Kenai)
Getting Started
Installation
Kenai is a premium theme and requires purchase. Contact your Moodle Account Manager to add Kenai to your site.
Theme Activation
Once Kenai is installed, set it as your default theme:
Go to Site Administration > Appearance > Themes
Select Kenai as the default theme
Configuration Overview
Kenai settings are organized into three levels:
Site-Level Settings - Applied globally across your site
Go to Site Administration > Appearance > Custom theme settings > Kenai
Home Page Settings - Applied to the home page
Go to Site Administration > Appearance > Custom theme settings > Front page settings
Course and Program Settings - Applied to individual courses and programs using Kenai custom fields
Access through course/program editing interfaces
Home Page
The home page offers flexible component options to create a custom portal, dashboard, or hybrid layout. Access home page configuration at Site Administration > Appearance > Custom theme settings > Front page settings.
Components
Configure these elements to build your home page:
Banner
Display a video, single image, or scrollable image carousel with text overlays and navigation paths.
Video Settings:
Videos play without audio
Can include text overlay and navigation path
Image Settings:
Fixed height: 450 pixels
Width adjusts automatically to browser size (more or less of image reveals as you resize)
Recommended minimum width: 3000 pixels
Can include text overlay and navigation path per image
Announcements
Site-level announcements display as a scrollable carousel above the banner (when enabled). Each announcement can include a "Read More" link.
Welcome Section
Optional customizable HTML section that displays directly below the banner. Use the rich text editor to create custom content.
Collapsible Sections
Configure each home page section to be collapsed or expanded on page load. Sections are expanded by default.
Recent Courses
Displays up to four catalog cards based on the learner's last course access.
Mandatory Training
Displays up to four course or program cards for incomplete mandatory curriculum. Courses must be flagged as mandatory in Kenai settings and the learner must be enrolled.
Top In-Progress Training
Displays up to four course or program cards currently in progress, sorted by due date.
Recently Completed
Displays up to four course or program cards based on completion date.
Explore by Industry
Configure up to four images per row displayed in a grid layout. Each image can include text overlay and a navigation path.
Featured Items
Configure multiple cards for courses, programs, or custom items. After four cards, the section displays as a carousel.
Display Differences from Standard Catalog Cards:
Course and program cards exclude progress indicators and use a simplified layout
Custom item cards display one custom field value below the image and a second as a banner at the card bottom
Content Block
Pre-configured HTML block with options for text, navigational button/link, and image.
Block Regions
Add additional content blocks to your home page by placing them between major sections.
To add blocks:
Turn on editing mode
Add blocks to the right-hand drawer
Drag blocks to your desired location
Available Block Locations:
After the banner (image carousel/video)
After "Available courses"
After the welcome section
After "Recent courses"
After "Mandatory training"
After "Top in Progress"
After "Recently Completed"
After "Get Certified"
Workplace Exclusive Features
Multi-Tenancy Configuration
Workplace administrators can configure unique home pages for each tenant. This allows different organizations or departments within your Workplace site to have customized landing pages.
Setup Process
1. Enable Site Home
Go to Site Administration > Appearance > Navigation
Set "Start page for users" to Home
2. Configure Site Home Settings
Go to Site Administration > Front Page > Site Home Settings
Include ONLY "Full site name" and "Short name for site"
Important: Clear all content from "Site home summary," "Site home," and "Site home items when logged in" to avoid conflicts with theme settings
3. Customize Front Page Components Go to Site Administration > Appearance > Custom theme settings > Front page settings
General Settings:
Banner Options:
Content Sections:
Configure which sections to display and their content:
Welcome section
Recent courses (up to 4 cards)
Mandatory training (up to 4 cards)
Top in-progress training (up to 4 cards)
Recently completed (up to 4 cards)
Explore By Industry (configure number of cards)
Featured/Trending Items (configure number of cards)
Get Certified (customizable text, image, and button/link)
4. Set Default Home Page Select "Default Front Page" in the tenant dropdown to configure settings for all tenants without custom configurations. This provides a fallback home page for any tenant that hasn't been individually customized.
Catalogs
Kenai provides two catalog options for browsing courses and programs. The Kenai Catalog is available for both Moodle LMS and Moodle Workplace, while the Enhanced Native Catalog is available only for Moodle Workplace.
For a detailed feature comparison see Catalog comparison: Kenai and Workplace.
Kenai Catalog
The Kenai Catalog displays courses and programs as visual cards or list items with images and descriptions. Learners can explore content using filters and sorting tools, self-enroll in programs directly through the catalog, and view their in-progress and completed curriculum.
Availability:
Moodle LMS: Displays courses only
Moodle Workplace: Displays courses and programs
Course and Program Cards
The catalog displays courses and programs as cards with filtering and sorting tools.
Always Displayed:
Conditional Elements:
Image Recommendations:
Filters and Controls
Dropdown Filters:
Additional Tools:
Alphabetical sort
Search field
Optional Features:
Modify View button - Opens modal to control which filters display and exclude enrolled curriculum from view
Tabs - Separate "My Cards" (in-progress/completed) from "Cards" (not yet accessed)
View toggle - Switch between grid (card) and list layouts
Kenai Catalog Configuration
1. Enable Kenai Catalog
Go to Site Administration > Appearance > Custom theme settings > Kenai
Set "Enable Catalog?" to "Yes"
The Kenai Catalog link will appear in your site's navigation bar
2. Configure Custom Fields Kenai automatically adds custom fields to all courses and programs once enabled. Use these fields to control catalog display and filtering. See Field Reference for complete field documentation.
Accessing Kenai Fields:
Courses: Site Administration > Learning > [Select course] > Edit course settings > Kenai Fields (bottom of page)
Programs: Site Administration > Learning > Programs > [Select program] > Edit Details > Kenai Fields (bottom of page)
3. Configure Additional Options (optional)
Enhanced Native Catalog
The Enhanced Native Catalog is available exclusively for Moodle Workplace. It builds on the native Workplace catalog with additional features including alphabetical sorting, collapsible filters, and grid/list view toggling.
Availability: This catalog is available at no additional cost for Kenai license-holders. Contact your Moodle Account Manager to request installation.
Limitations: Does not currently support program display.
Key Features
Learner Progress View Add an optional "My Progress" page (accessible via main navigation) that displays enrolled courses separately from the main catalog. Learners can filter by mandatory, in-progress, and completed status, with optional progress bars showing completion percentages.
Custom Field Migration Convert existing Kenai custom text fields to native Moodle dropdown fields for use in catalog filters. This allows you to leverage data already entered in Kenai custom fields within the enhanced native catalog's filter system.
Enhanced Native Catalog Configuration
Prerequisites
Both catalogs must be enabled:
For complete native catalog documentation, see Moodle docs on Catalogue.
Enable "My Progress" View (optional)
Go to Site Administration > Appearance > Custom theme settings > Custom catalogs
Enable "My Progress" catalog view (disabled by default)
Add the view to navigation:
Go to Site Administration > Appearance > Custom theme settings > Kenai > General Settings > Custom navigation
Add: /course/index.php?mycourses=1
Note: Once enabled, enrolled courses no longer appear in the regular catalog view.
Configure Progress Display and Filters (optional)
Go to Site Administration > Appearance > Custom theme settings > Custom catalogs:
Enable Mandatory Filter (optional)
To allow learners to filter by mandatory training status:
Go to Site Administration > Learning > Learning catalog settings
Under "Fields to display in the learning catalogue filter," open the eye icon for "Mandatory"
Migrate Custom Text Fields (optional)
To use existing Kenai custom text field values as catalog filters:
Go to Site Administration > Appearance > Kenai > General settings > Text field to dropdown field migration tool
Select the field to migrate and click Submit
An automated task converts the text field to a dropdown with all existing values as options
The original field is renamed with "_backup" appended to its shortname
Customization
Customize Activity Behavior
Activity Icons: Replace default activity icons with custom images for any activity type, including third-party plugins. Go to Site Administration > Appearance > Kenai > General settings > Activity icon management and upload .jpg, .gif, or .png image for each activity type you want to customize.
Activity Navigation: Add navigation buttons to course module activities. When enabled a “previous activity” and a “next activity” button are present at the bottom of each activity in a course. The setting to enable is located in the Kenai general settings page.
Customize Course Behavior
Disable Course Information: By default Moodle displays a tab on all courses called “Information”. Disabling this setting will remove the information tab from all courses on the site. This setting is located in the Kenai general settings page.
Footer Banner
Add a fixed plain-text banner at the bottom of pages.
To configure:
Go to Site Administration > Appearance > Custom theme settings > Kenai
Enter text in the "Footer Banner" field
Filter Labels
Customize the display text for catalog filter labels.
To change filter labels:
Go to Site Administration > General > Language > Language Customization
Search for strings named filter:kenaifilter1, filter:kenaifilter2, and filter:kenaifilter3
Edit labels as needed
Tip: You can customize other theme text by searching for "theme_kenai" strings in the language customization tool.
Custom Styling and Navigation
CSS Injection: Use Raw initial SCSS or Raw SCSS fields within Kenai theme settings to add custom styles.
Custom Navigation Nodes: Add custom navigation items in Site Administration > Appearance > Custom theme settings > Kenai > General Settings > Custom navigation. Follow the on-page syntax guidance.
Login Box Location: The location of the login box on the login page can be set to left, right, or center. This setting is in the Kenai general settings page.
Ratings
Kenai includes a star rating system for courses and programs. Once learners complete a course, they can rate it on a five-star scale. Ratings appear on course cards in the catalog.
Configuration: The local_ratings plugin is a dependency of Kenai and provides the rating functionality. No additional configuration is required—the plugin works automatically once installed.
Field Reference
Information Fields
Display additional information on course and program cards.
Filter Fields
Create custom catalog filter categories.
Fields: kenaifilter1, kenaifilter2, kenaifilter3
Configuration:
Edit the field "Name" to change the filter label in the catalog
Go to Site Administration > Learning > Course custom fields
Important: Do not edit the "Short name" field
Filters only appear if courses have values populated
kenaifilter1 also displays on course cards
Special Fields
Navigation Path Quick Reference
For additional support or questions about Kenai, contact your Moodle Account Manager.