Create, copy, and customise H5P objects
You can either create H5P objects from scratch, or you can copy and adapt existing H5P objects. The existing objects you can copy and adapt could either be your own previous H5P objects, those shared by a colleague, or those shared by other H5P creators outside of the university.
All H5P objects can easily be customised. While customisation options depends on the type of activity you create, they usually include behavioural settings (such as the "Retry" and "Show-Solution" buttons), as well as text overrides and translations (for instance, changing the wording True/False to Correct/Incorrect).
Limits: Note that the customisation options primarily apply to functionality and interaction with the content, rather than visual design. Depending on the content type, there are limited options to customize colors and others elements of visual appearance, and there are no options to change the default font.
All H5P objects can easily be customised. While customisation options depends on the type of activity you create, they usually include behavioural settings (such as the "Retry" and "Show-Solution" buttons), as well as text overrides and translations (for instance, changing the wording True/False to Correct/Incorrect).
Limits: Note that the customisation options primarily apply to functionality and interaction with the content, rather than visual design. Depending on the content type, there are limited options to customize colors and others elements of visual appearance, and there are no options to change the default font.
Creating H5P objects from scratch
Creating content from scratch is not difficult and is probably what you will be doing with most activities.
Reusing and adapting existing H5P objects
Reusing and adapting an existing H5P activity can be useful if:
You can copy and reuse entire activities, or you can copy parts of an activity. This allows you to start small and build an H5P activity bank based on work you have already done.
For example:
- you want to learn how an existing activity looks at the backend, especially if it's one of the more complex content types, for instance a course presentation, an interactive book, or a branching scenario
- you like the structure and design of a piece of content and want to save some time building it
- you want to create different activities of the same content type that are consistent in style
You can copy and reuse entire activities, or you can copy parts of an activity. This allows you to start small and build an H5P activity bank based on work you have already done.
For example:
- you can insert an existing simple activity into a more complex one (e.g. you want to add an existing Quiz to an Interactive book)
- or vice versa, you can extract a simple activity from a complex one to turn it into a standalone activity
Copying and reusing content with the H5P clipboard
Copying and reusing H5P content with the H5P clipboard can be a huge time saver. The H5P clipboard is a browser-based clipboard and is not the same clipboard as the one on your computer.
With the H5P clipboard you can:
With the H5P clipboard you can:
- copy and paste content within the same H5P content item
- copy and paste content from one H5P item to another (provided that the content you paste works within the receiving H5P content item)
- copy an entire H5P content item and create a new one that you can modify
Customising behavioural settings
Many H5P content types allow you to adjust the behavioural settings, either by default for an entire activity, or for individual activities embedded within a complex activity (e.g. a multiple choice question embedded in a Quiz (Question Set)). The behavioural settings depend on the content type you are working with, and may include the following:
To adjust behavioural settings, open your H5P activity in edit mode and look for an expandable grey bar that says "Behavioural Settings" or "Settings". Click on it to expand and customize the options as you see fit.
H5P works with containers. If you are working with an activity that consists of different content types, the behavioural settings inside the container closest to a single content type allow you to adjust the settings just for this content type. The settings bar for the entire activity is usually the one near the bottom, in the widest container.
If you need help with a specific content type, have a look at the list of tutorials available at H5P.
- Do you want your learners to be able to check if they got it right?
- Do you want your learners to be able to see the correct solution if they got it wrong?
- Do you you want your learners to be able to try again?
- Do you want your learners to see a score?
- Do want to set different score ranges and feedback for each range?
To adjust behavioural settings, open your H5P activity in edit mode and look for an expandable grey bar that says "Behavioural Settings" or "Settings". Click on it to expand and customize the options as you see fit.
H5P works with containers. If you are working with an activity that consists of different content types, the behavioural settings inside the container closest to a single content type allow you to adjust the settings just for this content type. The settings bar for the entire activity is usually the one near the bottom, in the widest container.
If you need help with a specific content type, have a look at the list of tutorials available at H5P.
Translations and default text overrides
The "Text overrides and translations" bar allows you to customize the default wording for interactive elements and dialogue options. For example, you can change the default buttons for a true/false question to "Correct/Incorrect", "Yes/No"; or you can change the "Retry" button into "Give it another go", etc. Doing this can be particularly useful if you are teaching a language and want to engage the students in the target language.
"Text overrides and translations" need to be adjusted in an activity; they cannot be saved in your workspace as a default. If you are building an activity that consists of various content types, options to customise each content type will appear in the main "Text overrides and translations" bar as soon as a content type is used.
Note: Any changes in "Text overrides and translations" will be applied to all instances of a content type used in the main activity/content type. For example, changes to the "True/False" button within a quiz (question set) will be applied to every single true/false question that is used in the quiz. It is not possible to make individual adjustments for each instance.
"Text overrides and translations" need to be adjusted in an activity; they cannot be saved in your workspace as a default. If you are building an activity that consists of various content types, options to customise each content type will appear in the main "Text overrides and translations" bar as soon as a content type is used.
Note: Any changes in "Text overrides and translations" will be applied to all instances of a content type used in the main activity/content type. For example, changes to the "True/False" button within a quiz (question set) will be applied to every single true/false question that is used in the quiz. It is not possible to make individual adjustments for each instance.
Saving your work
- Always, always, ALWAYS make sure you hit the SAVE button before closing your browser, and save your work regularly inbetween. There is NO autosave. If you accidentally close your browser tab or window, any work that you have completed since you last saved the activity will be lost and cannot be retrieved.
- The blue "Save" button will save the entire activity and automatically open it up in preview mode. Click on "edit" to continue editing.
- The "Done" button saves a component inside an activity (e.g. a quiz question inside a presentation or interactive video), but it does not save the entire activity.
- There is no option to undo an action if you accidentally delete an item within an H5P activity (but H5P asks you, "Are you sure you want to delete this item?" If in doubt, select "Cancel" and double-check).
This page was last updated March 2022.