Book excerpt: This book begins with a brief look at Moodle's background and an examination of its architectural structure and LAMP architecture. You'll learn to create user accounts and understand the methods of authentication based on manual accounts and e-mail-based self-registrations. You'll then develop the Moodle site structure and course set up, and discover how to edit it through a sample faculty site. Next, you'll configure two of the standard themes in Moodle and apply them to organizational branding. You'll also explore how plugins are configured and installed, and learn about backing up, resetting, and restoring Moodle courses. Finally, you'll learn Moodle's security options, along with performance testing, and how to use the built-in Moodle performance testing script.