Moodle Workplace App Configuration

This feature is part of Moodle Workplace™, which is available through Moodle Certified Partners and Service Providers only.

This page is intended for Administrators

It is highly recommended that you enable HTTPS with a valid certificate. The Workplace app will always try to use a secured connection first.

Enabling the app

Before any users can use your Moodle Workplace instance, the following steps are required to be carried out:

1. Enable web services for mobile devices
2. Enable notifications
3. Configure mobile authentication

Mobile web services

First, mobile web services must be enabled: Go to Site administration > Advanced features and ensure that the Enable web services for mobile devices option is ticked.

Mobile notifications

It is highly recommended to enable mobile notifications: Navigate to Site administration > Messaging > Notification settings and enable the Mobile notification plugin.

To configure mobile notifications, navigate to Site administration > Messaging > Mobile. Unless you run your own AirNotifier server, do not change any of the settings. The default values connect to the public Moodle messaging server. All you need to do is to select the Request an access key link at the bottom. This requires your site to be registered with moodle.org (via Site administration > Registration).

Mobile authentication

Moodle Workplace supports three different mobile login types (Site administration > Mobile app > Mobile authentication):

• Via the app (default): Default authentication mechanism that applies to all manual account.
• Via a browser window (for SSO plugins): If your site uses an SSO authentication method, such as MS-AD, LDAP, or OAuth 2, this mechanism opens a separate browser window where the login credentials have to be provided.
• Via an embedded browser (for SSO plugins): Same as Via a browser window (for SSO plugins) but provides a better user experience. Authentication plugins that require JavaScript popups will work in an embedded browser.

For security reasons, Enforce auto logout for your users lets you choose from the following options to control when a user close the app, which includes running the app in the background:

• Never: User will remain logged in and do not have re-enter their credentials.
• Immediately after users leave or close the app: As soon as the app is closed (or run in the background), the user is logged out.
• Custom time after users leave or close the app: You can specify a time period after which the user will be logged out.

QR code access is an alternative way to access the site by scanning a matrix barcode. This mode has the following three options:

• Access with QR code disabled: No authentication via QR code possible
• QR code with site URL: Users will have to enter their credentials
• QR code with automatic login (default): This option may be restricted depending on your app subscription plan
  • QR authentication key duration: Specify the length of time for which a QR code for automatic login is valid.
  • QR authentication same IP check: If enabled (default), users must use the same network for both generating and scanning a QR code for login. Only disable, if users report issues with the QR login.

The URL scheme specifies which app can be used to access your Moodle Workplace site:

• mmworkplace (default): Only allow the official Moodle Workplace app
• Other URL scheme: when a custom branded app has been developed, use its URL scheme
• Leave empty: Use any app (not recommended)

The Minimum app version required option can usually be left empty and should only be set if you want or need to force users to update to an up-to-date version of the Moodle Workplace app.

The Minimum time between auto-login requests setting determines how frequently users have to authenticate from the mobile app. If app users are frequently asked to enter their credentials when viewing content embedded from the site, then set a lower value.

Configuring the app

Mobile features

Mobile features can be accessed at Site administration > Mobile app > Mobile features. Users have to sync the app to apply any configured changes (Menu > App settings > Synchronisation).

• Force log out: If enabled, the app option 'Change site' is replaced by 'Log out'. This results in the user being completely logged out. They must then re-enter their password the next time they wish to access the site.
• Disabled features: This lets you remove features from the app's main menu
• Custom menu items: This lets you add additional items to the app's main menu. The format is item text|link|opening method|[language code], opening method can be app, inappbrowser, browser, and embedded.
• File type exclusion list: Select all file types which are not for use on a mobile device. Such files will be listed in the course, then if a user attempts to open them, a warning will be displayed advising that the file type is not intended for use on a mobile device. The user can then cancel or ignore the warning and open the file anyway.
• Custom language strings: Words and phrases displayed in the app can be customised. The format it string identifier|custom string|language code.

Mobile appearance

To modify the app's look and feel, go to Site administration > Mobile app > Mobile appearance.

The app makes use of a remote theme where the styles are specified in Moodle Workplace itself and loaded dynamically to each mobile device. A single CSS file has to be provided, which overrides the styles from the default theme; that is, your new CSS file should have only the styles you wish to modify. Once the CSS file is completed, load it to a location where it can be accessed from your Moodle Workplace server. This can either be a public URL or locally in your Workplace instance, ideally in your custom theme ($CFG->wwwroot/theme/workplace). To apply the new styles, you need to clear the cache and restart the app.

App banners let your users know that a dedicated mobile app is available when accessing the site using a mobile browser. If you use the standard Moodle Workplace app, leave the remaining values at their default. If you are using a branded mobile app, you need to provide the unique identifiers for the iOS and Android app, respectively, and also specify an App download page.

The tenant-specific configuration for each banner setting is covered in the app's multi-tenancy section.

Mobile settings

Optionally, an App policy URL can be specified; if set, this page will be listed on the app's about page; if left empty, the main site policy will be used instead.