Moodle Plugin: Syncing StudyStash to Courses (Opt-In Mode)

FOR ADMINISTRATORS

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Purpose

StudyStash Course Sync (Opt-In) is a Moodle local plugin that helps administrators roll out the StudyStash LTI activity across courses at scale. Admins select and “opt-in” courses using a CSV file and preview the result using a dry run before making live changes. Instead of enabling StudyStash manually in each course, the plugin queues a sync task that checks every eligible course and adds the StudyStash activity only where it is missing. It is safe to run multiple times: courses that already contain the configured StudyStash activity are skipped, and only new or missing courses are updated.

Action	Explanation
Dry Run	Previews which courses would get StudyStash based on which have been opted-in.
Sync StudyStash to Courses	Enables StudyStash in eligible courses that do not already have it.
Course opt-ins	Lets admins choose courses that must include the StudyStash activity.

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Prerequisites

• Moodle version must be >= 2022041900 (Moodle 4.0+)
• Administrative access (moodle/site:config) to your Moodle Instance
• A valid preconfigured LTI tool for StudyStash already exists
• Cron running within Moodle
• Your Customer Success Manager has provided the Plugin via a ZIP file

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Step 1: Installing the plugin

1. Go to https://<your-moodle-instance>/admin/tool/installaddon/index.php
2. Upload the ZIP file provided to you by StudyStash by pressing “Choose a file…”
3. Press “Show more…”
4. Set the “Plugin type” to be “Local plugin (local)”

5. Press “Install plugin from the ZIP file”
6. After the validation message, press “Continue”
7. After the server checks message, press “Continue”
8. After the plugins check message, press “Upgrade Moodle database now”
   

   

9. If an “Upgrading to new version” message appears, press “Continue”

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Step 2: Configuring the plugin

After installing the plugin (step 1), you will be required to configure the new settings that are available.

1. Enter the following settings:

Setting	Value	Type
LTI preconfigured tool type ID	Select the correct ‘StudyStash’ LTI Activity Module from the dropdown	Required
StudyStash activity name	StudyStash	Optional
Placement in General section	Bottom	Optional

2. Press the “Save changes” button
3. Go to https://<your-moodle-instance>/local/studystash_optin/index.php
   

   

4. Press the “Opt-In Courses” tab:
   

   

   1. Press the “Download CSV template” button, and fill out the CSV file.
      
      Each row should either be the Course ID number or the Short name (there is no requirement for a header row). For example:
      SHORTCOURSE-ID-111
      SHORTCOURSE-ID-222
      
   2. Upload the CSV file by pressing “Choose File”
   3. Press “Preview CSV”
   4. Ensure all rows within the CSV are valid. For each valid row, the full details will be shown:
      

      

   5. If you are happy with the valid rows, press the “Apply opt-in list” button.
5. Optionally, you can Dry Run the sync:
   

   

   1. Press “Dry Run”, and wait a few seconds/minutes for the task to complete (depending on how many courses you have)
   2. Press the “Logs” tab
   3. Examine logs to ensure behavior is as expected for each course
6. To complete the sync for real, press “Sync StudyStash to Courses” on the “Status” tab:
   

   

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FAQs

How can previously opted-in course be deleted? Re-upload the CSV file containing only the courses you still want to keep opted in. Each CSV upload replaces the existing list, so any courses not included in the new file will be removed from the opt-in list. What’s the difference between Course ID and Course ID Number?

Course ID	Moodle’s internal, system-generated identifier for a course. It is automatically assigned when the course is created and cannot normally be changed.
Course ID Number	Optional field set by administrators or course creators. It is often used to match courses with external systems (such as student information systems or integrations) and can be edited if needed.