Achieving multi-tenancy on Moodle LMS involves navigating various challenges and employing creative solutions to replicate the distinct, separate environments characteristic of Moodle Workplace’s built-in multi-tenancy. Unlike Moodle Workplace, which offers native support for multi-tenancy, allowing for easy management of different user groups with customized experiences, Moodle LMS requires administrators to utilize workarounds. However, these methods often fall short of providing the comprehensive separation and administrative control that Moodle Workplace offers, leading to potential difficulties in maintaining distinct user experiences and administrative tasks across tenants. In this article, we will explore some methods that may help in creating a multi-tenancy experience on Moodle LMS.
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Outline
Scenarios Where The Multi-Tenancy Experience Could Be Needed
Methods to Mimic The Multi-Tenancy Experience on Moodle LMS
Comparison of Moodle Multi-Tenancy Features
Is hiring a Moodle Expert Developer worth it?
Scenarios Where The Multi-Tenancy Experience Could Be Needed
The scenario can be widely different based on the organization, institution or business. You might find yourself needing to leverage multi-tenancy to provide tailored training programs for various departments, partners, or customer segments, each with its own branding and access controls. A few possible scenarios where the multi-tenancy experience may be needed are:
- LMS for different schools or institutions
- LMS for different divisions or departments of a business or corporation
- LMS shared between internal and external users
Methods to Mimic The Multi-Tenancy Experience on Moodle LMS
Based on your scenario and the extent of how customized you are requiring your LMS to be, there are different approaches and methods to achieve a multi-tenancy experience.
- Cohorts and Theme Settings – ideal for just making adjustments to an existing Moodle LMS
- Third-party Multi-tenancy – IOMAD – this is an option for those who are willing to backup their Moodle for data migration and install IOMAD
Cohorts and Theme Settings
Creating a multi-tenancy experience in Moodle LMS using cohorts and theme settings involves several steps to segment users and customize their learning environment. Here’s how you can achieve this:
1. Define Cohorts:
Cohorts are groups of users that can span across courses within Moodle. To create cohorts:
- Navigate to Site administration > Users > Accounts > Cohorts.
- Select Add new cohort.
- Fill in the necessary details such as cohort name, description, and context (system level for site-wide cohorts or a specific category for more restricted access).
- Save the changes.
2. Assign Users to Cohorts:
Once cohorts are created, you can assign users to them either manually or by uploading users in bulk with specific cohort identifiers. There are plugins that exists that can ease this process. In this step, you will need to have roles created that force your users to only see what’s within their scope.
3. Enable Cohort Themes:
- Ensure that your Moodle version supports cohort themes. This feature allows you to assign a specific theme to users based on their cohort membership.
- Go to Site administration > Appearance > Themes > Theme settings.
- Look for an option called Allow cohort themes and enable it. If this option is not available, your Moodle version might not support it, or additional plugins or customization may be required.
4. Configure Cohort Theme:
After enabling cohort themes, assign a theme to each cohort:
- Access the cohort settings by navigating to Site administration > Users > Accounts > Cohorts.
- Edit the cohort for which you want to assign a theme.
- There should be an option to Force theme for the cohort. Select the desired theme from the dropdown menu.
5. Customize Themes:
Customize the selected themes to fit the needs of each cohort. This can include changing the color scheme, logo, and other visual elements to match the branding or preferences of each group:
- Go to Site administration > Appearance > Themes and select the theme you want to customize.
- Use the customization options provided by the theme. This might include custom CSS, logos, footer settings, and more.
The big question, how do I customize the same theme for multiple cohorts?
Our recommendation is Boost Union. Boost Union offers a feature in its theme called Flavours. It allows you to customize the theme settings and save them to apply to whichever cohort needed.
Third-party Multi-Tenancy – IOMAD
IOMAD enhances Moodle by adding multi-tenancy, allowing for the creation of independent tenants with their own branding and databases within a single LMS. This advanced feature set caters to diverse educational and training environments, making it ideal for both corporate and academic settings that require segmented yet centralized management. While offering a scalable and flexible solution, the implementation and upkeep of IOMAD demand a higher level of technical knowledge compared to a standard Moodle setup, positioning it as a suitable option for organizations seeking its specific benefits and capable of navigating its complexities. IOMAD is provided as a full code ‘package’ so the underlying behaviour is still all Moodle, while the multi-tenancy bit dictates how it works for your installation. With that in mind, you are required to install the package like you would a Moodle, which may come with some hick ups when you’ve got an existing LMS.
Key Features of IOMAD:
- Multi-Tenancy Support: Facilitates the creation of separate, isolated tenants within a single Moodle instance. Each tenant can have its customized look and feel, course offerings, and user base.
- E-Commerce Integration: Includes tools for selling courses online, with support for various payment gateways like PayPal. This feature is ideal for organizations looking to monetize their course offerings.
- Course Licensing: Allows administrators to create and manage licenses for course access, which can be allocated to individual users or groups, offering another layer of control over course enrollment and access.
- Customizable Reporting: Offers enhanced reporting capabilities tailored to the needs of businesses, enabling detailed tracking of user progress, course completions, and other critical metrics across tenants.
- Devolved Administration: Permits the delegation of administrative tasks to users within tenants, enabling local managers to handle user management, course creation, and other tasks autonomously while still under the umbrella of the main site administration.
Check out IOMAD demo site: https://demo.iomad.org/
Comparison of Moodle Multi-Tenancy Features
Moodle does not natively support full multi-tenancy, but several solutions exist to simulate it, or you can use products like IOMAD or Moodle Workplace. This comparison will outline the basic and advanced multi-tenancy features available across these platforms.
| Feature | Moodle (Simulated Multi-Tenancy) | IOMAD | Moodle Workplace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-Tenant Support | Limited (via cohorts, categories) | Full tenant segregation | Full tenant segregation |
| Admin Delegation | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| Custom Branding | Theme-based (manual) | Per tenant | Per tenant |
| User Roles & Permissions | Limited customization | Enhanced flexibility | Enhanced flexibility |
| Reporting | Basic | Customizable per tenant | Advanced reporting per tenant |
| E-Commerce Integration | Requires plugins | Built-in | Requires plugins |
| Cost | Free (with plugins) | Free | Premium |
Is hiring a Moodle Expert Developer worth it?
Hiring a Moodle expert developer for setting up a multi-tenancy experience can be a valuable investment for organizations looking to maximize the functionality and efficiency of their learning management system. Given the technical complexities associated with implementing multi-tenancy, such as configuring isolated environments and customizing user experiences, an expert’s knowledge ensures a seamless setup, mitigating potential challenges and enhancing overall system performance. This approach not only saves time but also leverages the developer’s expertise to tailor the system to specific organizational needs, ultimately contributing to a more effective and engaging learning environment. A Moodle expert can also give you advice on whether it’s wise or necessary to mimic the multi-tenancy experience on a single Moodle instance or to use multiple instances.
Navigating the complexities of achieving multi-tenancy in Moodle LMS requires a nuanced approach. While these strategies offer a spectrum of customization and control to cater to diverse learning scenarios, they come with their own set of challenges and technical demands. Engaging a Moodle expert developer becomes invaluable in such instances, ensuring a streamlined setup and an optimized learning environment tailored to your specific needs. Our consultation services are designed to guide you through these decisions, offering expert advice and technical proficiency to enhance your Moodle experience effectively. Whether you’re exploring the replication of a multi-tenancy setup within Moodle LMS or considering an IOMAD integration, our team is equipped to support your journey towards a more efficient and engaging educational platform.
