NameDrop on Canvas

Verified

Verified end-to-end against Canvas Cloud and Canvas LMS 2021+.

What you’ll get

After install, NameDrop appears in three places (you choose which):

1. Inside course content (Resource Selector) — instructors embed NameDrop on a course page or module.
2. Course Navigation tab — every course shows a “NameDrop” entry in its left navigation. Students see the full roster with play buttons.
3. User Navigation entry — every user sees a “Record my name” link in their account dropdown (top-right). Compact recorder, no roster, available across all courses.

You can enable any combination. They don’t conflict.

Setup (one-time, by Canvas admin)

The fastest path is the JSON URL install, which lets Canvas auto-fetch our tool config and creates all three placements at once.

Option A: JSON URL install (recommended)

1. In Canvas, navigate to Admin → Settings → Apps → + App.
2. Configuration Type: “By URL”
3. Name: NameDrop
4. Consumer Key / Shared Secret: leave empty (LTI 1.3 doesn’t use these)
5. Config URL: https://lti.namedrop.io/canvas-config.json
6. Click Submit.

Canvas fetches our config, registers the tool, and enables Resource Link, Course Navigation, and User Navigation placements automatically.

Option B: Paste JSON manually

If your Canvas instance doesn’t allow URL-based config:

1. Open https://lti.namedrop.io/canvas-config.json in a browser.
2. Copy the JSON.
3. In Canvas, Admin → Settings → Apps → + App → “Paste JSON” configuration type.
4. Paste, set Name to “NameDrop”, click Submit.

Final step: connect to your NameDrop tenant

After install, Canvas shows you a Client ID in the app details. Copy it.

In your NameDrop dashboard at https://app.namedrop.io/integrations, click Connect Canvas and paste the Client ID. NameDrop uses this to verify launches from your Canvas instance.

Customizing placements

Don’t want one of the placements? Edit the tool in Canvas (Admin → Apps → NameDrop → Edit), open the JSON, and remove the placement entry. Save. Effect is immediate.

Don’t want NameDrop in courses where the instructor hasn’t asked for it? In the same edit panel, change "default": "enabled" to "default": "disabled" on the course_navigation placement. Then per-course, an instructor can enable it via Course Settings → Navigation.

FAQ

Q: Will my existing course content placements continue to work? A: Yes. Canvas treats placements as additive. Adding User Navigation doesn’t change anything in courses where instructors have already inserted NameDrop content.

Q: Can I enable NameDrop only for specific roles? A: Yes. Each placement has a visibility field ("members", "admins", etc.). Edit the JSON to restrict.

Q: What data does NameDrop receive at launch? A: Standard LTI 1.3 claims: user name, email, role, course context (when available), and the LMS’s roster URL (for course-level placements). User Navigation launches send no course context — that’s intentional and expected for personal placements.

Q: How do I uninstall? A: Admin → Settings → Apps → NameDrop → Delete. NameDrop side: in your dashboard, Integrations → Canvas → Disconnect. No leftover state on either side.