NameDrop on Moodle

Verified

Documented for Moodle 3.9+ (LTI 1.3 supported). Verified against the public Moodle demo (sandbox.moodledemo.net) and against a self-hosted Moodle test instance.

What you’ll get

NameDrop appears as an External tool activity that an instructor adds to a course page. Students click the activity to launch NameDrop, which renders welcome+roster inline (Embed mode) or in a new tab (depending on the launch container choice).

Caution

Moodle does not support a per-user-profile LTI placement (no equivalent of Canvas’s User Navigation). To get a personal “Record my name” surface for every user, you need a workaround — see the Per-user placement workarounds section below.

Setup (one-time, by Moodle admin)

Step 1: Get your NameDrop credentials

In your NameDrop dashboard at https://app.namedrop.io/integrations, click Connect Moodle. Note the URLs.

Step 2: Register NameDrop at the site level

1. Sign in to Moodle as administrator.
2. Site administration → Plugins → Activity modules → External tool → Manage tools.
3. Click configure a tool manually.
4. Fill in:
   • Tool name: NameDrop
   • Tool URL: https://lti.namedrop.io/lti/launch
   • LTI version: LTI 1.3
   • Public key type: Keyset URL
   • Public keyset URL: https://lti.namedrop.io/jwks/{your-tenant-id}
   • Initiate login URL: https://lti.namedrop.io/lti/login
   • Redirection URI(s): https://lti.namedrop.io/lti/launch
   • Tool configuration usage: “Show in activity chooser and as a preconfigured tool”
   • Default launch container: Embed
5. Save.

Step 3: Connect to your NameDrop tenant

Moodle generates a Client ID for the tool you just added. In your NameDrop dashboard, paste it into the Moodle integration form. Save.

Step 4: Add NameDrop to a course

In any course:

1. Turn editing on.
2. Pick a section → + Add an activity or resource → External tool.
3. Activity name: NameDrop
4. Preconfigured tool: select NameDrop.
5. Save.

Students click the activity link → NameDrop launches inline.

Optional: Record-my-name activity

To add a focused recorder activity (no roster), add a second External tool activity in the course:

1. Same as Step 4 above.
2. Activity name: Record my name
3. Preconfigured tool: NameDrop
4. Expand Privacy → Show more….
5. Custom parameters: add view=record-my-name
6. Save.

Per-user placement workarounds

Moodle has no LTI user-profile placement. Two non-LTI options if you need a personal entry point for every user:

1. Custom user profile field (URL type) — In Site administration → Users → User profile fields, add a URL-type field that links to a token-protected NameDrop URL. This is not LTI; the link uses a separate token-redeem flow that NameDrop’s team will help you build.
2. Frontpage block — Add a Text or HTML block to the Moodle frontpage with a “Record my name” link. Everyone sees it on first login, but it’s not personalized (no auto-launch as the logged-in user without extra glue).

Option 1 is the typical solution for institutions that want per-user reach. Contact NameDrop support to set up the token-redeem flow.

FAQ

Q: Can the Moodle activity send the course roster to NameDrop? A: Yes. Enable Services → IMS LTI Names and Role Provisioning in the tool configuration. NameDrop fetches the roster at launch time.

Q: What if my Moodle is behind a firewall? A: NameDrop’s lambda needs to fetch your Moodle’s public keyset URL during launch verification. If your Moodle is internal-only, contact NameDrop support — we have an alternative key-distribution flow.

Q: How do I uninstall? A: Site administration → External tool → Manage tools → NameDrop → Delete. Disconnect in your NameDrop dashboard.