How to install IssueBadge in Canvas or Moodle

Before you start

• You need administrator access to your LMS. A teacher account is not enough.
• Someone with the owner role in IssueBadge generates the install link, under Learning platforms in the sidebar.
• The install link works once. Generate another whenever you need one.
• Both your LMS and IssueBadge need to be on HTTPS. Browsers will not keep a session inside a frame otherwise.

What the tool does once installed

IssueBadge shows up in the course navigation in Canvas, or as an External tool activity in Moodle. A teacher opens it, the LMS passes along their name, email and role, and they get a badge picker next to the class roster. They tick the students who earned it and each one gets a certificate by email. A student opening the same link sees only their own. Nobody has to create an IssueBadge login, and the tool never writes anything back to the course.

How to install IssueBadge in Canvas

There are two ways in. Option A uses LTI dynamic registration: Canvas pulls the whole configuration from IssueBadge, so there is no privacy level to get wrong. Option B is the manual route, for accounts where dynamic registration has been switched off.

Option A: install from the link (fastest)

1. In IssueBadge, open Learning platforms and choose Generate install link. Copy it.
2. In Canvas, go to Admin, your account, then Developer Keys.
3. Choose + Developer Key, then + LTI Registration.
4. Paste the install link and continue. Canvas reads the configuration from IssueBadge.
5. Review the permissions and install.
6. Set the new key's state to ON, and copy its Client ID.
7. Open the course (or the account, for every course), go to Settings, Apps, View App Configurations, + App.
8. Set Configuration Type to By Client ID, paste the Client ID, and install.

Option B: install from the configuration URL

1. In Canvas, go to Admin, Developer Keys, + Developer Key, + LTI Key.
2. Set Method to Enter URL and paste the configuration URL shown on the Learning platforms page.
3. Confirm Privacy Level is set to Public. See the warning below.
4. Save, set the key to ON, and copy the Client ID.
5. Install it in a course or account using By Client ID, as in step 7 above.

IssueBadge now appears in the course navigation menu. Teachers see a badge picker and the class roster. Students see only their own certificates.

How to install IssueBadge in Moodle

1. Go to Site administration, Plugins, Activity modules, External tool, Manage tools.
2. Paste the install link into the Tool URL box and choose Add LTI Advantage.
3. The tool is added as pending. Open it and activate it.
4. In the tool's settings, enable IMS LTI Names and Role Provisioning so teachers can see the class roster.
5. Set Share launcher's name and Share launcher's email to Always. Without them no certificate can be issued.
6. In a course, add an activity of type External tool and choose IssueBadge.

Steps 4 and 5 are the Moodle equivalent of the Canvas privacy level. Skip them and the tool installs cleanly but the roster comes up empty.

Blackboard, Brightspace, Sakai and Schoology

LTI 1.3 is a 1EdTech standard, so in theory the same tool registers with any certified platform. In practice we have only verified Canvas and Moodle against a real install. The Learning platforms page lists Blackboard Learn, D2L Brightspace, Sakai and Schoology too, each with a one-line hint, but nobody here has tested them. Brightspace supports dynamic registration, so the install link ought to work there. The others want the configuration URL and a manual registration. If you try one of these, tell us how it went at support@issuebadge.com and we will update this page.

If something is not working

What IssueBadge asks for, and why

• Name and email of whoever launches the tool. A certificate names a person and is delivered by email.
• The class roster. So a teacher can choose who has earned a badge instead of typing addresses by hand.
• Assignment and grade access. Requested now so that issuing automatically on a passing score can be switched on later without a second installation. It is not used until you enable it.

IssueBadge does not write grades back to your LMS and does not change anything in your courses.

Questions admins ask

Which LTI version does IssueBadge use?

LTI 1.3, also called LTI Advantage. It does not support LTI 1.1, so an old-style consumer key and shared secret will not work.

Why does the privacy level have to be Public in Canvas?

Below Public, Canvas strips the learner's name and email from the launch. A certificate is basically those two fields, so without them the tool has nothing to issue and nowhere to send it.

Does IssueBadge write grades back to the LMS?

No. It never writes grades and never changes a course. It asks for the grade scope at install time so that "issue on a passing score" can be turned on later without reinstalling. Until you turn that on, the scope is not used for anything.

Who can generate the install link?

Only the IssueBadge account owner, from Learning platforms in the sidebar. Each link works once and only for that account.

Do students need an IssueBadge account?

No. They open the tool inside the course and see the certificates issued to them. Teachers do not need one either.

Can I install it once for every course?

In Canvas, yes: install the app at the account level (step 7 of Option A) and it shows up in every course under that account. In Moodle, the tool is site-wide once activated, but a teacher still adds the External tool activity to each course where they want it.

I already have certificates outside the LMS. Can I keep using both?

Yes. The LMS tool issues into the same IssueBadge account, so badges, templates and issued certificates are shared with the web app and the other integrations.