When Mindjoy is configured as a site-level external tool in Moodle, it is offered in every course on the site. Teachers see it in the activity chooser whether or not their course is part of your rollout.
If you are running a pilot, or phasing Mindjoy in one faculty at a time, you can keep Mindjoy out of the courses that are not using it. This guide shows how.
Before you start
Moodle administrator access
Mindjoy already connected to Moodle (see Connecting Moodle with LTI 1.3)
A list of every course that should have Mindjoy, including any course that already has Mindjoy activities in it
Your Moodle version. Category restriction needs Moodle 4.3 or later.
Configure once, then restrict. Do not add Mindjoy per course.
Your Mindjoy organization holds one LTI registration, made up of one issuer, one client ID and one deployment ID. Mindjoy matches every incoming launch against those three values.
Moodle lets teachers add their own tools from Course navigation > More > LTI External tools if they have permission to do so. Each course-level tool is a separate configuration with its own client ID and deployment ID, and only one of them can be registered in Mindjoy. Launches from the others will be rejected.
So keep Mindjoy as the single site-level tool you already have, and restrict it using the settings below.
The two settings that control visibility
Setting | What it controls |
Restrict to category | Which course categories Mindjoy is available in. Moodle 4.3 and later. |
Tool configuration usage | How prominently Mindjoy is offered inside the courses that can see it |
Restrict to category is the one that actually limits access. Use option A if you can, and option B if you cannot.
Option A: Restrict Mindjoy to a course category
Moodle scopes external tools by course category rather than by individual course, so start by making sure the participating courses share a category.
1. Go to Site administration > Courses > Manage courses and categories
2. Create a category for the participating courses if they do not already share one, and move the courses into it
3. Go to Site administration > Plugins > Activity modules > External tool > Manage tools
4. Find the Mindjoy tool and open its settings (the gear icon)
5. Find Restrict to category and select the category, or categories, that should have Mindjoy
6. Click Save changes
Mindjoy is now only offered in courses inside those categories. Courses moved or created in a permitted category later will pick it up automatically.
Editing an existing tool does not change its Client ID or Deployment ID, so your Mindjoy registration stays valid. Deleting and recreating the tool does change them.
Option B: Keep Mindjoy out of the activity chooser
Use this if you cannot group the courses into a category, or if you are on a Moodle older than 4.3.
This reduces how visible Mindjoy is rather than restricting access. Teachers can still reach it by adding an External tool activity and picking Mindjoy from the Preconfigured tool dropdown.
1. Go to Site administration > Plugins > Activity modules > External tool > Manage tools
2. Open the Mindjoy tool's settings
3. Set Tool configuration usage to Show as preconfigured tool when adding an External tool
4. Click Save changes
Tool configuration usage | Effect |
Show in activity chooser and as a preconfigured tool | Mindjoy appears in the activity chooser in every permitted course. This is the most visible option. |
Show as preconfigured tool when adding an External tool | Mindjoy is not in the activity chooser. Teachers select it from the Preconfigured tool dropdown. Recommended for a pilot. |
Do not show; use only when a matching tool URL is entered | Mindjoy is not offered to teachers at all. Avoid this while anyone is using Mindjoy, as it also blocks the content picker. |
Watch out for courses that already use Mindjoy
If a course with existing Mindjoy activities falls outside the categories you select, those activities stop launching. Confirm every course that already uses Mindjoy sits inside a permitted category before you save.
Check it worked
1. Open a participating course as a teacher, turn editing on, and add an activity. Mindjoy should be available, either in the activity chooser or as a Preconfigured tool.
2. Open a course outside the permitted categories and repeat. Mindjoy should not be offered.
3. Open an existing Mindjoy activity in a participating course and confirm it still launches.
Troubleshooting
There is no Restrict to category setting on the form
Your Moodle is older than 4.3. Use option B, or speak to whoever hosts your Moodle about upgrading.
Teachers in a permitted category cannot see Mindjoy
Check that Tool configuration usage is not set to Do not show, that the course is in one of the selected categories, and that the teacher has editing rights in the course.
Launches fail after you edited the tool
Confirm the Client ID and Deployment ID in Mindjoy, under Organization > Integrations, still match the Mindjoy tool in Moodle. Editing a tool leaves them alone, but recreating it does not.
A teacher has added their own Mindjoy tool in a course
Course-level tools have their own client ID and deployment ID, so they cannot launch into Mindjoy. Delete the course-level tool and have the teacher use the site-level Mindjoy tool instead. To stop this happening, remove the mod/lti:addcoursetool capability from the teacher role.
Related articles
Connecting Moodle with LTI 1.3
How LTI works on Mindjoy
If you get stuck, email [email protected] with your Moodle URL and the courses you are trying to scope to.