local_inactivitynotifier — Inactivity Notifier for Moodle

Moodle local plugin that detects inactive students in courses and sends them a notification (popup + email) to encourage them to resume learning. Supports custom email templates configurable from the admin panel.

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Folder Structure

local/inactivitynotifier/
│
├── version.php                          ← Plugin metadata (version, requires)
├── lib.php                              ← Core reusable functions
├── settings.php                         ← Admin settings page
├── thirdpartylibs.xml                   ← Third-party library declarations
├── README.md                            ← This documentation
│
├── db/
│   ├── messages.php                     ← Message provider registration
│   └── tasks.php                        ← Cron task definition
│
├── classes/
│   ├── task/
│   │   └── send_notifications.php       ← Scheduled task (cron logic)
│   └── privacy/
│       └── provider.php                 ← GDPR declaration (null_provider)
│
└── lang/
    └── en/
        └── local_inactivitynotifier.php ← English language strings

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Installation

1. Copy the inactivitynotifier folder into /moodle/local/
2. Log in to Moodle as administrator.
3. Go to Site administration → Notifications and confirm the installation.
4. Configure the plugin at Admin → Plugins → Local plugins → Inactivity Notifier.

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Configuration

Setting	Description	Default
Days of inactivity	Days without access before sending a notification	7
Enable plugin	Enable or disable sending	Yes
Only visible courses	Ignore hidden courses	Yes
Notification mode	How to deliver: Popup + Email, Email only, or Popup only	Popup + Email
Custom email subject	Subject template (variables: {{firstname}}, {{coursename}}, {{days}}, {{courseurl}})	(empty = uses default)
Custom email body (HTML)	HTML body template (same variables available)	(empty = uses default)

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Custom Email Template

You can customize the email subject and body from the admin settings. Use these placeholders:

Variable	Replaced with
{{firstname}}	Student's first name
{{coursename}}	Course full name
{{days}}	Number of days of inactivity
{{courseurl}}	Direct URL to the course

If both fields are left empty, the default language strings are used. If only one is filled, the other falls back to the default.

Example custom template:

Subject:

Don't forget {{coursename}}, {{firstname}}!

Body (HTML):

<h2>Hi {{firstname}}!</h2>
<p>We noticed you haven't visited <strong>{{coursename}}</strong> for {{days}} days.</p>
<p><a href="{{courseurl}}">Click here to continue your learning</a></p>
<p>See you soon!</p>

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Scheduled Task (Cron)

The send_notifications task runs daily at 8:00 AM.

Run it manually from the terminal:

php admin/cli/scheduled_task.php --execute='\local_inactivitynotifier\task\send_notifications'

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How It Works

Daily cron (8:00 AM)
       │
       ▼
Plugin enabled? ──NO──► End
       │ YES
       ▼
Iterate through all active courses (using recordset for memory efficiency)
       │
       ▼
For each course: find students (active enrolment only, not suspended/deleted)
whose last access is older than N days
       │
       ▼
Build message:
  ├─ Custom template configured? → Replace {{variables}} with actual values
  └─ No custom template → Use default language strings
       │
       ▼
Check notification mode:
  ├─ Email only → Send via email_to_user() (direct email, no popup)
  ├─ Popup only → Send via message_send() (Moodle popup only)
  └─ Both → Send via message_send() (follows user preferences)
       │
       ▼
Log result in cron output

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Privacy (GDPR)

This plugin does not store any personal data. It only reads the mdl_user_lastaccess table which already exists in Moodle. It never inserts, updates, or deletes any records in the Moodle database. Implements null_provider according to the Moodle Privacy API.

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Requirements

• Moodle 4.1 or higher
• PHP 8.1 +
• Cron task configured on the server

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License

GNU General Public License v3 or later — http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html