Certificate activity settings
  • 23 Aug 2024
  • 8 minutes to read

Certificate activity settings


Article summary

Certificate activity settings

When adding a certificate to a course, you can configure the following settings.

Setting
Description
Notes

Send notifications

If enabled, then Trainers are notified when a Learner receives a certificate.

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Notify others

Enter the email addresses here of others who need to be notified when a Learner receives a certificate. Multiple addresses should be entered with a comma separating the addresses.

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Delivery

Choose how the Learner receives their certificate:

  • Open in browser: Opens the certificate in a new browser window
  • Force download: Opens the browser file download window 
  • Email certificate: Choosing this option allows the Learner to send the certificate to themselves as an attachment

Once a Learner receives the certificate they will see the date their certificate was issued and be able to review their certificate when they click on the Certificate link on the course page.

For Force download, Internet Explorer does not support the open option from the download window. The save option must be chosen first.

Save certificate

This option saves a record of the certificate in the course moddata folder, to record that it was issued previously. Please note that PDFs or other file formats are not also saved. A link to each Learner's saved certificate is displayed in the Trainer's View issued certificates report.

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Required minutes in course

Enter here the minimum amount of time, in minutes, that a Learner must be logged in to the course before they will be able to receive the certificate.

This time is calculated based on a user's actions logged in the standard log. When the standard log is disabled, the legacy log will be used. If that is also disabled, this option will be disabled.

Please note that when the log is disabled and then re-enabled a user's actions during the time the log was off will not be recorded, and as result will not be counted towards time spent on the course.

Print date

This is the date that will be printed if a print date is selected. If the course end date is selected, you must enable the date range and set the course end date in your course settings. If the course end date is not set, the date received will be printed. You can also choose to print the date an activity is graded. If a certificate is issued before that activity is graded, the date received will be printed.

Once a date is printed on a certificate, it cannot be changed unless you have customised your type/certificate.php file.

Date format

Choose a date format to print the date on the certificate.

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Print code

A unique 10-digit code of random letters and numbers can be printed on the certificate. This number can then be verified by comparing it to the code number displayed in the Trainer View Issued Certificates report.

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Print grade

You can choose any available course grade items from the gradebook to print the user's grade received for that item on the certificate. The grade items are listed in the order in which they appear in the gradebook.

Once a user has received their certificate, their grade on the certificate will not change.

Grade format

There are three available formats if you choose to print a grade on the certificate:

  • Percentage Grade: Prints the grade as a percentage.
  • Points Grade: Prints the point value of the grade.
  • Letter Grade: Prints the percentage grade as a letter. The values for the letter grades can be customised in type/certificate.php.

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Print outcome

You can choose any course outcome to print the name of the outcome and the user's received outcome on the certificate e.g. 'Assignment outcome: Proficient'.

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Print credit hours

Enter here the number of credit hours to be printed on the certificate.

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Print trainer name(s)

Use this setting if you wish to include Trainer names on the certificate. Every user whose role includes the mod/certificate:printteacher capability in the context of this certificate (including the course, category tree and site level) will be included automatically.

If you wish to manually select the Trainer names for this certificate, follow these steps:

  1. Ensure that the mod/certificate:printteacher capability is assigned only to Editing Trainers in this course.
  2. Ensure that there are no Editing Trainers in this course (unless you wish to add them to every certificate in the course).
  3. Go to Certificate administration > Locally assigned roles, then add the users you wish to include as Editing Trainers.
  4. Note that the mod/certificate:printteacher capability is also assigned to the Site Manager role by default. This might lead to more names printed on the certificate, unless that capability is removed from this role.

Custom text

If you want the certificate to print different names for the Trainer than those who are assigned the role of Trainer, do not select Print trainer or any signature image except for the line image. Enter the Trainer names in this text box as you would like them to appear. You can change this placement in your certificate/type/"type name"/certificate.php file. In that file, find the line of code similar to this at the very bottom of the page:

cert_printtext(150, 450, '', '', '', '', '');

The two numbers reflect the X placement (over from the left) and Y placement (down from the top) values for the text. You can change these if you like.

You can also use the text box to enter HTML. For example, you can add a link or an image.

The following html tags are available:

  • <br> and <p>
  • <b>, <i> and <u>
  • <img> (src and width (or height) are mandatory)
  • <a> (href is mandatory)
  • <font>: possible attributes are:
  • color: hex color code
  • face: arial, times, courier, helvetica, symbol

Example html: Mr. James Salesman, Manager<br><br>Sales Department<br><br><font color="#0000CC"><b>Your Company<font face="Symbol">&Ograve;</font></b></font><img src="http://yourtotara.com/mod/certificate/pix/seals/Logo.png" width="100"><p><a href="http://www.site.com/ target="_blank">Click here</a></p>

Certificate type

This is where you determine the layout of the certificate. The certificate type folder includes four default certificates:

  • A4 embedded: Prints on A4 size paper with embedded fonts - this makes PDF files large
  • A4 non-embedded: Prints on A4 size paper using Helvetica and Times fonts - these need to be installed on the user's computer to work
  • Letter embedded: Prints on letter-size paper with embedded fonts - this makes PDF files large
  • Portrait letter: Prints on letter-size paper using Helvetica and Times fonts - these need to be installed on the user's computer to work

New types can be added to the certificate/type folder. The names of the folders, and any new language strings for the new type, must be added to the certificate/lang/en_utf8/certificate.php file.

Most languages print a certificate with no problems, even if they contain accents or umlauts. However, if your language uses characters, you need to choose a Unicode type. These types use a different PDF library that embeds the entire font in the PDF. This will make the PDF files rather large; thus it is not recommended to use this type unless you must.

Orientation

Choose either landscape or portrait.

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Border image

The border image option allows you to choose a border image from the certificate/pix/borders folder. Select the border image that you want around the certificate edges or select no border. The folder includes two different border images, each in four different colours.

Keep in mind that adding images to the certificate will increase the size of the PDF file. You can add your own border images to the certificate/pix/borders folder and they will also appear here, in the dropdown. The border images must be in the JPEG (.jpg) or PNG 8 (.png) format.

Border lines

Since images can substantially increase the size of the PDF file, you may choose to print a border of lines instead of using a border image (be sure the Border image option is set to No). The border lines option will print a nice border of three lines of varying widths in the chosen colour.

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Watermark image

A watermark file can be placed in the background of the certificate. A watermark is a faded graphic. A watermark could be a logo, seal, crest, wording, or whatever you want to use as a graphic background.

Keep in mind that adding images to the certificate increases the size of the PDF file. You can add your own images to the certificate/pix/watermarks folder and they appear here in the dropdown. The images must be in the JPEG (.jpg) or PNG 8 (.png) format.

Signature image

This option allows you to print a signature image from the certificate/pix/signatures folder. You can print a graphic representation of a signature, or print a line for a written signature. A sample signature image and a line image are included. You can change this placement in your certificate/type/"type name"/certificate.php file. In that file, find the line of code similar to this one toward the bottom:

print_signature($certificate->printsignature, $orientation, 110, 450, '', '');

The two numbers reflect the X placement (over from the left) and Y placement (down from the top) values for the image. You can change these if you would like.

Keep in mind that adding images to the certificate will increase the size of the PDF file. You can add your own images to the certificate/pix/signatures folder and they will also appear here in the dropdown. The images must be in the JPEG (.jpg) or PNG 8 (.png) format.

Seal or logo image

This option allows you to select a seal or logo to print on the certificate from the certificate/pix/seals folder. Four seal images and an example logo image are included. You can change this placement in your certificate/type/"type name"/certificate.php file. In that file, find the line of code similar to this one toward the bottom:

print_seal($certificate->printseal, $orientation, 590, 425, '', '');

The two numbers reflect the X placement (over from the left) and Y placement (down from the top) values for the image. You can change these if you would like.

Keep in mind that adding images to the certificate will increase the size of the PDF file. You can add your own images to the certificate/pix/seals folder and they will also appear here in the dropdown. The images must be in the JPEG (.jpg) or PNG 8 (.png) format.

Common module settings

See common module settings to learn more.

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Activity completion

See activity completion to learn more.

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Restrict access

See restrict access to learn more.

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Tags

See tags to learn more. 

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Plugin settings

To configure these settings, go to  Quick-access menu > Plugins > Activity modules > Certificates.

SettingDescriptionNotes

Upload image

Clicking the upload link will take you to a new page where you can upload images for use in certificates for the following:

  • Border
  • Watermark
  • Seal
  • Signature

Remember to click Save changes once you have uploaded your desired images.

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Sans-serif font family

Select the Sans-serif font family for certificates with embedded fonts.

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Serif font family

Select the Serif font family for certificates with embedded fonts.

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Can't find what you're looking for? Contact us at documentation@totara.com. Alternatively, book a call to have a chat about your Totara platform with a dedicated Customer Success Manager.

© Copyright 2024 Totara Learning Solutions. All rights reserved. Some content originally obtained via GPLv3 license and continues to be available under GPLv3. All other content is the sole copyright of Totara Learning Solutions. 

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