Delegate account

Delegate Account (local_delegateaccount) is a Moodle local plugin that gives specific people access to specific accounts. An administrator decides who may act as whom and for which period. The person then opens the account from their user menu through Moodle’s own Log in as, and everything they do is recorded in the site log under both names.

/local/delegateaccount/pages/manage.php

The management page: who may use delegations, and how many they have in each status.

Caution

Only site administrators can use delegated accounts until you give the permission to someone else. Create a role with the capability local/delegateaccount:use and assign it in the system context to the people who should be able to use delegations. See Give people permission.

Note

Delegate Account never stores passwords and never creates accounts. It only decides whether Moodle’s Log in as may be used for a given pair of users at a given time.

Find your way

Pick the route that matches what you want to do. Each one lists the pages to read, in order, with what each is for.

I administer the site

Install the plugin, give the permission and create your first delegation.

20 min

1. InstallationRequirements, and how to install the plugin from a release or from Git.
2. Give people permissionCreate the role that lets people use delegations, and assign it.
3. Quick startFrom a fresh install to a person working in a delegated account, in five steps.
4. Create delegationsChoose who may open which accounts, and when.
5. Manage delegationsFind, edit, revoke and review delegations, one at a time or in bulk.

Read them in this order; each one builds on the one before.

I use delegated accounts

Open an account from your user menu, work in it and leave it.

10 min

1. Use a delegated accountHow a person opens, and stops using, an account delegated to them.
2. Guided toursThe two tours that show people with delegations how to open an account.
3. TroubleshootingWhat to check when something does not work as expected.

Read them in this order; each one builds on the one before.

I build on it or review it

Understand how access is decided and how the plugin is built, then integrate it.

45 min

1. How access is decidedThe two conditions that must hold, the life of a delegation and when a delegated session ends.
2. Security modelWhat the plugin never does, what protects the site and what to trust people with.
3. Technical documentationHow Delegate Account is built: what it models, what it must do, how it is analysed and designed, and where each part lives in the code.
4. Web-service integrationThe functions of the web service, the capability each needs, its limits and examples.
5. EventsThe events the plugin triggers, so other plugins and the log can follow every change.

Read them in this order; each one builds on the one before.

How this documentation is organised

Getting started

Install the plugin, give the permission and complete a first task.

Concepts

Why it works the way it does: the model, the lifecycle and the limits.

Guides

One task per page, with the screens you will see.

Reference

Every setting, capability, event and web-service function.

Technical documentation

The domain model, use cases, analysis, design and a map to the code.

Why it exists

Some people need to work inside another person’s account: a support team fixing a profile, an assistant managing a manager’s calendar, a teacher covering for a colleague. Moodle’s Log in as capability lets someone open any account they can see, with no time limit. Delegate Account narrows that down to explicit, time-bound pairs. How access is decided explains the two conditions and the life of a delegation.

What it does

Time-bound delegations

A start date, an optional end date and explicit revocation, with a full history of who created, changed and revoked each one.

Bulk management

Create delegations for several people and several accounts at once, and edit or revoke many together.

Session permissions

Allow, prevent or prohibit any capability while someone works through a delegation, without creating roles.

Activity report

Every event recorded while an account was used through a delegation, with date, component and action filters.

Site limits

Maximum delegations per person, maximum duration, maximum records per bulk action and protection of administrators.

Notifications

Optional messages when access is granted or revoked, in each recipient’s language and customisable per language.

Besides, people with delegations open them from Delegated accounts in their user menu, and the plugin offers events for every change, a restricted web service and support for the Privacy API.