Small beginnings can sometimes lead to great ideas and that’s exactly what our solution for WooCommerce Moodle™ Integration led us to.
Can’t figure out what I’m saying? Predictable!
Me in philosophical mode = You not understanding anything.
So let me just shake off the philosophy, get into the skin of my character (which is Tahseen the Bloggerati) and give you a lowdown on the complete “WooCommerce Moodle Integration Story”
How It All Started
Predominantly, WisdmLabs is a WordPress Development Services Provider. Ask us anything WordPress and we’ll wield out our weapons (relax! I’m talking about development weapons 😉 ) to provide the most optimum solution for the task at hand.
In one such situation, a client came to us with a unique requirement. He needed a SIMPLE means to start selling his Moodle courses.
Being the WordPress aficionados that we are how we read it was ‘He needed a WordPress Moodle Integration’.
At that time (more than a year ago) we had already done ample and diverse work in WooCommerce and won ourselves the WooCommerce Expert badge. This combined with the fact that WooCommerce is one of the most popular and constantly evolving eCommerce plugin in the WordPress domain made it our logical choice while scavenging for a solution.
And that is how ladies and gentleman the WooCommerce Moodle Integration was born!
WooCommerce Moodle Integration – The Plugin
An elementary solution that integrated WooCommerce with Moodle was developed as per the given requirements and delivered to the client. So the client got his Shopping Cart for Moodle along with the gold mine of features provided by WooCommerce. We however, were not done with the WooCommerce Moodle integration just yet!
While researching for the project, Bharat, our go-to guy for all LMS development related queries, realized the inherent need for a shopping cart for Moodle among many Moodle users. In fact there were some users that wanted to take the Moodle route (Moodle is one of the most developed and feature rich online learning management system) but shied away due to the lack of options to sell Moodle courses.
Further, the skyrocketing costs for Moodle development make it a not so appealing option to customize and include the required functionality, that of a shopping cart.
That’s where the availability of an out of the box shopping cart for Moodle seemed relevant and it is precisely what led us to continue development on the WooCommerce Moodle Integration. We added features to the plugin and introduce it as an off the shelf extension for WooCommerce.
The plugin allowed users to sync Moodle courses to WordPress as products and sell them from the WooCommerce store. Further, it worked as a seamless interface between WordPress and Moodle automatically registering WooCommerce users who purchase courses on Moodle with the same login credentials.
What Led to Edwiser Bridge – The WordPress Moodle Integration Plugin?
As expected the WooCommerce Moodle Integration plugin was received well in the Moodle circle as well as outside of it. At $55 it stood to be one of the most economical and easy to use solution available in the WordPress domain.
Along with increasing sales, we received a sizeable number of customization and feature requests too for the plugin. A single sign-on option being one of the most prevalent requests.
Now you would wonder why would we want to redo a plugin already doing well?
Well, these customization requests brought us to our next problem. While our plugin provided a solution for a very important issue that of selling courses for Moodle users it also brought about a challenge for us to make it fitting for a larger user base.
It’s integration with WooCommerce restricted its reach to users with a requirement for a WooCommerce store and prevented us from expanding the target audience!
Bharat was totally against further development of the WooCommerce Moodle plugin the way it was. Rightfully so, he had his reasons!
- The WooCommerce Moodle Integration plugin restricted the shopping cart to WooCommerce.
- The plugin did not allow the association of one course to more than one product. Not cool! Especially when bundling courses might be an option you might have in mind.
- Further, he had his reservations from a development perspective too. He wanted the code to be more modular and developer friendly than it already was.
That’s how the focus shifted towards providing users with an option to sell courses with a WordPress Moodle Integration.
What can you do with Edwiser Bridge?
On that note we started with the makeover process of WooCommerce Moodle integration to WordPress Moodle integration, the end result of which is now called Edwiser Bridge. It is a FREE plugin available for download on wordpress.org
So what can be done using the Edwiser Bridge plugin? Well, in a word you can do LOTS. If I have to elaborate though here’s what you will be able to do.
1. Import Courses from Moodle to WordPress
Courses created in Moodle can be imported to the WordPress end in a custom post type called ‘Courses’. When I say that courses are imported, it does not mean that the course data is imported. That still remains in Moodle and students will take courses there. Basic course information such as Course Title, Course Description, & Associated Images are transferred to the custom post type. This data is then used to sell courses from the Moodle end
2. Sell Moodle Courses from WordPress
Courses that have been imported from Moodle can be sold on WordPress with PayPal.
3. Automatic Registration of WordPress Users on Moodle
All students that purchase courses from WordPress for the first time will get automatically registered to Moodle with the same login credentials as that of Moodle. Which means no hassles of memorizing two separate set of credentials.
4. Multiple Synchronization Options
Based on past feedback from users we have incorporated various data synchronization options. For example, courses as well as course categories can be synchronized. Apart from that previously synchronized courses will only be updated if the option has been selected.
Apart from that user’s course enrollment status can be synchronized. Users can also be enrolled or unenrolled in a course from the user profile page in the WordPress back end. Lastly, user account in WordPress can be linked or unlinked to Moodle account using an option provided in the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop down on the ‘Users’ page.
5. Translation Ready and Developer Friendly
Finally, the plugin has been built keeping in mind the diverse audience that might want to use it. So, if you want it in a specific language it’s possible. And if you want to customize it yourself that’s possible too using the hooks provided in the plugin.
Don’t wanna get your hands in the deep end of the code? No worries. Get in touch with us. We’ll get it going for you!
It Get’s Better with WooCommerce Integration for Edwiser Bridge
Now for those of you might prefer the WooCommerce Moodle integration over the WordPress Moodle Integration we have something for you too! To start using the awesomeness of WooCommerce with Edwiser Bridge you will have to install the WooCommerce Integration for Edwiser Bridge along with the base plugin. (Which is Edwiser Bridge)
Want to know what the WooCommerce Integration for Edwiser Bridge does? Take a Look
What About Existing WooCommerce Moodle Integration Users?
With the new plugin coming in we have discontinued further development on the old version of the WooCommerce Moodle integration plugin. So, if you are an existing customer you should not expect any new updates on that plugin. (Of course we’ll not stop providing support for the plugin.)
BUT, wait a minute! It’s not like we’ll stop caring about you. You are extremely important to us and we’ll definitely like you to enjoy the benefits of the new system. We’ll soon be coming up with a migration plugin that will help you export your data from the old version of the plugin to Edwiser Bridge. Along with that existing users will also be given a copy of the WooCommerce Integration for Edwiser Bridge using which they can seamlessly start using the WordPress Moodle integration on their website.
You don’t have to necessarily migrate though. You can continue using the legacy plugin if you’re comfortable using it.
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Migration Plugin Released (Update – 08 October 2015)
We’ve released the Migration plugin for WooCommerce Moodle Integration plugin owners. You can get it from here.
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This is Just the Beginning
From where I am seeing it Edwiser Bridge is just the beginning. We have an extensive development plan lined up for the future and we’re excited to bring in new modules for the WordPress Moodle Integration!
Sneak Peek into the Development Plan
1. Single Sign On for Edwiser Bridge
The Edwiser Bridge provides users with an option to login to WordPress as well as Moodle with the same login credentials. With the single sign on extension we’ll be taking this feature a notch higher. A user logged in to WordPress will be automatically logged in to Moodle without the need of entering their his login credentials.
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Single Sign On Extension Released (Update – 03 August 2015)
We’ve released the Single Sign On extension for Edwiser Bridge. You can purchase it from here.
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2. User Profiles for Edwiser Bridge
Currently when a user is created on WordPress only the login credentials for both the websites will be replicated. With the User Profiles extension various fields in the user profile page on WordPress will be mapped with fields in user profile page on Moodle. This mapping will be used at the time time of user registration to export user data from WordPress to Moodle.
So that was a low down from my end on our journey from WooCommerce Moodle Integration to Edwiser Bridge – The WordPress Moodle Integration plugin by WisdmLabs. I’ll keep revising this post to keep you updated on the development plan for Edwiser Bridge. You can also take a look at Edwiser to see more details on the plugin.
If you have any question feel free to use the comments section at the end of this page. I’m here to answer your queries for you.
Adios 🙂
2 Responses
What the ETA on the migration plugin, and will existing users be emailed when its ready? thanks!
Geoff, the migration plugin is still under development. We will definitely keep you in the loop once we’re ready to roll 🙂