The Analytics block

The block_analytics plugin is a custom block that allows users to embed Metabase dashboards within Custom Pages. It is designed to enable the integration of analyses while ensuring data security and appropriate user permissions.

Features

• Embeds a Metabase dashboard within a Moodle Custom Page.
• Requires specific permissions to add and view the block.
• Ensures security through Moodle-side and Metabase-side authorization.
• Allows configuration of dashboard settings via the block interface.
• Supports URL parameters for customizing the embedded dashboard.

Requirements

This block relies on an external analytics service, such as https://www.metabase.com/, to display embedded dashboards via iframe.

To use this plugin, you will need: - An active Metabase instance - A configured dashboard ID to embed. - A signed JWT token for secure embedding (see: https://www.metabase.com/docs/latest/embedding/start).

You can set the required configuration values (URL and secret key) in the plugin settings within Moodle: - metabaseurl – base URL of your Metabase instance (e.g. https://metabase.com) - metabasekey – secret key used to sign the JWT token

Dependencies

This plugin requires the local_custompage plugin to function correctly. The Custom Page functionality is not available in standard Moodle. Ensure that local_custompage is installed and configured before using block_analytics.

Installation

1. Download the plugin package.
2. Place the block_analytics folder in your Moodle installation under blocks/.
3. Navigate to Site Administration > Plugins > Install plugins to complete the installation.
4. Ensure that the local_custompage plugin is installed and enabled.
5. Configure the site-wide Metabase settings in Site Administration > Plugins > Blocks > Analytics Block Settings.

Configuration

After installation, the plugin requires some configuration: 1. Metabase Site URL: The base URL of your Metabase instance. 2. Metabase Secret Key: The secret key used to generate JWT tokens for embedding dashboards.

Permissions

This block includes two main permissions that control access: 1. block/analytics:addinstance - Allows adding the block to a Custom Page (default: Manager role). 2. block/analytics:view - Allows viewing the block's embedded content (default: Manager role).

Security Considerations

Moodle-side Authorization

• The block can only be added to Custom Pages, not courses or dashboards.
• Users must have the appropriate permissions to add or view the block.
• The embedded dashboard requires at least one Audience restriction on the Custom Page.

Metabase-side Authorization

• The plugin uses JWT authentication to securely embed dashboards.
• The embedded URL is valid for 5 to 10 minutes before expiration.
• The Metabase instance should be configured to expose only the /embed/dashboard/* URLs.

Usage Example:

To embed a Metabase dashboard with ID 50, use the following settings: - Dashboard ID: 50 - Extra URL Parameters: bordered=true&titled=true

A sample JWT generation code snippet:

var jwt = require("jsonwebtoken");
var METABASE_SITE_URL = "https://metabase.example.com";
var METABASE_SECRET_KEY = "your_secret_key";
var payload = {
resource: { dashboard: 50 },
params: {},
exp: Math.round(Date.now() / 1000) + (10 * 60) // 10-minute expiration
};
var token = jwt.sign(payload, METABASE_SECRET_KEY);
var iframeUrl = METABASE_SITE_URL + "/embed/dashboard/" + token + "#bordered=true&titled=true";