Certificate Module for Totara

Electronic Certificate Issuance and Management System

Overview

The Certificate module is a comprehensive module for Totara Learn designed to issue and manage electronic certificates for users upon completion of training courses or achievement of specific conditions.

This module provides an integrated system for creating, customizing, and issuing electronic certificates in PDF format with full support for Arabic, English, and other languages. The module supports different certificate types, custom editor, font management, QR Codes for certificate verification, and advanced customization tools.

Certificates can be fully customized in terms of design, content, fonts, colors, borders, seals, and signatures. The module also supports email notifications, certificate reports, and certificate verification via QR Code.

Key Features

📜 Electronic Certificate Issuance

Issue professional PDF certificates
Automatic issuance upon course completion
Issuance based on specific conditions (grades, time, activities)
Store issued certificates
Preview certificates before issuance

🎨 Multiple Certificate Types

A4 Embedded - A4 certificate with embedded fonts
A4 Non-Embedded - A4 certificate without embedded fonts
Letter Embedded - Letter certificate with embedded fonts
Letter Non-Embedded - Letter certificate without embedded fonts
Custom Editor - Custom certificate editor

✏️ Custom Editor

Visual editing interface for certificates
Drag and drop elements
Customize fonts, sizes, and colors
Add text and images
Add dynamic elements (user name, course name, date, etc.)
Instant preview of changes

🔤 Advanced Font Management

Advanced Font Manager
Upload custom fonts (TTF, OTF, WOFF, WOFF2)
Font preview
Font testing
Multi-language support
Default fonts included (Dejavusans, Dejavuserif)
Special Arabic fonts

🔲 QR Code Verification

Automatic QR Code generation for each certificate
Verify certificate validity via QR Code
Separate verification page
Secure certificates against forgery

🎨 Full Customization

Customize borders - lines or images
Add seals
Add signatures
Add watermarks
Customize text and fonts
Customize colors
Customize alignment (Left, Center, Right)

📄 Template Builder

Create custom certificate templates
Advanced element system
Dynamic elements
Export and import templates
Template validation

📊 Reports and Statistics

Issued certificates report
View certificates per user
View certificates per course
Export data
Delete issued certificates

📧 Email Notifications

Send certificates via email
Notifications to trainers when certificate is issued
Notifications to others (Notify Others)
Customize email content

🌐 Multi-language Support

Full support for Arabic language
Support for English language
RTL and LTR support
Special Arabic fonts
Date formatting by language

✅ Validation System

Validate certificate data
Validate fonts
Validate templates
Validate content

Installation

Requirements

Totara Learn version 2025012300 or later
PHP 7.4 or later
MySQL or MariaDB database
PDF library (TCPDF) - built-in support
PHP extensions: GD, mbstring, JSON

Installation Steps

Copy Files:
Copy the certificate folder to the server/mod/ directory in Totara

C:\wamp64\www\totara\server\mod\certificate
Install Module:
Navigate to the Site Administration page in Totara. The new module will be automatically detected and you will see a message indicating that the installation is complete.
Upgrade Database:
Click the "Upgrade database" button if a database upgrade message appears. The following tables will be created:
- certificate - to store certificate information
- certificate_issues - to store issued certificates
- And other tables
Configure Fonts (Optional):
Upload custom fonts through Font Manager if you want to use special fonts.

💡 Note: Default fonts (Dejavusans, Dejavuserif) are supported built-in. You can use them directly or upload custom fonts.

Configuration

Module Settings

When creating a new Certificate activity in a course, you can configure:

Setting	Description
Certificate Name	Certificate name
Certificate Type	Certificate type (A4, Letter, Embedded, Non-embedded, Custom)
Orientation	Orientation (Portrait, Landscape)
Border Style	Border style (Border Image or Lines)
Border Color	Border color
Custom Text	Custom text (for signatures and names)
Delivery	Delivery method (Open in Browser, Force Download, Email)
Email Others	Send notifications to others
Print Teacher	Print trainer name on certificate
Print Seal	Print seal on certificate
Print Signature	Print signature on certificate
Locking Options	Locking options (when to issue certificate)
Issue Options	Issue options (on course completion, based on grade, etc.)

System Settings

You can configure system settings from:

Site Administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Certificate

Available settings:

Sans-serif font family: Sans-serif font for certificates with embedded fonts
Serif font family: Serif font for certificates with embedded fonts

Usage

Creating a Certificate Activity

Navigate to the training course
Enable "Turn editing on"
Click "Add an activity or resource"
Select "Certificate"
Fill in the form:
- Certificate name
- Certificate type
- Design settings
- Issue options
Click "Save and return to course"

Previewing Certificate

You can preview the certificate from:

/mod/certificate/certificate_preview.php?id=CERTIFICATE_ID

Or from within the activity - "Preview" button

The preview page allows:

Full visual preview of certificate
Zoom in/out
Edit elements
Change fonts, sizes, and colors
Export PDF

Receiving Certificate

Users can receive the certificate from:

Certificate activity page in the course
"Get your certificate" button
The certificate will open or download based on settings
Can be sent via email

Viewing Own Certificates

Users can view all their certificates from:

/mod/certificate/viewarchive.php

This page displays:

All issued certificates for the user
Issue date
Course name
Download links

Verifying Certificate

You can verify certificate validity from:

/mod/certificate/verify.php

Or by scanning the QR Code on the certificate

Certificate Types

A4 Embedded

A4-sized certificate with embedded fonts. Uses Dejavusans and Dejavuserif fonts. Suitable for languages that use special characters such as Arabic.

Features:

Full support for Arabic language
Does not require fonts on the device
Larger file size

A4 Non-Embedded

A4-sized certificate without embedded fonts. Uses Helvetica and Times fonts. Suitable when fonts are available on user devices.

Features:

Smaller file size
Requires fonts on the device
Best for English language

Letter Embedded

Letter-sized certificate (8.5 × 11 inches) with embedded fonts. Same features as A4 Embedded but Letter size.

Letter Non-Embedded

Letter-sized certificate without embedded fonts. Same features as A4 Non-Embedded but Letter size.

Custom Editor

Custom certificate editor. Allows creating fully custom certificate designs using a visual editing interface.

Features:

Complete design freedom
Visual editing interface
Drag and drop elements
Full customization

💡 Tip: Use Embedded types for languages that use special characters like Arabic, and use Non-Embedded types for English if you want smaller file sizes.

Custom Editor

Overview

The Custom Editor is an advanced tool that allows creating and editing certificate designs visually and easily. You can add elements, edit them, move them, and customize them easily.

Accessing the Editor

Access the Custom Editor from:

/mod/certificate/certificate_editor.php?id=CERTIFICATE_ID

Or from within Certificate activity - "Edit Certificate" button

Available Elements

You can add the following elements:

Element	Description
Text Element	Static text element
Dynamic Element	Dynamic element (user name, course name, date, etc.)
Image Element	Image
Border Element	Border
Seal Element	Seal
Signature Element	Signature
Watermark Element	Watermark

Customizing Elements

You can customize each element:

Position: X, Y coordinates
Font: Font selection
Size: Font size
Color: Text color
Alignment: Left, Center, Right
Width/Height: For images and elements

Dynamic Elements

Available dynamic elements:

{USER_NAME} - User name
{COURSE_NAME} - Course name
{DATE} - Issue date
{GRADE} - Grade
{TEACHER} - Trainer name
{CREDIT_HOURS} - Credit hours
And others

Font Management

Font Manager

Access the Font Manager from:

/mod/certificate/font_manager.php

The Font Manager allows:

View all available fonts
Upload new fonts (TTF, OTF, WOFF, WOFF2)
Preview fonts
Test fonts
Delete custom fonts
View font statistics

Uploading a New Font

Navigate to Font Manager
Click "Upload Font"
Select font file (TTF, OTF, WOFF, WOFF2)
Enter font name (optional)
Click "Upload"
Font will be saved in fonts/ folder

Supported Fonts

The module supports:

TTF (TrueType Font): Most common type
OTF (OpenType Font): Advanced type
WOFF (Web Open Font Format): For web
WOFF2: Optimized version of WOFF

Default Fonts

The module comes with default fonts:

Dejavusans: Sans-serif font for embedded fonts
Dejavuserif: Serif font for embedded fonts
Helvetica: For non-embedded fonts
Times: For non-embedded fonts
Special Arabic fonts (if uploaded)

Testing Fonts

You can test fonts to find out:

How text appears
Performance
Memory usage
Special character support

QR Code Verification

Overview

Each issued certificate gets a unique QR Code. This QR Code can be used to verify certificate validity and ensure it is authentic and not forged.

How It Works

When a certificate is issued, a unique code is generated
A QR Code containing the verification link is created
QR Code is printed on the certificate
QR Code can be scanned to verify certificate validity

Verifying Certificate

You can verify the certificate from:

/mod/certificate/verify.php?code=CERTIFICATE_CODE

Or through:

Scanning the QR Code on the certificate
Entering certificate code manually

Verification Page

The verification page displays:

Certificate information
User name
Course name
Issue date
Certificate status (valid or invalid)

💡 Note: QR Code provides additional security for certificates and helps prevent forgery.

Template Builder

Overview

The Template Builder system allows creating custom certificate templates using a programming interface. Complex and advanced templates can be built using this system.

Using Template Builder

use mod_certificate\builder\template_builder;

$builder = new template_builder('A4_embedded');

$template = $builder
    ->addTextElement('Certificate Title', 10, 30, 'freesans', 30, '#000080', 'C')
    ->addTextElement('This is to certify that', 10, 50, 'freeserif', 20, '#000000', 'C')
    ->addDynamicElement('user_name', 10, 70, ['font' => 'freesans', 'size' => 30])
    ->addTextElement('has completed the course', 10, 90, 'freeserif', 20, '#000000', 'C')
    ->addDynamicElement('course_name', 10, 110, ['font' => 'freesans', 'size' => 20])
    ->addDynamicElement('date', 10, 130, ['font' => 'freeserif', 'size' => 14])
    ->build();
            

Template Validation

Templates can be validated to ensure they are correct and contain no errors. The system validates:

Structure validity
Required elements exist
Data validity
Fonts availability

Customization

Borders

You can customize borders in two ways:

Border Image: Use a border image from pdfresources/borders/ folder
Border Lines: Use simple lines in different colors

Seals

You can add seals from:

pdfresources/seals/ folder
Upload custom seal

Signatures

You can add signatures from:

pdfresources/signatures/ folder
Upload custom signature
Use custom text instead of image

Watermarks

You can add watermarks from:

pdfresources/watermarks/ folder
Upload custom watermark

Text Customization

You can customize:

Main certificate text
Custom text for signatures
Date format
Grade format

Issue Options

You can specify when to issue the certificate:

On course completion
Based on grade requirement
Based on time in course
Manually by trainer

Capabilities

The module includes the following capabilities:

Capability	Description	Default
certificate:addinstance	Add Certificate activity	Managers and trainers
certificate:view	View certificate	All authenticated users
certificate:student	Receive certificate	All authenticated users
certificate:manage	Manage Certificate activity	Managers and trainers
certificate:printteacher	Print trainer name on certificate	Trainers
certificate:receivenotification	Receive notifications when certificate is issued	Trainers

💡 Note: These capabilities can be customized from Site Administration > Users > Permissions > Define roles

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Certificate Not Issuing

Check issue conditions (Course Completion, Grade, Time)
Verify user has completed the course
Check permissions
Check Locking Options settings

Fonts Not Displaying Correctly

Use Embedded types for special languages
Verify font exists in fonts/ folder
Test font from Font Manager
Check font support for the language used

QR Code Not Working

Verify QR Code was generated
Check verification link
Check database
Check error logs

Images Not Appearing

Check image paths
Verify images exist in correct folders
Check file read permissions
Check image sizes

Custom Editor Not Working

Check JavaScript in browser
Check browser error logs (Browser Console)
Verify JavaScript files exist
Clear browser cache

Certificate Not Sending via Email

Check SMTP settings in Totara
Check "Delivery" setting in certificate
Verify user email is valid
Check error logs

Error Logs

Error logs can be found in Totara's log files. All errors are logged with the prefix [CERTIFICATE] for easy searching.

Debug Mode

To enable debug mode in Totara to see detailed error messages:

Navigate to Site Administration > Development > Debugging
Enable "Debug messages"
Set debug level
Save changes