Cohort Tree Manager

1  Overview & Key Concepts

Cohort Tree Manager is a Moodle local plugin that lets organisations model their structure as a tree of nodes — such as companies, departments, and teams — and link those nodes to Moodle cohorts. From that tree you can manage cohort membership, bulk-enrol cohorts to courses, and view detailed completion reports, all in one place.

What's new in v2.2.133

This summary covers user-facing changes since v2.2.126.

Configurable role capability matrix

Site administrators can now configure exactly which actions each node role type (Reporter, Enroller, Manager) is allowed to perform. Go to Site Administration → Plugins → Cohort Tree Manager → Node role capability matrix. Every action in the plugin — including creating and editing nodes, deleting nodes, assigning node managers, and accessing the Virtual Cohorts page — can be delegated to any role. Default settings keep all previously admin-only actions restricted to site administrators.

Node Managers can manage cohort and direct members

Node Managers can now add and remove cohort members and direct node members within their assigned subtree. When adding members to a node (including newly created child nodes), candidates are drawn from the entire assigned subtree — not just the specific node — so members are always available to choose from.

Node Managers are scoped to their assigned subtree

When a Node Manager creates or edits a node, the parent node dropdown now shows only nodes within their assigned subtree. They cannot create root-level nodes or nodes outside their assignment. The Auto-sync button is also no longer visible to Node Managers — it remains admin-only.

Remove virtual cohort button fixed

The Remove virtual cohort button on the Virtual Cohorts page now works correctly in all Moodle 4.x themes.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-01-01.png

The Cohort Tree Manager main page (Tree view tab) showing a three-level organisation tree with expandable nodes, action icons, and member count badges on the right side of each node.

Key concepts

Role overview

Access to the plugin is controlled by a combination of Moodle capabilities and per-node role assignments. The five tiers covered in this manual are:

Any authenticated Moodle user — including students, teachers, and editing teachers — who has not been assigned a node role can access a personal reports view showing only their own course completion data. No tree management is possible at this level.

2.1  Accessing personal reports

Navigate to Site Administration → Plugins → Local plugins → Cohort Tree Manager, or follow a direct link provided by your administrator. The plugin detects that you have no management role and takes you directly to the Reports page showing your personal dashboard.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-02-01.png

The Reports page as seen by a student: no Tree view or Manage courses tabs are visible in the navigation. Only the Reports tab is shown, open on the personal Dashboard sub-tab.

2.2  Personal dashboard

The dashboard displays summary statistics for your own course enrolments:

• Enrolled — total number of courses you are enrolled in.
• Completed — courses where you have met the completion criteria.
• In progress — courses you have started but not yet completed.
• Not started — courses you have not opened yet.
• A completion rate gauge showing your overall percentage as a colour-coded circle.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-02-02.png

The personal dashboard showing four summary stat cards (Enrolled, Completed, In progress, Not started) and a circular completion rate gauge below them. Colours range from red (low) through yellow to green (high).

2.3  My course completion

Scroll below the dashboard summary to find a list of all your enrolled courses with their individual completion status. Click a course name to go directly to the course.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-02-03.png

A list of enrolled courses below the summary cards, each row showing the course name, a status pill (Completed / In progress / Not started), and a link to the course page.

A Node Reporter is assigned to one or more specific nodes by a site administrator. Reporters can view all report tabs for their assigned nodes and their descendants, and may export data if the site administrator grants the export capability. They cannot modify the tree, manage cohorts, manage users, or enrol cohorts to courses.

When a Reporter visits the plugin, they are automatically directed to the Reports page. The Tree view and Manage courses tabs are not shown.

3.1  Access and navigation

Reporters see a single Reports tab in the plugin navigation. Below the page heading, five report sub-tabs are available:

• Dashboard
• Completion report
• User report
• Comparison report
• Trends

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-03-01.png

The Reports page navigation showing only the Reports top-level tab. Below the page heading the five sub-tab pills (Dashboard, Completion report, User report, Comparison report, Trends) are visible.

3.2  Reports overview — Dashboard tab

The dashboard gives a quick statistical overview of the assigned subtree:

• Summary cards — Total users | Enrolled | Completed | In progress | Not started | Completed last 30 days | Enrolled in hidden courses.
• Completion rate gauge — colour-coded circle (green ≥ 75 %, yellow 50–74 %, red < 50 %).
• Per course-type breakdown — one card per configured course type (e.g. Mandatory, Optional) showing counts and a completion rate bar.
• Other courses — a card for courses not assigned to any type.
• Top performing cohorts — ranked list of cohorts with the highest completion rates.
• Recent completions — last 5 completions showing user, course, and date.
• Most enrolled / Most popular courses — top 5 course lists.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-03-02.png

The Reports dashboard showing the seven summary stat cards across the top row, the circular gauge to the right, and course-type breakdown cards below. A "My reports" pill filter at the top lets the reporter switch between their personal view and the subtree view.

3.3  Completion report

The Completion report shows course completion aggregates per node. Use the node selector (mini-tree on the left) to choose which node to view. Check Include child nodes to aggregate data from all descendants.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-03-03.png

The Completion report page in two-column layout: the mini organisation tree on the left with one node highlighted, and the results table on the right showing columns Node | Course | Enrolled | Completed | In progress | Not started | Completion %.

The results table shows:

3.4  User report

The User report shows per-user course completion status across the selected node's enrolled courses.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-03-04.png

The User report page with the mini tree on the left and a table on the right. Columns include: Full name | Email | Department | Courses enrolled | Completed | In progress | Not started | Last access.

3.5  Comparison report

The Comparison report lets you select multiple nodes and view their completion statistics side by side. Click nodes in the mini-tree while holding the checkboxes to add them to the comparison.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-03-05.png

The Comparison report showing three nodes selected in the mini tree (with checkboxes ticked). The right-hand panel displays a comparison table with one column per node and rows for each metric.

3.6  Trends

The Trends tab shows how completion rates have changed over time for the selected node. Choose a period — Weekly, Monthly, or Quarterly — and the chart updates accordingly.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-03-06.png

The Trends tab showing a line chart of completion percentage over time for a selected node. Below the chart, a detailed data table lists each period with counts.

3.7  Exporting reports

If your site administrator has granted the Export reports capability, an Export CSV button appears at the top of each report tab. Click it to download the currently displayed data as a comma-separated file, ready for import into Excel or any spreadsheet application.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-03-07.png

The top-right area of a report tab showing the "Export CSV" button next to the tab heading. The button is styled as a secondary action button.

A Node Enroller has all Node Reporter capabilities plus the ability to enrol and unenrol cohorts to/from courses. Enrollers can access the Tree view and the Manage courses & enrolments page for their assigned nodes. They cannot manage individual cohort members or direct members, and cannot create, edit, or delete nodes.

4.1  Tree view

Enrollers see the Tree view tab in addition to Reports and Manage courses. The tree displays only the nodes they are assigned to plus all descendants.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-04-01.png

The Tree view page as seen by a Node Enroller. An info banner reads "Your managed subtree – You are viewing nodes you have been assigned to manage." The tree shows only the enroller's assigned nodes without parent/ancestor nodes.

Reading the tree badges

Each node row displays several information badges:

Tree toolbar

• Expand all — Expands every node in the tree.
• Collapse all — Collapses all nodes.
• Include child nodes checkbox — When ticked, the user count badges include all descendant nodes (the state is saved in the browser).

4.2  Manage courses & enrolments

Navigate to the Manage courses & enrolments tab. The page is split into two columns:

• Left — Organisation tree: select one or more nodes using the checkboxes.
• Right — Course browser: browse and filter courses, then add them to a basket for bulk enrolment.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-04-04.png

The Manage courses & enrolments page in two-column layout. The left column shows a scrollable tree with checkboxes. The right column shows course-type filter pills at the top, a search box, and an expandable category/course tree. A basket area above the course tree shows selected courses.

Left column — node selection

• + Expand all / − Collapse all — expand or collapse the node tree.
• Select all / Deselect all — toggle all nodes.
• Reset all — clears selection and all filters.
• Include child nodes checkbox — when ticked, enrolments apply to descendants too.

Right column — course browser

• Filter pills — filter the course list by course type (e.g. Mandatory, Optional), Not assigned, or Hidden courses.
• Search box — filter courses by name.
• Category tree — expand Moodle course categories to browse courses. Click a course to add it to the basket.

4.3  Enrolling cohorts to courses

1. Tick one or more nodes in the left column.
2. Browse the course tree on the right and tick the courses to enrol into.
3. The basket at the top of the right column updates with the selected courses.
4. Select the mode: Enrol or Unenrol.
5. Click Apply.
6. A confirmation dialog appears listing the selected courses (left) and selected nodes (right). Review and set the Role dropdown.
7. Click Confirm to execute.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-04-05.png

The enrolment confirmation modal. Left panel lists the selected courses with their names. Right panel lists the selected nodes. Below is a Role dropdown, an Include child nodes checkbox, and a Create course group checkbox. At the bottom: Confirm and Cancel buttons.

A Node Manager has all Node Enroller capabilities plus the ability to link and unlink cohorts to nodes, control node visibility, and manage cohort members and direct node members within their assigned subtree. Node managers cannot create, edit, or delete nodes, and cannot access the Virtual Cohorts page or plugin settings — those require site administrator access.

5.1  Node visibility

Click the eye icon on a node to toggle its visibility. Hidden nodes are shown with a strikethrough or greyed style in the tree and are excluded from reports visible to reporters and enrollers. Node managers and administrators always see all nodes.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-05-02.png

Two rows in the tree: one node shown with normal styling labelled "Visible" and a second node with a greyed-out name labelled "Hidden". The eye-slash icon is highlighted on the hidden node.

5.2  Assigning cohorts to nodes

Click the cohort icon next to a node to manage the cohort linked to that node. The cohort management page lets you:

• Search for an existing Moodle cohort and link it to this node.
• Remove the current cohort link (the cohort itself is not deleted).
• Create a new cohort to link directly from this page.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-05-03.png

The cohort management page for a node showing the current linked cohort name at the top, a search-and-select control to find a different cohort, and a Remove link button.

5.3  Managing cohort members

When a node has direct members but no linked cohort (and no auto-sync), the plugin can create a virtual cohort automatically. To trigger this:

1. Add at least one direct member to the node (see section 4.3).
2. If the node has no cohort, a virtual cohort is created automatically in the background.
3. The node now shows a VC badge in the tree, and the virtual cohort appears on the Virtual Cohorts page (visible to site administrators).

5.6  Exporting the tree to CSV

The Export tree to CSV button at the top of the Tree view page exports every node in the visible subtree — one row per user — to a CSV file.

Exported columns:

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-05-04.png

A spreadsheet view of the exported cohort_tree_export CSV file. The first row contains column headers (Node level 1, Node level 2, Node level 3, First name, Last name, Email, Type, Assigned role, Visibility). Subsequent rows contain one user record each.

Site administrators have unrestricted access to all plugin pages and functionality, including creating and editing any node in the tree, the Virtual Cohorts page, the Auto-sync wizard, and all plugin settings.

6.1  Full tree access

Administrators see the complete tree — all nodes, including hidden ones — without any subtree restriction. All per-node action icons are visible and active on every node.

In addition to the badges available to managers, administrators see:

• M:N E:N R:N badge — counts of node managers, enrollers, and reporters assigned to each node.
• Clicking the badge opens the Node managers modal showing direct and inherited manager assignments.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-06-01.png

The Tree view page as seen by a site administrator. Every node shows the full set of action icons (edit, delete, cohort, users, direct members, enrol, assign managers, toggle visibility) plus all the member count badges including the M/E/R manager count badge.

6.2  Creating and editing nodes

Creating a new node

1. Go to the Tree view tab.
2. Click the + Add node button in the top-right toolbar.
3. Fill in the node form:
   • Name — the display name of the node (required).
   • Description — optional longer description.
   • Parent node — where in the hierarchy this node sits. Select Root to create a top-level node.
   • Sort order — position among siblings (lower numbers appear first).
   • ID number — optional identifier for matching with profile fields during auto-sync.
   • Visible — whether the node is visible to enrollers and reporters.
4. Click Save.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-05-01.png

The Add / Edit node form showing the Name, Description (rich text editor), Parent node dropdown, Sort order, ID number, and Visible checkbox fields. Save and Cancel buttons are at the bottom.

Editing an existing node

Click the pencil (edit) icon next to the node name in the tree. The same form opens pre-filled with the current values. Change any field and click Save.

6.3  Deleting nodes

Click the trash (delete) icon next to a node. A confirmation dialog appears. Confirm to permanently remove the node.

6.4  Assigning node managers

Click the assign roles icon (person with a badge) on any node to open the node managers management page.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-06-02.png

The Manage node managers page for a node. A "Current managers" table lists assigned users with their name, email, and role type (Manager / Enroller / Reporter) plus a Remove button. Below it an "Add manager" section has a user search dropdown and a role selector.

Adding a node manager

1. On the Manage node managers page, use the user search field to find the user.
2. Select the role type: Manager, Enroller, or Reporter.
3. Click Assign manager.

Removing a node manager

Click Remove next to the user in the Current managers table. Confirm the removal in the dialog that appears. The user loses access to that node and all its descendants (unless they have an inherited assignment from a higher-level node).

6.5  Virtual Cohorts page

Navigate to the Virtual Cohorts tab. This page lists all nodes that have a virtual cohort — i.e. nodes with direct members but no auto-sync cohort.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-06-03.png

The Virtual Cohorts page showing a table with columns: Institution | Department | Level 3 | Level 4 | Cohort members | Courses enrolled | Actions. Two action buttons appear in each row: "Manage members" and "Remove virtual cohort".

Removing a virtual cohort

1. Find the virtual cohort row in the table.
2. Click Remove virtual cohort.
3. Confirm the action in the dialog. The dialog explains that members will keep their course access (switched to manual enrolment) but the node returns to a "no cohort" state.

6.6  Auto-sync

Auto-sync builds and maintains the tree automatically from Moodle user profile fields. Navigate to Auto-sync from the Tree view toolbar (site administrators only).

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-06-04.png

The Auto-sync page showing five numbered steps listed vertically: 1 Create nodes, 2 Verify users, 3 Link cohorts, 4 Sync users, 5 Transfer users. Each step has a Run button and a status indicator.

Auto-sync runs in five sequential steps:

6.7  Plugin settings

Go to Site Administration → Plugins → Local plugins → Cohort Tree Manager to access all plugin settings. See the full Settings reference in section 8.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-06-05.png

The plugin settings page in Site Administration showing the grouped sections: Appearance (button colours, node colours), Tree view (level fields, cohort naming), Reports (caching, display options), and Manage courses (default role, group creation).

7  Capability reference

Two tables are shown below. The first covers the Moodle role capability that must be set in a role definition. The second shows the plugin action matrix — what each internal plugin role type can do once the Moodle capability gate is passed. Site administrators can adjust Moodle role capabilities in Site Administration → Users → Permissions → Define roles. The action matrix defaults are configurable in the plugin settings (available from v2.2.129).

Moodle role capabilities

Plugin action matrix (default settings)

Once a user passes the managesubtree gate, the following actions are available based on their assigned role type. These defaults are configurable in Site Administration → Plugins → Cohort Tree Manager → Node role capability matrix (available from v2.2.129).

All node-level actions are scoped to the user's assigned node and its descendants only. A node manager cannot access nodes outside their assigned subtree.

8  Settings reference

All settings are in Site Administration → Plugins → Local plugins → Cohort Tree Manager. Only site administrators can change them.

Appearance

Tree view

Reports

Manage courses & enrolments

9  Manage organisations block (block_cohorttree)

9.1  Overview & requirements

The Manage organisations block (block_cohorttree v1.0.11) is a companion Moodle block that provides a tile-based navigation dashboard for the Cohort Tree Manager plugin. Rather than navigating through site menus, users can access all relevant plugin pages with a single click directly from their dashboard or any Moodle page where the block is placed.

The block detects the current user's role automatically and shows only the tiles relevant to that role — a student sees only the Reports tile, while a site administrator sees all four tiles including Settings.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-09-01.png

The Manage organisations block as seen by a site administrator, showing four tiles in a 2×2 grid: "Manage organisation structure" (sitemap icon), "Manage courses & enrolments" (graduation cap icon), "Reports" (bar chart icon), and "Settings" (cogs icon). Each tile has a coloured background with an icon and label.

9.2  Adding the block to a page

Adding to a course or site page

1. Turn editing on for the page (or site dashboard).
2. Click Add a block in the block drawer.
3. Select Manage organisations from the list.
4. The block appears immediately with tiles appropriate for your role.
5. Optionally click the block's gear icon → Configure Manage organisations block to customise colours (see section 9.4).

Adding to My Dashboard (personal page)

1. Go to your Dashboard (Home → Dashboard).
2. Click Customise this page (top right).
3. Click Add a block and select Manage organisations.
4. Click Stop customising this page when done.

9.3  Tiles by role

The block renders between one and four tiles depending on the user's permissions in the Cohort Tree Manager. The table below shows which tiles each role sees.

9.4  Per-instance configuration

Each block instance on a page can have its own colour scheme, independently of the site-wide defaults. Click the block's gear icon → Configure Manage organisations block to open the settings form.

Uniform colour scheme (default)

When Use individual colours per tile is unchecked, a single set of colour fields applies to all tiles:

Individual tile colours

Check Use individual colours per tile to reveal four separate colour groups — one per tile (Manage structure, Manage courses, Reports, Settings). Each group has the same eight fields as the uniform scheme, allowing every tile to have a distinct visual identity.

9.5  Admin settings

Site administrators can define site-wide colour defaults that apply to all block instances unless overridden per-instance. Go to Site Administration → Plugins → Blocks → Manage organisations.

Screenshot  ·  screenshots/screen-09-05.png

The block's admin settings page in Site Administration showing the "Appearance defaults" section. A "Use individual colours per tile" checkbox is at the top, followed by uniform colour pickers. Below, four collapsed tile sections (Manage structure, Manage courses, Reports, Settings) each expand to reveal six per-tile colour pickers.

The admin settings mirror the per-instance configuration form exactly. Settings defined here become the defaults for every new block instance and any instance that has not overridden a particular field.

9.6  Block capability reference

10  Change log

Full version history from v2.2.126. Versions marked (fix) address bugs found in the preceding release.