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How do I create custom Main Menu entries?

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Buzz allows you to add custom entries to your Main Menu, including non-default entries or external URLs that are displayed inside the Main Menu.

To add a custom entry:

  1. Open Domain Settings.
  2. Click Add under Menus. (If you want to edit an existing menu entry click Override.)
  1. Provide:
    • The ID associated with the entry.
    • The entry's desired placement Order in the Main Menu ("0" = top placement).
    • The entry Title as you want it to appear in the Main Menu.
    • The entry's URL if necessary. You can use the replacement variables defined below to customize this URL further.
    • The desired Icon; click the field for a dropdown of searchable options (review your icon options).
    • An indication about whether you want to the entry Enabled, to Open URL in external window, to Require the user to choose a course, and/or Do not allow the user to choose a course.
    • The Applications (Admin, Parent, Student, or Teacher) for which the entry should appear (optional).
    • The Rights users need to access the entry (optional).
    • The Domain userspaces in which the entry should appear (optional).
  2. Click Done.
  3. Save.  

Replacement variables for custom Main Menu entries

Custom Main Menu URLs allow for dynamic replacement variables that automatically replace a variable code (options listed below) with a desired value drawn from user, course, and/or domain information.

Use any of the following replacement variables by enclosing them with double curly brackets (e.g., {{TOKEN}}, {{USERID}}, {{ADMINDOMAINID}}):

  • APP: Determines which app (Student, Parent, Teacher, or Admin) is active when the menu is launched and displays it.
  • TOKEN: The xLi authentication token for the currently logged in user. When using this variable, the URL must be secure, starting with https.
  • USERID: The ID for the currently logged in user.
  • USERDOMAINID: The domain ID for the currently logged in user.
  • USERSPACE: The userspace for the customization domain, or the domain userspace visible in the top level URL.
  • ENROLLMENTID: The ID of the currently selected enrollment.
  • COURSEID: The ID of the course associated with the currently selected enrollment.
  • ADMINDOMAINID: The currently selected domain ID in the admin app.
  • QUERY-<param>: The value of the top page's query parameter with the case-sensitive name of <param>. The application only replaces this variable if external is not set to true.
  • USERFIRSTNAME: The firstname of the currently logged-in user, or empty-string if the user has specified hidefullname from external web sites.
  • USERLASTNAME: The lastname of the currently logged-in user, or empty-string if the user has specified hidefullname from external web sites.
  • USEREMAIL: The email address of the currently logged-in user, or empty-string if the user has specified hideemail from external web sites.
  • USERNOTIFYSMSPHONE: The phone number (not the provider) the current user has specified in their notification preference for SMS messages, or empty-string if the user has specified hideemail from external web sites

Custom Main Menu entires open in iframes which don't follow Buzz's idle timeout reset parameters. Buzz supports a postMessage API that allows these integrations to reset the idle timeout: How do I keep idle timeout updated in iframes?

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