Find out here the top quality Moodle, Totara and BOLMS plugins, the most downloaded among the main 3 plugin categories and the most popular plugins according to our readers.
The data has been sourced from the moodle.org page which only takes into consideration registered sites.
We include the Moodle versions with which the plugins are compatible. Most Totara plugins can run Moodle 3.6 plugins. (Contact your Totara Partner.) BOLMS users should likewise contact Blackboard; most users should find Moodle 3.6 plugins to work on on their sites.
Plugins in red have not been updated for more than a year, therefore its use is discouraged for compatibility and security issues.
Mid-year digital download rankings
These were the most downloaded plugins across all categories in the months of July 2018 to June 2019, included.
Activity plugins
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50,171
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29,846
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29,655Attendance
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28,384BigBlueButton
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26,232Questionnaire
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20,903Game
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16,005Hotpot
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9,700Checklist
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8,648Simple Certificate
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8,626Certificate
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6,359Scheduler
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6,198Group Choice
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6,100Turnitin
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6,093Journal
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5,538Lightbox Gallery
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5,073Offline Quiz
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4,864Virtual Programming Lab
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4,193Zoom
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3,774
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3,224Openmeetings
Most downloaded Block plugins
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16,787
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14,287Completion Progress
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13,199Configurable Reports
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5,619Course Overview (Legacy)
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4,967Quickmail
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4,504Attendance
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4,220Course Dedication
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3,786My Courses
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3,745Progress Bar
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3,554Microsoft Block
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3,436Analytics Graphs
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3,116Sharing Cart
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2,646Live-School
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2,628Checklist
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2,413Course Module Navigation
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2,371Grade Me
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2,174Exabis E-Portfolio
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2,118Advanced Notifications
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1,867Filtered Course List
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1,645Course Contents
Most downloaded Course Formats
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11,776
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10,765Onetopic Format
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10,594Collapsed Topics
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6,681Buttons
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6,572Tiles Format
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1,917Etask Topics Format
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1,904Flexible Sections Format
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1,465Collapsible Topics Format
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1,368Board (Grid And Blocks)
Best free Moodle plugins of 2019 so far according to LMSPulse readers
We tracked the popularity of our coverage for plugins or sets of plugins covered or updated in the last six months, according to views.
#10. LTI Message Handler
By Colin Bernard, Lambda Solutions (Moodle Partner) & WCLN
Despite how arousing the paradigm of decentralized ecosystems is among LMS users, there is not a lot of development towards better tools to seamlessly and freely connect data, experiences and platforms. The work of Lambda Solutions’ Colin Bernard on behalf of WCLN is a magnific exception to the rule. Moodle 3.4 to 3.6 ltisource_message_handler
Back to Top#9. Level Up!
By Fred Massart, BranchUp
These are challenging times for Moodle plugin solopreneurs. Massart, however, will continue to give back to the community he loves with a gamification experience without comparison across LMS. Moodle 2.7 to 3.7 block_xp
Back to Top#8. Custom Certificate
By Mark Nelson, Moodle HQ
Will certificate solutions for LMS will be disrupted by blockchain based solutions? Let the waiting games begin. In the meantime, check out Nelson outdoing himself by growing the userbase of Custom Certificate, which will soon surpass Certificate, the #1 plugin of its category, also developed by Nelson but no longer on active development. Moodle 2.9 to 3.7 mod_customcert
Back to Top#7. Restriction by Language
By Renaat Debleu, eWallah
Simple, quick and to the point. That’s a sweet spot guaranteed to please the Moodleverse. International man of learning Renaat Debleu shows that there is a lot of appreciation in the Open Source learning community for simple and dependable solutions to basic but common problems. Moodle 2.7 to 3.7 availability_language
Back to Top#6. Kaltura (Unofficial)
By Tomoya Saito, Yamaguchi University Media and Information Technology Center
A plugin family for the popular video platform, which offers an Open Source “community edition.” Saito’s plugins work with either version of Kaltura. Moodle 2.9 to 3.7 local_yukaltura
Back to Top#5. Static Pages
By Kathrin Osswald and Alexander Bias, Ulm University
Let’s face it: Moodle is not the most SEO friendly platform out there. The job of making Moodle look good to web crawlers and make relevant and useful content reach the first page of search results is riddled with missteps. Fortunately, the minds behind hits such as the “Boost Campus” theme are on the case, with a clean and static page that will remain safe from meddling admins and system upgrades. A highly useful and obvious LMS features, the Static Pages plugin is a no-brainer. Moodle 2.4 to 3.6 local_staticpage
Back to Top#4. Grid Course Format
By Gareth Barnard
Most users would not think that Course Formats are an important part of the LMS conversation. And they would be right. But at LMSPulse we want to stress the value of course formats across learning experiences. They are, in our opinion, the nucleus of technology and pedagogical approaches. Most online lecturing experiences today are a surprisingly faithful reproduction of the Medieval experience. This means new learning approaches must start at the top. We hope to find new free and open course formats for 2019-2020 that are aye-popping, nonlinear and truly social! Moodle 2.0 to 3.7 format_grid
The Pulse: Gareth Barnard, Moodlepreneur extraordinaire
Back to Top#3. Ad-Hoc Database Queries
By Mahmoud Kassaei and Tim Hunt, The Open University
If you were about to begin your LMS Data Science journey but were full of excuses, you can thank this plugin for getting rid of all of them. Get started with a hypothesis about your students or your learning, that can be answered with LMS Data, and this plugin will gently send you on your way towards hypothesis testing, or a simple table for visualization later on. Data Science is slowly become a required across professions and industry, will you heed the structured query? Moodle 1.9 to 3.6 report_customsql
Back to Top#2. Edwiser Site Monitor
By Team Edwiser
Longstanding provider of premium Moodle solutions, best known perhaps for the “Edwiser RemUI” premium Moodle theme, the Mumbaikar team’s entry into the free plugin space could not have found a more auspicious welcome.
Which is no surprise. Site Monitor delivers on a comprehensive “health check” experience that will help you monitor resource usage and diagnose slow performance or excessive use of resources. Reports include CPU and Memory usage, user status monitoring, and even individual plugin activity. Moodle 3.5 to 3.7 block_edwiser_site_monitor
Disclaimer: Edwiser is a sponsor of LMSPulse
Back to Top#1. Reengagement
By Peter Bulmer, Dan Marsden and Eugene Venter, Catalyst IT (Moodle Partner)
While many expect a racous advent of “behavioral technologies,” tools that incorporate some degree of insight from empirical research in psychology, cognition or even behavioral economics; the real progress might just be a steady drip, patiently waiting for a critical mass. This seems to be the case of Kiwi Catalyst IT, the most prolific Moodle Partner of all time in terms of free plugins. Since 2016, Reengagement has been available for teachers who want to give their students a little but effective “nudge.” Moodle 2.9 to 3.6 mod_reengagement
