This is an exploratory test of a new feature or improvement, so please feel free to try anything you like and not just the test steps!

Setup / basic info

1. The communication experimental feature and associated providers (Matrix and custom link) are enabled by default on https://qa.moodledemo.net/, so no site level admin configurations should be required to test them.
2. Matrix is also enabled on the Matrix Demo 1 course on that site, though you can experiment with enabling it yourself on other courses (more info below).
3. You can access the Communication settings for a course's home page More dropdown menu.

Custom link provider

This provider allows you to set up a URL for any communication service on a course. No user/room management takes place, it simply makes a link available from the blue communication button at the bottom right of any page in the course (just above the "?" icon).

Features to test

As a teacher, I can provide course participants with a link to an external communication provider within my Moodle course

1. As a teacher, navigate to a course > More > Communication and set the Provider to Custom link.
2. Room name is optional and has no functional purpose for this provider.
3. Custom link URL should be set to the URL of any communication service (such as a Matrix room, Slack/Teams channel, Zoom/Meet link, or even the QA testing forum).
4. Once configured and saved, verify you see the blue communication button at the bottom right of any page in the course.
5. Verify that clicking the link opens a new tab/window to the link you specified.
6. Verify students also have access to the communication button when the custom link has been enabled and configured.

Matrix

This provider will create and manage a room within the Matrix messaging service for your course, as well as managing who is added/removed from the room and their access/power level in the room.

Notes:

• Matrix accounts/rooms are accessed via the Element web application, which for the rooms used by the QA site can be found at https://element.in.moodle.com/. Credentials for that site are the same as that user's Moodle QA site credentials (eg u: teacher / p: moodle).
• Most actions (such as managing room membership, creation etc) are performed in the background by ad-hoc tasks. This means those tasks must complete before the action will be completed.

Features to test

As a teacher, I can make a Matrix room available to course participants

1. As a teacher, navigate to a course > More > Communication and set the Provider to Matrix (if it is not already set).
2. Room name is the name given to the room created for this course within Matrix. If it is left blank, it should default to the course full name (which you can check by leaving it blank and saving, then returning to the settings to verify it has been populated with the course name).
3. Room topic is optional and is used to describe what the room is for.
4. Once enabled, teachers will likely see a banner on the course homepage confirming their room is being prepared. Verify the communication button does not appear at the bottom right of the course page at this stage.
5. Once reloading the page results in a "room is ready" banner, the background processes have completed and the room and its participants have been set up in Matrix. Verify you now see the communication button at the bottom right of the course page.
6. Clicking the communication button should open a Element in a new browser tab/window.
7. Verify that clicking that button when logged into the Element web app takes you to the Matrix room associated with the relevant Moodle course.
8. Verify that the name of the room matches the name set in the course communication settings (and matches the course full name if the setting was left blank).
9. Verify if a topic is set in the course communication settings, that topic is set on the respective room in the Matrix room.
10. Verify that the room avatar/image in Matrix matches the Moodle course image, if one is set.

As a teacher, I want access to my course's Matrix room and the permissions within it to be controlled automatically by my Moodle site

1. Verify that all enrolled participants in the Moodle course have been added to the Matrix room. The list of room participants can be found within a Matrix room by navigating to Room info ("i" icon top right) > People > [click on a user who is not the current user].
2. Verify that room membership corresponds with course enrolment status, by un-enrolling or suspending a student or teacher and confirming it removes them from the Matrix room, then re-enrolling/un-suspending will add them back into the Matrix room.
3. Verify that Matrix course room availability is mapped to the provider being enabled on the course - setting the communication provider from Matrix to either None or Custom link should result in all course participants being removed from the Matrix room and no longer being able to access it. Re-enabling Matrix on the course should result in it becoming available again.
4. Verify that Matrix user power levels (permissions) are set depending on a user's Moodle permissions - this can be done by navigating to the Matrix room's list of People as described earlier, clicking a few participants with different roles in the Moodle course, and verifying they have the expected access in the Power level dropdown - teachers/non-editing teachers should be Moderator, while students should be Default.