[Proposal] Customizable Footer for LMS & CMS

Owned by Asad Ali
Oct 01, 2024
3 min read

Inspired by https://openedx.atlassian.net/l/cp/2nT8MBUz

Problem Statement and Value Proposition

Legacy LMS allows for the configuration of footer elements such as navigation links, the organization’s logo, and legal links. However, the MFE footer does not currently support this functionality. At present, the only way to achieve this is by forking the footer component repository, which is both difficult and time-consuming to maintain. The goal is to make the footer fully customizable, enabling the addition of custom navigation links, the organization’s logo, copyright information, and legal links.

Current State Experience

From the perspective of learners and course teams, the LMS & CMS UI has three versions of the Footer.

 

Legacy LMS Footer

This footer is displayed across the legacy LMS pages like the old course pages, including the instructor tab, discussion tab, and progress page. It Includes:

  • Navigation links like About, Help Center, Contact, and Donate.

  • Organization logo and copyright text.

  • Legal links like Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and Honor Code.

  • Powered by Open edX Logo on the right side.

All of these are configurable through the backend settings and one can add/remove anything from this footer.

 

LMS MFE Footer

 

This is the footer displayed in the MFEs like learning, learner dashboard, profile, account, etc. It displays:

  • Organization Logo

  • Language selector if enabled.

 

This is the footer displayed in the Course Authoring MFE. It displays:

  • Collapsible help button with a few links at the top.

  • Platform name and copyright text on the left.

  • Configurable legal links on the right like Terms, Privacy policy, and Accessibility alongside the LMS base link.

User Stories

As an administrator:

  • I want to display a customizable list of navigation links with the ability to add or remove links as needed.

  • I want to display a customizable list of legal links with the ability to add or remove links as needed.

  • I want to display a custom logo and copyright text.

Specs/Requirements

Requirements to define the customization requirements:

  • Users should be able to display a custom list of navigation and legal links.

    • This can be a single list, similar to the Studio MFE footer, containing both legal and navigation links.

  • Users should be able to display the custom organization logo and copyright text.

  • Users should be able to hide the studio footer help URLs.