Want to build totally customised dashboards in your LMS? Here are some of the custom LMS dashboard blocks you can access with BE
If you’re using Totara with the BuildEmpire Edition, you’re already working with a powerful, flexible LMS that enables tailored learner experiences.
One of the most effective ways to enhance your site is through blocks aka modular widgets that provide functionality, content, and navigation on dashboards and course pages.
In this blog, we’ll explore:
- The core blocks that come standard with Totara LMS
- The custom blocks exclusive to the BuildEmpire Edition
Let’s get started.
Custom blocks in the BuildEmpire Edition
If you don’t already know what the BuildEmpire Edition is, then this should help.
We’re a Platinum Partner of Totara, and currently ranked in their top 10 Europe partners.
Our Edition takes core Totara, and adds to it.
From new features like eCommerce, to tweaks to styling to build our own theme, Blueprint, we’ve taken Totara to the next level.
And the best bit?
Well, it comes as standard.
Learn more about our product with our Behind the Build campaign. We go into what we’ve built and why.
Badges block
In core Totara, you can access their Badges block which shows you the badges you’ve earned.
As part of our efforts to improve gamification in the platform, we have made our own version of this block.
With the Available badges block, you’ll be able to see all of the badges you’ve earned, as well as all the ones you could earn.
This works by unlocking badges as you enroll in different learning content.
Dashboard banner block
The dashboard banner block is a fantastic title block for your pages, where you can highlight key info and callout key learning.
Similarly to a website banner block, you can add in an image, switch orientation, and add a CTA.
It’s a great visual aid to encourage better engagement from your learners.
Leaderboard block
As part of gamification, we’ve built in points which you can then use to add in a leaderboard block.
You can set these by team, by dashboard, by course, to enable a sense of competition in learning.
This is a great visual block for your dashboards to add some competition, create a renewed sense of interest in learning and build more learner engagement.
My courses block
Our My courses block is one we made to create a more visual representation than core Totara blocks like Course overview or Current learning.
This is a really good way to show overdue dates, progress, and course details in a way that is more engaging than a list.
Next activity block
The next activity block is similar to some of the dashboard blocks that live in Totara already. But we wanted to add something a bit more visual, that learning admins could use as a way to nudge learners in their learning journey.
As such, we built the next activity block, where learners will see the next activity in the course they last engaged with.
This serves as a great way to remind users of learning, and keep them engaged.
Core dashboard blocks as standard in Totara
| Block | Description |
|---|---|
| Admin bookmarks | Set up easy access, or bookmarks, so that you can easily find your most important pages.  |
| Alerts | Add an alert block to display all your system alerts for the logged-in user. |
| Calendar | The Calendar blocks is a great way to display events for the coming month. Remember this is a block that has been tweaked in the Edition for a softer display.  |
| Catalogue | You can add in a Catalogue block, which displays a prefiltered view showing 20 items. Users can scroll through using the arrows, and can click to see filtered content.  |
| Comments | Add in a comments block for easy engagement right in the main dashboard. |
| Course overview | The course overview block can be added to a user dashboard to show a list of all the courses that user is currently enrolled in. |
| Course search | This is simply a block you can use to allow users to search for course content in their main dashboard. |
| Courses | You can add the Courses block to list out a navigation of all courses for which the logged-in user is currently enrolled.  |
| Current Learning | Displays a link to courses and the progress for the user’s courses they are currently enrolled in and haven’t completed. Warning and alert periods are able to be defined to flag when each course reaches the defined period before the course due date. |
| Dashboards | If you have multiple dashboards for a user, then you might want to create a menu to allow them to switch between. For example, you might have a manager who wants to see both their manager dashboard, as well as access to their own learner platform. This block allows you to provide a quicklinks menu. |
| Featured Links | If you want an engaging way to promote further learning, then the featured links block is a great way to do that. Easy to set up and simple to restyle, you can create a visually appealing, and clickable set of tiles to encourage further learning.  |
| HTML | You can add in a HTML block where you can build a custom block of text, multimedia, widgets, etc. to a site front page or course page. |
| Last course accessed | Displays a link to the last course the user accessed alongside the course progress bar. |
| Latest announcements | Recent posts made in the Site Announcements forum are displayed in the Latest announcements block, along with a link to older archived news |
| Latest badges | With core Totara, you can access Latest badges, which will display badges earned by the user. Remember this is not the same as the BuildEmpire Edition version, Badges, which shows earned and available badges.  |
| My learning | This simply links out all of the learning links a user needs in one simple menu for ease of access. |
| Program completions | The Program completions block lists one or more selected programs and the user’s completion status for each. |
| Random glossary entry | If you want to inspire your learners in a subtle way, you could add in the random glossary entry block to your dashboard. This is a good way to add in more learning opportunity or promote microlearning.  |
| Recent learning | This lists out all of the recent learning that the user has engaged with so that they can easily find links to where they left off. |
| Recently viewed | This block will show the user’s recently viewed and visited content, to promote a return visit or reengagement. |
| Recommended for you | The recommended for you block is a great one to display learning content to users based on the recommendations engine. From trending content, to recommended courses and workspaces, to interesting microlearning, you can feed more useful content to your learners.  |
| Remote RSS feeds | The RSS feeds block enables RSS feeds from external websites to be displayed within Totara. As the information on the other site (for example, news headlines or recently added documents) is changed the block will update to show the latest information. |
| Report graph | This block can be added to pages to display the graph from a report. It can be used to build graphical dashboards. |
| Report manager | Provides access to a list of reports to which a user has access. |
| Statistics | Provides statistics and information on what the user’s staff have been doing in Totara. |
| Tasks | Provides a list of system tasks that require action. |
| Team | Displays a link to the My team report and the number of staff that the user manages. |
| Upcoming certifications | Displays any upcoming certification work a learner has been assigned. |
| Upcoming events | This block allows the user to see future events in a summarised list. Each one will generate automatically from the calendar and/or activity deadlines, and will link back to the activity.  |
Building custom dashboards with blocks in Totara
Being able to build custom dashboards is key. As much as possible, you want to create personalised learning experiences.
Totara’s dashboard blocks offer a powerful and flexible way to tailor the learning experience for every type of user; from learners to managers and admins alike.
You can access essential blocks like Current Learning, Tasks, and Course Overview, to more administrative and data-driven tools like Report Graphs and Program Completions.
This course set gives you a solid foundation to build engaging, functional dashboards.
But with the BuildEmpire Edition, you unlock even more value.
Additional custom blocks and enhanced design options give you the creative freedom to make your dashboards not just informative but strategic, personalised, and to be perfectly frank, beautiful.
As always, the goal is to extend Totara’s capabilities to meet your unique goals.
With the right combination of blocks and thoughtful layout, your dashboards can become the beating heart of your learning ecosystem.