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Course Element "External Page"

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Name External page
Icon
Available since New edition with release 18
Functional group Other
Purpose Display external web content within an OpenOlat course and integration in the course navigation
Assessable no
Specialty / Note Has to be switched on by the administration. frentix does not recommend its use.

With the course element "External page" you show a web page in your course and add it to the course navigation. You enter the address in the configuration in the tab "Page content". Three displays are available:

  • "Embedded (source hidden)"
  • "Embedded (source visible)"
  • "New browser window (source visible)"

For pages that require authentication and whose source is hidden, you can activate "Page password controlled" and enter the required access data.

Typical use cases are pages containing database queries, for example a literature research tool or online exercises from the web. It is only possible to link external pages via HTTP or HTTPS protocols.

frentix recommends keeping domains separate

The course element "External Page" displays content of a foreign domain inside your OpenOlat domain. Based on modern security considerations, frentix recommends not to mix different domains and therefore advises against the use of this course element.

A domain is the internet address under which a page is delivered: your OpenOlat instance runs under its own address, the embedded page under a different one.

Instead, refer to the page with the Link list. If the course element is not available in your instance, your administration has not switched it on.

Tab "Page content" configuration

URL: You have to fill in this field. Here you indicate the web page on which the desired external content can be found, in the format https://www.server.com/page.html.

Configure display: You can choose between three options:

  • Embedded (source hidden): OpenOlat calls up the external page and displays it in a so-called «iframe» in the course window. The external page's Internet address will not be visible to participants. For the page to be displayed completely this way, the embedded HTML pages may only address resources such as images, videos or links with relative paths. Content behind absolute paths such as "https://..." or relative absolute paths such as "/public" is loaded by the participants' browser directly from the external page; its address becomes visible in the process.
    When you save, OpenOlat calls the address as a test. If OpenOlat cannot reach the page, the message "Unreachable URL" appears at the "URL" field. The cause is either a page that does not respond, or an address in the local network that the "SSRF mitigation" protection of the system administration rejects. If the protection only rejects the address when the page is called up in the course, the course element shows only "Error" instead of the page. An address from the local network can only be allowed through an exception in the server configuration, see Security.

  • Embedded (source visible): The participants' browser calls up the external page directly and also displays it in an «iframe». The source code of the OpenOlat page will show you the external page's Internet address. OpenOlat does not call the address when you save.

  • New browser window (source visible): The course element displays a button that opens the external page in its own browser tab. OpenOlat does not call the address when you save.

Page password controlled: This option is only available with the display "Embedded (source hidden)". The access data applies to all participants jointly. It is stored unencrypted in the configuration of the course element and is therefore contained in every course copy and every course export. Do not enter personal access data here.

Embedded frames («iframe») resemble single browser windows, however, they are part of the initial window's HTML page.

Advantage of using an «iframe»: you can show any content in OpenOlat (e.g. complex web pages in nested frames, mathML etc.).

Disadvantage of using an «iframe»: your content might appear along with its own scroll bar.

Choose the variant by display and risk

The three variants do not only differ in how the page is displayed. With "Embedded (source hidden)" OpenOlat calls up the page; the external page learns nothing about your participants. With the other two variants the participants' browser connects directly to the external page. Weigh both against each other and test the display options one after the other until the linked page is displayed as desired.

Further information

Mentioned on this page
Course Element "Link list" >
Security >

Further reading
Course Element "HTML page" >
Course Element "LTI Page" >
Module External page >

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