To add a rule, click the "Add a Rule" button.

The Events Page is where you specify when the rule is run.
For example, an event type that can be chosen is "Course entered". This means the rule will occur when a student enters a course. 

Select event type
Activity viewed
Activity completed
Activity graded
User added to group
User removed from group
Course entered
Course grade change
Specific date and time
Recurring event
Quiz or assignment submitted
Forum reply
Forum topic post
Course start date

Conditions are further restrictions for who the rule can affect. If no condition is set, all students will be affected by the rule. Several conditions can be added.

Select condition type
Activity viewed
Activity completed
Activity grade range
User role check
Group membership check
Course grade range
Course login
Date check

Additionally, if several conditions are added, you can select whether all conditions must be met for the rule to apply, or any.

Decide what you want to happen when a rule is fulfilled through the actions tab.

Select action type
Display alert
Send email
Go to activity
Go to URL
Lock release code
Unlock release code
Add user to group
Remove user from group

A useful action is the "Display alert" option. 

After adding a display alert, enter an appropriate Alert text. Tokens can be useful for a more personalized message for students.

There are many available tokens available for use for a more personalized experience. These tokens will be replaced with the appropriate information when displayed to students.

You can also select if you would like the action to only run once.

When you are satisfied with the Alert text, click "Save".

Another useful Action is the "Send email" option. 

The send email action is useful for automatically sending personalised emails to students. It is recommended to use the following settings when sending an email using PLD.

In the From field, select ‘Custom’. This allows us to specify a specific first name and last name to use as the emails From field. Include a name related to the course. (First Name: Introduction to Renewable Energy)

The Email address field can be an instructor or a shared email.

All PLD emails are sent as a no-reply email and students cannot respond to it.

In the Recipients field, click ‘Add recipient’ and select ‘Triggering user’. The triggering user are the users related to our rule, a custom email may also be used if you want to be cc’ed into PLD emails.

It is recommended not to use ‘All users of role…’ as it will send an email to all matching people each time the rule is triggered. This may cause duplicate emails if the rules are triggered per person in the course (i.e Scheduled date and time)

In the Subject and Body, enter the email subject and message text. Tokens (mentioned in previous step) may be used to include personalised information. 

Adding Rules to PLD