Slack XBlock for Open edX

An XBlock that integrates Slack channels directly into Open edX courses, enabling seamless communication between course content and discussions.

Features

• 🚀 Easy integration with existing Slack workspaces
• 🎯 Auto-generated channel names based on course context
• 🎨 Responsive, modern UI design
• ⚙️ Studio-configurable settings
• 📊 Optional analytics and tracking
• 🔧 Flexible channel management

Installation

Development

git clone git@github.com:3N61N33R/slack-xblock.git
cd slack-xblock
pip install -e .

Production

pip install slack-xblock

Configuration

This XBlock requires setting the Slack variables inside the Open edX common settings.
The recommended way (when using Tutor) is to create a simple plugin such as slack-xblock (or any name you prefer) and set these variables using the Tutor hooks.

Create a plugin file and add the following:

from tutor import hooks

hooks.Filters.ENV_PATCHES.add_items(
    [
        (
            "openedx-common-settings",
            """
INSTALLED_APPS += ['slack_xblock']
FEATURES['ENABLE_SLACK_XBLOCK'] = True

SLACK_BOT_TOKEN = "your-bot-token"
SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET = "your-signing-secret"
AUTO_CREATE_CHANNELS = True
CHANNEL_PREFIX = "course-"            (optional)
CHANNEL_SUFFIX = "-discussion"        (optional)
DEFAULT_WORKSPACE_URL = "https://your-workspace.slack.com"
WORKSPACE_INVITE_URL = "https://your-invite-link"
"""
        )
    ]
)

Replace the placeholder values with your actual Slack workspace data. After enabling the Tutor plugin and rebuilding/restarting LMS and CMS, the Slack XBlock will read these settings from Django.

• SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: Your Slack app's Bot User OAuth Token (starts with xoxb-).

• SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET: The signing secret from your Slack app's "Basic Information" page.

• AUTO_CREATE_CHANNELS: A boolean (True/False) to enable or disable automatic channel creation.

• CHANNEL_PREFIX & CHANNEL_SUFFIX: The prefix and suffix for automatically generated channel names. For example, course- and -discussion would create a channel like course-cs101-discussion.

• DEFAULT_WORKSPACE_URL: The base URL for your Slack workspace.

• WORKSPACE_INVITE_URL: The public invite link for users to join the workspace.

Open edX Settings

1. Add to Open edX settings:

INSTALLED_APPS += ['slack_xblock']
FEATURES['ENABLE_SLACK_XBLOCK'] = True

2. Configure in Studio:

• Add "slack_xblock" inside the advanced settings module lists.
• Add Slack component to course units
• Set workspace URL and channel settings
• Customize display options

License

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