Ned Cohort Profile Field

Component: profilefield_nedcohorts   Plugin version: 0.1.1   Compatibility: Moodle 4.5–5.1   Updated: 5 September 2026

Ned Cohort Profile Field synchronises Moodle cohort membership from a custom user profile field while preserving memberships the plugin cannot prove it created.

Setup

1. Install the plugin at user/profile/field/nedcohorts and complete Moodle's normal upgrade process.
2. Create the cohorts that may be assigned.
3. Go to Site administration > Users > User profile fields and create a Ned - Cohort Select field.
4. Select allowed cohorts and configure single or multiple selection.
5. Keep self-selection disabled unless users should be able to join those cohorts without staff approval.

Permissions and security

Moodle capabilities and context checks remain authoritative. Self-selection can grant access to courses connected to selected cohorts, so enable it only for cohorts that are safe for users to join without staff approval.

Privacy and data sharing

Cohort-selection values, managed-assignment records, and cohort memberships are processed locally in Moodle. The plugin does not need to send profile-field values, student content, or cohort memberships to Ned Cloud for its core behaviour.

If Ned Hub is configured, normal Ned licence, site, and plugin metadata may be sent to Ned Cloud for entitlement and lifecycle purposes. That is separate from the plugin's local cohort processing.

Licensing

The Moodle-side plugin is GNU GPL v3 or later and is intended to remain GPL-compatible. Ned Tools commercial value comes from maintained compatibility, support, hosted services, documentation, release governance, and related services rather than hiding Moodle plugin source.

Troubleshooting

• Confirm the plugin is installed at user/profile/field/nedcohorts.
• Confirm the site runs Moodle 4.5 through 5.1.
• Confirm the expected cohorts exist and are permitted by the field configuration.
• Review the plugin report and queued reconciliation before making manual membership changes.
• Check Moodle/PHP logs before changing multiple settings.
• If Ned Hub lifecycle actions are used, confirm the component is entitled and trusted release metadata is current.

Changed behaviour in 0.1.1

The reconciliation release updates the supported Moodle CI target from 5.0 to 5.1 and aligns repository and customer documentation. Core cohort synchronisation behaviour is unchanged.