BigBlueButton
The BigBlueButton integration brings live virtual classrooms directly into Full Fabric. Administrators connect a BigBlueButton server once; staff then mark individual course sessions for live delivery, and lecturers and students join from the session page with a single click — no meeting links to distribute and no separate BigBlueButton accounts. When a meeting ends, attendance is recorded automatically against the session, and recordings (when enabled) appear alongside the session for later playback.
How It Works
- An administrator connects the server: in Settings → Integrations → BigBlueButton, enter the server URL and shared secret, test the connection, and enable the integration.
- Staff mark a session as live: when creating or editing a course session, set the Video conferencing field to BigBlueButton.
- Participants join from the session page: lecturers and students click Join session. Full Fabric creates the meeting on demand (if it isn't already running) and opens it in a new window with the right role — moderator for the session's lecturers, attendee for everyone else.
- The meeting runs on your BigBlueButton server: meetings have no time cap and continue even if the moderator drops; when participants leave, they are returned to the session page in Full Fabric.
- Attendance and recordings sync back automatically: after the meeting ends, BigBlueButton posts the meeting analytics back to Full Fabric, which marks each invited participant present or absent on the session. Once a recording finishes processing, its playback links appear on the session.
Configuration
Navigate to Settings → Integrations → BigBlueButton. The page has an Enable / Disable action, the server connection fields, and default meeting options.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Server URL | Yes | API base URL of your BigBlueButton server (e.g. https://your-bbb-server.com/bigbluebutton/api) |
| Shared Secret | Yes | API secret from your BigBlueButton server configuration. Masked after saving — re-enter it to change it. |
After entering both values, click Test Connection to verify that Full Fabric can reach the server and that the secret is valid. Meetings cannot be created until the integration is both enabled and configured (URL and secret present).
Default Meeting Options
These defaults are applied to every meeting created through the integration. They are institution-wide — they are not configurable per session.
| Option | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Record meetings by default | On | Meetings are created with recording available |
| Auto-start recording when meeting begins | On | Recording starts automatically rather than waiting for the moderator |
| Mute participants on join | On | Attendees join muted |
In addition, meetings are created with no duration limit and do not end when the moderator leaves — students may remain in the room if the lecturer drops unexpectedly. The meeting ends when all participants have left.
Settings Reference
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
integrations.big_blue_button.enable |
false |
Enable or disable the integration |
integrations.big_blue_button.server_url |
— | BigBlueButton API base URL |
integrations.big_blue_button.shared_secret |
— | BigBlueButton API shared secret |
integrations.big_blue_button.record |
true |
Record meetings by default |
integrations.big_blue_button.auto_start_recording |
true |
Auto-start recording when the meeting begins |
integrations.big_blue_button.mute_on_start |
true |
Mute participants on join |
The integration is disabled by default for all institutions.
Per-Session Setup
When creating or editing a course session, the session form shows a Video conferencing dropdown with the options None and BigBlueButton. The field only appears when the integration is enabled and configured.
Selecting BigBlueButton:
- Marks the session for live delivery
- Shows the Join session button on the session page for staff and students
Live delivery is available on course sessions (Academic Calendar). Events do not support BigBlueButton meetings.
Joining a Session
On the session detail page — in the staff app and in the student portal's course pages — participants see a Join session button. Clicking it:
- Creates the meeting on the BigBlueButton server if it isn't already running (meetings are created on demand at first join, not when the session is saved)
- Opens the meeting in a new window with a secure, role-specific join link
Roles are assigned automatically from the session:
| Participant | BigBlueButton role |
|---|---|
| Session lecturers and guest lecturers | Moderator |
| All other invited participants (students) | Attendee |
Users never see or manage BigBlueButton credentials — Full Fabric generates the join link from their Full Fabric identity, so no separate BigBlueButton account is needed. Unauthenticated users cannot join and never see join links.
Attendance
After a meeting ends, BigBlueButton posts the meeting's analytics to Full Fabric over a signed callback. Full Fabric then records attendance on the session automatically:
- A participant is marked present when their cumulative time in the meeting is at least 60% of the meeting's duration. Disconnections and reconnections are not penalised — time is summed across all joins.
- Participants below the threshold, and invited participants who never joined, are marked absent.
- If a session had more than one meeting (for example, the room was reopened), a participant present in any of them is marked present.
- Moderator-only appearances (lecturers) are not written as student attendance.
Attendance lands on each participant's session registration — the same record used by manually-taken attendance — so it appears in the standard Attendance views, course analytics, and transcripts, with no manual reconciliation.
Recordings
When recording is enabled, BigBlueButton processes the recording after the meeting ends and notifies Full Fabric when it is ready. Once processed and published on the BigBlueButton server, playback links appear:
- On the session detail page in the staff app
- On the course session cards in the student portal
Recordings unpublished or deleted on the BigBlueButton server are not shown. The recording media itself is hosted by your BigBlueButton server; Full Fabric stores only the playback links and recording metadata.
Permissions
| Action | Who can do it |
|---|---|
| Configure the integration | Staff with the integration settings permission |
| Set video conferencing on a session | Staff who can edit course sessions |
| Join as moderator | The session's lecturers and guest lecturers |
| Join as attendee | Students and other invited participants |
| View attendance | Staff with access to the standard attendance views |
FAQ
Do students need a BigBlueButton account?
No. Full Fabric handles authentication. When a user clicks Join session, Full Fabric generates a secure, role-specific join link from their Full Fabric identity — no separate account or password is involved.
Can I configure multiple BigBlueButton servers?
No. One BigBlueButton server is configured per institution.
Can meeting options (recording, mute) be set per session?
No. Recording and mute behaviour are institution-wide defaults set in Settings → Integrations → BigBlueButton and apply to every meeting.
What happens if the BigBlueButton server goes offline?
Use Test Connection on the settings page to check connectivity. While the server is unreachable, join attempts fail with an error; sessions and their configuration remain intact in Full Fabric, and joining works again as soon as the server recovers.
Where is my data stored?
Your BigBlueButton server hosts the meetings and recording media. Full Fabric stores the integration configuration, a per-session record of the meetings held, attendance results, and recording playback links.