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Private sessions

When Private sessions is enabled in the plugin settings, any user can start a private 1-on-1 video call with a coursemate — without needing a scheduled Jitsi activity.

How it works

  • Own profile page — a Call someone link appears that opens the private session hub (call.php), where you can search for coursemates and view your call history.
  • Another user's profile page — a Start private session link appears, but only if you share at least one course with that user. Clicking it launches a private session immediately.
  • Call history — the hub shows your most recent call per contact, ordered by time, with avatars and names. Clicking any entry re-opens the session with that person.
  • Instant notification — when you enter a private session, Moodle sends a popup notification to the other participant so they know to join.

Room naming

Private rooms always use the same symmetric name regardless of who initiates:

{siteshortname}-priv-{minUserId}-{maxUserId}

This means that if user A calls user B and later user B calls user A, they both land in the same room.

Restrictions

  • Both participants are automatically moderators.
  • Recording and live streaming are always disabled in private sessions — there is no course activity associated with the call.
  • The search only returns users who share at least one course with you (no calling strangers).

Enabling private sessions

Go to Site administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Jitsi and enable the Private sessions setting.