Your LMS and ClassRanked

Connecting ClassRanked to Your LMS via Edlink: A Guide for Administrators

Introduction

This guide explains how to connect ClassRanked to your institution’s learning‑management system (LMS) using Edlink. It is designed for LMS administrators and IT/security teams and aims to demystify the integration and give clear expectations. Regardless of whether you manage the LMS as a side job or work on a dedicated integration team, you will find what you need here. The document addresses common security concerns, outlines the connection process, and links to Edlink’s own documentation where appropriate.

Edlink Primer

🏃💨 The Short Version

Edlink is a software platform ClassRanked uses to integrate with major LMS and student‑information systems. Edlink acts as an "adapter", helping standardize connection to all major LMS's. It offers a unified API and data‑management tools that simplify building and scaling integrations. Edlink operates in the background; schools do not adopt or roll it out directly. Instead, companies (like ClassRanked) use Edlink to connect to LMS data sources while keeping their own applications the focus.

🤿 The Deep Dive

If you want more detail, Edlink provides:

Unified API and data tools. A single set of endpoints for multiple LMS and SIS providers, plus tools for filtering, transforming and overriding data.
Integration support. Edlink offers best‑practice guidance and troubleshooting assistance for building reliable integrations.
What Edlink is not. It is not something that schools adopt directly; it works behind the scenes. It is not a custom development shop or a general data‑source platform; its focus is education systems. Edlink cannot make one LMS talk to another; it helps edtech companies integrate with many systems but does not act as a bridge between them.
Comparison to Clever and Classlink. Clever and Classlink are platforms that schools adopt, while Edlink enables edtech companies to integrate with multiple systems without building each connection individually.

Feel free to skip this section if you only need the high‑level overview.

Sources: What Edlink Is and Is Not

Security & Data Use

Security is often the top concern when connecting an LMS to a third‑party tool. Here’s what you need to know:

Transport and authentication. All API requests to Edlink are sent over HTTPS. Edlink requires your application’s secret key with each request, and detailed access logs are available to school administrators for auditing.
Encryption and retention. Data is stored in a managed Google Cloud Platform database, restricted to production servers, and encrypted in transit and at rest using LUKS. Daily backups are kept for seven days. When data is deleted, it is fully removed, not just marked as deleted.
Legal compliance. Edlink is fully FERPA, COPPA and GDPR compliant and honors right‑to‑forget requests.
Scopes and permissions. Edlink asks for broad scopes, including grade pass back, because it supports many use cases. ClassRanked only uses scopes needed for single sign‑on (SSO) and LTI launches. We read basic user identifiers (name, email and LMS user ID) and course enrollment so we can match a user to their ClassRanked account and verify they are accessing the placements from valid courses (for that user). We do not read assignment data, grades, SIS sections, or other coursework; those scopes remain unused in our platform. Although Edlink can write back grades, ClassRanked does not implement any write functionality.
Filtering and overrides. Edlink allows schools to prune scopes and set sharing rules in the dashboard. You may remove access to certain data, but doing so can break the integration; consult ClassRanked before adjusting scopes.

Read More Here:

Security FAQ

Does connecting with my LMS admin account let ClassRanked modify courses? No. Even though the admin token includes write scopes, ClassRanked does not have the capability to use them.
Does ClassRanked see assignments, grades or rosters? No. Edlink’s platform can access this data, but ClassRanked does not ingest it.
Where is the data stored? In Edlink’s managed GCP database, encrypted in transit and at rest.
Is Edlink compliant with student‑privacy laws? Yes – Edlink complies with FERPA, COPPA and GDPR.
Can I restrict scopes? Yes, but it can potentially break the connection. Contact us if you need to modify scopes.

Connecting via Edlink

Overview

ClassRanked provides your institution with an integration link. Depending on timeline, this can be first done with an integration link to ClassRanked's test sandbox application or directly to ClassRanked's production instance. At a high-level, the order is as follows:

Connect Your LMS via an API Integration: Edlink establishes a secure, continuous data connection with your LMS. ClassRanked uses this connection strictly for user authentication and resolving identity mismatches (e.g., differing emails).
ClassRanked Reviews and Authorizes the Connection: Once your LMS connects through Edlink, ClassRanked activates the integration from our Edlink dashboard.
Install the LTI Tool (1.1 or 1.3): Add the ClassRanked LTI placement/External App in your LMS. This enables seamless, credential-free login for students, instructors, and admins.

Step‑by‑step instructions

Receive ClassRanked's integration link: ClassRanked emails you a secure onboarding URL.
Create an Edlink admin account: When you access the onboarding URL you will be taken through a very intuitive setup flow.
1. The first step will be to create an account in Edlink. Please choose a verifiable email address; it does not need to match your LMS admin email but should be an account you can access easily.
2. Note: If this is the first time your institution is connecting to Edlink, Edlink will create a team for your institution. You can invite additional administrators later.
Select your LMS and follow the prompts: The onboarding flow will then guide you to choose your LMS (Canvas, Blackboard, Brightspace, Moodle, etc.) and authenticate using your LMS admin credentials. You will be prompted to paste values (e.g. client ID, deployment ID, public key) from Edlink into your LMS’s developer settings and then supply the resulting values back to Edlink.
Review scopes and complete the connection: Edlink displays the scopes requested. ClassRanked only uses a subset for SSO and LTI launch. Accept the scopes to finish onboarding.
Wait for activation: Your integration will show as requested in the Edlink Dashboard. Please notify ClassRanked and we will activate it and run test launches before it goes live.
Configure LTI Placements: Based on LMS, how you add placements will be different. See the following section: LTI Placements for specific instructions.

At any time you can sign in to Edlink’s dashboard to see the integration status, adjust sharing rules or add team members.

School-specific resources:

Canvas: https://ed.link/docs/providers/canvas/connecting
Blackboard: https://ed.link/docs/providers/blackboard/connecting
Brightspace: https://ed.link/docs/providers/brightspace/connecting
Moodle: https://ed.link/docs/providers/moodle/connecting

Testing & Troubleshooting

Testing SSO. To verify SSO, you must have a ClassRanked user. If you attempt to launch an LTI link without a corresponding account, Edlink will show a generic SSO error (often an infinite spinner or redirect back to login) rather than a “No Permissions” message. Contact ClassRanked to create student, instructor or admin test accounts and a test survey so you can see what different roles experience.
Common gotchas:
- Being logged in as an LMS user who isn’t enrolled in the course will produce an SSO error. Edlink validates course enrolments as a security measure.
- Pruning scopes in Edlink may break the connection; leave defaults unless instructed.
- If the integration remains in the requested state, reach out to ClassRanked; activation must be completed before data flows.
- For LTI 1.1 connections, additional configuration inside your LMS (e.g. external tool placement) may be required. Edlink’s LMS‑specific placement guides explain these steps; we link to them in the next section.

LTI Placements

LTI placements are simply entry points in the LMS that launch an external tool. They can appear as a button in course navigation, an iframe in a content page, a link in the gradebook, or other placement types determined by the LMS. The same tool can have multiple placements, each with its own configuration. When someone clicks the placement, the LMS sends a standard LTI launch payload (user ID, course ID, role, context, etc.) along with the user’s email so ClassRanked can authenticate and route them to their dashboard.

There is no deep linking into survey responses. The link merely passes the user through to ClassRanked; we do not embed survey results back into the LMS. Instructors cannot see who completed surveys or any student submissions through the LTI link.

If you need instructions on how to add the placement to your LMS, consult Edlink’s placement guides for Canvas, Blackboard, Brightspace and Moodle. Each shows how to configure external tool settings and where the placement will appear.

If setting up LTI 1.3 please make sure Deep Linking is not enabled. If you do not disable Deep Linking, there may be issues launching into ClassRanked.

Wrap‑up & Resources

Connecting your LMS to ClassRanked via Edlink is straightforward: follow the onboarding link, create an admin account, accept the necessary scopes and allow us to activate the integration. Edlink handles the complexity of connecting to many LMS providers, and its security measures ensure that data remains encrypted and compliant with FERPA, COPPA and GDPR. ClassRanked only reads minimal information (user identifiers and course enrolment) and never modifies your LMS data. If you run into issues, contact your ClassRanked representative; we will help you test, troubleshoot and adjust settings.