Qwickly Attendance: Photo Integration

Qwickly supports accessing photos that you are already hosting via a web service, statically, or straight from the LMS. The Photo Integration settings can be found by going to Qwickly Dashboard > Manage Attendance > Settings > Photos  

Enable LMS Avatars:

Note for D2L Brightspace Users

Currently, the LMS Avatar integration (which pulls profile pictures directly from the LMS) is available only for Blackboard and Canvas environments.

Development Status: A formal development request is currently open to bring native LMS Avatar functionality to D2L Brightspace.

Until this feature is released, D2L institutions should follow these instructions
D2L Brightspace: Using Photostore URL

 Canvas and Blackboard Instructions for LMS Avatars:

• When enabled this option allows Qwickly Attendance to use the avatars of students that have been uploaded to the LMS. (Only Available in Canvas and Blackboard currently)
• How to add a profile picture in Canvas: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-add-a-profile-picture-in-my-user-account-as-a-student/ta-p/518
• How to add a profile picture in Blackboard Ultra: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Student/Ultra/About_You/Profile

Manually Configure Student Photos:

• This option allows institutions to link an existing photo database into Qwickly Attendance.
• Qwickly does NOT store photos.

Photostore URL:

• This is the URL from which photos will be accessed.
• The URL should be written exactly as it would be if accessing the photos from an outside source, including any necessary API key.
• The student identifier [discussed below] will replace the text string [identifier] in the URL, [identifier should be placed literally in the URL where you would like the student identifier to appear.
• For example: https://studentphotostore.com/photos/?key=1234567&studentId=[identifier]
• You may be hosting the images statically, in which case the URL may look more like this: https://studentphotostore.com/photos/[identifier]photo.jpg.

Student Identifier:

• This is the field in the user data that is used in place of [identifier] in the Photostore URL.
• There are various possible fields that can be used as an identifier. If you need to use a custom identifier, please contact Qwickly Support.

Optional Encryption:

• You may elect to encrypt the identifier passed in the URL.

• Currently, you may select from no encryption or AES encryption 

  Technical Requirements for AES Encryption

  If you choose to enable AES encryption for your Photostore URL, your image service should  be configured to use the following specifications:

  • Algorithm: AES

  • Mode: ECB (Electronic Codebook)

  • Padding: PKCS7

  • Encoding: UTF-8 (Ensure your service is not using Unicode/UTF-16, as this will cause decryption failures).

  Implementation Tips:

  • Python: We recommend using the Cryptodome.Cipher library.

  • C# / .NET: Ensure you explicitly set the CipherMode to ECB and PaddingMode to PKCS7 in your AesManaged or Aes class instances.

Test Image:

• This is where you can test to see if the integration is working correctly.
• In the provided field, type a student identifier of the correct type into the text field and then save the settings.
• An image next to this field will use the previous settings and attempt to display from the photostore, including any encryption set.
• If you see the correct image for the provided identifier here, then you have successfully set up the integration!

Turn on the integration:

• Now that everything is set up correctly, click the on/off toggle next to the heading and set it to on to enable the Photo Integration option. 
• Launch Qwickly Attendance from an LMS course and click the sync roster button then photos should start appearing next to student's names in Qwickly Attendance immediately!

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D2L Brightspace: Using Photostore URL

Since native LMS Avatar integration is currently in development for D2L, administrators can manually link their institution's student photo database.

1. Identify Your Photostore URL

You will need the base URL where your student photos are hosted. This can be a static image server or a web service. Use the placeholder [identifier] in the URL where the student’s unique ID (such as their D2L Username or Org Defined ID) should be inserted.

• Example (Static): https://photos.youruniversity.edu/students/[identifier].jpg

• Example (Web Service): https://api.youruniversity.edu/getphoto?id=[identifier]&key=12345

2. Select the Student Identifier

In the Student Identifier dropdown within Qwickly settings, choose the field that matches the file names or IDs in your photo database.

Note: Common identifiers include the D2L Username or the SIS ID. 

3. Configure AES Encryption (Optional)

To protect student privacy and prevent direct scraping of your photo server, it is highly recommended to use AES Encryption.

Optional Encryption Instructions

4. Test and Enable

• Test Image: Enter a valid student ID in the Test Image field and click Save. If configured correctly, the student's photo will appear in the preview box.

• Toggle On: Once the preview is successful, flip the main Photo Integration toggle to On.

• Sync: Navigate to a course in D2L, launch Qwickly Attendance, and click Sync Roster to pull the images into the attendance taking view.