Flash Reference
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Connecting your LMS

Canvas

Add Flash Reference to your Canvas account once, or to just your own course, so instructors can choose decks from a list.

To add Flash Reference to every course in your Canvas account, you'll need to be an admin in Flash Reference and in Canvas.

Not a Canvas admin? If your school allows it, you can add Flash Reference to just your own course instead.

Tip: Canvas can also connect with LTI 1.3. See Canvas with LTI 1.3.

Before you start

In Flash Reference, open LMS Setup → Production and keep these at hand:

  • Configuration URL: https://wws.flash-reference.com/lti/autoconfig.xml
  • Production Consumer Key and Production Secret, which are your organization's own.
The Configuration URL, consumer key and secret in LMS Setup
Canvas needs the Configuration URL, the consumer key and the secret.

Add Flash Reference to your Canvas account

  1. In Canvas, select Admin, choose your account, and select Settings.
  2. Select the Apps tab, then View App Configurations, then + App.
  3. Set Configuration Type to By URL, and enter:
    • Name: Flash Reference
    • Consumer Key: your Production Consumer Key
    • Shared Secret: your Production Secret
    • Config URL: https://wws.flash-reference.com/lti/autoconfig.xml
  4. Select Submit.

Flash Reference is now available in every course in the account. The configuration asks Canvas to send names and email addresses, which Flash Reference needs.

To try it in a test or beta copy of Canvas first, do the same there with the Test tab's key and secret.

Add it to just your course

Canvas lets teachers add apps to their own courses, unless their school has turned that off. If you can't add Flash Reference to the whole account, you can add it to one course yourself. It works the same way, but only in that course.

If Flash Reference is already listed when you add an External Tool to a module, it's already set up for your course: skip to Adding decks to a course.

You'll need:

  • The Configuration URL: https://wws.flash-reference.com/lti/autoconfig.xml
  • Your organization's Production Consumer Key and Production Secret. Only Flash Reference admins can see them, in LMS Setup → Production. If you signed up for Flash Reference yourself, you're the admin. Otherwise, ask your Flash Reference admin for them.

Then, in Canvas:

  1. Open your course and select Settings in the course menu.
  2. Select the Apps tab, then View App Configurations, then + App.
  3. Set Configuration Type to By URL, and enter:
    • Name: Flash Reference
    • Consumer Key: your Production Consumer Key
    • Shared Secret: your Production Secret
    • Config URL: https://wws.flash-reference.com/lti/autoconfig.xml
  4. Select Submit.

Flash Reference is now in that course's tools. Do the same in each course where you want it.

If you don't see the Apps tab or the + App button, your school has turned off adding apps to courses. Canvas admins control this with the LTI - add permission. Send your Canvas admin this guide and ask them to add Flash Reference to your Canvas account, which makes it available in every course.

Adding decks to a course

Instructors add a deck from a module's + button: they choose External Tool, then Flash Reference, and pick the deck. They can also add one from the rich content editor's apps menu. See Adding a deck to your course.

Choosing a deck in Canvas
Flash Reference's deck chooser, opened from Canvas.

If something looks different

These steps follow Canvas's own documentation, and menus can differ between versions and setups. If a screen doesn't match, contact us and we'll help.