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Mahara
Mahara · founded 2006
What it is
Mahara is a free ePortfolio system for learning communities. Students and staff can collect evidence, reflect on experiences, and relate work to competencies or registration requirements. Listed uses include study, professional development, work-integrated learning, assessment, presentation, and employability. Users can share portfolios with an individual, a group, or the public, and restrict access by time frame or assessment task. They can comment, give feedback, collaborate on portfolios in groups, and take part in group forum discussions. Portfolios can be submitted to learning management systems through LTI for marking. Mahara is open source, with conditions that include distributing source code with copies and applying the same license to derivative works. It can be installed on a Linux server; the manual also covers Docker setup for development and testing and advises securing the environment before live use. The manual describes LTI 1.3 Advantage as experimental and says it has not been tested with LMS platforms other than Brightspace. A demo site resets daily, erasing user-created content unless portfolios are exported beforehand.
For and against
For
- Free ePortfolio system.
- Portfolios can be shared with access restrictions.
- Supports feedback and group collaboration.
- Portfolios can be submitted to LMS platforms via LTI.
Against
- LTI 1.3 Advantage is experimental.
- LTI 1.3 Advantage is untested beyond Brightspace.
- Demo content is erased by a daily reset.
- Docker setup should be secured before live use.
The verdict
Mahara offers portfolio creation, sharing, feedback, and LMS submission for learning communities. Its manual flags limits around LTI 1.3 Advantage and advises securing Docker deployments before live use.
Who it suits
Mahara suits students and staff in learning communities who need to collect, reflect on, and share portfolio evidence. It also fits organizations using portfolios for learning and assessment.
On the record
- Audience
- The site presents Mahara for students and staff in learning communities and for organisations using portfolios in learning and assessment.mahara.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Collaboration
- Mahara groups support collaborative portfolio creation and forum discussions.mahara.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Demo
- Mahara offers a demo site that resets once a day, erasing user-created content unless portfolios are exported beforehand.demo.mahara.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Deployment note
- The manual says Docker images can serve as a basis for Kubernetes deployments and recommends securing the environment before using its Docker setup for a live site.manual.mahara.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Feedback
- Users can comment on portfolios and give feedback.mahara.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Integrations
- The manual says Mahara supports LTI for connecting to LMS platforms and provides a wider web services suite for deeper integrations.manual.mahara.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Intended users
- The site describes Mahara as serving learning communities and names students and staff as portfolio creators.mahara.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- LMS integration
- Portfolios can be submitted to learning management systems via LTI for marking.mahara.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- LTI limitation
- The manual describes LTI 1.3 Advantage as experimental and says it has not been tested with LMS platforms other than Brightspace.manual.mahara.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Maintainer
- The official site identifies Catalyst as Mahara's maintainer.mahara.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Maintainers
- The site identifies Catalyst as Mahara's maintainers.mahara.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Open source
- The site says users may copy, use, and modify Mahara subject to license conditions, including sharing source code when distributing it.mahara.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Portfolio uses
- The site lists study, professional development, work-integrated learning, assessment, showcase and presentation, and employability as portfolio uses.mahara.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Purpose
- Mahara is an ePortfolio system for students and staff to document learning with evidence, reflections, and context.mahara.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Self-hosting
- The Mahara 26.04 manual provides traditional installation instructions for a Linux server and Docker setup instructions for development and testing.manual.mahara.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Sharing
- Portfolios can be shared with one person, a specific group, or the public, with access restricted by time frame or assessment task.mahara.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Sharing controls
- Portfolios can be shared with an individual, a group, or the public, with access restricted by time frame or assessment task.mahara.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Support
- The site links to community forums, a manual, a wiki, an issue and enhancement tracker, and extended security support.mahara.org · read 30 Sep 2026
