Adding Students, Parents & Teachers to ManageBac+

The ManageBac+ Team
The ManageBac+ Team
  • Updated

Important

It is not possible for a Student, Parent or Teacher to create their own account, and an Administrator on your school's account will need to create user accounts for users to access.

 

Adding Users Individually

Via Settings > School Directory

Via Settings > School Directory > Roster, click Add User.

Adding a Student

Select Student under User type and complete the required fields:

  • First NameLast Name, and a unique E-mail address* are all required fields regardless of User type.
  • For a student, you must select an IB Group or IB PYP Homeroom Class.
  • If the student's parent has already been added to the account, type the parent name/s and select from the dropdown. The parent will then be able to track the student's academic progress from their own ManageBac+ account.

You also have the option of choosing their user interface language from the dropdown menu. Click Add User to save.

*Note: Users can be created with fake emails (e.g. henry.e@eduvo.com) if they do not have email addresses.

 

Adding a Parent

Select Parent under User type and complete the required fields.

You also have the option of choosing their user interface language from the dropdown menu. All parents must be attached to at least one child. To add a child, type the children's name/s and select from the dropdown. Click Add User to save.

 

 

Adding a Classroom Teacher or Activity/Homeroom Advisor

Select Teacher/Advisor under User type and complete the required fields.

You also have the option of choosing their user interface language from the dropdown menu. Click Add User to save.

Adding an Administrator

Select Account Admin under User type and complete the required fields.

You also have the option of choosing their user interface language from the dropdown menu. Click Add User to save.

 

Adding Users via Bulk Import 

Via Settings > Import Manager > select user type Students, Parents or Teachers

Rather than adding users manually one at a time, you can add many users at once via bulk import. To do this, download our CSV (comma separated values) template file for the user type you wish to import and add the user's data. The required user data will be different for each user type and must match the CSV template exactly. If you prefer to add users one by one, click here for further guidance.

The following user types can be added via bulk import: Students, Parents and Teachers.

The following users can have their information updated via bulk import: Students and Parents.

This article contains the following sections:

 

How to Import Users

CSV Importing Help

You will need to have access to a programme like Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc to complete CSV imports.

Here are some important things to keep in mind when completing CSV templates:

  • The file must be saved as CSV UTF-8 to support special character encoding.
  • The first row of the CSV file is the header row and must be included in the file.
  • The header row should not be altered from the template as downloaded from the import pages, keep all required columns, even if you are only importing the required fields.
  • If updating existing users, empty columns of data in the file will not overwrite existing data for that user.
  • The content in your CSV file is case-sensitive and space-sensitive.
  • Student grade level must match what you have entered on your account settings (via Settings > Grades & Programmes), e.g. if your account settings say Grade 12, you cannot fill in GRADE 12 in all caps and cannot fill in Grade12 without a space.
  • Dates must be formatted according to DD-MM-YYYY, e.g. June 12, 2002, should be formatted as 12-06-2002.
  • Required fields must be filled in. Any missing required fields will cause an error in the system. Required fields for each user type are listed in the sections below.
  • If your CSV contains more than 200 records to import, please split the CSV files in sections so that there is only a maximum of 200 entries per file.

 

Updating Existing Users

If you are updating the information for any users with existing ManageBac+ accounts, please select "Update existing student/parent/teacher accounts" when importing so the system knows not to create duplicate accounts for them. This does not require you to separate new and existing users into two different spreadsheets. It only tells the system that your spreadsheet also contains existing users and does not try to create new accounts for these. 

Important Note:

  • It is not possible for schools to bulk update passwords of existing users. If users are imported with new passwords, this will create duplicate users. Please email support@managebac.com to request this kind of update and provide the following: user's existing email, user's password.
  • Schools are able to bulk update student email addresses via Settings > School Directory > Bulk Update > Update E-mails. The required information for a bulk email update includes the existing student email address or student ID (if entered) and the new email address. See our guide on Editing User Profiles (Names, Emails, Personal Information) for more information.

 

Student Import Requirements

Navigate to Settings > Import Manager > Students and download our CSV template. Complete the required Student Fields, save the file as CSV UTF+8 and upload.

Student Fields 

Header Field Description
Student ID The student ID can be a combination of numbers and letters, depending on your school’s ID format.

This field is not required but strongly recommended. It is best to use the same unique identifier as on other student information systems used at the school if any. 
First Name Required. The student's first name. This will be used in official reports, so please match as written on their passports.
Middle Name The student's middle name. This will be used in official reports, so please match as written on their passports.

If the student does not have a middle name, please leave blank.
Last Name Required. The student's last name. This will be used in official reports, so please match as written on their passports.

If the last name is not used in your country, you can use another symbol in its place (e.g. comma, period, underscore)
Preferred Name The student's preferred name. If the same as First Name or none, leave blank.
Other Name Use this field if you wish to include the student’s name in a second language. If none, leave blank.
E-mail Address Required for all students except IB PYP students. All students must have a unique email address, which should be different from the parent email. Recommended to use valid emails as all notifications from ManageBac+ will be sent to this email address.

PYP Exception: This field can be left for PYP students and a fake email will be automatically assigned.
Grade Required.  The student's grade level must match the label entered in your Grades & Programme Settings, e.g. Year 12, or Grade 12.

If unsure, navigate to 'Settings > Grades & Programmes' on your account.
Programme

Required. This is the academic programme that the user is completing at your school and must match one of the programmes enabled for your school.

You can find a full list of enabled Academic Programmes by navigating to Settings > School Settings > Academics.

Enter either the full programme name (IB Diploma) or the abbreviation (IB DP) from the list below:

International Baccalaureate:

  •  
    • IB Diploma / IB DP
    • IB Career-related Programme / IB CP
    • IB Middle Years / IB MYP
    • IB Primary Years / IB PYP

Pearson Edexcel:

  • Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Levels / Ed A Level
  • Pearson Edexcel BTEC / Ed BTEC
     
  • Pearson Edexcel IGCSEs / Ed IGCSE

Cambridge Assessment International Education:

  • Cambridge Advanced / CAIE A Level
  • Cambridge IGCSEs / CAIE IGCSE
  • Cambridge Lower Secondary / CAIE LS

The College Board:

  • Advanced Placement / AP

National Curriculum*:

  • High School / HS
  • Middle School / MS
  • Primary School / PS

*Additional Note: 

If your school isn’t using the default National Curriculum programme titles listed above, please enter the full title or the abbreviation for HS/MS/PS as you have customised in the Academic Programmes Settings.

Year Group Required for all students except for IB PYP students. Students on ManageBac+ are organised by year group. A year group is a batch or the cohort of a graduating class. A suggested year group title may be the year they will be completing their programme, e.g. Cambridge Class of 2022 or IB Diploma Class of 2023

If you haven't created any year groups, they will be automatically created for you based on what you have entered.

If you have already created year groups on ManageBac+, please enter the title of the year group without the grade level found in parentheses, e.g. Class of 2022, instead of Class of 2022 (Grade 10).

Please make sure that all students belonging to the same year group have the exact spelling and capitalisation of the Year Group title, or a new one will be created for each variation.

PYP Exception: This field should be left blank for IB PYP students.
Gender The student's gender can currently be Male or Female or can be left blank.

We recognise that these gender categories may not represent all users at your school and are working towards supporting custom gender categories.
Date of Birth The student's date of birth. Dates must be formatted as DD-MM-YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY, e.g. June 12, 2002, is formatted as 12-06-2002 or 12/06/2002
Mobile Phone The student's mobile phone number.
National ID The student's National ID number (e.g. Passport number)
1st Nationality The student's nationality must be entered in ISO code format, e.g. GR for Greek.

If unsure, please download the Supported Nationalities
2nd Nationality Any additional nationalities must also be entered in ISO code format and entered in their individual cells.
3rd Nationality See 2nd Nationality.
4th Nationality See 2nd Nationality.
1st Language The student's first language must be entered in ISO code format, e.g. SPA for Spanish.

If unsure, please download the Supported Languages
2nd Language Any additional languages that the student speaks must also be entered in ISO code format and entered in their individual cells.
3rd Language See 2nd Language.
4th Language See 2nd Language.
Address The student's Home Address Line 1 (Street address)
Address 2 The student's Home Address Line 2 (Suite or Apartment number, Floor, etc.)
Phone Number The student's home phone number
City The student's Home address - City
State/Province The student's Home address - State or Province
Postal Code The student's Home address - Postal or Zipcode
Country The student's Home address - Country. The user's country must be entered in ISO code format, e.g. SE for Sweden.

If unsure, please download the Supported Countries.
UI Language Preferred UI Language. This is set to English by default.
Currently available UI languages: English, Spanish, or French.
Enrollment Date The student's enrollment start date at your school. This will default to the current term’s start date if left blank.
Password

The student’s ManageBac+ account password.

This can be set by when importing new users so that students don’t have to create their own passwords. 

For security measures, please make sure that you do not set the same default password for each student - the import system will not be able to import the passwords if they are the same for each user.

Note: Passwords cannot be updated in bulk for students with existing accounts on ManageBac+. Passwords can only be set when creating new accounts. 

Graduation Date The student’s graduation date. Assigning a graduation date for the student will archive their account. Please do not set until the student has graduated.
Withdrawal Date The student's withdrawal date from your school. Assigning a withdrawal date for the student will archive their account. Please do not set until the student has left the school.


Common Student Import Error Messages

Below are a few common error messages that you may encounter when importing students into ManageBac+.

Check the Row Number that the error occurs in, which is shown next to the error message, and correct the error on your file. Save as CSV (UTF-8) and re-upload the updated file.

EMAILS 

Every account on ManageBac+ requires a unique email address as the core identifier to which all the user data is tied to. Emails must be unique and formatted correctly with local-part@domain, e.g. sara.chen@gmail.com

Here are some of the error messages related to emails that you may see:

  • Email can't be blank: This error appears if the email field is blank. Add the user's email & re-upload.
  • Email is missing or invalid: This error appears if the email entered doesn't follow the correct format, e.g. student@schoolemail.com
  • Email is too short (minimum is 3 characters): This error appears less than 3 characters have been added to the email field. Please enter an email in the correct format and try again.
  • Email has already been taken / Email belongs to [Name]: This error appears when an account with the same email address already exists. Specify a different, unique email address.

YEAR GROUP 

What is a Year Group? A year group is the batch or cohort of students that will be completing the programme in the same year

We would recommend naming the year group according to when the group of students would be graduating, instead of the current year level. E.g. use 'Class of 2023' instead of 'Grade 11 Class'

An error message you might run into is:  

  • Please enter an IB Year Group name to add the student to (e.g. IBDP Class of 2023): This error appears when the year group field is blank. Add the year group and re-upload your file.

GRADE 

Grade refers to the student's year/grade level they will be starting at your school, e.g. Year 1, Grade 12, etc. The grade level must match what has been entered in your school's ManageBac+ Settings as these are customisable per school.

If you're unsure, navigate to your Settings > Grades & Programmes page to confirm.

If what you have entered doesn't match the Grades & Programmes page, you may run into this error message:

  • The Grade level is either disabled or incorrect. Please enter a grade which matches the year labels you have set here. : This error message appears when the grade level field doesn't match your account settings. Enter the grade level that has been configured for your account, and re-upload the file.

PROGRAMME 

Programme refers to which curriculum programme the student is completing at your school, e.g. IB Diploma, Cambridge IGCSEs, High School, etc.

The programmes enabled for your school can be found listed at the top of the page via Settings > Grades & Programmes.

An error message you might run into says:

  • Programme is missing or invalid: This error appears if the programme field is blank, or if the programme entered doesn't match the programme(s) on ManageBac+. Please enter the programme names or their abbreviation, as listed below, and re-upload your file:

International Baccalaureate:

  • IB Diploma / IB DP
  • IB Career-related Programme / IB CP
  • IB Middle Years / IB MYP
  • IB Primary Years/ IB PYP

Pearson Edexcel:

  • Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Levels / Ed A Level
  • Pearson Edexcel BTEC / Ed BTEC
  • Pearson Edexcel IGCSEs / Ed IGCSE

Cambridge Assessment International Education:

  • Cambridge Advanced / CAIE A Level
  • Cambridge IGCSEs / CAIE IGCSE
  • Cambridge Lower Secondary / CAIE LS

The College Board:

  • Advanced Placement / AP

National Curriculum*:

  • High School / HS
  • Middle School / MS
  • Primary School / PS

*If your school isn’t using the default National Curriculum programme titles listed above, please enter the full title or the abbreviation for HS/MS/PS as you have customised in the Academic Programmes Settings.

NAMES 

First and last names are required fields on ManageBac+. This is also what is populated to any report cards or exported official documents, so please make sure that this has been filled in.

If left blank, the error messages that you may see are:

  • First name can't be blank: This error message appears when the first name field is missing. Fill in the first name and re-upload the file.
  • Last name can't be blank: This error message appears when the last name field is missing. Fill in the last name and re-upload the file. If last name is not used in your country, you can use another symbol in it’s place (e.g. comma, period, underscore).

DATES 

Dates on ManageBac+ must be in a DD-MM-YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY format. For example, if a student's date of birth is August 17, 2001, the date is formatted as 17-08-2001 or 17/08/2001.

If you haven't followed the given format, an error message you might see is:

  • Birthday format is invalid (please specify a full 4-digits year): This error message appears when the date format is incorrect. Please enter the date of birth in the required format, and re-upload the file.

 

Parents/Guardians Import Requirements

Creating parent accounts allows parents to view their child's academic progress via ManageBac+.

Navigate to Settings > Import > Parents and download our CSV template. Complete the required Parent Fields outlined below, save the file as CSV UTF-8 and upload.

Notes on importing Parents/Guardians

  • Student accounts must be created before parent accounts.
  • If two or more parents share one email address, they can share the same account on ManageBac+, but the email address cannot be the same for two separate ManageBac+ accounts.
  • If a parent is also a teacher at the school, the parent & teacher accounts must be created with separate email addresses. The two accounts can be linked using ManageBac+’s Accounts Portal Single Sign On (SSO) feature, and the user can switch between accounts effortlessly. Learn more about how to use the Accounts SSO here

Parent Fields 

Header Field Description
Student ID The student’s Student ID number on ManageBac+.
Student E-mail Required. The student email address. This links the parent to the student on ManageBac+.
Salutation The parent's preferred salutation, e.g. Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr.
First name Required. The parent's first name
Middle Name The parent’s middle name
Last name Required. The parent's last name
Preferred Name The parent’s preferred name. If same as First Name, leave as blank.
Other Name The parent’s other name. If none, leave as blank.
E-mail Address Required. The parent’s valid and unique email address. Each account on ManageBac+ requires a unique email address.
Relationship The parent’s relationship to the student, e.g. Mother
Gender The gender categories currently supported are Male, Female, or can be left blank.

We recognise that these gender categories may not represent all users at your school and are working towards supporting custom gender categories.
Date of Birth The parent’s date of birth. The date must be formatted as DD-MM-YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY. For example, April 3, 1975, is formatted as 03-04-1975 or 03/04/1975.
Title The parent’s job title
Employer The parent’s employer
Mobile Phone The parent’s contact phone number
1st Nationality The parent's nationality must be entered in ISO code format, e.g. GR for Greek.

If unsure, please download the Supported Nationalities
2nd Nationality Any additional nationalities must also be entered in the ISO code format and entered in their individual cells.
3rd Nationality See 2nd Nationality
4th Nationality See 2nd Nationality
1st Language The parent’s first language must be entered in ISO code format, e.g. SPA for Spanish.

If unsure, please download the Supported Languages.
2nd Language Any additional languages that the parent speaks must also be entered in ISO code format and entered in their individual cells.
3rd Language See 2nd Language
4th Language See 2nd Language
Work E-mail The parent’s work email address
Work Phone The parent’s work contact phone number
Work Address The parent’s work address - Address Line 1 (Street address)
Work Address 2 The parent’s work address -  Address Line 2 (Suite or Apartment number, Floor, etc.)
Work Fax The parent’s work fax number
Work City The parent’s work address - City
Work State The parent’s work address - State or Province
Work Postal Code The parent’s work address - Postal or Zip Code
Work Country The parent’s work address - Country. The country must be entered in ISO code format, e.g. SE for Sweden.

If unsure, please download the Supported Countries.
Address The parent’s Home address - Address Line 1 (Street address)
Address 2 The parent’s Home address -  Address Line 2 (Suite or Apartment number, Floor, etc.)
Phone Number The parent’s Home phone number
City The parent’s Home address - City
State/Province The parent’s Home address - State or Province
Postal Code The parent’s Home address - Postal or Zip Code
Country The parent’s Home address - Country. The country must be entered in ISO code format, e.g. SE for Sweden.

If unsure, please download the Supported Countries.
UI Language Preferred User Interface Language for the parent. This is set to English by default.

Current available Parent interface languages: English, Spanish, Arabic, French, Chinese (Simplified or Traditional) or Japanese.
Password

The parent’s ManageBac+ account password. This can be set by when importing new users so that parents don’t have to create their own passwords. 

For security measures, please make sure that you do not set the same default password for each parent - the import system will not be able to import the passwords if they are the same for each user.

Note: Passwords cannot be updated in bulk for parents with existing accounts on ManageBac+. Passwords can only be set when creating new accounts. 

Common Parent Error Messages

Parent Information 

Some error messages you might run into are:

  • First name can't be blank: This error appears when the first name field is missing. Fill in the first name and re-upload the file.
  • Last name can't be blank: This error appears when the last name field is missing. Fill in the last name and re-upload the file. If last name is not used in your country, you can use another symbol in it’s place (e.g. comma, period, underscore).
  • Email can't be blank: This error appears if the email field is blank. Add the user's email and re-upload the file.
  • Email has already been taken / Email belongs to [Name]: This error appears when an account with the same email address already exists. Note that different emails must be used to create two separate parent accounts. Specify another email address and re-upload the file.
  • Email is missing or invalid: This error appears if the email field is blank or if the email entered doesn't follow the format parent@email.com and re-upload the file.

Student ID or Email 

Students must be created first before creating parent accounts.

The student ID or email must be included when importing parents. If unsure of the student's ID or email, navigate to Settings > School Directory to confirm.

2023-03-20_09-42-36.png

Only one student's information can be entered per row. The screenshot above is an example of how to import parents and link to more than one child, where rows 1-2 list the Mother and rows 4-5 list the Father of the same children.

If you are missing either the student ID or email address, or if neither of the student information match an existing student on your account, you might run into this error message:

  • Student not found with the student ID [example: 12345] or email [example: student@school.edu]: This error message occurs when the student information entered doesn't match any existing users in the system. Please enter the information of an existing student in order to tie the parent and student accounts together and re-upload the file.

 

Teachers Import Requirements

Navigate to Settings > Import > Teachers and download our CSV template. Complete the required Teacher Fields outlined below, save the file as CSV UTF+8 and upload.

If a teacher is also a parent at the school, the teacher & parent accounts must be created with separate email addresses. The two accounts can be linked using ManageBac+’s Accounts Portal Single Sign On (SSO) feature, and the user can switch between accounts effortlessly. Learn more about how to use the Accounts SSO here

Teacher Fields 

Header Field Description
First Name Required. The teacher’s first name.
Middle Name The teacher’s middle name.
Last Name Required. The teacher’s last name.
E-mail Address Required. The teacher’s email address. This must be a unique and valid email address for each teacher.

Common Teacher Error Messages

Some error messages you might run into are:

  • First name can't be blank: This error appears when the first name field is missing. Fill in the first name and re-upload the file.
  • Last name can't be blank: This error appears when the last name field is missing. Fill in the last name and re-upload the file. If last name is not used in your country, you can use another symbol in its place (e.g. comma, period, underscore).
  • Email can't be blank: This error appears if the email field is blank. Add the user's email and re-upload the file.
  • Email has already been taken / Email belongs to [Name]: This error appears when an account with the same email address already exists. Specify another email address and re-upload the file.
  • Email is missing or invalid: This error appears if the email field is blank or if the email entered doesn't follow the format teacher@schoolemail.com. Correct the email address and re-upload the file.

 

Sending Welcome Emails

Before importing users, confirm if you wish to send welcome emails now or later. We recommend waiting until the rest of the account is set up (e.g. students & teachers are in classes) before sending welcome emails.

The welcome email is sent to the user's email address and includes a link to set their ManageBac+ password and access their ManageBac+ account. The password link is valid for 30 days, so make sure the user already has access to their inbox before sending it.

See our tutorials below for further guidance on:

 

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