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Creating Anonymous Student Accounts

If your school does not allow any personal data to be stored on our platform, you can support students in creating anonymized accounts.

Sara Jenis avatar
Written by Sara Jenis
Updated over a week ago
Banner: This is a Free Feature

Method #1 (Preferred): Students Sign Up with an Automatically Generated Nickname

Teachers have the option to enhance privacy in their classroom settings by enabling a feature that allows students to join a section using a nickname. This nickname is automatically generated, anonymous, and not tied to any personal data.

💡 This feature is currently in Beta. If you'd like to gain access to the feature, please contact support@codehs.com!

Step 1: Navigate to your Section Settings

Image pointing to the "Edit Section" button from the dropdown menu when clicking on the 3 dots to the right of a section on the sections page.

Step 2: Toggle on the "Anonymous Login" setting

Under the Basic Settings section, you'll find the Anonymous Login toggle. Go ahead and toggle that on to enable anonymous nicknames for your students.

Image of the Section's settings with an arrow pointing out the "Anonymous Login" toggle.

💡 If you do not see this option, please contact support@codehs.com to be added to the Beta group.

Now, when students attempt to join your Section, they'll be redirected to the sign-up form with a pre-populated anonymous username:

Image of the sign up form students see after joining a section with "Use Nicknames" enabled. They'll see a random username populated for them.

Method #2: Students Manually Choose a Nickname

Step 1: Create a Section to use with your students

click on new section in the top nav

Step 2: Invite students to your Section

Invite students by URL or email by going to Roster > Invite.

go to roster then invite to add students to section

Step 3: Have students create accounts using anonymous information

Students can create nicknames on their own, or you can guide them on how you'd like their names to be structured.

Invalid usernames will be randomly generated with a new nickname consisting of a color, an animal, and a randomly generated 4-digit number. (Ex. BlueRabbit0845)

Fully valid usernames consist of:

  1. At least 8 characters, no more than 150 characters

  2. No capital letters

  3. No symbols

  4. Only lowercase letters and numbers allowed

  5. Cannot start with a number

We will never email a student, so email addresses can be random. Students should use their school domain so that we know they are associated with the proper school. They can use a mix of numbers and letters to create their fake email address, or you can share guidance on the structure of their email. For example:

Students should create and track their own passwords.

Screenshot showing the student account creation screen - students can enter non-identifying information when creating their account

Step 4: Gather nicknames from students

The names that students enter will populate on your roster as soon as they create their account. It's important to keep a log of which account belongs to each student so that you can track their work. Have students share their names as they log in.

Roster page showing student names

Still have questions? Contact our team at hello@codehs.com to learn more!

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