> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.deandesk.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Add users

> Create accounts for instructors and students and get them onboarded.

<Info>
  **School-level feature** — managed within your school portal at `yourschool.deandesk.com`. For managing institution-level staff, see [Institutions & Schools](/getting-started/institutions-and-schools).
</Info>

All users — instructors, students, and admins — are created from the same place in the Admin Dashboard. The process is nearly identical for every role; what differs is which roles you assign and which courses you enroll users in at the time of creation.

## Navigate to User Creation

From the **Admin Dashboard**, click **User Creation**. You will see sections for creating instructors and students.

## Understanding roles

Every DeanDesk account has one or more roles that control what the user can see and do.

| Role                | What it means                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Member**          | The base role. Grants access to the platform and the member portal. Assign this to every user.                                                                                                                                                                           |
| **Student**         | Extends Member with access to enrolled courses, assignments, and billing history.                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| **Teacher**         | Extends Member with access to course management tools, gradebook, attendance, and the ability to post announcements.                                                                                                                                                     |
| **Admin**           | Full platform access, including the Admin Dashboard, user creation, billing configuration, and all settings.                                                                                                                                                             |
| **Accepted Parent** | Assigned to adults approved through admissions at schools where parents enroll children and adult enrollment is off. Grants student-equivalent access to gated content without labeling the adult a student. See [Admissions](/sis/admissions#the-accepted-parent-role). |

<Note>
  Most users need two roles: **Member** plus one of Student, Teacher, or Admin. A user without the Member role cannot log in to the platform.
</Note>

## Create instructor accounts

<Steps>
  <Step title="Go to the instructor section">
    In User Creation, locate the instructor creation form.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter instructor details">
    Fill in the instructor's first name, last name, and email address.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign roles">
    Select **Teacher** and **Member**. If the instructor also manages the platform, add **Admin** as well.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Customize the welcome email (optional)">
    Edit the welcome email message. Use `{{firstName}}` anywhere in the body to automatically insert each recipient's first name.

    ```
    Hi {{firstName}}, welcome to the platform! Click below to activate your account.
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send">
    Click **Send**. Each instructor receives a welcome email with an activation link to set their password.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Consider creating a **Teacher Onboarding** course in your platform and enrolling new instructors in it on creation. This gives them a guided walkthrough of DeanDesk from the teacher's perspective before they meet their students.
</Tip>

## Create student accounts

<Steps>
  <Step title="Go to the student section">
    In User Creation, locate the student creation form.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter student details">
    Fill in the student's first name, last name, and email address.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign roles">
    Select **Student** and **Member**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign courses (optional)">
    Enroll the student in one or more courses directly from this screen. Students will have immediate access to those courses after activating their account.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Customize the welcome email (optional)">
    Personalize the welcome message with `{{firstName}}` to make it feel less generic.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send">
    Click **Send**. The student receives a welcome email with their activation link.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Bulk creation via CSV upload

To create many users at once, use the CSV upload option available in User Creation.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Download the CSV template">
    Click **Download Template** to get a spreadsheet with the correct column headers.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fill in the template">
    Add one row per user. Required columns include first name, last name, and email address.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Upload the file">
    Click **Upload CSV**, select your file, and confirm. DeanDesk will create all accounts and send welcome emails automatically.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  Make sure every email address in your CSV is unique and valid. Duplicate or malformed addresses will cause those rows to be skipped. Review any errors DeanDesk flags before re-uploading.
</Warning>

### Separate child and parent welcome emails

When you bulk-create children alongside their parents, you can configure two distinct welcome email templates — one for the parent and one for the child. Each template supports its own subject and body, with placeholders like `{{firstName}}`, `{{childNames}}`, and `{{resetUrl}}`.

#### Parent email status check

Before sending parent welcome emails, DeanDesk can check whether each parent already has an account. The bulk import flow surfaces this **parent email status** so you can avoid sending activation emails to parents who already have an account.

#### Child-to-parent email redirection

Children often don't have their own email address. When a child record has no email or a parent-only email, DeanDesk redirects the welcome email to the linked parent — with a `[For ChildName]` subject prefix so the parent knows it's for their child.

## Admin User Spreadsheet

For high-volume edits, the **Admin User Spreadsheet** provides a familiar grid-style editor for users.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the spreadsheet">
    Go to **Admin Dashboard → User Management → Spreadsheet** (or the equivalent entry in your nav).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Edit cells inline">
    Edit profile fields, roles, and metadata directly in the grid. Changed cells are highlighted.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Submit. Only changed rows are sent to the server.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Course Distribution canvas

To enroll many students into many courses at once, use the **Course Distribution** canvas — a drag-and-drop workspace for bulk enrollments.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Course Distribution">
    Go to **Admin Dashboard → User Management → Course Distribution**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick courses">
    Select the set of courses you want to distribute students into. Each course becomes a "bucket" on the canvas.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick students">
    Select the pool of students you want to assign. Students appear as draggable tiles.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Drag to enroll">
    Drag students into course buckets to enroll them, and drag them out to unenroll. Use zoom, fullscreen, and search to navigate large rosters.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Apply your changes. DeanDesk processes the enrollment/unenrollment changes in bulk.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Course Distribution is much faster than opening each course or each student profile to manage enrollments individually — ideal for the start of a term.
</Tip>

## Resend activation emails

If a user did not receive their welcome email or the activation link expired, you can resend it.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Find the user">
    Go to **Admin Dashboard → Role Management** (or the user list) and search for the user by name or email.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Resend the activation email">
    Click the user's name to open their profile, then click **Resend Activation Email**. DeanDesk sends a fresh email with a new activation link.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Activation links expire after a set period. If a new instructor or student says their link is not working, resending the activation email will resolve the issue.
</Tip>

## Manage and change roles

To check or update a user's roles after their account is created, go to **Admin Dashboard → Role Management**. Search for the user, then add or remove roles as needed. Changes take effect immediately — the user does not need to log out and back in.

<Tip>
  To find existing users, User Management offers a filterable search grid (by role, type, status, grade, roster, course, and product purchase) with CSV export. See [Student records](/sis/student-records#search-for-a-student).
</Tip>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Create courses" icon="chalkboard-teacher" href="/setup/courses">
    Build courses and assign them to your instructors.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Configure payments" icon="credit-card" href="/setup/payments">
    Set up Stripe and create billing plans for your students.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>