Overview of Functions

The Account Toolbox provides tools to create, organize, and request services for accounts that are being used by a school or institution.  The tools perform functions on accounts or on groups of accounts, as described below.
 

Account Functions

Create Accounts   Use this function to create a batch of similiar accounts

Remove Accounts   Use this function to remove accounts from an administrative area

Import Account   Use this function to add an existing account to an administrative area
 

Group Functions

Create Group   Use this function to name a group of accounts

Modify Group   Use this function to reassign (add / remove) members in an existing group

Remove Group   Use this function to remove a group name (but not the accounts in the group)

Set Master Password   Use this function to set a secondary password for all accounts in a group.
 

Account & Group Function

Request Services   Use this function to request newSLATE subscription features for an account or a group of accounts.

Create Accounts When to use: Use the "Create Accounts" function when you need to create accounts for use at your school or institution.  Creating multiple accounts through the Account Toolbox can save set-up time for a class during a session in the computer lab.  Accounts created through "Create Accounts" are included in your administrative area, and will be listed on the left side of the Account Toolbox screen.  You can then extend or add subscription features to these accounts, with your school or institution being invoiced for the cost.  Accounts created through "Create Accounts" are set up as free accounts which will remain in the system for four months. To request subscription features for an account, see Request Services. How to use: After you log in to the Account Toolbox, click on the "Create Accounts" button.  Complete the three sections of the "Create Accounts" form: In the text area, enter the usernames for the accounts to be created, one per line. Choose the account type (regular or youth). Choose how you want passwords to be generated (random or pre-set). Click "Submit" to create the accounts.  You will see a report screen listing the names and passwords of the accounts just created.  (However, if there were problems, such as an account name not being available, you will instead see a feedback screen providing guidance.)  If there were no problems, you will receive an email containing the same report of account names and passwords.  We recommend that you keep this email for your records.  The names of the newly created accounts will be listed on the left side of the Account Toolbox screen, in alphabetical order.

Remove Accounts When to use: Use the "Remove Accounts" function to remove accounts from your administrative area.  Removing an account from your administrative area removes the name of that account from the list of accounts shown on the left side of the Account Toolbox screen.  However, it does not remove the account from the newSLATE system.  Accounts remain in the newSLATE system until their expiration dates.  For example, a student may not be taking a class that uses newSLATE this semester, and so you may wish to remove that account name from your administrative area.  To restore an account to an administrative area, see Import Account. How to use: After you log in to the Account Toolbox, click on the "Remove Accounts" button.  Check the checkbox for each username to be removed from your administrative area. Click "Submit" to remove.  The names of removed accounts will be no longer be listed on the left side of the Account Toolbox screen.

Import Account When to use: Use the "Import Account" function to bring an existing newSLATE account into your administrative area.  For example, a new teacher at your school may already have a newSLATE account, and so you may wish to import that account name into your administrative area.  To import an account, the account password must be provided.  A user who decides to allow their account to be imported into your administrative area should be made aware that they are granting you the authority to change or otherwise affect various features of their account. How to use: After you log in to the Account Toolbox, click on the "Import Account" button.  Type in the username and password for the account to be imported.  You may wish to ask the account owner to type in this information themselves.  Click "Submit" to import the account.  The username of the imported account account will now be listed on the left side of the Account Toolbox screen.

Create Group When to use: Use the "Create Group" function when you need a convenient way to refer to a group of accounts for which you want to request the same subscription features, or for which you need to set a master password.  For example, you may wish to group all student accounts, or all teacher accounts, or all student accounts for a particular class.  How to use: After you log in to the Account Toolbox, click on the "Create Group" button.  Complete the two sections of the "Create Group" form: In the text field, enter the name for the group to be created. Check the checkbox for each username to be included in the new group.  You can create a group with no members.  Submit the group name only, and later use the Modify Group function to select members. Click "Submit" to create the group with the specified members.  The name of the newly created group will be listed on the left side of the Account Toolbox screen, above the list of account usernames in your administrative area.  You can extend or add subscription features to this entire group of accounts in a single request, with your school or institution being invoiced for the cost.  To request subscription features for this group of accounts, see Request Services.

Modify Group When to use: Use the "Modify Group" function to add or remove accounts from an existing group.  For example, you may wish to add or remove a student account from a group because the class roster has changed.  Note that adding or removing an account from a group does not change the subscription services for that account.  To request subscription features for an account, see Request Services.  If you need to remove subscription features from an account, please write to How to use: After you log in to the Account Toolbox, click on the "Modify Group" button.  Complete the two steps of the "Modify Group" form: Use the drop-down selection menu to select the group to be modified. Ensure that the checkbox for each username to now be included in the group is checked.  When a group is selected from the drop-down menu, the current members of the group are identified by a green dot and their checkboxes are checked.  To remove a user from the group, uncheck the checkbox; to add a user to the group, check the checkbox. Click "Submit" to modify the group's members.

Remove Group When to use: Use the "Remove Group" function to remove a group from your administrative area.  Note that removing a group removes the name of the group from the list of groups shown on the left side of the Account Toolbox screen, but does not remove any of the accounts from your administrative area.  For example, you may have created a group with the name of a class that is not being offered during the current term, and may no longer wish to have a group with that name.  How to use: After you log in to the Account Toolbox, click on the "Remove Group" button.  Use the drop-down selection menu to select the group to be removed.  The current members of the selected group will be displayed in a text area immediately below the drop-down menu.  Click "Submit" to remove the group with the specified members.  The name of the newly created group will be listed on the left side of the Account Toolbox screen, above the list of account usernames in your administrative area.

Set Master Password When to use: Use the "Set Master Password" function when you want to be sure that all users in a particular group will have a working password during a limited time period (up to 1 hour from the time the master password is enabled).  For example, an instructor may have scheduled a session in the computer lab during which students will be expected to use specific subscription features of their newSLATE accounts.  For the period of that class, the instructor wants to be certain that all students will be able to log in and complete their assignments, even if some students may have forgotten their passwords.  Use this privilege with care, as it does present an opportunity for any user in the group to log in to other group members' accounts for the duration of the master password.  Providing this function to an administrator is not intended to make the administrator responsible for dealing with lost passwords.  Generally, problems with lost passwords will be handled by the newSLATE system administrators at Users should be urged to remember and use their own passwords.  When a master password is provided to an account holder, the account holder should also be instructed to use the [edit profile] function of their newSLATE account to change the password to something secure that they can remember, and to write their password down in a safe place for future use.  IMPORTANT: Using the master password to log in to an account changes the password for that account to be the same as the master password. How to use: After you log in to the Account Toolbox, click on the "Set Master Password" button.  Complete the three steps of the "Set Master Password" form: Use the first drop-down selection menu to select the group of accounts for which a master password is to be set. Type the master password you wish to use. Use the last drop-down selection menu to set the number of minutes for which the master password will be enabled. Click "Submit" to set the group's master password.

Request Services When to use: Use the "Request Services" function when you want to enable newSLATE subscription features for an account or group of accounts in your administrative area.  To determine what services an account currently has enabled, ask the account owner to log in to that account and select [manage account] from the newSLATE home screen.  The subscription information is displayed there.  If you need to remove subscription features from an account, please write to How to use: After you log in to the Account Toolbox, click on the name of any account or group of accounts listed on the left side of the Account Toolbox page.  The "Request Services" form for that account or group of accounts will display.  Note that every paid account automatically receives a free four month extension after the period of the paid subscription expires. Select one of the seven options: Keep account in system for four (4) more months Use this to ensure that free accounts remain in the system for later use, e.g. during summer vacation. Add Student Subscription (2 months) Enable Student subscription services for a summer term or quarter. Add Student Subscription (4 months) Enable Student subscription services for a semester. Add Student Subscription (10 months) Enable Student subscription services for a school year. Add Access Subscription (1 year) Enable Access subscription services for one year. Add Standard Subscription (1 year) Enable Standard subscription services for one year. Add Individual Subscription (1 year) Enable Individual subscription services for one year. Click "Submit" to request services.  Your school or institution will be invoiced for the cost.

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newSLATE technology is patented.