Configuring how parents login to the system

There are several options you can set in  Settings > Parent Authentication which specify which details a parent needs to enter in order to login.

Does the system check student details, or student & parent details?

An important thing to be aware of is whether parents have been imported or synced from your MIS.

If parents have been imported or synced, then parent details will be checked upon login and therefore need to match those listed as linked to each student.

How to find out if parents are imported or synced

You can find out if parents are imported or synced by going to  Data > Parents and looking to see if any parent has the cloud icon appearing under the Synced column. If so, they have indeed been imported or synced from your MIS data.

Parent Authentication Options

The options available depend on how/if you imported your data to the system.

Authentication Method	Prerequisites	Description
Parent Details	Students are imported/synced to the system.	This is the recommended authentication method. Various details entered when logging in are checked against the parent and student records in the system (see the Data > Parents section). You can choose which two details are used from the parent's title, first name and surname, as well as choosing between the student's date of birth or class. When the parent logs in the details selected must match what is already in the system or the login will fail.  If parents have been imported/synced to the system, the parent details entered during logging in must match against the parents linked to each student on the system or the login will fail. Although always asked for, the parent's email address is not checked against the existing email address as part of the authentication.  If you change the required field from  Child Date of Birth to Child Class you can then edit the "class" field's title to be whatever you like. Useful if you use different terminology for classes (e.g. grades, bands, levels).
Parent Login Code	Both students and parents are imported/synced to the system.	An 8 digit code is created for all parents on the  Data > Parents tab. You can export a list of parents along with their codes using the Export Parents button at the top of the page. The code is displayed on the Parents page as two sets of 4 digits separated by a space. Please note that the space is there purely to make it easier to read the number. It is not required when logging in and is simply disregarded if a parent does enter it. Each parent's code will remain the same for as long as that parent record is in your system. Only if that parent record is deleted and then recreated would a new code be generated.  The code must be distributed to the parents through the school's usual communication channels. Parents must enter the code to log in. This option is advised where you want parents to login using a single, unique identifier. The login screen will look something like this:

Which fields must match?

Whilst there is a parent details option available in the Parent Authentication section, it's not necessarily the case that all fields must match. The fields used as part of the authentication process show in the Fields Authenticated with... section. There are three options available to schools:

• Parent title and last name
• Parent first and last name
• Parent title, first and last name

While the login page shows the same regardless of the selected option, different fields are used to match accounts. We have flexibility here as some schools may not have the data required for some of the settings or, in some cases, may simply have lots of parents with similar names. Both are equally valid reasons for looking to amend this setting.

Login Screen

Depending on how your system has been configured, the parent login screen can look very different:

Selected Authentication Method(s)	Screenshot
Parent details and student date of birth
Parent details and student's class
Parent login code and student date of birth
Parent Login Code and student class