Creating and adding new users

There are multiple ways to onboard new users to ThingLink:

• Share invite codes for use during or after registration
• Send an email invitation
• Import accounts from a CSV file
• Manually create accounts in advance
• Use Microsoft SSO with Azure Active Directory integration
• Use Google SSO with Google Workspace integration
• Allow users to sign in from tour LMS using the LTI app

Please note that some methods are not available on all plans. You can learn more about each method below.

If you are new to ThingLink, using invite codes or importing accounts from a CSV file might be the best option. For onboard many users, consider enabling one of the single-sign-on options (SSO).

Tip: you can save the gifs from the article and share them with your colleagues or students.

Invite codes

• New users can enter the invite code during the registration
• Users who already have a free account can join you via the code using the 'Use invite code':

There are two types of invite codes:

• Each organization has its invite code that can be found by going to Organization > Settings > Invitation options. Note that you must be an admin to access this page.
• Each group within the organization has its code, too. These codes can be used for joining both the organization and the group. We recommend using group invite codes instead of the organization invite code.

Note that groups aren't available on Marketing & Editorial accounts.

Email Invitations

You can send an email invitation containing a special link:

• If a user already has a ThingLink account, they'll join your organization.
• If a user does not have an account yet, they'll be asked to create one. They'll automatically join your organization and receive an email with their password.

To send an invitation, go to the Organization page > Users tab, click the 'Add users' button and enter the email address:

Once the invitation has been sent, you'll see it in the Pending Invites.

If you are a teacher, please note that many schools & districts prohibit students from receiving external emails. We recommend either distributing the invite codes or pre-creating the account using the methods below.

You can also invite a user to a group by using the 'Add users' button directly from the group page.

Importing accounts from a CSV file

This method allows you to upload a simple CSV file with email addresses, passwords, and usernames for each user.

1. Download the template here.
2. Enter an email address, password, and username for each user. Passwords must be at least 10 characters long and must contain both letters and numbers.
3. Go to the Organization page, open the Users tab, click the 'Add users' button and select the 'Import from CSV' tab:
   
4. Upload the CSV file and wait for it to process. Your browser will automatically download a new file called 'userlist.csv' containing the login information and any errors that could have occurred.
5. Share the login information and ask the users to sign in at thinglink.com/login.

Note that there must be no accounts associated with email addresses you enter in the CSV file. If a user already has a ThingLink account, ask them to join you using an invite code instead.

Note that if you have a teacher/school account, this method will create student accounts. If you need to register other teachers, please ask them to sign up and use an invite code or use one of the SSO integrations described below.

Manually create accounts in advance

Manual creation allows you to pre-create accounts without using real email addresses. 

1. Go to the Organization page, open the Users tab, click 'Add users' and select the 'Manual creation' tab.
2. Enter the usernames for each user, one user per line. Click the 'Create accounts' button:
3. The system will generate the login information and create the accounts. Once the accounts have been created, your browser will download a CSV file containing fake email addresses (logins), passwords and usernames for each user.
4. Share the login information and ask the users to sign in at thinglink.com/login. 

If you are a teacher, you can use this method to avoid using students' real email addresses.

Enabling Microsoft SSO with Azure AD integration

• If your organization uses Azure Active Directory (AD), you have the option to configure an Azure integration to ensure that any new user signing into ThingLink with their Microsoft account will automatically join your ThingLink organization.
• If you have a school account, we will also attempt to determine the user's account type based on data from AD, allowing them to skip the registration process.

You can learn more about the Azure AD integration here.

Enabling Google SSO with Google Workspace integration

If your organization uses Google Workspace, you can enable our Google Workspace integration that will ensure that any new user from your domain will automatically join your ThingLink account as long as they sign in with their Google account.

You can learn more about the Google Workspace integration here.

Using an LTI 1.3 or 1.1 app

If you've purchased a School or eLearning license, you can connect ThingLink to your LMS using an LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) app. This will allow your teachers and students to log in to ThingLink or create an account by clicking the ThingLink app button in your LMS.

The LTI 1.3 app also allows your students to more easily embed ThingLink content to your LMS. Certain LMSes also support grade sync for scenarios.

If your LMS does not support LTI 1.3, you can set up an LTI 1.1 app instead.