To create a Parent Portal login, open the family's household in Campus from Administrator > Households, click the Login Contact 1 tab (or Login Contact 2 for the second parent), and click Create User. In the Manage Users - New User window, confirm the Username and Email, leave Approved checked, choose Use Default Password or type a password, and click Save. Admissions staff can do the same from Admissions > Households. The parent can use the portal once their household is linked as a Parent household to a student who is Enrolled for the current school year; Campus then gives them the Parent role automatically. Creating the login does not email the parent, so finish by sending your school's standard Parent Portal welcome email, or give the parent your school's Parent Portal link and their username and have them set their own password with Reset Password.
A parent login is a User: a username and password tied to one contact in a household. Each parent or guardian gets their own login, so Contact 1 and Contact 2 of the same household each need a separate user.
Before you start
- Roles. The Login Contact 1 and Login Contact 2 tabs are available to Admin Full and Registrar Full (under Administrator > Households) and to Admissions Full (under Admissions > Households). Read-only roles cannot create logins.
- Security Full for higher-access users. If a login on the household already holds assigned roles (for example a staff member who is also a parent), only a user with the Security Full role can change it. Other staff see "Access Denied."
- The household must be set up first. Create the household and fill in the parent on the Contact 1 or Contact 2 tab, including an email address under Emails. See Creating Household.
- The household must be linked to an Enrolled student. The Parent role is calculated, not assigned: a user gets it when their household is attached to a student with the relationship Parent and that student is Enrolled for the current school year. Families who are still applying get the Applicant role instead. See the Calculated Roles table in User.
- Already applied online? Parents who inquired or applied through your school's online forms may already have a login. Check the Login Contact tab before creating another one.
Create the login (school staff)
- Navigate to Administrator > Households and open the family's household. (Admissions staff: Admissions > Households.)
- In the household details, click Login Contact 1 for the first parent or Login Contact 2 for the second parent.
- If the page shows No user exists., click Create User. If a user is listed instead, the parent already has a login. See Manage an existing login below.
- In the Manage Users - New User window, review the pre-filled fields:
- Username: Campus suggests a default username. It is the parent's email address; if there is no email, it is first name (dot) last name; if neither exists, it is based on the household ID. A number is added if the username is already taken. See Default Username. You can change it. Do not use commas or spaces.
- Email: filled from the parent's first email on the Contact tab. This address must be valid and must not be used by any other user, because it is where password reset emails are sent.
- Full Name: the parent's name, for your reference (for example "Avery Sample").
- User Alt Id: optional, filled from the parent's Alternate Id.
- Approved: checked by default. Leave it checked; an unapproved user cannot log in.
- Choose the password:
- Use Default Password (selected by default): the window shows the default password Campus calculated for this parent.
- Or select the second option and type a Password and Confirm Password. Use at least 6 characters.
- Click Save. The window closes and the new user is listed on the Login Contact tab.
- Repeat on Login Contact 2 if the second parent also needs access.
Send the parent their welcome email
Creating the user does not send the parent anything. Your school's standard Parent Portal welcome email is sent from Campus by a user with the Security Full role:
- Go to Security > Parents.
- Find the parent and tick their row. You can tick several parents to send the email to all of them at once.
- In the Select Multi Action... list, choose Email.
- Under Template, choose your school's welcome template (Template Group narrows the list).
- Review the subject and message. The template can include the parent's username and default password, inserted with Add Fields.
- Click Preview or Test to check the result, then click Send.
The default password field contains the password Campus calculated for that parent. It is only correct if you chose Use Default Password when creating the login and the parent has not changed it since. Ask the parent to choose their own password with Reset Password after their first sign-in.
If you do not have Security Full, ask a colleague who does, or send the parent your school's Parent Portal link (the login page on your school's website) and their Username yourself, and ask them to set their password with Reset Password.
What the parent does: sign in
- Open the Parent Portal link from the school.
- Under Log In, enter the Username and Password.
- Click Log In.
What the parent does: reset a forgotten password
- On the school's Parent Portal, go to Reset Password.
- Enter your Username or the Email address on your account, and click Submit.
- The page shows "Please check your email to reset password." Open the email and click the link. The link expires after 4 hours.
- Under Change Your Password, enter a New Password (6 or more characters) and Confirm Password, then click Change Password.
- Sign in with the new password.
Resetting the password also unlocks an account that was locked after too many failed attempts.
Manage an existing login (school staff)
Open Login Contact 1 or Login Contact 2 on the household. For each user listed you can:
- update Username, Email, Full Name, User Alt Id, and Approved, then click Save;
- click Unlock when the page shows User Is Locked;
- under Manage User - Reset Password, choose Use Default Password or type a new Password and Confirm Password (at least 6 characters), and click Change Password.
Troubleshooting and FAQ
There is no Create User button on the Login Contact tab. Either a user already exists for that contact (it is listed on the page), or your user lacks the role. You need Admin Full, Registrar Full, or Admissions Full.
Saving shows "Email is invalid." or "Email is already in use." Add a valid email address on the parent's Contact tab, or type one in the Email field. Each user needs a unique email; if another user already has it, find that user (Security > Parents) and decide which login the parent should keep.
Saving shows "Username is already in use." Another user has that username. Change it, for example by adding a number.
The parent signs in but is sent back to the login page. Their username and password are correct but they lack access to the page. The most common cause is that their household is not linked as a Parent household to a student who is Enrolled for the current school year, so they do not have the Parent role. Check the student's Households tab. A household marked Grandparent there does not receive the Parent role automatically. A family enrolled only for next year receives a separate next-year role (Parent NY) rather than Parent. See Unable to Login - CMS Website.
The parent sees "Your login attempt was not successful." The username or password is wrong, or the account is locked. Check the username and make sure Caps Lock is off, then have the parent use Reset Password. See Unable to Login.
The parent is sure the password is right but still cannot sign in. The account may be locked after several failed password attempts, and while it is locked even the correct password shows "Your login attempt was not successful." The lock clears automatically after a waiting period. The parent can also use Reset Password, or you can click Unlock on the Login Contact tab.
Reset Password says "Email was not found." or "There is no email address associated with your account..." The email the parent typed is not on their user, or the user has no valid email. Update the Email on the Login Contact tab, then have the parent try again.
There is a message that some logins "do not have any indicators." A login on this household is not tied to Contact 1 or Contact 2. A user with Security Full should fix the Household Indicator in Security. See User Profile.
Can I create logins for many parents at once? Yes. An enrollment profile with Create Parent Logins turned on creates parent logins when inquiries are enrolled (see Enrolling Inquiries), or you can import users (see Importing New Records - Users).
How do I take away a parent's access without deleting the login? Uncheck Approved on the Login Contact tab and click Save. The change applies at their next login.