Welcome to Backpack for administrators!

Thank you for choosing Padlet Backpack. This will be the go-to resource for all of your admin needs.

Prefer a short version? Check out this abridged quick start guide.

To get started with your Padlet Backpack subscription, you need two things. First, you need to request a quote. Second, you need to create a Backpack trial.

The free 30-day trial is fully functional, so you can set up the account while we process any paperwork.

Sign up for Backpack

To create your Backpack trial, visit this link and fill out the form. You need to indicate your institution name, which will appear on your dashboard. You also need to choose your unique Backpack domain, like hogwarts.padlet.org, which is where your users will access their premium accounts. 

Backpack accounts are completely separate from regular Padlet. You might compare Backpack to a sandbox or a silo. This separation makes your instance of Padlet more secure and private.  

With Backpack, your teachers and students will access Padlet by using your unique Backpack domain. This is unlike using the free version of Padlet, which you access by going to padlet.com. 

So, when you choose your Backpack domain, you are deciding the URL that your school will use to access Padlet. As the owner of the account, you can change your institution name and Backpack domain through the organization settings at any time. Don’t stress too hard about this step!

Once you select your domain, you will receive a welcome email. You will also be prompted to do two more things to get started: copy padlets from a basic account to your Backpack account and add people to collaborate within the organization.

Import padlets and collaborators

If you have an existing free or paid individual account, you can import your content into the Backpack account. 

You can import padlets when you create the account or at any point throughout the year. To import your padlets right away, you will need to sign into your existing account at padlet.com to select the padlets you wish to import. If you want to import padlets later on, just check out these simple steps. 

If you decide to import your padlets, you will be prompted to log in to your basic account by entering your padlet.com credentials. Email addresses don't need to match.

Then you can choose the padlets you'd like to import and click Import. Once you have imported your padlets into your Backpack account, you can cancel your subscription if you are a paying member and receive a prorated refund if applicable.

Once you import your padlets, you will also have the option to import collaborators. 

At this step, you can add anyone with whom you have collaborated using your basic account. You can choose whether to import them as a teacher or a student. You will be able to add more users later, but this is a quick way to get started. 

Manage account settings and permissions

After importing your padlets, you can customize your account settings. The owner and account admin share similar access to these settings. Click the ... in the bottom left corner of your dashboard and go to Settings.

From your Settings, start by clicking Organization info. Here, you can change the following.

1. Change your logo: You can change the logo of your Padlet domain to your school logo. The logo will appear on your login screen and dashboard. To update the logo, click on the existing paper crane and upload your logo file.
2. Enable third-party login: You can enable Google or Microsoft SSO. Once you enable third-party login, you can also enable automatic student account creation if you want to allow students to automatically get an account without you having to add them manually. You can also choose to only allow third-party login.
3. Learning Management Systems: You can integrate Padlet with your school’s Learning Management System (LMS) platform using our LTI connectors. These connectors allow teachers to easily add padlets as assignments to the LMS. An account is automatically created for students if they do not have one when they access the assignment from the LMS. Check out the instructions below for your LMS. LMS connectors are provided as a paid add-on so if your subscription does not include it, reach out to us.

Once you have customized your organization's information, click on Permissions.

From here, you can customize the permissions of the teachers and students in your account. You can decide if students are able to make padlets, choose if teachers are able to add new users, set the default privacy setting for new padlets, and customize the available privacy settings for teachers and students. Learn more about Backpack permissions.

Add users to the account

Now that you have adjusted your account settings, you can add users to the account! In order for your users to have access to your Backpack account, you will either need to invite them through the user management dashboard or by enabling automatic account creation through single-sign on (SSO).

When you add a user to the account, you create a totally new account for that person that only exists in your Backpack account. If you invite someone who has an existing free or paid account, this means they will now have two accounts! They will not lose any existing content, and they will be able to import their padlets into the Backpack account.

To navigate to the user management dashboard, click the three dots in the lower-left corner of your dashboard and then click Manage People.

There are a few ways you can add users. The first is to add individual users. This can be a quick way to get started, and it is certainly helpful for inviting new users throughout the year.

You can also invite multiple users at once using a CSV file. To do this, you will need a list of your users’ names and emails. We can create your usernames and passwords for you! For full instructions, please see this article.

Sending out an invite link is the most convenient way to get people to join your organization. You can share invite links by performing these steps:

1. Select (...) > Manage People
2. Click Add New User
3. Select Invite Links
4. Click the COPY button next to the designated role for the recipient.

Recipients will be prompted to sign up and their roles are automatically assigned based on the link they access.

Invite links don't expire, but account owners have the option to disable invite link sharing and reset the URLs to control registration.

Finally, you can enable automatic account creation through SSO. This will allow unregistered users to have an account created automatically for them by clicking the Log in with Google/Microsoft button on the login page. If you want to enable SSO for your account, check out this article.

When you add a user to your account, they will receive a welcome email with your Backpack domain. Users should open the invitation email and navigate to the Backpack domain you have chosen. When they log in, they will have access to their premium Padlet account!

Logging into your Backpack account

Logging into your Backpack account is a little different than logging into Padlet.com We recommend that you navigate directly to your Backpack domain ending in padlet.org (like hogwarts.padlet.org). That way, you will avoid accidentally logging into your basic account at padlet.com. 

You can also access your account by navigating to padlet.com and clicking "Backpack user? Log in Here." Then you can input your Backpack domain and log in.

For more information on how to access Padlet via your mobile app, please see this article.

Switch accounts

Users can toggle between their personal accounts and Backpack accounts seamlessly. From the bottom of their dashboard, users will be able to select their personal account or their school account. 

As mentioned above, Backpack is a sandbox, so if any of your teachers had existing accounts at padlet.com before you started your Backpack account, their existing accounts will continue to exist. Any padlets that they create inside the Backpack account will not appear inside their basic account and vice versa. 

Most users find having two separate accounts useful. They can use their free account to interact with padlets hosted at padlet.com while using their sponsored Backpack account to create padlets for the classroom. However, if your users wish to delete their free accounts, they can do so without impacting their new Backpack accounts. They just need to follow these steps.

Sharing your padlets

Sharing your padlets is super simple. There are three main ways to share your padlets. The first is to invite users by email to join your padlet. This can be helpful if you have any co-teacher or collaborators who need to have the same level of access as you do. Note that you will only be able to invite users who are subscribors of your Backpack account.

You can also share the URL or QR code of your padlet. This is the quickest way to share a padlet—just make sure to set the privacy and permissions of your padlet to the correct settings!

Finally, you can embed your padlet using an embed code or LMS integration. If you are using an LMS integration, make sure you have followed the setup instructions linked above. 

Apps

You can access Padlet via your web browser and mobile device. For a full list of supported browsers and mobile devices, please check out this article.

FAQs