Access codes

In this article

• About access codes
• Getting access to the Access codes module
• Customising the access codes overview
• Searching for access codes
• Creating access codes
• Taking an assignment using an access code
• Exporting access codes
• Changing the timing of access codes
• Deleting access codes

About access codes

assessmentQ supports multiple ways of publishing an assignment to your participants, such as: 

• Access codes 
• Schedules on the assessmentQ portal
• Edumail, where questions are delivered in the participant's mailbox every day or every few days
• An LTI or API integration with a third-party LMS, HR-system or CRM

Access codes are typically used in the context of exams:

• An access code is a unique code that provides direct access to a session of a specific participant for a specific assignment.
• Participants do not need to log on to assessmentQ. 
• Participants can use an access code only once to take their assignment.
• In case a review period has been set, participants can use the access code to view their assignment in read-only mode. 

Getting access to the Access codes module

To get access to the Access codes module, your account needs to have the publishing permission Access to access codes. 

In the Access codes module, you will only see the access codes of the assignments you have access to. You can get access to an assignment:

• because you also have the author role:  as an author you have access to all the assignments you created
• or because another author shared the assignment with you
• or because the administrator gave you access to an assignment 

Customising the access codes overview

When you open the Access Code module, you will see your list of access codes in a table.

You can customise the table to display the information that is important to you.

Procedure

Proceed as follows to modify the table view of access codes:

1. Go to Scheduling > Access codes.
   Result: A list of all access codes is displayed. 
2. Click on the table icon in the upper right-hand corner.
   

   Note: If you do not see the table icon, it means that the table is open in multiselection mode. Click the multiselection iconin the top right corner to disable multiselection.

   Result: The Select columns pop-up window opens.
3. Select or deselect the columns of your choice.
4. Click OK.
   Result: The table is adapted to your selection.

Searching for access codes

Proceed as follows to search for access codes:

1. Go to Scheduling > Access codes.
   Result: You see a flat list of all your access codes. At the top of the page you see the search bar. 
   
   

   Note: If you don't see the search bar, click the search icon at the top right.

2. In the search bar:
   • Select an assignment to see all the access codes for this assignment.
   • Enter an access code to see the session details for this code. 
   • Enter one or more users or groups to see all the access codes for these users.
   • Filter by Status to see only started, not started, finished or expired access codes.
   • Filter by Review to see the access codes for which a review period is or is not set.
   • Filter on Timing to see the access codes which are created, modified, available or can be reviewed within a certain period. 

   Note: You can combine one or more of these search options to find exactly the access codes you need. 

Creating access codes

Proceed as follows to create an access code:

1. Go to Scheduling > Access codes.
   Result: You see a flat list of all your access codes.
2. Clicking +Add in the top right corner.
   Result: The Add access codes wizard appears. The wizard will guide you through the process. 
   
3. In the step Assignment, select the assignment for which you want to create access codes and click Next. 
   
   Result: You end up on the Timing step.
   
4. In the Timing step, define from when to when the session is available (mandatory) and can be reviewed. Then click Next.
   
   
   Notes:

   • If you set an availability or review period, the participant can only use the access code between the start and end time you defined.
   • During the review period, the session is opened in read-only mode. 
   • Setting the availability and/or review period is optional. You can always edit the access codes afterward to add or change the availability or review period. 
5. In the step Participants, determine for whom access codes should be created (individual participants or groups) and click Next.
   
   
   Note: If a participant is part of different groups, only one access code is created per participant. 
6. In the step Distribution, select how you want to distribute the access codes to your participants and click Save.
   • You can select either Export to PDF or Export to Excel.
   • If you select Export to PDF, you can optionally define the PDF options and the number of access codes per page. The maximum number of access codes per page is 5. 
     
     
   Notes: Selecting the distribution option is optional. You can always export the access codes afterward to PDF or Excel. 
   Result: The wizard will close and a confirmation message will appear.

Taking an assignment using an access code

After you created and distributed the access codes for an assignment, the participants can start their session by entering the code via the access code page of your assessmentQ environment: https://<subdomain>.assessmentq.com/accesscode.

Result:
The launch page of the assessmentQ player is opened. If the code is valid, the participant can start, resume or review his session. If the code is invalid or has expired, the participant will see an error message. 

Validity checks

If an availability period is set, the code is only valid within the availability period taking into account the following exceptions:

• If the session has already been finished or the assignment has been archived, the code will no longer be valid, except when a review period is set. 
• If the session has been locked, the code will not be valid in the availability or the review period. 

Overview:

Exporting access codes

A scheduler can export a selection of access codes to PDF or Excel so he can easily distribute them to the participants. 

• Export to PDF
  The PDF export by default contains 5 access codes per page. For each access code, the assignment name and the user name are listed.  You can optionally:
  • Add an overview page per assignment with all codes 
  • Add the access code page URL
  • Add the participant e-mail address
  • Change the number of codes per page
    
    
• Export to Excel
  The Excel export by default contains all information that is available for the access codes (user name, user ID, assignment name, assignment ID, availability period, creation date, etc.). 
  

Procedure

Proceed as follows to export a selection of access codes:

1. Go to Scheduling > Access codes.
   Result: You see a flat list of all your access codes.
2. Search and/or filter the access code(s) you want to export.
   Result: The access codes that correspond to your search criteria are listed. 
3. If you want to export the access codes for: 
   • one user, click on the three dots next to the access code of your choice, select Export and then Export to Excel or Export to PDF.
     
     
   • a selection of users, click on the bulk selection icon  in the top right corner, select the access codes of your choice and click on the Export to Excel or Export to PDF icon at the bottom of the page.
     
     
   Result: Your data will be exported to PDF or Excel in the background and can be downloaded in your notification center  when ready.

Changing the timing of access codes

As a scheduler, you can limit the availability of an access code in time. In that case, the participant can use the access code only between the start and end time you defined:

• Within the availability period, the participant can start or resume his session as long as the session has not been finished. 
• Once the session is finished, the code is no longer valid. 

You can also set a review period to allow the participant to view his finished session in read-only mode.

Changing the timing of one access code

Proceed as follows to change the timing of one access code:

1. Go Scheduling > Access codes.
   Result: You see a flat list of all your access codes.
2. Search the access code for which you want to change the timing.
   Result: The access code that corresponds to your search criteria is listed. 
3. Click on the three dots next to the access code and select Edit timing.
   Result: The Edit timing pop-up appears. 
4. In the Edit timing pop-up:
   • if no timings have been set yet for the access code and you want to add start and end dates for the access code's availability and/or review periods, select the option(s) and set the start and end date.  
     
   • if timings have been set for this access code and you want to change the start and end dates for the access code's availability and/or review period, make the necessary changes.
   • if timings have been set for this access code and you want to remove the start and end dates for the access code's availability and/or review period, deselect the option(s).
     
     
5. Click Save. 
   Result: A message is shown confirming that the timings have been updated. The changed timings will be applied when the participant enters the access code. 

Changing the timing for a selection of access codes

Proceed as follows to change the timing for a selection of access codes:

1. Go Scheduling > Access codes.
   Result: You see a flat list of all your access codes.
2. Search and/or filter the access code(s) for which you want to change the timing.
   Result: The access codes that correspond to your search criteria are listed. 
3. Click on the bulk selection icon  in the top right corner, select the access codes of your choice and click on the Edit timing icon at the bottom of the page.
   
   Result: The Edit timing pop-up appears.
4. In the Edit timing pop-up:
   
   • if you want to add or change the availability and/or review period, select the Set or change option(s) and set or change the timings.
   • if you want to remove the availability and/or review period, select the Clear option(s).  
      
5. Click Save. 
   Result: A message is shown confirming that the timings have been updated. The changed timings will be applied when the participant enters the access code.  

Deleting access codes

Proceed as follows to delete access codes:

1. Go to Scheduling > Access codes.
   Result: You see a flat list of all your access codes.
2. Search and / or filter the access code(s) you want to delete.

   Note: It is not possible to delete access codes that are started, finished or expired. Therefore, it is recommended to filter by the status Not started.

   Result: The access codes that correspond to your search criteria are listed. 
3. If you want to delete the access codes for: 
   • one user, click on the three dots next to the access code of your choice and select Delete.
     
     
   • for a selection of users, click on the bulk selection icon  in the top right corner, select the access codes of your choice and click on the Delete icon at the bottom of the page.
     
     
4. Click Yes to confirm. 
   Result: A message is shown confirming that the access codes have been deleted. 

   Note: Access codes that are deleted, cannot be restored. Participants trying to use an access code that has been deleted will see a message that the code is incorrect or has expired.