ID numbers, usernames and passwords

A Manhattan user (i.e a student or a teacher) is uniquely identified by TWO data items: an identification number (or "ID number") and a username.

Most schools have information systems that already identify students by some form of ID number. It's easiest to use that same number for their Manhattan accounts. Within Manhattan, ID numbers must meet the following conditions:

• They must be between 4 and 15 characters long.

• They must contain at least one digit 0-9.

• They must be unique. No two people can have the same ID number.

Teachers must also have an ID number that meets the same conditions as above. If your school doesn't already assign ID numbers to teachers, you can make them up. If you do make need to invent teacher IDs, a suggestion is to include a particular letter, say a 'T', in a teacher's ID number to make it easy to identify teachers.

Students and teachers login to Manhattan by entering their username and a password into a web form. Manhattan automatically derives a person's username by the following recipe:

1. take the first letter of the first name

2. add the first letter of the last name

3. add the LAST FOUR CHARACTERS of the persons ID number

4. convert the entire username to lowercase letters

Examples:

       Julie Jenkins has the student ID: D838993
        Her username is: jj8993

        Albert Einstein has the teacher ID: 839003
        His username is: ae9003

A configuration item named LAST_N_DIGITS_OF_ID in the custom.h file can be modified at compile time to use fewer or more than 4 characters from the ID number when Manhattan derives a username. If you choose to change this value, you should do so before you start adding users to your server, so the usernames are consistent.

If you use the XML-based method for creating classrooms, described in The Alternative XML format, it is possible to use whatever username is stored within your student information system within Manhattan.

Just one more note. If you know the C programming language, you can also modify the functions derive_username() and derive_another_username() in src/manhat-lib/shared_authenticate.c These two functions determine how a person's username is derived, and how another username is derived when the usual username is already taken.

For most ID numbering systems, it is unlikely for there to be two users with the same initials and the same last four digits of their ID. However, conflicts can happen. Conflicts are resolved by taking additional letters from the last name.

Example:

       Johnny Jones has the student ID: D788993

        Manhattan detects that Julie Jenkins already has the username jj8993, so
        it takes an additional letter from Johnny's last name.

        Johnny's username becomes jjo8893

A person's password is initially the same as their username. The first time they login, they'll be forced to select another password before they can continue to their course work.