View password file

Although it's called a "password file", teachers cannot see a student's password. (You can reset a student's password, however - see section Reset a person's password.) The second configuration item basically answers the question "Who's in my class?"

Here's a portion of a typical password file:

The "Username", along with a secret password, is what a user types to enter Manhattan.

The "Name" column lists the person's real name, which can be modified using another choice on the Configuration menu (see Change a person's name). If a person has set up a "personal info page" (see View/Edit Personal Info), their name will be a hyperlink to that information.

A person's "Type" can be either "student" or "faculty".

The "Alias" column lists how each person will be known in one particular Manhattan module, the Anonymous Discussion module, which is covered in About the Anonymous Discussion module. Usually a person's alias is left set to "anonymous". It is possible to change this to any string characters, for example if the teacher wants to be known by her real name within the Anonymous Discussion module.

Manhattan allows the teacher to divide a class into teams for the purpose of collaborating on projects. There are 26 possible teams, identified by the letters A through Z. The "Team" column lists a person' s current team. When the server administrator first sets up a Manhattan classroom, all students are in team A, and the teacher is placed in team Z. A command on the Configuration menu allows you to change a person's team - see Assign teams.

The Team Discussion modules are discussed in The Team Discussion and Team/Teacher Discussion Modules.

Each user must have an identification number, as listed in the "Id" column. A person's id number is assigned by your server administrator, who usually takes it from your school's information system.