📋 Manual Account Creation & SIS Sync Considerations: Manual account creation and profile updates apply to schools using manual roster imports or those needing to manually manage specific roles (such as staff, community members, or volunteers) rather than pulling them from an automated sync. If your school uses an automated Student Information System (SIS) sync, manual edits can be overwritten during nightly sync runs. For large populations or automated rosters, we strongly recommend bulk uploading accounts using an XLSX spreadsheet rather than individual record creation, or utilizing Sync Protection to safeguard manual entries.
Just need to update grades? Use Bulk update student grades for the simpler grade-only workflow. This article covers the broader pattern: identities, account types, app access, and roles.
The Create / Edit Accounts workflow lets you make account-level changes — identity, account type, app access, role — across multiple people in one save. Use it when you need to:
Promote a group of students to Staff identity at the end of the year
Switch a batch of community accounts to Parent / Family identity after SIS sync establishes the relationship
Grant App Access to a group of new staff members
Change account types across a cohort (e.g., from Standard to Administrator for a new leadership team)
Combine all of the above with invitation settings (send now, schedule later, set passwords, or no invite)
When to use this vs other bulk actions
If you need to… | Use… |
Change grade values only | Update Grades (single-modal, uniform value) |
Send password resets or new-user invitations | |
Change identity, account type, app access, or role | Create / Edit Accounts (this article) |
Create new accounts for people who don't have one yet | Creating New Accounts (which also uses this page) |
Before you start
You need Manage People access. If you can see the Create / Edit Accounts button in the bulk-action bar after selecting rows, you have it.
People without an email or phone on file can't receive invitations or password resets. The Create / Edit Accounts page shows a warning banner for those rows — you can still edit other fields, but invitations are blocked until contact info is added.
Changes commit when you click Edit Accounts at the bottom of the page. There's no preview screen between save and commit.
Step-by-step
Step 1. Go to People → Manage People.
Step 2. Filter and select the people you want to update. Use the identity chips, Advanced Filters (including Grade, Identity, Reachability, App Status, User Source), or the header checkbox to select everyone visible on the page.
Watch the N Selected counter above the table — that's how many rows will appear on the Create / Edit Accounts page.
Step 3. In the bulk-action bar, click Create / Edit Accounts.
Step 4. The Create / Edit Accounts page opens at People → Manage People → Create / Edit Accounts. You'll see a settings panel at the top and one row per selected person below it.
Configure the settings panel (top of page)
Settings here apply to the whole batch. Set these first so you know what each row will do when you save.
Invitation options
Pick one of four mutually exclusive options:
Send Now — invitations email out immediately when you click Edit Accounts at the bottom.
Schedule for Later — pick a date and time; invitations queue up and send at that time.
Set Password(s) — you set the password directly for each row; no invitation email is sent. Useful for staff onboarding with a known temporary password.
No Invite — accounts are created or edited without sending anything. Use when invitations will be sent later via Send / Reset Invitations.
Publish state
Protected — restricts visibility of the accounts to logged-in users with appropriate permissions.
Do not publish — keeps the accounts hidden from the directory until you uncheck this.
Per-row fields (table)
Each selected person is one row. You can edit per-row, or use the Set All shortcut in three of the columns to apply a value across every row at once.
Field | What it does | Set All shortcut? |
First name / Last Name | Edit per person. | No |
Email / Phone | Edit per person. Without one of these, invitations and password resets aren't available for that row. | No |
Identity | Per-person selector for identity (Staff, Student, Parent, Community). Some rows accept multiple identities (e.g., "Staff, Student, Parent, Community" for users in multiple roles). | No |
App Access | Account type for the mobile app — App Access, Administrator, or None. | Yes |
Account Type | Web account type — varies by district config. | Yes |
Managed Organizations | Scope of the role — which sites the person can manage. Defaults to None. | Yes |
(trash icon) | Removes the row from this batch (does NOT delete the person — only excludes them from this save). | — |
Add extra accounts (optional)
Click + Add Account (above the action bar) to add a blank row for a new account that wasn't in your original selection. Useful when you realize mid-edit that you missed someone.
Save the batch
When all rows are configured:
Double-check the settings panel and at least a few rows.
Click Edit Accounts (blue button at the bottom).
If you picked Send Now, invitation emails go out immediately. Schedule for Later queues them. Set Password(s) commits the passwords. No Invite commits the changes silently.
To exit without saving, click Cancel.
Worked examples
Promote graduating seniors to Community identity
Manage People → Students Only → Advanced Filters → Grade = 12.
Select all visible. Click Create / Edit Accounts.
In the settings panel: set No Invite (they already have accounts).
In the table: set each row's Identity to Community (or use Set All if it's available for Identity in your district).
Click Edit Accounts. The students keep their accounts but are now categorized as Community.
Grant App Access to a new staff cohort
Manage People → identity chip = Staff.
Filter or select the new hires.
Click Create / Edit Accounts.
In the settings panel: set Send Now (so they receive welcome invitations).
In the App Access column header, click Set All → App Access. Every row updates at once.
Click Edit Accounts. Each staff member receives an invitation email.
Troubleshooting
I see "This person has no email address or phone number on file"
That row can't receive an invitation or password reset until contact info is added. Two options: (1) add an email or phone to that row right in the page, or (2) save the batch with No Invite, then update contact info from Manage People and re-invite later via Send / Reset Invitations.
Set All doesn't appear on every column
Set All is available only on App Access, Account Type, and Managed Organizations. Identity, name, email, and phone are per-person — there's no shortcut for those.
I picked Schedule for Later but don't see a date picker
The date picker appears below the Schedule for Later option after you select it. If it doesn't appear, refresh the page and re-open Create / Edit Accounts from Manage People.
Can I undo a bulk edit?
No automatic undo. If the changes were wrong, re-run Create / Edit Accounts with corrected values on the same selection. For widespread mistakes (especially identity or account-type swaps across many people), submit a ticket via the Edlio Help widget — the support team can sometimes restore from recent backups.
What's the difference between "Add Account" and "Edit Accounts"?
+ Add Account adds another blank row to the batch (for an account you want to create in the same save). Edit Accounts at the bottom is the submit button — it commits the entire batch (both rows you came in with and any rows you added).
Related articles
Bulk update student grades — for grade-only updates
Creating New Accounts — uses the same Create / Edit Accounts page, focused on net-new accounts