Student Username Format

Overview

 

Setting Name	Student username format
Setting ID	SchoolPortal_Morfi_Onomatos_Xristi_Mathiti
Location in System	Core > Security Settings > Accounts & Roles
Setting Type	Text (pattern / formula)
Applies Per Institution	Yes — each institution (company) can define its own format
Applies Per Academic Year	No
K-12 Label	Student username format
Higher Education Label	Student username format

This setting defines the automatic naming pattern that Classter uses when suggesting a username (login account name) for a new Student (learner). Instead of typing a username manually every time, Classter builds a suggested username automatically by applying this pattern to the student’s name and other personal details.

 

What This Setting Does

When a new Student record is created in Classter, the system needs to generate a username for that student’s portal account. This setting tells Classter how to construct that username by combining pieces of the student’s information — such as the first name, last name, or date of birth — in a specific order and length.

The pattern is built using tokens (placeholders) enclosed in square brackets. Each token has a number in parentheses that controls how many characters to use from that field. Any literal characters (letters, dots, underscores, hyphens) typed between tokens are included in the username as-is.

Available tokens:

Token	Source Field	Notes
[SchoolPortal.FirstName(N)]	Student’s first name	Most commonly used
[SchoolPortal.LastName(N)]	Student’s last name	Most commonly used
[SchoolPortal.Code(N)]	Student’s ID / registration code	Useful for code-based usernames
[SchoolPortal.CrossCode(N)]	Alternative / cross-reference code	Institution-specific secondary code
[SchoolPortal.GRNM(N)]	Academic Registration Number	Typically used in Higher Education
[SchoolPortal.Title(N)]	Title field	Rarely used for students
[Year.Code(N)]	Current academic year code	Adds the year to the username
[*(N)]	Auto-incrementing number	N defines how many digits (e.g., *(3) produces 001, 002, 003…)

What the number N means:

• A positive number (e.g., 1, 5) takes the first N characters of the field.
• 0 or no number uses the entire value of the field.
• A negative number takes the last N characters of the field (e.g., -3 takes the last 3 characters).

For example, [SchoolPortal.FirstName(1)] takes only the first letter of the first name, and [SchoolPortal.LastName(10)] takes up to 10 characters of the last name.

Info (as shown in the system): Here you define the format of account names for the Student entity. This format is used in Classter when a new Student is created. Classter will suggest a new account name based on the provided format. By pressing the three-dots button (…), you can specify the format required. Special functions for character conversion apply — refer to the extra information shown in the popup form. If the suggested account name already exists, Classter automatically appends an increasing number at the end (for example: j.smith1@myschool.com, j.smith2@myschool.com).

The suggested username is a proposal, not a locked value. The person creating the account can still change it manually before saving.

 

Where It Is Used

This setting applies exclusively to the following user types:

• Students (active enrolled learners)
• Alumni (former students)
• Admission (prospective students / applicants going through the admissions process)

It is applied at the moment a new record for any of these user types is created, as part of the account creation process within the School Portal (the Classter web portal used by students, parents, and staff).

The setting is found at: Core > Security Settings > Accounts & Roles. You can open the pattern editor by clicking the three-dots button (…) next to the field value.

K-12 vs. Higher Education Mode

This setting functions identically in both operating modes. The entity is called Student in both K-12 and Higher Education mode. There is no behavioral difference between the two modes for this specific setting. The distinction between modes is more relevant for other sibling settings (for example, Teacher in K-12 is referred to as Lecturer in Higher Education mode, which affects the labelling of the corresponding teacher username format setting — not this one).

 

Business Logic / Behavior

 

How the Username Is Generated

1. A staff member creates a new Student, Alumni, or Admission record.
2. Classter reads the pattern defined in this setting.
3. It applies the pattern to the student’s personal data (first name, last name, etc.) to build a candidate username.
4. The system checks whether that candidate username already exists in the system.
5. If it is unique, it is pre-filled in the username field as a suggestion.
6. If it already exists, Classter appends an incrementing number (e.g., 1, 2, 3…) until a unique value is found.
7. The staff member can accept the suggestion or replace it before saving.

 

Duplicate Prevention

Classter automatically handles username collisions. If the pattern produces a username that already belongs to another user, it appends a number suffix. This means two students named “Anna Brown” would receive usernames such as a.brown and a.brown1 respectively — no manual intervention is needed.

 

The Pattern Is a Suggestion, Not a Lock

The generated username is pre-filled for convenience but is not mandatory. The person creating the account can override it at any time before saving. Once saved, the username is part of the user’s account and changing it requires editing the user account directly.

 

Character Conversion Functions

The pattern editor popup offers special character conversion functions. These are useful when the institution operates in a non-Latin alphabet environment (for example, converting Greek characters to Latin equivalents) or when consistent casing and character removal is required. The available conversion options are displayed inside the editor popup itself.

 

Suffix Appended by the Institution Name Setting

If the setting Append a suffix to the username account (Core > Security Settings > Accounts & Roles — SchoolPortal_Onomasia_Kentrou) is configured, the institution suffix is added to the username after the pattern is applied. This is relevant for multi-institute environments where the same username might appear across different institutions under the same platform.

 

This Setting Is Per Institution

In multi-institution configurations, each institution can define a different username format pattern for its students. The format used when creating a student is always the one belonging to that student’s institution.

 

Examples

 

Example 1: Standard first initial + last name format

Pattern configured: [SchoolPortal.FirstName(1)][SchoolPortal.LastName(10)]

Student details: First Name = Maria, Last Name = Johnson

Generated username suggestion: mjohnson

If already taken: Classter suggests mjohnson1, then mjohnson2, etc.

With an email domain (e.g., @myschool.com): The full login becomes mjohnson@myschool.com

 

Example 2: First name + dot + last name

Pattern configured: [SchoolPortal.FirstName(10)].[SchoolPortal.LastName(10)]

Student details: First Name = Carlos, Last Name = Rivera

Generated username suggestion: carlos.rivera

Collision scenario: A second student named Carlos Rivera enrolls. Classter suggests carlos.rivera1 for the second student automatically.

 

Example 3: Short format with only first and last name initial

Pattern configured: [SchoolPortal.FirstName(3)][SchoolPortal.LastName(3)]

Student details: First Name = Thomas, Last Name = Anderson

Generated username suggestion: thoand

 

When to Use

Configure this setting when

• Your institution wants usernames to follow a consistent naming convention across all students, rather than relying on manual entry each time.
• You are setting up Classter for the first time and need to establish how student accounts will be named.
• Your institution changes its username policy (for example, moving from first-initial-plus-lastname to full-firstname-dot-lastname) and you want all new accounts going forward to follow the new format.
• You manage a large volume of students and need to reduce manual data entry errors during account creation.
• You want to ensure consistency between your Classter usernames and any linked external provider (such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace), so that accounts match across platforms.

Review or update this setting if

• You notice that newly created student accounts do not follow the expected naming convention.
• Your institution has merged with another and you need a new format to distinguish students from different campuses (in combination with the institution name suffix setting).

Important: Changing this setting does not retroactively rename existing student accounts. It only affects usernames suggested for new accounts created after the change is saved.

 

Notes

Pre-requisites

• The Student entity must be active and in use within your institution’s Classter configuration.
• Access to Core > Security Settings requires appropriate administrative rights in Classter.
• If you are using a linked external identity provider (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or similar), ensure the username format in this setting is compatible with the naming rules of that provider before creating student accounts.
• If your institution uses a name suffix, configure the Append a suffix to the username account setting first, so the full expected username format is in place before bulk account creation begins.

Related Settings

Setting Name	Location & Setting ID	Relevance
Employee username format	Core > Security Settings > Accounts & Roles — SchoolPortal_Morfi_Onomatos_Xristi	Same concept applied to general employees (non-teaching staff).
Teacher username format (K-12) / Lecturer username format (Higher Education)	Core > Security Settings > Accounts & Roles — SchoolPortal_Morfi_Onomatos_Xristi_Kathigiti	Same concept applied to teaching staff.
Parent username format	Core > Security Settings > Accounts & Roles — SchoolPortal_Morfi_Onomatos_Xristi_Gonea	Same concept applied to parents / guardians.
Partner/Employer username format	Core > Security Settings > Accounts & Roles — SchoolPortal_Morfi_Onomatos_Xristi_Partner	Same concept applied to partner or employer contacts.
Append a suffix to the username account	Core > Security Settings > Accounts & Roles — SchoolPortal_Onomasia_Kentrou	Adds an institution-specific suffix to all generated usernames. Particularly relevant in multi-institute setups to avoid username collisions across institutions.
Enable Configuration for Higher Education	Core > Security Settings — Xrisi_parametropoihshs_kolegiou	Switches Classter between K-12 and Higher Education mode. Does not change the behavior of the student username format itself, but affects terminology for other sibling settings.

Additional Considerations

• The pattern editor popup (opened with the three-dots button) provides a full list of available tokens and conversion functions. It is recommended to review these options when setting up the pattern for the first time.
• The setting value is stored as plain text in the format [Token1(N)][Token2(N)] — separators such as dots or underscores can also be typed between tokens (e.g., [FirstName(1)].[LastName(10)]).
• Classter will always ensure the final username is unique within the system by automatically appending a numeric suffix if needed. No two users will share the same username.
• This setting does not control the email address of the student, only the login username. Email addresses may be configured separately.

Classter — Setting Guide  |  Student Username Format (SchoolPortal_Morfi_Onomatos_Xristi_Mathiti)  |  Core > Security Settings > Accounts & Roles