The Workspace guide

The Workspace is the part of Plot45 you see after you sign in. It keeps every file you save from the Plot app, the Sketch app and the Write app. Teachers also use it to manage their classes, set assignments and mark work. You need a free account to open it; sign up or sign in first.

Your Home

Home is the first page you see after signing in. The greeting in the dark sidebar shows your name. The main area has a card for each app, a list of your most recent files, and the calendar for the month. If you are a student with assignments due, a Due next section appears here as well. Each entry in it links to the assignment it belongs to.

My files

My files is the list of everything you have saved from the Plot app, the Sketch app or the Write app. Each row shows the file's name, its type and when it last changed. From the row you can open the file, rename it, download it to your device, or delete it. The same list appears on every device you sign in on, because the files are stored in your workspace rather than in the browser.

A free account stores your five most recent files. The meter in the sidebar shows how many of the five are in use. The Teacher plan raises the limit to two hundred files. Student logins created under the plan each have room for one hundred.

It is a good habit to download any file that matters to you. A downloaded copy lives on your own device and does not depend on your plan.

Deleting a file cannot be undone, so the delete dialog asks you to type the file's name before it will act.

Classes and student logins

The Classes view is where a teacher on the Teacher plan makes class lists. A class holds a group of students. Its name appears wherever you assign work, so it helps to name each class the way your timetable does.

When you add a student to a class, Plot45 creates a username and a password for them. You can print these as a small login card to hand out. Students sign in with the username and password, and no email address is ever needed.

You can give each student a display name, and a first name is enough. The display name appears on your class list and in the greeting the student sees in their own workspace. You can view or reset a student's password from the class list at any time.

Moving a student to another of your classes keeps their files and their marks. Removing a student from a class does not touch their saved work.

Joining with a class code

A student who is sixteen or older, and who already has their own Plot45 account, can join your class with a class code instead of a created login. You share the code, which is shown with the class in the Classes view. The student enters it under Settings in their own workspace. The request then appears on your class list, waiting for your approval.

Files the student made before joining stay private to them, though they can choose to share an individual piece of work with you. A student can also leave the class later, from their own Settings.

Assignments

The Assignments view is where practical work is set, collected and marked. To create an assignment, give it a title and instructions, choose a class or a set of students, and set a due date. You can attach handout files for the students to open. An assignment can also be saved as a draft, and a draft is invisible to students until you press Assign.

Each student receives their own copy of the work. On the student's side, the assignment has its own page showing the instructions, the due date and the work they have added. The student presses Hand in when they are finished. Handing in locks the work, so you mark exactly what was submitted. Before you mark it, the student can withdraw the work to keep editing and then hand it in again. Work handed in after the due date is labelled late.

If your school keeps a record of practical hours, enter the hours on the assignment form. The Classes view can then print a record of all practical work between any two dates.

Marking

Open a handed-in piece of work to mark it. You can give a simple score out of a total, or use a rubric. A rubric is a set of criteria, each with its own descriptors and maximum score. You build a rubric once, in the Rubrics view, and can then attach it to any assignment.

Comments are written in the margin, beside the part of the work they refer to. The student sees the scores and the comments on their assignment page as soon as you finish marking.

The calendar

The calendar on Home shows the current month, with due dates marked in yellow. A student sees the deadlines of their own assignments. A teacher sees the deadlines of the assignments they have set. There is nothing to set up.

Settings and your plan

Settings holds your profile and your plan.

Profile: your title and display name, which are what your students see.
Seats: the Teacher plan includes 30 student accounts, and further accounts cost $3 each. The seat meter shows how many are in use.
Billing: if you pay by card, the Manage billing button opens Paddle's portal, where invoices, card details and cancellation are handled. A plan bought by quote is renewed with a new quote.
When a plan ends: the paid tools switch off and the account continues as a free account. Download any work you want to keep before the end date.

Tip: a quick way to learn the whole flow is to create one class with one test student, set a short assignment, and hand it in yourself from the student's login.