If you tutor or work for multiple organizations that use Pencil Spaces, you may need access to more than one institution at the same time.
At the moment, Pencil Spaces does not support connecting multiple institutions to a single Pencil Spaces account. However, users with a Google-managed email address can use a workaround to create separate Pencil Spaces accounts that all send emails and account notifications to the same inbox.
This guide explains which option to use depending on the type of email account you have.
Before you begin: This guide is primarily intended for tutors and other users who use Pencil Spaces to tutor for more than one tutoring companies or institutions.
For example, you might tutor for two different companies and need to access each companyâs institution separately. Although you need separate Pencil Spaces accounts for each institution, you may be able to use variations of the same email address to manage them.
If you have a Google-managed email account
These instructions apply to:
Gmail accounts
Google Workspace accounts
Google Workspace for Education accounts
Google-managed email addresses can use a + variation of the original email address. This allows you to create separate Pencil Spaces âaccounts,â but emails sent to each variation will still be delivered to your original inbox.
For example:
can be used alongside:
The second variation of the address can be used for a separate Pencil Spaces account, while emails sent to it will still be delivered to Imranâs original email inbox.
Step 1: Ask your Institution Admin to invite you
Ask the Institution Admin to invite you to their institution by using a modified version of your email address.
Instead of using your standard email address in the following format:
{original_address}@{domain}.com
ask them to use:
{original_address}+{institution_name}@{domain}.com
When creating the {institution_name} part of the address, remove any spaces or special characters from the institutionâs name.
Example: To invite Imran to the Pencil Spaces institution, instead of inviting [email protected], the Institution Admin should invite [email protected].
Step 2: Sign in using the modified email address
Once youâve been invited, visit my.pencilapp.com. When you reach the login screen, select Continue with Email.
When prompted to enter your email address, use the modified address that was used for your invitation.
Using the example above, Imran would enter [email protected].
If your Institution Admin did not set up a password for the account on your behalf, then select Reset password to set your password and login. For more information, see our guide: How do I reset my password?
Note: Password reset emails and other account emails will still be delivered to your original email inbox. For example, emails sent to [email protected] will be delivered to the inbox for [email protected].
Step 3: Confirm that you can access the institution
Once youâve signed in, confirm that you can successfully access the correct account and institution you were invited to.
Important: When signing in to an account created using this workaround, please use either Email and password or via Magic Code. Do not use a third-party sign-in option, such as Continue with Google, for these accounts.
Step 4: Repeat the process for additional institutions
To join another institution using the same original email address, you can repeat the same process above with a different email variation.
For example, Imran could use:
[email protected]for the Pencil Spaces institution[email protected]for another institution
Each modified address will create a separate Pencil Spaces account. Emails sent to both addresses will still arrive in the same original inbox.
If you have an email account from a non-Google provider
Unfortunately, the email workaround described above is only available for Google-managed email accounts.
If your email account is not managed through Gmail, Google Workspace, or Google Workspace for Education, then we recommend one of the following options:
Use a different personal email address for each institution, or
Create a new Google-managed account and use the steps above to access multiple institutions.
For help creating a Google-managed account, see Googleâs guide: Create a Google Account for Gmail.
Need more help?
If youâre unsure which email address to use when joining an institution, or if youâre having trouble accessing one of your accounts, please contact our Pencil Spaces Support team. Weâre available 24/7 and will be happy to help.
For more details on how to access our live support team, see our guide: How to access 24/7 live support.