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Install ClassWatcher directly from the Chrome Web Store. Once installed, the ClassWatcher icon appears in your Chrome toolbar.

1. Find ClassWatcher in the Chrome Web Store (or use the install link from classwatcher.com).
2. Click Add to Chrome and approve the install.
3. Pin ClassWatcher to your toolbar — click the puzzle-piece Extensions icon and pin ClassWatcher so it's always visible.
4. Click the ClassWatcher icon to open the app. Sign in with your Google account or email.

Navigate to your Classlist page in D2L Brightspace — the page that lists all enrolled students. ClassWatcher detects it automatically and shows an Import Class button in the overlay panel on the page.

Click Import, confirm the student names look right, and your class is saved. ClassWatcher will now match these names against submission pages to find who's missing. Once imported, give your class a clear name (like "ENG3U Period 2") so it's easy to identify in the app.

Yes. ClassWatcher supports custom Brightspace domains as of v2.4.0. If your school uses a non-standard URL (e.g., learn.yourboard.ca), here's how to enable it:

1. Open the ClassWatcher app and go to ⚙ Settings.
2. Enter your school's Brightspace URL in the Brightspace URL field and save.
3. A blue banner will appear — click Enable ClassWatcher here →.
4. Approve the Chrome permission prompt that appears.
5. Reload your Brightspace tab — ClassWatcher will now activate on those pages.

This is a one-time setup per device. If you don't see the banner yet, make sure you're running extension version 2.4.0 or later.

Right now, ClassWatcher requires Chrome or Microsoft Edge (both work with the same Chrome Web Store extension). Firefox and Safari versions are on the way:

• Firefox — currently under development. Stay tuned!
• Safari & iPad — we're developing both a Safari extension for Mac and an iPad version, so you'll be able to check missing assignments and message parents right from your iPad at home. We're really excited about this one!

In the meantime, if you're on a Mac or Windows, switching to Chrome or Edge for Brightspace takes just a minute.

When you open a supported page in Brightspace (an assignment submission page, quiz grading page, or Google assignment), ClassWatcher scans the student names listed on the page and compares them against your imported class list. Anyone who isn't shown as submitted or with an attempt is flagged as missing.

Results appear in a floating panel on the right side of the Brightspace page — no need to switch tabs or copy anything.

ClassWatcher works on three types of pages:

• Assignments — open a specific assignment's submission page. The URL will contain folder_submissions_users.
• Quizzes — open the Grade Quiz page for a specific quiz. The URL will contain quiz_mark_users.
• Google Assignments — open the Google assignment from Brightspace Content, or go directly to assignments.google.com.

ClassWatcher does not activate on gradebook pages, content pages, the classlist, or other Brightspace pages — only the specific submission/grade pages listed above.

These appear in the ClassWatcher overlay panel that shows up on the right side of supported Brightspace pages after a scan.

• Watch This Page — saves this assignment or quiz to your Watch List so ClassWatcher tracks it over time and shows the missing count in your dashboard.
• Copy Names — copies the list of missing student names to your clipboard so you can paste it into an email, message, or report.

This is almost always a name mismatch. Your class list might have a student stored as "Jake Rivera" while the assignment page shows "Rivera, Jake" (Last, First format). ClassWatcher handles most formats automatically, but edge cases can occur with nicknames, hyphens, accented characters, or legal vs. preferred names.

To fix it: open the ClassWatcher app, go to Students, tap the student's name, and edit it to match exactly how Brightspace shows it on that page. If the issue affects multiple students, chat with Finn — there may be a pattern we can help resolve.

A Watch List is a collection of assignment and quiz pages you've added for ongoing tracking. ClassWatcher remembers the URL for each watched page and the last-known missing students.

Your dashboard shows every watched page with a missing-student count — giving you an at-a-glance view of outstanding work across your whole class. Tap Update Now to re-scan all pages in the active Watch List at once.

Yes. You can create as many Watch Lists as you need — useful for separating different courses or assignment types. Go to the Watch Lists screen from the menu to create, rename, or delete lists, and to move or copy watched pages between lists.

The active Watch List is shown on your home screen. Switch between lists from the Watch List selector at the top of the dashboard.

Tap the Update Now button on the home screen. ClassWatcher opens each watched page in the background, scans it, and updates the missing-student count. You can watch the progress counter as it works through your list.

You can also update a single page by opening it in Brightspace — ClassWatcher scans it automatically about 5 seconds after the page loads.

Yes. On the Watch List screen, each watched page has a pencil icon ✏️ beside it. Tap it to rename the display title inline. The underlying URL stays the same — only the name you see in the app changes. Useful when the auto-detected page title is too long or unclear.

In the ClassWatcher dashboard, tap any student's name. You'll see a breakdown of every assignment and quiz they haven't submitted across all your watched pages. You can also tap the › chevron beside a student to expand their missing items inline without leaving the main view.

Two ways: tap any assignment in the Watch List section of the dashboard to see exactly which students haven't submitted it. Or open the assignment page in Brightspace — the ClassWatcher overlay panel lists the missing students right there on the page.

ClassWatcher lets you send a text to a student's parent or guardian directly from the app. Add a phone number for each student, open the Messaging Console, compose or choose a message template, select the students you want to contact, and tap Send.

Messages are sent using your ClassWatcher SMS credits. Each text uses 1 credit (longer messages may use 2). Credits are purchased from inside the app under SMS Credits → Buy More.

Open the ClassWatcher app and go to Students. Tap a student's name to expand their details, and enter the parent or guardian's 10-digit mobile number (e.g., 4165551234). Save, and that number will be used for all future SMS messages to that student's family.

You can also edit contact info in bulk by exporting to Google Sheets — the Class List tab lets you fill in phone numbers and emails for your whole class at once, then re-import.

The Messaging Console is ClassWatcher's built-in tool for composing and sending parent messages. It has two tabs:

• Compose — write or choose a message template. Built-in presets cover common scenarios (missing assignment, quiz not submitted, etc.) and you can save your own custom templates. A live preview shows how the message will look as an SMS.
• Recipients — select which students to send to. Students with missing work are shown with their missing count. You can message all of them at once or pick individuals.

Open the Messaging Console from the menu or by tapping a student's name on the home screen.

Yes. In the Recipients tab of the Messaging Console, each student row has a Shorten button. If your message is long enough to cost 2 credits, tapping Shorten uses AI to trim it to fit within 1 credit without losing the key meaning. You can also shorten all recipients at once. The original message is preserved — tap the shortened badge to reset back to the full version.

Each text to a parent costs 1 credit. Longer messages (over standard SMS length) may cost 2 credits — use the AI shorten feature to keep it to 1.

Credit bundles are available from inside the app under SMS Credits → Buy More:

• 100 credits — CA$5
• 300 credits — CA$12
• 500 credits — CA$17

A typical teacher sends 10–30 messages a month. During the beta period (free until July 31, 2026), SMS credits are a separate paid add-on available at any time.

Go to Export from the menu and click the Google Sheets button on any card. ClassWatcher will ask you to sign in with your Google account (one-time authorization). It then creates — or updates — a spreadsheet called ClassWatcher.com in your own Google Drive with three tabs:

• Class List — your full student roster
• Missing Items — formatted with red ✗ for missing and green ✓ for submitted, bold headers, colour-coded cells
• Contact History — a log of SMS messages sent

The spreadsheet lives in your Google Drive — ClassWatcher does not store or access it after creation. To find it later, search for "ClassWatcher.com" in Google Drive.

Tip: use your personal Google account. Even if you signed into ClassWatcher with your school board Google account, you can authorize Google Sheets using your personal Gmail instead. Just sign into your personal account when the Google authorization prompt appears. Your data goes into your personal Drive where board restrictions don't apply.

Some school boards configure their Google Workspace to block third-party OAuth apps by default. If you see an error like "Access blocked" or "This app isn't verified" when trying to connect Google Sheets, your board's IT department has restricted access.

You have two options:

• Use your personal Google account — when the Google sign-in prompt appears, switch to your personal Gmail address instead of your school account. Your data will go into your personal Google Drive, which isn't restricted by board policies. This is the easiest fix and doesn't require involving IT at all.
• Ask your IT administrator to whitelist ClassWatcher — it takes about two minutes for an admin in Google Workspace. Share our IT & Security Overview page with them — it includes the exact OAuth Client ID and instructions for whitelisting ClassWatcher in the Google Workspace Admin Console.

If neither option works, the Download CSV or Download Excel export is always available with no Google account required.

Go to Export from the menu and click the Download button on the card you want. This downloads a CSV file directly to your computer that you can open in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet app.

Quick Links give you one-click access to the most commonly used pages in Brightspace — Content, Checklist, Assignments, Quizzes, Grades, and more. They're class-specific, so switching classes automatically updates the links to point to the right course.

Student rows in your class list also have per-student quick links — one click takes you straight to that student's Quiz Progress, Class Progress, or Portfolio in Brightspace, without navigating through menus.

You can also add your own custom links to any URL — your school's attendance system, a Google Form, a parent communication portal, a staff intranet page, or any other site you open regularly. It doesn't have to be Brightspace. Tap Edit on the Quick Links section, then Add Custom Link. Give it a name, colour, icon, and paste in the URL.

ClassWatcher can drop the Brightspace page you're currently looking at — a quiz, an assignment (dropbox), or a content topic — straight into one of your Brightspace checklists, without you having to retype the title or hunt for the link.

How to use it:

1. Open the Brightspace page you want to add (the quiz, assignment, or content topic).
2. In the panel's Quick Links header, click 📋 Add to Checklist.
3. A dropdown lists your class's checklists — pick the one you want.

ClassWatcher then opens Brightspace's "new checklist item" screen pre-filled with the page's title and a link back to it — you just save. Your last-picked checklist becomes the default (marked with a ✓), so next time it's one click.

Don't see the button? It only appears when you have an active class selected and that class is linked to its Brightspace course (has a course/OU link). If it's missing, either no class is selected or the class hasn't been linked to Brightspace yet.

Yes. When you import a class from your Brightspace classlist, ClassWatcher now shows the roles it found on the page — Student, plus any others — each with a count. Tick the checkboxes for the roles you want to bring in and leave the rest out.

Your choice is remembered per school (per Brightspace domain), and the same role filter is applied automatically when you resync a class — so you only have to set it once.

Open the menu (hamburger icon) and tap Settings. Settings is a single scrollable page with everything in one place:

• Your name — shown in messages sent to parents
• Brightspace URL — your school's Brightspace domain, enables Quick Links. Optional — you can add it later.
• How ClassWatcher opens — choose side panel or popup window
• Backup & restore — download a backup file or sync to Google Sheets to move your data to another device

Message Settings (reply-to email, first-contact message, SMS greeting) are under the Messaging Console settings.

Yes — Basic plan supports 2 devices, Pro supports 3, School supports 10. Your ClassWatcher account data is stored locally in Chrome's storage on each device, so to move your data to a new device use the Backup & Restore feature in Settings: download a backup file on your old device, then restore it on the new one. You can also back up to Google Sheets and restore from there.

Cross-device automatic sync is coming in a future update. For now, Backup & Restore is the recommended way to move between devices.

This is almost always caused by a missing Brightspace URL in Settings. Quick Links, class navigation shortcuts, and several other buttons only activate once ClassWatcher knows your school's Brightspace domain.

Fix (takes 30 seconds):

1. Open ClassWatcher and tap ⚙ Settings at the bottom
2. Find the Brightspace URL field
3. Enter your school's Brightspace address — e.g. https://yourboard.brightspace.com or https://pdsb.elearningontario.ca
4. Tap Save changes

You'll see a green ● Detected domain confirmation once it's entered correctly. If you're unsure of your board's URL, just copy it from your browser's address bar while you're on any Brightspace page.

Check these in order:

1. Is it the right page type? ClassWatcher only activates on assignment submission pages (folder_submissions_users in the URL), quiz grade pages (quiz_mark_users), or Google assignment pages. It does not activate on the gradebook, classlist, or content pages.
2. Is the page fully loaded? ClassWatcher scans about 5 seconds after page load. Give it a moment before assuming it's not working.
3. Do you have a class imported? ClassWatcher needs student names to compare against. Import your class from the Classlist page first.
4. Is your school domain enabled? If your school uses a custom Brightspace URL, enter it in Settings → Brightspace URL, then click Enable ClassWatcher here → when the banner appears.
5. Is the extension enabled? Check chrome://extensions and confirm ClassWatcher is turned on.

ClassWatcher appears as a pull-tab on the right side of your Brightspace page. Click it to open the panel.

If you don't see the pull-tab at all:

1. Reload the Brightspace page and wait a few seconds.
2. Open the ClassWatcher app and confirm the Extension Online indicator is green. If it shows Offline, close and reopen the app from the Chrome toolbar.
3. If the indicator is green but the panel still won't show, go to chrome://extensions, find ClassWatcher, and click the reload ↺ icon. Then reload the Brightspace page.

In Auto mode, the panel now follows you automatically as you move between your classes in Brightspace, so the active class should match the page you're on.

If it ever shows the wrong class — or none — click the ↻ refresh button beside the class selector at the top of the panel. It re-detects which class the current Brightspace page belongs to and updates the active class to match.

If you use the auto-hide option (the panel hides itself on non-Brightspace pages), it now reliably reappears when you return to a Brightspace tab. If you'd previously seen it stay hidden, updating to the latest extension version resolves it.

This means the ClassWatcher web app has lost its connection to the Chrome extension. To reconnect:

1. Close the ClassWatcher app window.
2. Click the ClassWatcher icon in your Chrome toolbar to reopen it — this re-establishes the connection.
3. If it keeps happening, go to chrome://extensions, find ClassWatcher, and click the reload ↺ icon.

ClassWatcher stores your data in Chrome's local storage, so it doesn't automatically follow you to a new device or browser profile. To move your data:

1. On your old device, go to Settings → Backup & Restore → Backup (Local file) and download the backup file.
2. On your new device, go to Settings → Backup & Restore → Restore and load that file.

You can also use Backup to Google Sheets — back up on the old device, then restore from Google Sheets on the new one, no file transfer needed.

If you didn't back up before switching, chat with Finn — we may be able to help recover what's possible.

Student names and parent phone numbers are stored in your ClassWatcher account and synced to your browser's local storage. All data is transmitted over HTTPS.

ClassWatcher reads submission status (who's missing) on assignment/quiz pages, and — if you use the Marks or Parent Report features — quiz scores and assignment grades via the Brightspace API. It does not scrape assignment content, feedback, or any other page data beyond that. We store only what you explicitly enter, plus the grades those features pull. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

ClassWatcher works out of the box for most schools, but Brightspace is configured differently at every board — custom domains, IT restrictions, and occasional D2L layout changes can all get in the way.

If you've worked through the steps above and are still stuck, email David directly at [email protected]. Include your school board name, your Brightspace URL, and a quick description of what's happening.

ClassWatcher is built by one teacher-developer. David personally handles these edge cases and will work through your school's specific setup with you — he's helped teachers at boards with unusual configurations get up and running.