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Teacher guide

This comprehensive guide covers all teacher features in the QR Attendance System.

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Getting started

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Registration

1

Navigate to registration

From the login page, click Register, then select the Teacher Registration tab.
2

Fill in your details

  • Teacher ID: Must follow format T followed by 4 digits (e.g., T1234)
  • Full Name: Your complete name
  • Email: Valid email address
  • Password: Minimum 8 characters
  • Confirm Password: Must match password
3

Complete registration

Click Create Teacher Account. You’ll see a success message and can log in immediately.
Teacher ID must match the pattern T\d{4} (T followed by exactly 4 digits). Examples: T1001, T5432, T0001.

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Teacher dashboard

Your dashboard is the central hub for managing classes and tracking attendance.

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Dashboard sections

Header
  • Welcome message with your name
  • Teacher ID and email display
  • Logout button
  • Profile actions: Change Password and Update Email
Navigation Links
  • Open Scanner: Launch QR code scanner for marking attendance
  • Manage Classes: Create classes and manage student rosters
  • Manage Schedule: Configure class times and grace periods
Class Selection
  • Dropdown to select which class to view
  • Displays “Create a class first” message if you have no classes
Statistics (when class selected)
  • Total Students: Number enrolled in selected class
  • Present Today: Students with attendance marked today
  • Attendance Rate: Percentage of students present today
Today’s Attendance Table
  • Shows all students in the class (including absent students via LEFT JOIN)
  • Displays student ID, name, time marked, and status
  • Status dropdown for manual adjustments (on-time, late, absent)
  • Changes save automatically when status is changed

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Managing classes

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Creating a class

1

Navigate to class management

Click Manage Classes from your dashboard.
2

Enter class name

In the “Create New Class” section, enter a descriptive name (e.g., “Computer Science 101”).
3

Create

Click Create Class. The new class appears in your class list immediately.

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Adding students to a class

You can add students individually or import them in bulk from Excel.

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Individual student addition

1

Locate your class

Find the class card in your class list.
2

Enter student ID

Type the student’s ID in the “Enter student ID” field.
3

Add student

Click Add Student. The student appears in the enrollment table below.
Students can only be enrolled in ONE class per teacher. If a student is already in one of your classes, you’ll see an error message indicating which class they’re in.

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Excel import

1

Prepare your Excel file

Create a spreadsheet with these columns:
  • Column A: Student ID
  • Column B: Full Name
  • Column C: Email
First row should be headers if you check “File has header row”.
2

Click Import Students

Expand the “Import Students from Excel” section.
3

Select file

Choose your .xlsx, .xls, or .csv file.
4

Configure options

Check “File has header row” if your first row contains column headers.
5

Import

Click Import Students. The system will:
  • Create new student accounts for IDs not in the database (default password: changeme123)
  • Skip students already enrolled in your classes
  • Add students to the selected class
  • Display a summary of imported and skipped students
New students created via import receive the default password changeme123. Advise them to change it immediately upon first login.

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Exporting class roster

1

Locate your class

Find the class card in Manage Classes.
2

Click Export to Excel

The export button is in the controls section.
3

Download file

An Excel file named [ClassName]_roster.xlsx downloads automatically with student ID, name, and email.

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Removing students

1

Find the student

In the class card, locate the student in the enrollment table.
2

Click Remove

Click the Remove button next to their name.
3

Confirm

Confirm the removal in the popup dialog.

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Deleting a class

Deleting a class also removes all student enrollments, schedules, and attendance records for that class. This action cannot be undone.
1

Locate the class

Find the class card you want to delete.
2

Click Delete Class

The button is in the class header.
3

Confirm

Confirm the deletion in the popup dialog.

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Scheduling classes

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Setting class schedule

1

Navigate to schedule management

Click Manage Schedule from your dashboard.
2

Select your class

Choose the class from the dropdown menu.
3

Add schedule

  • Day of Week: Select from Sunday to Saturday
  • Start Time: Set class start time (e.g., 09:00)
  • Grace Period: Set minutes after start time before students are marked late (default: 15)
4

Update Schedule

Click Update Schedule. The schedule appears in the current schedule table.
You can add multiple schedules for classes that meet on different days. For example, add Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a MWF class.

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Modifying schedules

To change a schedule:
  1. Select the same day in the form
  2. Enter new start time or grace period
  3. Click Update Schedule
The system uses ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE to modify existing schedules for the same day.

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Deleting schedules

1

Locate the schedule

Find the schedule entry in the “Current Schedule” table.
2

Click Delete

Click the Delete button for that schedule.
3

Confirm

Confirm the deletion in the popup dialog.

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Marking attendance

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Using the QR scanner

1

Open scanner

Click Open Scanner from your dashboard.
2

Allow camera access

Grant camera permissions when your browser requests them. HTTPS is required for camera access.
3

Scan student QR codes

Point your camera at each student’s QR code. The system automatically:
  • Verifies student is in your class
  • Checks if today matches a scheduled class day
  • Determines on-time vs late status
  • Records the attendance
  • Displays a confirmation message
The scanner uses Instascan.js library and automatically selects the first available camera on your device.

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Attendance processing logic

When a QR code is scanned:
  1. Student verification: Checks if student is enrolled in any of your classes
  2. Schedule verification: Confirms today matches a scheduled class day using DAYOFWEEK(CURRENT_DATE())
  3. Duplicate check: Prevents marking attendance twice on the same day
  4. Status calculation:
    • Current time ≤ (start time + grace period) → on-time
    • Current time > (start time + grace period) → late
  5. Record creation: Inserts attendance record with calculated status

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Manual attendance adjustment

From your dashboard:
1

Select class

Choose the class from the dropdown.
2

Locate student

Find the student in the “Today’s Attendance” table.
3

Change status

Click the status dropdown and select:
  • On-time
  • Late
  • Absent
Changes save automatically via form submission.
Only students with existing attendance records show the status dropdown. Students marked absent have no record and display a static “Absent” badge.

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Managing your profile

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Changing password

1

Open password modal

Click Change Password in the profile actions section.
2

Enter details

  • Current Password
  • New Password
  • Confirm New Password
3

Update

Click Update Password. You’ll be redirected and see a success message.

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Updating email

Email update functionality for teachers is currently not fully implemented. The UI form exists but requires the update_email.php file to be created. Students can update their email directly from their dashboard.
1

Open email modal

Click Update Email in the profile actions section.
2

Enter new email

Provide your new email address.
3

Confirm with password

Enter your current password to verify the change.
4

Update

Click Update Email. Currently, this will result in an error as the endpoint is not implemented.
To implement email updates for teachers, create update_email.php following the same pattern as the student dashboard’s inline email update functionality (see student_dashboard.php:39-53).

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Best practices

Configure your class schedule before the first session so the system can correctly calculate on-time vs late status.
The default 15-minute grace period works well for most classes. Adjust based on your institution’s policies.
For classes with 20+ students, use Excel import instead of adding students individually.
Check the attendance table at the end of each class to mark absent students or correct any errors.
Keep backup copies of your class rosters by exporting to Excel periodically.

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Troubleshooting

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Scanner won’t open

  • Ensure you’re using HTTPS (required for camera access)
  • Check browser permissions - camera must be allowed
  • Try a different browser (Chrome and Firefox work best)
  • Verify another app isn’t using the camera

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Student not found when scanning

  • Verify student is enrolled in your class via Manage Classes
  • Check that today matches a scheduled class day
  • Ensure student is using the correct QR code

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Can’t add student to class

  • Student must be registered first
  • Check if student is already in another of your classes
  • Verify student ID is correct (case-sensitive)

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Excel import failures

  • Ensure PhpSpreadsheet is installed via Composer
  • Check file format (.xlsx, .xls, or .csv only)
  • Verify column order: Student ID, Name, Email
  • Check for duplicate student IDs in your file

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Next steps

Class Management

Deep dive into class management features

Schedule Management

Learn more about scheduling options

Attendance Tracking

Understand attendance tracking in detail

QR Attendance

How QR code attendance works

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