While the Quercus integration is unavailable, you can run your course’s discussion and announcement communications directly through Piazza at piazza.com. When Quercus is restored, you’ll be able to connect your Piazza course to your Quercus course and continue to use it.
This guide walks through the basics: signing in or creating an account, creating and configuring your class, enrolling students, and posting announcements and discussion items.
Scope of use. Piazza is intended to support class announcements and discussion. For confidential student information (grades, accommodations, health details) and any one-on-one matters, continue to use email or another approved channel.
How do I sign in or create my account?
If you have you Piazza before:
If you have used Piazza before—in a previous course, through Quercus, or by signing up directly—you already have an account tied to your U of T email.
- Go to piazza.com
- Select Log In
- Enter your email and password.
- Use the “Forgot password?” link if needed.
If you have never used Piazza, create an account as part of class setup:
- Go to piazza.com and click the blue Professors and TAs Get Started button.
- Search for University of Toronto and select it.
- Enter your class name (for example, PSY100) and the current term, then click Create a New Class.
- Enter your U of T email address. Use the same address you use for Quercus — this is what Piazza will match against your Quercus account when you sync the two later.
- Check your inbox for an activation email. Click the link, set a strong password, and complete the brief profile prompts.
How do I create my class?
If you created your account through the steps above, your class already exists and you can move to configuration.
If you already had a Piazza account, add a new class as follows:
- After signing in, click the class name in the top-left corner to open the class menu.
- Choose Create a New Class.
- Enter your class name, course number, and term, then click Create Class.
When creating a course, we recommend: Use a name and number that students will recognize from their timetable. If a class with the same name already exists at U of T, append your family name (for example, PSY100 – Smith) so students can find the correct one.
How do I configure my class?
Piazza opens a setup screen the first time you create a class. A few settings are worth attention; the rest can be left at their defaults and adjusted later under Manage Class.
Recommended Settings
- Instructor self-signup: Leave disabled (the default). This prevents other instructors from joining your class without your approval. You can add co-instructors and TAs manually.
- Access code: Set one. From the setup screen or Manage Class > General Settings, click Add Access Code under enrolment options. This is especially important when you are working outside Quercus, because without an access code anyone with a U of T email domain can find and join your class through Piazza’s school search.
- Anonymous posting: Decide based on your pedagogical preference. Anonymous posts can encourage participation from quieter students; some instructors prefer the accountability of named posts.
- Private posts to instructors: Leave enabled. This gives students a way to send sensitive or individual questions only to you and your TAs, which is the closest substitute for emailing the instructor.
- Folders: Piazza pre-populates folders such as homework1, exam, and logistics. Edit these to match your course structure (for example, weekly folders, assignment names) so posts stay organised.
For more detail on each setting, see Piazza’s guide to configuring your class.
How do I enrol my students?
There are two ways to enrol students. While Quercus is unavailable, the email roster method is strongly preferred over the public class signup link.
Recommended: paste your roster or upload a CSV
- From your class, click Manage Class in the top navigation.
- Click Manage Enrollment.
- Under Enroll Students, paste student email addresses (separated by commas, spaces, or line breaks) or upload a CSV of your roster.
- Click Add Students.
Each student receives a welcome email with a link to set up a Piazza account if they do not already have one. Students who already have an account simply sign in.
Why we recommend this approach. When the Quercus integration is restored and you link your class to Quercus, students who were enrolled by email roster will integrate cleanly. Students who joined through the public signup link can hit enrolment conflicts with the Quercus integration that require manual cleanup.
Alternative: class signup link with access code
If you do not have an easily accessible roster, you can share the class signup link from the Manage Enrollment page. Always pair this with an access code so that only your students can join. Even with an access code, expect some manual reconciliation when Quercus comes back.
For walkthroughs of each enrolment method, see Piazza’s guide to enrolling students.
How do I post an announcement?
Use announcements for one-way, class-wide updates (for example, schedule changes or reminders). Use discussions for back-and-forth questions and conversation. Announcements are a helpful tool when you need to reach the whole class quickly. They appear on the class Resources page and can be configured to email every student immediately.
- From your class, click Resources in the top navigation.
- Click Add to start a new announcement.
- Complete your announcement: write a clear title and message.
- (Optional) Check the box to send an email notification immediately to the entire class. This bypasses students’ email preferences and is useful for time-sensitive messages.
Email delivery: Immediate vs Delayed. By default, students receive a Smart Digest every four hours rather than real-time emails. The “send immediately” option overrides this for the announcement you are posting. Use it for time-sensitive items (cancellations, deadline changes, room changes) and skip it for routine updates so you do not desensitise students to urgent messages.
For step-by-step screenshots, see Piazza’s instructions for posting an announcement.
How do I post a discussion question or note?
For ongoing discussion, weekly prompts, or content you want students to engage with:
- Click New Post.
- There are two types of discussions:
- Choose Question if you want responses
- Choose Note if you want to post information without the expectation of replies
- Select one or more folders.
- Write your post. Piazza supports rich text, LaTeX math notation, code blocks, and image attachments.
- Click Post My Question (or Post My Note).
Students see new posts in their class feed and receive notifications based on their digest preferences. As the instructor, you can endorse strong student responses, edit posts for clarity, and pin important threads to the top of the feed using the post menu.
For more detail on post types and options, see Piazza’s instructions for posting a note or question.
How do I send private or individual messages?
Piazza does not have a true direct-message channel, but it supports private posts visible only to selected recipients. This is the closest substitute for one-on-one email through the platform.
Students writing privately to you: When students create a post, they can change Post to from Entire Class to Individual Students or Instructors. If they select Instructors, only you and your TAs will see the post. Reply normally; your reply inherits the same restricted audience.
Starting a private exchange yourself: Click New Post, change Post to from Entire Class to Individual Student(s), and type the student’s name. Only you and the named recipient will see the thread.
When not to use private posts. Private posts live in the Q&A feed and are not designed for sustained one-on-one conversations or sensitive matters such as accommodations, mental health, academic integrity, or grade discussions. Continue to use email or another approved channel for those exchanges.
For full instructions, see Piazza’s guide to posting a private note.
How do I sync my Piazza course with Quercus?
Once the Quercus integration is restored, you can link your existing Piazza class to your Quercus course. Your account, posts, students, and settings all carry over. The key step is to link rather than recreate.
- In your Quercus course, click the Piazza link in the course navigation.
- When prompted, choose the option to link to an existing Piazza class (do not create a new one).
- Search for your class by name or number and select it.
- Confirm the link.
From that point on, students access Piazza through Quercus with single sign-on, and any students added to the Quercus roster will sync into your Piazza class.
If something goes wrong. If the link does not find your class, the most common cause is a mismatch between the Quercus course number and the Piazza class number. You can adjust the Piazza class number under Manage Class > General Settings before retrying. For anything you cannot resolve, see the support options below.
For the linking process and screenshots, see Piazza’s LMS signup flow documentation.
Get Support
- Contact your divisional EdTech team via this list of Divisional Education Technology Support Contacts. We suggest contacting your local support team first; they will have the most up-to-date information for your specific context.
- Book a consultation with a CTSI staff member.
- Submit a support inquiry via q.help@utoronto.ca.