Desktop, navigation and support

1 Starting and signing in

What you see when the app starts depends on whether you have password protection in use.

No password: the app opens straight to the desktop (Dashboard).
Password in use: you see a start screen with the Symma Studio logo, the label Teacher and a Login → button. The button takes you to the sign-in page (Welcome Back), where you enter your Username and Password and press Sign In.
If you have set a hint for your password, the sign-in page shows a 💡 Show password hint button.
At the bottom of the sign-in page there is a short Privacy summary of how your data is handled.

Auto login

Below the button on the start screen there is the option Auto login (Skip the login form next time). When it is on, the app signs in by itself after about five seconds, or immediately when you press Login.

Note: automatic sign-in does not ask for the password. If the computer has other users and you want the password to protect the app, keep this option off.

You can change the language already on the start and sign-in pages with the flag buttons (🇬🇧 / 🇫🇮). The choice is also remembered on the desktop.

🔒 Setting, changing and removing the password: Settings guide →

2 Layout of the desktop

The desktop consists of four layers from top to bottom:

Top bar (dark): the name Symma Studio · Dashboard, quick buttons, language selection and window buttons.
Navigation (white): the fixed core tools, the tools you have pinned and, on the right, + Add tools.
Content area: the view you have chosen. On the right edge there is a vertical 🛟 Help tab.
Bottom bar: the app version, 🔔 System notifications and the power button for closing the app.

The desktop: top bar, navigation (core tools, pinned Essays and + Add tools), the Courses view in the content area with the Help tab on the right, and the bottom bar.

In a narrow window, the names on the navigation cards may be hidden so that only the icon is visible. Make the window bigger or hover over the icon if you do not recognise a tool.

3 Top bar, language and window

The icon buttons in the top bar have no text. When you hover over a button, its name appears immediately.

Button (name)	What it does
Backup	The icon is green when the backup is up to date and red when something needs attention. The button opens Backup Settings (folder, Browse, Browse backups, Backup Now). If the backup and the data on the computer differ, the app asks whether to restore the backup or make a new backup of the current data.
Chat Reception	Opens chat reception in its own window.
Remote Sessions	Opens remote session management (video meetings for courses).
Games	Opens the games area in a new window.
Presentation window (remote and classroom)	Opens the presentation window. If you have a course open in the course view, it is selected in advance.
Course pages	Opens the course page tool in its own window.
Instructions	Opens this guide site in its own window (see section 9).
Privacy mode	Hides students' identifying information in the views: names are replaced with invented names and the end of student numbers with asterisks (123**). Useful when your screen is visible to the class. The button's name shows the status (Privacy mode: on / off*). Switching reloads the view, and the choice stays until you switch it back.
Database	Opens the database editing tool. It is meant for troubleshooting, so only use it when instructed.

Language selection

To the right of the quick buttons is the language selector EN | FI. The selected language is highlighted. Switching updates the view immediately and is remembered the next time you start the app. The same language is also used in the quick guides and in the support request window.

Window buttons

Minimize (—) and Maximize (▢) work as in other programs.
DevTools is a troubleshooting tool for developers. You do not need it in normal use.
You close the app with the power button in the bottom bar (see section 11).

The small dot at the corner of the logo on the left of the top bar shows that the app is Connected.

4 Core tools

On the left of the navigation there are six fixed core tools. They are always visible and cannot be unpinned.

Tool	Subtitle	For
Back to home	Overview	The Dashboard, see section 8.
Create Exam	Design & publish	The exam editor.
Browse Exams	Catalog	Saved exams, publishing and participants.
Courses	Curriculum	Creating and managing courses.
Message center	Private & group messages	All messages in one place, see section 7.
Settings	Preferences	Account, school, password, archiving, cloud maintenance and data management.

If a tool is not included in your school's licence (e.g. courses or essays), opening it shows the notification Module not enabled. The module can be enabled through your school's SymMath contact person.

⚙️ See also: Settings →

5 Add tools and your own tools

The other tools are in the + Add tools menu on the right of the navigation. You can pin the tools you use most often to a bar of your own next to the core tools.

Menu groups

Browse: Alaia tasks (Create, browse, results; shown if the school’s AI assistant is turned on), Task banks (Exam, course & quiz tasks), Students (Profiles).
Manage: Analytics (Course statistics), Performance tracking (Final exams & grades), Surveys (Feedback).
Feedback & assessment: Essays, Discussion Forums, Peer Reviews, Video submissions, Course task submissions, Hybrid quizzes, Mind maps.
Settings: AI Settings (Assistants), Archives (History).

The + Add tools menu by group. A pinned tool (here Essays) shows “Added ✓”.

Pinning a tool

Open + Add tools.
Press the + button (Pin) on the right of the tool card.
The tool moves into the navigation to the right of the core tools, into the My tools bar separated by a vertical line. In its place the menu shows Added ✓.

You can still open the tool directly from the menu too: clicking the card opens the tool and closes the menu.

Unpinning a tool

Press the × button (Unpin) of the pinned tool in the navigation, or
click the tool's Added ✓ label in the menu.

The tool returns to its own group in the menu.

The menu closes when you click outside it or press Esc. Your pinned tools are saved on this computer: they are still there the next time you start the app, but on another computer you set up your own tools separately.

6 A section in its own window

You can open almost any tool in the navigation in its own window. Then you can, for example, keep the Message center open on a second screen while you grade exams in the main window.

Hover over a tool card. A faint ⧉ button (Open in its own window) appears on the card.
Press ⧉. The tool opens in a new window without the top bar and navigation, and the window title shows the tool's name.

⧉ is not available for Settings or AI Settings, because they open as dialogs. The Help tab also works in a separate window.

7 Task banks and Message center

In September 2026 several separate tools were brought together into two combined views. In both, one navigation button opens a view with tabs at the top. The app remembers which tab was open last.

🏦 Task banks

Replaces the earlier Browse questions tool. You find it in the + Add tools → Browse menu.

📝 Exam questions (Question bank for exams (folders)): the exam question bank as before.
📚 Course tasks (Tasks of all courses): the tasks of all your courses in one place. You can search for a course or task, preview and edit a task, and delete it from the course. The change is visible to students when the course is re-published.
🧪 Quiz tasks (Task bank for course quizzes): the tasks of course quizzes by category. The quiz itself is put together in the course editor.

💬 Message center

Group Messages is no longer a separate tool in the Add tools menu. It is now the second tab of the Message center:

✉️ Private messages (Conversations with students)
📢 Group Messages (Announcements to courses). The editor has a new 🔗 Add link button (e.g. for a YouTube video). https:// addresses typed in the text also become links when the message is sent.

🏦 Using the exam question bank: Exam question bank guide → 💬 Private messages: Message center guide → 📢 Announcements to courses: Group messages guide →

8 Dashboard

The Dashboard opens when the app starts and from the Back to home button. Its heading is Welcome to Symma Studio, and the page shows a teaching snapshot.

Key figures: Students, Active exams, Evaluated submissions and In progress. Check exams fetches new submissions from the cloud and updates the lists of exams to grade and exams not yet taken. When the Dashboard opens, it first shows the data already fetched to the computer.
Pending Reviews: exams that have ungraded attempts. Review Now → opens grading.
Exam Overview: average, median and pass rate. 📊 Exam Stats opens more detailed statistics.
Incomplete Exams: students who have not taken an exam. In the Overdue threshold (days) field (default 14) you set after how many days an untaken exam is highlighted.
Student Pulse: the unique students taking your courses and the number and list of inactive students.
Course spotlight: the status of your courses. Filter by course name or go to your courses with Open Courses →.

When Privacy mode is on, the name list in Student Pulse shows invented names. This way you can show the Dashboard to the class without revealing students.

🧮 See also: Grading exams →

9 Guides and quick guides

The Instructions window

The ? button in the top bar (Instructions) opens this guide site in its own window alongside the app. If the window is already open, it is brought to the front instead of opening a new one. Links between guide pages open in the same window, and other links open in your default browser. The guides are also available in a browser at symma.win/ohjeet.

Interactive quick guides

Next to the title of the exam editor (Create New Exam) and the course form (Create Course and editing a course) there is a round ? button. It opens a step-by-step quick guide:

📝 Creating an Exam, 7 steps: getting started, exam settings, adding questions, video confirmation, sections A and B, saving, and linking to a course.
📚 Creating a Course, 7 steps: getting started, form structure, basic info, tasks, topics, calendar & forums, and saving & publishing.

The quick guide for creating a course, step 3/7: step dots, the content of the step and navigation buttons.

Move from step to step with the ← Previous and Next → buttons, the arrow keys ← → or by clicking a step dot.
On the last step the button is Done ✓. You can close the guide at any time with the ✕ button, the Esc key or by clicking outside the window.
📖 Open full guide opens the full guide page on the topic in the Instructions window.

📝 Full guide: Creating an exam → 📚 Full guide: Creating a course →

10 Help and support requests

If something does not work, send a support request directly from the app. On the right edge of the app there is a vertical 🛟 Help tab. It is shown on the desktop, on the start and sign-in pages and in chat reception.

Sending a support request

Preferably go to the view where the problem occurs, and press 🛟 Help.
The subtitle of the Send a support request window shows the Section, i.e. where you are (e.g. Dashboard — Courses). This information is sent with the request automatically.
In the text field, write what you tried to do, what happened and what you expected to happen. The description is required.
If you like, attach a screenshot (see below).
Press Send. When it has been sent, you see the notification Support request sent and the request number (#123). Note down the number in case you contact us about it later.

The support request window: the section (where you were), the description, 📷 Attach screenshot, Cancel and Send.

The floating buttons of screenshot mode, shown instead of the window after you have pressed “Attach screenshot”.

Attaching a screenshot

Press 📷 Attach screenshot. The support request window hides, and floating buttons appear at the bottom of the screen.
You can now move around the app freely and open the view where the problem is visible.
Press 📷 Take screenshot now. The support request window returns with a preview of the image. (Cancel returns to the window without an image.)
You can change the image with 📷 Replace screenshot or remove it with Remove screenshot.

Note: the screenshot is taken of the whole main screen, not just the Symma window. Close or move other windows (e.g. email or programs containing student data) before you press Take screenshot now.

What is sent with the request, and where

The description you wrote, the name of the section and any screenshot.
The app's logs automatically: the app's own event log and the end of the background service's log file. Also basic information such as the app version, operating system and displays. From the logs, the developer can see what happened in the app just before the problem.
The request is delivered primarily to the school's own server, because a teacher's logs can contain, for example, students' names and exam content. Only if the school's server does not respond is the request sent by a fallback route to Symma's cloud service.

Sending a support request requires a network connection. If sending fails, the window shows an error message (Sending failed: …) and the text you wrote is kept, so you can try again.

Replies

The administrators handle support requests. The teacher app has no separate view for replies to support requests; the administrators contact you by other means if needed. Announcements meant for all teachers (e.g. fixed bugs and maintenance breaks) arrive as System notifications (see the next section).

11 System notifications and closing the app

🔔 System notifications

The administrators can send notifications to the app. A new notification opens in a pop-up while the app is running (the app checks for new notifications about once a minute). A small dot on the 🔔 button in the bottom bar shows that you have unread notifications.

The bell button opens a list of all notifications: Message, Time, Target (Everyone / Students / Teacher) and Status (✓ Read or ● Unread). If there are no notifications, you see the text No messages.

Closing the app

Press the power button on the right of the bottom bar and confirm the question Are you sure you want to close the application? by answering Yes. Cancel returns to the app.

The left of the bottom bar shows the app version (e.g. SYMMA STUDIO 2026.9.1). Tell support the version if you contact them by some other means than a support request. The version is attached to support requests automatically.