# FAQs

> Short answers to common questions.

Source: https://paatya.net/docs/help/faq

Short answers to the questions academy admins ask most. Each answer links to the full guide.

## Getting started

### What is Paatya?

Software for running your institute online. You get your own academy at its own web address, where you publish courses, enroll your students and follow their progress. See [Welcome to Paatya](https://paatya.net/docs/get-started/welcome).

### How long does it take to set up?

Creating the academy takes a few minutes. The [Quick start](https://paatya.net/docs/get-started/quick-start) takes you from sign-up to your first enrolled student in about half an hour.

### Do I need to install anything?

No. Paatya works in a web browser, on a computer or a phone, for you and for your students.

### What can I do before I add balance?

Everything. A new academy starts with ₹100 of free welcome credit, so you can create courses, add students and enroll them straight away. When the welcome credit runs out, you can still look around, set your logo and colours, build your public website and invite other admins; creating courses, adding students and enrolling them wait until you recharge. See [How pay-as-you-go works](https://paatya.net/docs/billing/how-billing-works).

### What is the smallest recharge?

₹1,000. GST is added on top when Paatya charges it. See [Add balance](https://paatya.net/docs/billing/add-balance).

### How do I earn credit by referring other academies?

Open **Refer & earn** in the left menu and share your link. When an academy signs up through it and makes its first payment, ₹100 of credit is added to your balance. See [Refer & earn](https://paatya.net/docs/billing/refer-and-earn).

## Your academy

### Can I change my academy's web address?

You can't change your `paatya.net` address yourself; email support@paatya.net if you really need to. You can also use a domain you own. See [Web address and domain](https://paatya.net/docs/academy/web-address).

### Can more than one person manage the academy?

Yes. Invite them under **Settings → Admins**. Admins are free, and every admin can manage courses, students and settings. The admin your academy was created for is its **owner**, and other admins can't deactivate them. See [Other admins](https://paatya.net/docs/academy/admins).

### Can a teacher work on only some of my courses?

Yes. Invite them as an **instructor** from **Instructors** in the left menu, give them the courses, online tests or batches they teach, and choose what they may do with each one: edit, publish, see results, add students and more. Instructors are free, and they never see your other courses, students, settings or billing. See [How instructors work](https://paatya.net/docs/instructors/how-instructors-work).

### Can I change the emails my students receive?

Yes. Go to **Settings → Emails** to change the wording. See [Email wording](https://paatya.net/docs/academy/emails).

## Courses

### How many courses can I create?

As many as you like. Courses aren't charged.

### What can a topic contain?

A video, a quiz, documents to download, and links. See [How courses work](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/how-courses-work).

### Which video files can I upload?

MP4 only, up to 512 MB and 1080p each. See [Add a video](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/add-a-video).

### Can I hide a course without losing students' work?

Yes: **Archive** it. Students no longer see it, and their progress is kept. You can publish it again later. See [Publish, clone, archive or delete](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/publish-archive-delete).

### Do students get certificates?

Yes. A certificate is issued automatically when a student finishes a course. Anyone can check it's genuine with its verification link. See [Certificates](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/certificates).

## Students and enrollments

### Can students sign themselves up?

Only if you turn it on. Student sign-up is off to begin with, so only you can add students. Turn it on under **Settings → Student sign-up**, and a **Create an account** link appears on your sign-in page. See [Let students sign up](https://paatya.net/docs/students/self-registration).

### Can students choose their own courses?

Your free ones, and, if you sell online, your paid ones. A student can start any course you have made free, or the free lessons of a course, from **Free courses**. If your academy [sells courses online](https://paatya.net/docs/course-payments/sell-a-course), they can also buy a paid course from your website. Everything else, you enroll them on. See [Free courses and free lessons](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/free-courses) and [Enroll students](https://paatya.net/docs/enrollments/enroll-students).

### Can I let students try a course before they pay?

Yes. Make the first section or a few lessons free. Students see them in **Free courses**, and the rest of the course stays locked until you enroll them, or until they buy it if you sell online. Their progress carries on. See [Free courses and free lessons](https://paatya.net/docs/courses/free-courses).

### Can I give a student a course for a limited time?

Yes. Give the enrollment an end date: the student can open the course up to and including that day. To give every new enrollment on a course the same period, such as 180 days, set the course's **Default access period**. Their progress and certificate are kept, and you can extend the date at any time. See [How enrollment works](https://paatya.net/docs/enrollments/how-enrollment-works).

### Do my students pay through Paatya?

Only if you choose to. Every academy starts **offline**: you collect your fees however you do today, then enroll the students who have paid.

If you switch on online payments (**Payments** in the left menu), students can buy your courses on your website through Razorpay. They are enrolled as soon as they pay, and your share, after Razorpay's charges, goes to your bank account (Paatya takes no fee on pay-as-you-go; on a fixed plan Paatya keeps its commission and pays you the rest). Refunds are off unless you offer them. See [Set up course payments](https://paatya.net/docs/course-payments/set-up-payouts).

### How many students can I have?

As many as you like. You pay only for students who are active in a month. See [How pay-as-you-go works](https://paatya.net/docs/billing/how-billing-works).

### A student has left. What should I do?

Deactivate them. They can't sign in any more, and their records are kept in case they come back. See [Find and manage students](https://paatya.net/docs/students/manage-students#deactivate-a-student).

### Who chooses a student's password?

The student does, from their activation email. If they forget it, they use **Forgot password?** on the sign-in page.

For a student who can't receive email, you can set a temporary password from their ⋮ menu and share it with them. They're reminded to choose their own after signing in. See [Find and manage students](https://paatya.net/docs/students/manage-students#set-a-temporary-password).

## Account and security

### How do I protect my admin account?

Every admin signs in with two steps: after your password, Paatya emails you a 6-digit code, so a password on its own isn't enough to get in. Choose a password that isn't built on a common word, and give each person their own admin account rather than sharing one login. After 3 wrong passwords in a row, sign-in is blocked for 30 minutes. See [Two-step sign-in](https://paatya.net/docs/account/two-step-sign-in).

### Can students download or record my videos?

There is no download button, and videos are streamed with links that expire. No website or app can stop someone recording or filming a screen, so each student's name and the last 4 digits of their mobile appear faintly over the video. A copy then shows whose account it came from. See [the lesson](https://paatya.net/docs/student-experience/overview#5-the-lesson).

### Why was I signed out?

An account can be signed in on only one device at a time, so signing in somewhere else signs out the first device. Admins are also signed out after 1 hour without activity, and after 12 hours in all. Students are signed out after 7 days without activity, and after 30 days in all. See [One device at a time](https://paatya.net/docs/account/one-device).

### Who did that?

**Settings → Activity** lists the changes each admin made and every attempt to sign in. See [Activity log](https://paatya.net/docs/academy/activity-log).

## Analytics and data

### Where can I see how my students are doing?

On the [Dashboard](https://paatya.net/docs/analytics/dashboard), in [Learning analytics](https://paatya.net/docs/analytics/learning), and on each [student's page](https://paatya.net/docs/students/student-details).

### Can I download my data?

You can download each student's quiz results as a CSV file, your usage and transactions as CSV or Excel, and your monthly statements and tax invoices as PDF.

## Billing

### Is there a monthly fee or subscription?

No. You keep a prepaid balance, and only active learners, video storage and video delivery are charged. See [How pay-as-you-go works](https://paatya.net/docs/billing/how-billing-works).

### Where are the current rates?

On the [pricing page](https://paatya.net/pricing).

### Do I get a GST invoice?

Every successful recharge gets an invoice under **Usage & Billing → Payments & invoices**. Where Paatya charges GST, it is a GST tax invoice, and your GSTIN on it lets you claim input tax credit, so add it under **Billing details** first. Where Paatya doesn't charge GST, the invoice shows none. See [Statements and invoices](https://paatya.net/docs/billing/statements-and-invoices).

### What happens if my balance runs out?

New courses, students and enrollments pause first. After a short grace period, videos and new learners pause too. An academy that has never recharged, and has only used its welcome credit, gets no grace period: everything pauses at once. Nothing is deleted, and everything comes back when you recharge. See [When your balance runs out](https://paatya.net/docs/billing/when-balance-runs-out).

## Help

### How do I get help?

Start with [Troubleshooting](https://paatya.net/docs/help/troubleshooting). If that doesn't help, email support@paatya.net with your academy's address and what you were trying to do.