Sandboxes
Sandboxes are isolated copies of your institution where staff can safely test configuration changes, experiment with workflows, and validate new setups — without affecting production data or live operations.
Each sandbox starts with a clean set of default settings, roles, schemas, and templates. No student data, applications, or user-generated content is copied from production.
Overview
| What it is | A fully isolated environment with its own settings and data |
| Limit | Up to 3 sandboxes per institution |
| Edition | Premium |
| Who can manage | Staff administrators |
| Where to find it | Settings > Access > Sandboxes |
Creating a Sandbox
- Go to Settings > Access > Sandboxes
- Click Create Sandbox
- Enter a name (e.g., "QA Testing", "New Intake Config")
- The sandbox is provisioned with default settings and ready to use
A counter shows how many of the 3 available slots are in use. The creation button is disabled when the limit is reached.
Note: Sandboxes can only be created, renamed, and deleted from production mode. These management operations are not available while you are inside a sandbox.
What a New Sandbox Includes
A new sandbox starts with a clean baseline — not a copy of production. The following are set up automatically:
| Category | What's included |
|---|---|
| Settings | Default institution settings, locales, and theme |
| System email gateway and default email templates | |
| Edition | Premium edition with relationship management and admissions |
| Reference data | Grade states, countries, currencies |
| Roles | Default authorization roles (admin, prospect, applicant, student, alumnus, contact, lecturer) |
| Teams | Default team structure |
| Lifecycle | Default lifecycle states and transitions |
| Schemas | Default data schemas |
| Automations | Default automation rules |
| Policies | Default policies |
| Payments | Payment portal configuration |
| Branding | Default institutional skin and branding |
What Is NOT Included
Sandboxes do not inherit any data from production:
- Staff profiles and user accounts
- Student, applicant, and contact profiles
- Applications and form submissions
- Segments
- Campaign history
- Event data
- Uploaded files and documents
When you activate a sandbox for the first time, your user account is automatically created in it with administrator privileges.
Activating a Sandbox
To work inside a sandbox, click Activate from the sandbox list.
While in a sandbox:
- A sandbox indicator shows which sandbox you are in
- All data you see and create lives in the sandbox only
- Other staff members in production are unaffected
To return to production mode, click Exit sandbox. You are redirected back to the sandboxes page in production.
Managing Sandboxes
Rename
Change a sandbox's name from the actions menu in the sandbox list. This only changes the display name — the sandbox and its data are unchanged.
Delete
Permanently removes a sandbox and all its data. This action cannot be undone.
Warning: Deletion is irreversible. All settings, profiles, applications, and other data in the sandbox are permanently destroyed.
Status
Each sandbox in the list shows its current status:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | You are currently working in this sandbox |
| Inactive | The sandbox exists but is not currently activated |
The list also shows who created each sandbox, when it was created, and who last activated it.
Limitations
- Maximum of 3 sandboxes per institution
- Available on the Premium edition only
- Sandboxes cannot be managed from within a sandbox — you must be in production mode
- Sandboxes start fresh; there is no way to copy production data into a sandbox
- Each user who activates a sandbox gets a new administrator account in it — existing production credentials do not carry over