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Spaces are the home for a class, team, or group inside an organization. They hold members, apps, activity, and the building permissions that govern what members can do. Creating one takes a minute. Managing one well is the work that pays off all year.
Space creation requirementsYou need to be an org member with space creation permission. If you do not see the New space button on the Spaces page, ask your org admin.

How to create a space

Go to Spaces

In the sidebar, under Projects, click Spaces. The page lists the spaces you can open. If you manage at least one, they’re split into Managed by me and All. Use the search to find a space by its title or its owner’s name, and the Role filter to show only spaces where you’re an Owner, Manager, or Member. Show archived, in the same menu, brings back spaces that have been archived.

Click New space

The button is in the top right of the Spaces page.
The Spaces page with the New space button in the top right, above the search bar and the spaces you manage.

Name the space and add a description

The name shows up on members’ Spaces page. Pick something easy to identify. The description helps you and your members remember what the space is for.

Set member permissions

Review the four toggles. See Building permissions below for what each one does.

Answer the students question

Will there be students in this space? is required. Choose Yes, No, or Not sure. After Yes, check every age that applies: Ages 13–15, Ages 16–17, Ages 18+, or Not sure. Then check I confirm these answers are accurate, and they apply to all Space Members. See Student status and ages.

Click Create new Space

You land on the new space, with prompts to Add members and Add apps and collections to get it started.
The Create new Space modal with Space Name and Description filled in, the four member-permission toggles switched on, the required question Will there be students in this space? with Yes, No, and Not sure, a box to confirm the answers apply to all Space Members, and Cancel and Create new Space buttons.

The Create new Space form.

Space roles

A space has three roles: Owner The person who created the space. Can do everything — invite members, manage apps, change permissions and settings, and archive the space. A space has one Owner, and the Owner’s role can’t be changed or removed from the space. Manager Day-to-day management, with the same capabilities as an Owner. Can manage members and apps, edit and archive the space, view and export activity and insights, and review moderated content. Best for co-teachers and admin support. Member The default role for invited people. Can use the apps shared in the space and, depending on building permissions, may be able to build their own. For the full role-to-permission matrix, see Space roles and permissions. For org-level roles that span spaces, see Organization permissions and roles.

Adding members to a space

On the space’s Members tab, click Add Members. The dialog has three tabs:
  1. Invite link. Generate a link and share it. Anyone who uses it joins the space.
  2. Search organization. Add people who already have an account in your organization. They join right away, with no email.
  3. Paste emails. Paste a list of emails, one per line, to send invitations.
For full instructions, see Adding members to a space.

Adding apps to a space

You can add existing apps to a space as well as create new ones inside it. Both start from the Add apps button in the top right of the space. To create a new app, click Add apps and choose Create a new app. The app is created inside this space. To add an existing app, click Add apps and choose Add existing apps or collections. Search for an app you have access to (yours, shared with you, or part of a Collection you have added), select it, and click the add button, which counts your picks (for example, Add 2 apps). The app appears on the space’s Apps tab, and members can use it. For the deeper guide on cross-space use, see Using an app across multiple classes.

Building permissions

The four toggles you set on space creation are:
  1. Build Apps. Members can create their own apps in this space. Turn on for classes where students are creating apps as part of the curriculum.
  2. Members can see each other’s apps. Members can browse apps built by other members. Useful when collaboration is part of the learning; off when individual work matters.
  3. Share apps outside the space. Members can always share their app with other members inside the space — this toggle controls whether they can also share it with users outside the space.
  4. Manage own apps. Members can view moderated messages and delete their own apps. Recommended for adults only.
Build Apps has to be on before you can turn on the other three. You can change these any time: click the gear in the top right of the space and choose Edit details. For more, see Space building permissions.

Organizing your spaces

Common patterns: One space per class section. A teacher with three sections of Algebra 1 creates three spaces. Activity stays segmented. Each section sees only its own work. One space per project or unit. A multi-week PBL unit gets its own space. Apps and activity for that unit live together. One space per grade level. A school admin creates a space per grade. Teachers in that grade are added to the space. Apps relevant to the grade are added. One space per cohort. Useful in higher ed and adult learning where cohorts cycle through programs. Pick the pattern that matches how you already group students. Spaces work best when their boundaries match a real grouping you use anyway.

Best practices

A few things teachers have asked about and that have worked: Set conservative building permissions to start. Turning a toggle on later is easy. Walking back student access after they have built apps is harder. Archive spaces at the end of a unit or year — members lose access to the space, while its Owners and Managers can still view its members, apps, and activity.

Key points

  • Spaces are containers for a class, team, or project
  • Four toggles set what members can do — review them on creation; change anytime
  • Add members through org search, email invite, or invite link

FAQ

Not from Playlab. Archive it instead (see below): an archived space leaves your Spaces list, and its apps and activity history stay in place. If you need a space removed permanently, contact [email protected].
Yes. Click the gear in the top right of the space, choose Edit details, change the toggles, and click Update. The change takes effect right away, including for apps members already built: for example, turning on Members can see each other’s apps shows members every app their classmates have built. Turning off Build Apps stops new apps, but members keep the ones they made.
They’re removed from all of the organization’s spaces and groups and lose their roles on its apps and collections. The apps they built aren’t deleted: they stay in their spaces, and the space’s Owners and Managers and the organization’s Owners keep control of them.
Playlab doesn’t limit how many spaces an organization can have. Anyone whose organization role can create spaces (Owner or Builder) can make as many as they need.
Open the space, click the gear in the top right, and choose Archive. You can also click ⋮ on the space’s card on the Spaces page and choose Archive Space. Type the space’s name to confirm, then click Archive Space. Owners and Managers can archive a space. Members lose access, and the space drops out of the Spaces list, but its Owners and Managers can still view its members, apps, and activity. To find one again, open Role and turn on Show archived. To bring it back, click ⋮ on its card and choose Restore space.
There’s no move tool. Add the people to the new space from its Members tab: Search organization and Paste emails both take several people at once. Then remove them from the old space by ticking their checkboxes on its Members tab and clicking Remove Members.

Last updated: 10-28-2026 Contact us at [email protected]