Families join Mana through an invitation from their service. Downloading the app alone does not give a family access to a child. This guide will help Owners, Managers and educators prepare Families 2, invite parents and family members, and resolve common access issues.

💡 This article describes Families 2, the updated family experience, which is available now — you turn it on for your centre under Settings → Team → Features → Families. From 24 August 2026 Families 2 becomes the standard experience for everyone and Families 1 is no longer available. Note that families cannot switch themselves; it follows whatever their centre is set to.

You will need:

an Owner or Manager account to manage Families settings
the child’s correct profile and associated educators
the family member’s preferred email address
access to the child’s Family sharing page

Set up Families 2 for your service

1. Enable “Families 2”

Select your profile icon.
Select Settings.
Under Team, select Features.
Select Families.
Confirm Families Feature is enabled.
Turn on Families 2, marked Beta.

⚠️ Only Owners and Managers can manage these settings. If the card shows This setting is managed by your organisation, contact your organisation lead to make the change.

2. Open the child’s “Family sharing” page

Go to Journeys.
Select View all under Key Children.
Select the child.
Select Family Sharing.

3. Invite a parent or family member

Select Invite. A dialog headed Share profile opens.
Enter the person’s preferred email address.
Choose their role:
- Parent — can update child details and invite others to edit or view this child.
- Viewer — can view and comment on this child’s information.
Select Invite to send the invitation.

To change someone’s role later, or remove them, use the role menu beside their name on the same page — it also offers Remove from child.

4. Explain what happens next

The family receives an email with the subject You’ve been invited to join [their child’s name]’s learning journey, from Mana. They open it, create an account or sign in, verify their email address, accept the invitation and enter their name.

⚠️ If the family signs up with a different email address, they will not be able to see the child. Reissue the invitation if the wrong address was used.

5. Help families get value from Mana

Show families how to:

explore the new Home feed
understand their child’s Goals
save and complete Try at Home ideas
share photos and notes with Add a memory
choose their document language and notifications
discuss shared documents in their child’s Chat

💡 Photo tagging is not part of the current Families 2 release. It is expected in the coming weeks. Until then it is not something your educators can do.

Common access issues

No access to the child: Check that the invitation was accepted and the family used the invited email address.
No invitation received: Check the address, resend the invitation and ask the family to check their junk or spam folder.
Wrong role: Check the person’s role on the child’s Family sharing page.
Families can’t see their channels or content: In Settings → Team → Features → Families, scroll to Troubleshooting and select Refresh Families Channels. This resynchronises the families instance and can take a few hours to complete, so tell the family to expect a wait rather than checking straight away.

Need more help?

The family should contact their service first so the invitation and account status can be checked.
Look for the question mark icon in Mana to chat with the Mana team.
Email us at [email protected].

How services can support families to get started with Mana