Sticky Hive Help

Sticky Hive is a digital wall of sticky notes. You make a board, share a link or a short board code, and your guests post notes to it from any device. Notes can hold text, links, photos, files, and voice recordings. Everyone sees new notes appear live, with no page refresh.

Students never sign in and never give a name. Each one gets a random, anonymous screen name for the session. No accounts, no email, no tracking.

The quick version

Open Sticky Hive and tap New Board.
Give the board a title.
Tap Publish so guests can reach it.
Share the board with your class: read out the board code, show it full screen, or paste the link.
Students open the board and start posting.

That is it. The rest of this guide explains every button.

My Boards

When you open Sticky Hive you land on My Boards. This is your home base.

Make a board. Type a title in the box (for example, "Exit Tickets") and tap New Board. Each board gets its own page and its own board code automatically.
Open a board. Tap anywhere on a board row, or tap Open.
Status. Each row shows Published, Frozen, or Draft. Tap to cycle through them quickly.
Show the code. Tap the code chip on a row to throw the board code and a scan-to-join QR code up on the screen for the whole class.
Copy link. Grabs that board's share link so you can drop it in your slides, chat, or learning platform.
Duplicate. Makes a copy of a board (see "Reusing a board" below).
Delete. Removes a board for good.
Reorder. Drag a board row up or down to arrange your list.
Guests go to. Near the bottom is the web address your students type into their browser. Tap it to copy.

You can keep many boards going at once, one per class, activity, or day.

Sharing a board with students

There are three ways in, and they all reach the same board:

Board code. Students go to the site address (the "Guests go to" link), then type the board code and tap Open board.
QR code. Tap the board code chip to show a large code plus a QR code. Students point a phone camera at it to join.
Direct link. Paste the board's link anywhere. It opens the board straight away.

A board has to be Published for guests to get in. While it is a Draft, only you can see it.

You can find and change the board code any time in Board controls, under Invite guests.

Adding notes (you and your students)

Tap the + hexagon to open the Add a note box. A note can include any mix of:

Title. A short heading. Optional.
A message. The main text of the note.
Link. Tap Link and paste a web address. Sticky Hive shows a tidy preview, and YouTube links show a thumbnail.
Image. Tap Image to add a photo from the device or camera.
File. Tap File to attach a video, audio clip, or PDF.
Recording. Tap Record to capture a voice note right in the box. There is a countdown, a timer, and a 5 minute limit. It stops on its own at 5:00.

One note can carry a link, a photo, a recording, and a file all at once. Uploads can be up to 10MB each. Tap Post to add the note to the board.

You decide which of these students are allowed to use (see "What can guests add?").

Board controls

Tap Board controls (the gear) on an open board to open the settings panel. Everything about that board lives here.

Board settings

Title and Description. The heading and intro shown at the top of the board.
Sort notes. Choose the starting order:
- Drag and drop (default): you arrange notes by hand.
- Random: shuffles the notes. A Shuffle again button appears so you can re-shuffle.
- Newest first or Oldest first. You can always drag individual notes to fine-tune the order, whatever sort you pick.
Theme color. Pick one of the preset colors, or tap Custom color for any shade you like. The whole board takes on that color.
Header image (optional). Add a banner image to the top of the board. This image is darkened to ensure text readability and cropped to fit the header.

Switches

Published. On means anyone with the link or board code can view and post. Off keeps the board a private draft that only you can see.
Approve posts before they show. Turns on moderation. New student notes wait in line until you approve them. Approve or remove each one right on the note. A banner at the top tells you how many are waiting and gives you a Review button. On the My Boards page, the name of a board with waiting notes gently fades in and out, so you can spot it from your list at a glance.
One post per guest. Each student can add only one note. They can still edit or delete their own note.
Allow comments. Students can leave short replies under each note. Turn on Allow audio comments underneath to let them leave a voice recording in a comment too.
Allow likes. Students can give a thumbs-up on each note.
Freeze board. Pauses all new posts and comments. The board stays fully visible, but the add button disappears for students. Good for "pencils down" moments. You can unfreeze any time.

What can guests add?

For each part of a note (Title, Message, Link, Image, File, Recording) you choose:

Off: students do not see that option.
Optional: students may use it.
Required: students must include it before they can post.

For example, set Message to Required and Photo to Optional for a written reflection that allows a picture. Leave everything Optional (the default) for an open board.

Sections

Sections turn one wall into named columns, like lanes on a shelf. Use them for stations, groups, "Agree / Disagree," "Warm-up / Main / Exit ticket," and so on.

Add a section by typing a name and tapping Add.
Each section becomes its own column with its own + button.
Students pick a section when they post, and you can drag any note from one section to another.
Drag the grip handle to reorder sections, or tap a section's name on the board to rename it.
Unsorted is the catch-all column for notes that have no section yet. You can rename it, reorder it, or delete it like any other section.
Deleting a section also deletes the notes inside it (you get a confirm first).
On a phone, the columns scroll sideways.

Turn Sections off by removing them all, and the board goes back to a single wall.

Invite guests

Board code. See and change this board's code. Type a new one and tap Change. Heads up: any link or QR code you already shared with the old code will stop working, so only change it before you hand it out.
Share link. The full link to the board, with a Copy button.

Export board

Save a copy of everything on the board.

PDF. Opens your print dialog. Choose Save as PDF to get a tidy document with the board title, the board code, and every note grouped by section. Good for a paper record or a read-only copy to share.
CSV. Downloads a spreadsheet with one row per note (section, title, message, link, author, likes, comments, and date). Open it in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets to sort, count, or review responses.

Both include every note, even ones waiting for approval. If the PDF does not open, allow pop-ups for this site and try again.

Pick PDF if you want a long-term archive. When you Save as PDF, your browser embeds each photo into the file, so the saved PDF stays viewable forever. The CSV (and any JSON you download from the Teacher Hive bar's Data tool) only stores web addresses for the files, not the files themselves. If Sticky Hive sits unused for about a year, the uploads are eventually cleaned up by Teacher Hive, and those links may stop working. The PDF is unaffected.

Delete this board

Removes the board and all its notes. This cannot be undone.

Running the board in class

The buttons across the top of an open board are your live teaching tools:

Board code chip. Tap it to show the board code, a QR code, and the link full screen so the class can join. There is a Copy link button on that screen too.
Slideshow. Shows the notes one at a time, full screen, so you can walk through responses together. If you use Sections, the slideshow follows your section order. When you tap Slideshow, Sticky Hive first asks how you want it to loop:
- Manually. You tap the arrows (or press the left/right arrow keys) to move from one note to the next. Use this for class discussion when you control the pace.
- Every N seconds per slide. Auto-advances on a timer you set (1 to 600 seconds). Good for a passive display while students settle in or pack up.
You can like or comment on any slide right from this view.
All boards. Goes back to My Boards.
Board controls. Opens the settings panel described above.

Full Screen on a single note

Every note has a small corner-bracket icon in its top-right corner. Tap it to open just that note in full-screen view. From there you can like, comment, and use the arrows to flip through neighboring notes one at a time. It is the same focused view the Slideshow uses, but you start on the note you tapped and there is no auto-advance. Students see the same icon on their devices, so they can read a note closer without leaving the board.

Notes you can manage

On each note you (the teacher) can:

Pin a note to keep it at the top.
Edit any note.
Delete any note.

Students can edit and delete only their own notes.

Name tags

Students get random screen names like "BraveOtter" so they stay anonymous. Name tags help you connect a name to a face when you are in the same physical location.

Look for the brown Teacher Hive bar at the bottom of the screen and tap Name Tags. Sticky Hive does a quick roll call and lists everyone currently connected.

Tap a name to flash it full screen, in that student's color, on that student's own device. Now you can spot who they are.
Tap Show all name tags to light up every device at once, or Stop showing to clear it.

A guest cannot interact with the board while their name tag is displayed on their device. The reveal clears itself after 5 minutes if you forget. Name tags never store or send any personal information. The screen name is the only thing shown.

Reusing a board

Tap a board's Duplicate button on the My Boards listing to make a copy. You get a choice:

Empty board. A fresh copy with all your settings, sections, theme, and rules, but no notes. Great for running the same activity with a new class.
Copy with notes. A full copy, notes included.

The copy gets its own new board code and link, so the original is untouched.

What students see

They go to the site, type the board code, and tap Open board (or just open the link you shared).
They never log in and never type their name. They get a random screen name for the session.
They tap + to add a note, using only the options you allowed.
If likes or comments are on, they can react and reply.
Each note has a small corner-bracket icon in its top-right corner. Tapping it opens that note in Full Screen, where they can read it closer, like, comment, and use the arrows to move to neighboring notes. There is no auto-advance and no presenter controls — it is just a focused reader.
If you turned on Approve posts before they show, their note waits until you approve it. They see their own note marked as waiting in the meantime.
If the board is Frozen, they can read everything but cannot post.

Privacy

Students do not create accounts, sign in, or share names or email.
Each student gets an anonymous random screen name for the session.
Sticky Hive does not use cookies or trackers and does not send student data to anyone.
Name Tags only shows a guest's randomized screen name.

Tips and troubleshooting

"This board is not available." The board is probably still a Draft. Open it and turn on Published, or check the board code is typed correctly.
Students cannot post. Check that the board is not Frozen, and that One post per guest is not blocking a second note.
Notes are not showing up. If Approve posts before they show is on, they are waiting for you. Look for the approval banner at the top and tap Review.
Sticky Hive seems slow. Boards with fewer than 150 notes should load smoothly. Delete notes or add a new board.
An old link stopped working. Changing a board's code retires the old code. Share the new link or code.
Keep it organized. Use a separate board per class or activity, give each a clear title, and reorder My Boards by dragging.
Project the code. The board code chip gives you a big code and a QR side by side, which is the fastest way to get a whole class in.
Number of boards. A teacher can add up to 100 boards to their Sticky Hive.