Identifying and tracking individual participants

When you share a simulation with an anonymous link, each run is recorded as a new, unnamed participant — great for open practice, but it means results aren’t tied to a specific person. If you need to know who did what (for example, a class of 30 students), here are your options.

Option 1 — Ask for an identifier with a form (works with anonymous links)

Add a short form at the start of the simulation that asks each participant for something that identifies them — a name, student ID, email, or a code you hand out. Their answer is saved with that run and appears in the activity’s results and Excel export, so you can match each result to a person while keeping the simple no-sign-in link.

1. Open your simulation and add a form (see Add a Form to a Simulation).
2. Include a question such as "Your name" or "Your student ID / code."
3. Share the link as usual — each participant fills it in before starting.
4. Find the answers in the activity’s results and in the Excel export.

This is the recommended approach for a class or cohort using a single shared link.

Option 2 — Require participants to sign in

Set the space’s Access Level to Registered participants. Each learner signs in (or creates an account), so every run is automatically tied to their identity and they can track their own progress across attempts.

Option 3 — Add learners as space members

Set the access level to Space members only and add each learner as a member. Only the people you’ve added can take part, and their results are tied to their account — best for closed cohorts, classes, and teams.

Option 4 — Use groups for cohorts (if enabled)

If your organization uses Groups (an organization admin turns them on with Enable Space Groups in Organization Management → Preferences), you can generate a group-specific link so every run through it is attributed to that cohort — useful for telling one class apart from another.

Option 5 — Tag the link with your own participant ID

If you already have an ID for each person in your own system — a participant number, a case code, a student ID — you can put it straight into the link you send them. Cesura saves it with that run and gives it its own column in the Excel export, next to the run’s Status, so you can see who finished without asking anyone anything. No form and no sign-in needed.

1. Copy the participant link from the Share dialog (see Share a simulation with a link & QR code). It looks like https://app.cesura.ai/sim/<activity-id>.
2. Add ?uid= and your own ID to the end — one link per person:
   https://app.cesura.ai/sim/<activity-id>?uid=P-1042
3. Send each person their own link (email, SMS, or from your own system).
4. When you want results, export the activity (see Exporting your data to Excel) and read the parameter column alongside Status.

Where the value shows up in the export:

• Full Report — a Param: uid column on the Summary Dashboard sheet.
• Simple Table — a param_uid column on the Results sheet, next to a readable Status (for example Completed).
• Coded Forms — a param_uid column on the Coded Data sheet. Status there is a number (1 = completed), and the Codes and Labels sheet in the same file lists what each code means.

You can add more than one parameter, and the name is yours to choose — uid is only a convention:

https://app.cesura.ai/sim/<activity-id>?uid=P-1042&study=arm-b

Each name becomes its own column (Param: uid, Param: study). Runs opened without a parameter simply leave those cells empty.

A few rules:

• Up to 10 parameters per link.
• Each name up to 64 characters, each value up to 256 characters; text only.
• Names are case-insensitive — uid and UID are the same parameter.
• Marketing/tracking parameters (such as utm_*, fbclid, gclid) and a small set of names Cesura uses internally are ignored and never saved.
• Works on a plain participant link and inside an embed alike — see Embed a simulation in a web page.

⚠️ Use a code, never personal data. Anything in a URL is visible to the participant and travels through browser history, server logs, and referrer headers. Send an internal participant number or another opaque ID — not a name, an email address, or a national ID number.

One limitation to plan for: the parameter appears in the Excel export, not on the Participants tab in the app (see Where to see your participants’ results). Export the activity when you need to match runs to your own records.

💡 Not sure which to pick? If you already have your own ID for each person, use Option 5 (a link parameter). If you just need names next to results on an open link, use Option 1 (a form). If you want each person’s progress tracked over time, use sign-in (Option 2 or 3). See How sharing works for more on access levels.