Common questions
Everything you need to know.
Still something open? Write to us at hallo@abihive.de — we're happy to help.
Basics
What is AbiHive?
AbiHive is the platform for your yearbook. The whole year group collects profiles, quotes, rankings, polls and photos in one place — and turns them into a finished, print-ready book. No more group-chat chaos and no more scattered spreadsheets.
What does AbiHive cost?
Creating your year group and collecting and designing together is free — including the export as a print-ready PDF. AbiHive only earns anything if you order printing or garments through us. Hand the PDF to your own printer and you pay us nothing.
Which modules are there?
Profiles, quotes, comments, rankings (awards and couple votes), polls, the class motto, a gallery, apparel (hoodies and shirts with size collection), teacher awards, course reports, deadlines with reminders and free pages — plus the book editor with printing. You switch on what your year group needs.
Can we switch off modules we don't need?
Yes. When you set things up and at any point afterwards you decide which modules are active. Anything you switch off never appears for the year group at all.
Getting started
How do we start?
One person creates the year group (about two minutes), picks the modules and invites everyone. After that each person fills in their own profile, you vote, collect photos and lay out the book.
How do we invite the whole year group?
With an invite link you share in the group chat, or by e-mail invitation. Anyone following the link lands straight in your year group.
Does everyone need an account — and how do you sign in?
Yes, everyone creates their own account so contributions and votes can be attributed. Signing in works the classic way with e-mail and password, or in one click via Google, Microsoft, Apple, GitHub, Discord or Facebook.
Who is allowed to manage what?
Whoever creates the year group is the admin. On top of that you can set up committees and give them individual areas (a photo committee for the gallery, say, or a poll committee). That spreads the work without letting everyone change everything.
Book & printing
How do the contents become a book?
In the book editor you work with ready-made templates or your own designs. Profile, quote and ranking pages fill themselves with what has been collected — you design the layout once and every page follows it.
How does printing work?
At the end AbiHive exports the complete book as a print-ready PDF. Before that a print check points out missing content and overflowing pages. You either hand the PDF to your own print shop — or order printing directly in AbiHive.
What does printing cost?
There is no fixed price, and anyone quoting one is guessing. The price per copy hangs on four things, three of which you set yourselves: the print run (the strongest lever — going from 50 to 100 copies nearly halves the unit price), the page count, the format (A4 or A5) and the finish, meaning binding, paper and softcover or hardcover. Hardcover is the single surcharge you notice most. Budget for shipping, a buffer and your free copies — those are the three items year groups forget most often.
Privacy & technology
Is our data safe? Where is it stored?
AbiHive is hosted in the EU (data centre in Frankfurt). Every year group is walled off: members only ever see their own year group's content, never another's.
Can comments be anonymous?
Your year group decides. There are switches for whether comments may be written anonymously and whether the person a comment is about may read it. For fairness, the people in charge always see who wrote what.
Does AbiHive work on a phone?
Yes. AbiHive runs in the browser on phone, tablet and laptop and can be added to the home screen like an app — no app store needed. Notifications are optional, by push or e-mail.
Ready for your yearbook?
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