Padlocks, locked cards and blurred numbers all mean the same thing: that part of Intertwined isn't included in your current plan. They're there so you can see what exists and decide whether you want it, not to block your teaching. This article explains each one, what it tells you, and what you can do next, whether that's subscribing to Intertwined Solo, starting a simulator trial, or asking about a school plan.
Padlocks in the sidebar
A small gray padlock beside a sidebar item means your plan doesn't include that page. The item stays visible and clickable on purpose. Clicking it opens a card explaining the feature instead of the page itself. Nothing is charged and nothing breaks.
On the Free plan, padlocks appear on Planner, Assignments (the cross-class page under Insights), Gradebook, Reports, Reteach and the five simulators. On Intertwined Solo only the simulators keep theirs (until you start a trial), and on a school plan only the simulators your school's plan doesn't include. Integrity and Arcade never have a padlock; they're free on every plan.
You'll see the same padlock beside simulators in a class's Simulators picker, and a "Part of" label (for example, "Part of Intertwined Solo") on locked items on the Onboarding page.
The locked card
When you open a page your plan doesn't include, such as the Gradebook tab on Free or a simulator on Solo, you see a card in front of a faded picture of the page. It names the feature and says in one line what it does. What's under that depends on your situation:
It's part of Intertwined Solo (Planner, the cross-class Assignments page, Gradebook, Reports, Reteach, Manage Access, student performance): a "Part of Intertwined Solo" label and a See plans button that opens the plans page, where you can subscribe yourself (see Subscribing to Intertwined Solo and managing your subscription).
It's part of a school plan (the simulators and co-instructors): a line saying which plan it comes with, for example "Budget Simulator comes with Intertwined Core, which schools and districts buy for their teachers." and an Ask about it for your school button that opens our quote request page in a new tab. If you subscribe to Solo and haven't used that simulator's trial, a Start a 14-day trial button comes first (see Trying a simulator free with a 14-day trial).
You've already used the trial: the line starts "Your simulator name trial has ended." so you know why it locked again.
Your school covers you: no offers at all, only "Your school's plan doesn't include this one. Your district administrator can add it." You can't buy your way past your school's plan, so we don't ask you to.
Blurred numbers
On the Free plan you can always see who has done the work: lesson and quiz completion for every student and class. What you can't see is how well they did. Those figures are blurred, with a small padlock beside them, everywhere they appear:
Quiz scores, accuracy, time spent and recent activity on a class's Overview and Students tabs and on each student's page. Hovering a blurred number shows "Included with Intertwined Solo".
Charts, which would be meaningless without their numbers, are replaced by a short list of what's behind them, such as Score spread, Class activity, What to reteach and Seven charts on this student. Each has an Unlock student performance link to the plans page.
On your Dashboard, the Average quiz score tile reads "Quiz scores are part of paid plans", and Most missed topic shows Part of paid plans.
In Rankings, ranking by anything other than completion shows a note suggesting you rank by completion or compare plans.
The blur isn't hiding your real numbers. They aren't sent to your browser at all on Free; the blurred value is a placeholder showing the shape of the answer. Once you're on a plan that includes student performance, the real figures appear in the same places.
What you can do
Check your plan. Click your name at the bottom of the sidebar; the first row of the settings card on My profile names your plan.
For Solo features, subscribe to Intertwined Solo from See plans. It starts with a 14-day free trial the first time (see Subscribing to Intertwined Solo).
For a simulator, subscribe to Solo and start that simulator's 14-day trial, or ask about a school plan (see School and district licenses: how coverage works).
If your school covers you, ask your district administrator about adding what's missing, or message us and we'll help with the conversation.
Carry on without it. Everything on Free keeps working: courses, rosters, completion tracking, assignments inside your classes, the Arcade and more. See Intertwined plans explained for the full list.
What your students see
Students are never asked about money. They don't see plan names, prices, padlocks or upgrade buttons. If a simulator isn't included in their class, their Simulators page marks it Not in your class and says their class doesn't include it right now and to ask their teacher. Everything else in their portal works as normal.
"Soon" isn't a lock
A gray Soon label, like the ones on Pacing Guides and Student Tools, means the page is still being built. No plan unlocks it yet, and it isn't something you're missing out on because of your plan.
Something is locked that shouldn't be
Refresh the page. Padlocks are checked when a page loads, so a plan that changed a moment ago appears after a refresh.
Subscribed a moment ago? Give it a minute. If My profile still says Free after a few minutes, message us.
Covered by your school but seeing Free? Your account may not be connected to your school yet. Work through School and district licenses: how coverage works.
Still stuck? Use the chat bubble in the corner of the Teacher Portal and tell us what's locked and what your profile says your plan is (see Getting help: chat, bug reports, and feature requests).
Common questions
Will clicking a padlocked item charge me?
No. Clicking only shows the locked card. You're only charged if you go through checkout on the plans page yourself.
My co-teacher can see scores in our shared class and I can't. Why?
Each teacher sees what their own plan includes, even in a shared class. Your co-teacher's plan doesn't extend to your account.
Are completion numbers ever blurred?
No. Who has started and finished lessons and quizzes is visible on every plan.