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Quick Start

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Design Tools Resources for Faculty and Staff

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Let's Get Started Quickly!

DesignPLUS Design Tools for Canvas was developed to help you create and style dynamic course content. DesignPLUS makes designing and updating course content a breeze. Tools such as the rich content editor tools, the Multi-tool, and the Upload/Embed Image Tool makes for quick, accessible course development.

Watch the Creating Content with Design Tools video to discover how to quickly add content to create a beautiful and accessible course.

 

 

 

 

 

Choose a Theme

Themes are page layouts containing graphics and text boxes. With the Choose a Theme tool, you can to apply a theme to a page. The Design tools provide a number of themes to choose from.

 

The Interface

Choose a theme by mousing over a theme button and watch your page's appearance change!

Uploaded Image

 

 

 

 

 

Hover your mouse over a theme with content on your page to see a preview.

Uploaded Image

 

 

 

Choose a Theme

To apply a theme to editor content, follow these steps:

  1. Launch the Design Tools for Canvas
  2. In the DesignTools menu, expand Create/Edit Content.
  3. In the Create/Edit Content menu, expand Choose a Theme.
  4. Click a theme to apply it to the page.
  5. Click Save to make the changes permanent.

 Tip: You can also click the Themes Jump Menu icon button in the jump menu to jump right to the Choose a Theme section.

 

 

Add/Rearrange Content Blocks

With the Content Blocks tool, you can add blocks of content to the page.

The advantage of a content block is that you can add text, images, video, and lists to the block.You can then move all of the content in that block to a different place on the page without having to move each item separately. Template themes are also created to style content blocks.

The interface looks like this:

Add/Rearrange Content Blocks controls

 

Instructions

Add a standard block

To add a standard content block, follow these steps:

  1. Open the page for editing.
  2. Click Launch Design Tools.
  3. Click Add Content Blocks.
  4. In the Add Block dialog, click the content block that you want to add.
  5. On the content page, click Save. 

 

To add a custom block

To add a custom content block, follow these steps:

  1. Open the page for editing.
  2. Click Launch Design Tools.
  3. Click Add Content Blocks.
  4. In the New Block Title field, type the title for the new block.
  5. Click the Plus icon.
  6. On the content page, click Save. 

 

To delete a block

To delete a content block, follow these steps:

  1. Open the page for editing.
  2. Click Launch Design Tools.
  3. On the Design Tools menu, click Create/Edit Content.
  4. In the Create/Edit panel, click Add/Rearrange Content Blocks.
  5. In the list of content blocks, click the Delete icon Delete icon next to the block that you want to delete.
  6. On the content page, click Save. 

 

To reorder blocks

To change the order that the blocks display on the page, follow these steps:

  1. Open the page for editing.
  2. Click Launch the Design Tools.
  3. On the Design Tools menu, click Create/Edit Content.
  4. In the Create/Edit panel, click Add/Rearrange Content Blocks.
  5. Place your cursor in the list of content blocks until it changes to the move symbol,and the drag and drop the block to its new position. 
  6. On the content page, click Save. 

 

To add an icon

To add or change an icon, follow these steps:

  1. Open the page for editing.
  2. Click Launch the Design Tools.
  3. On the Design Tools menu, click Create/Edit Content.
  4. In the Create/Edit panel, click Add/Rearrange Content Blocks.
  5. In the list of content blocks, click in the icon column.
  6. In the Icon window, select the icon that you want to use.
  7. On the content page, click Save. 

 

 

Add a Module List

Modules are containers that Canvas uses to organize course content. With the Module List tool, you can create a list of links to existing course modules.

 

Turning on the Module List Tool

 This is an Intermediate level Design Tool

To turn on this tool:

  1. Click the Design Tools Settings icon   in the Jump Menu
  2. Do one of the following:
    1. Choose  Intermediate or  Advanced from the Select a Comfort Level area
    2. Manually turn on this tool by finding the Module List tool in the list and clicking the switch below the tool name
  3. Close the Design Tools Settings

 

Interface

Module List interface

 

 The following table describes options for the Module List tool:

Module List Options Description
Module List Displays the course modules in the Module List panel.
Add All Modules Adds a link to all modules in the course.
Update Module Names Retrieves updated names for modules from Canvas
Module List Icon Adds an icon to the module list,
Link to Module List Opens links to the main Modules page.
Link to First Item Opens the links to the first item of the module. Browser version of Canvas only
Include Quick Links Includes a list of module items below the module list for either the current module or all modules. The “Current” setting displays the modules as a bulleted list. The “All” setting displays the modules as a tabbed list. The default is None.
Browser version of Canvas only
Note: The colors for the tabs is pulled from the themed heading of the page and not based on any colors that might be added after the fact in the rce.
Columns

Selects the number of columns in the module list. The selected number reflects how many columns when Canvas is open on a large screen. The number of columns decrease with the window size.

Columns do not apply when All Quick Links is selected
The tabs/buttons for All Quick Links are based on the width of the longest module name. If there is a colon in the title, only the text before the colon will be used. For example, the button for a module titled "Module 1: Welcome to Class" would just display as "Module 1"
Date Fields Toggles the date fields on and off. Sets a start and end date for the module. The Date field determines which module link is highlighted in the module list on the published page. Canvas displays the date field with the name of the module. The actual dates are hidden from students to limit the text they have to comb through to find the current module.Need to update manually after a course copy
Publish Indicates is the module page has been published.
Change Icon Changes the icon for the individual module.
Visibility Detemines if the module is included in the list on the content page.
Mark as Current Bolds the text of the current module.

 

Add Module List

To add a list containing all of the modules in the course, follow these steps:

  1. Open the page for editing
  2. Click Launch Design Tools.
  3. On the Design Tools menu, click Add Advanced Elements.
  4. In the Add Advanced Elements section, click Module list.
  5. In the Module List panel, click the Module List button to enable the list. The Module List panel displays the modules in the course.
  6. Click Add all Modules.
  7. Click Save.

 

 

 

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