DesignPLUS Sidebar for Canvas [Faculty]

Description

The DesignPLUS Sidebar is an advanced content editor for Canvas. It provides access to advanced page design and formatting features that would otherwise require extensive web design knowledge. The Sidebar can be enabled in any Canvas page or tool where the rich content editor appears, with the exception of New Quizzes (that is, Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, Pages, Syllabus, and Classic Quizzes.)

This Guide Will Help You to:

  • Learn the Features of the DesignPLUS Sidebar.

  • Enable the DesignPLUS Sidebar

  • Seek Further Assistance

 

Learn the Features of the DesignPLUS Sidebar

  • Apply a theme to your content: A theme is a page layout with predefined text and heading styles, colors, graphic elements, etc. Applying the same theme to all of your course content can give it a professional, polished look.

  • Add a banner image to any page: Select from several sample banners (including IU-themed banners) or add your own.

  • Add a navigation menu to any page: Add a set of links in a dedicated content block that jumps to a part of that page or another page. Each link can be modified once the navigation block is added.

  • Add/rearrange content blocks: Quickly create or rearrange reusable blocks of text while maintaining your current template design (if applied).

  • Copy existing content: Add content to a page from other sources, including from institutional templates, pages and templates from the current course, and your other courses.

  • Create reusable templates: Create model pages, assignments, quizzes, discussions, and announcements to ensure a unified design across your entire course. Then, use the Cidi Labs Multi-Tool to generate module items based on your templates.

  • Add accordions, expanders, or tabbed elements: Add interactive content that users can hide or show by clicking the title.

  • Add module progress indicators: Select from several page footers that help students understand where they are within the course structure.

  • Customize any HTML style: Use a graphical interface to customize any HTML style on the page. Select an element in the RCE to see the available style options for it.

  • Check accessibility: Use the built-in accessibility checker to confirm the accessibility of headings, links, images, and color contrast.

Enable the DesignPLUS Sidebar

The Sidebar is disabled by default. To enable it:

  1. Navigate to any course in which you are a teacher, designer, or TA.

  2. Open any content item (page, assignment, course syllabus, discussion description, quiz description, etc.) and select Edit.

  3. Press one of the following hotkey combinations:

    1. Windows: Ctrl-1 or Alt-Shift-d

    2. Mac: control-1 or option-shift-d

[Note: If you're using Chrome, you may be switched to a different tab. Navigate back to your Canvas page.]

  1. The Content Editor menu will appear on the right-hand side of the screen.

  2. If you want to choose how the editor launches each time you open the RCE, open the Options menu ( 'More' or 'Options' menu icon ) at the upper right and select User Settings:

  3. To always launch the full Sidebar, check the box for "Automatically Launch Sidebar".

  4. To show the Open DesignPLUS Sidebar button (the rocket icon at the upper right of the current page) instead of the full Sidebar, check the box for "Show Launch Button" and uncheck "Automatically Launch Sidebar". With this configuration, you can launch the editor any time in any course by selecting the Open DesignPLUS Sidebar button.

  5. To hide the Sidebar completely, uncheck both "Automatically Launch Sidebar" and "Show Launch Button". With this configuration, you'll need to use one of the hotkey combinations given in step 3 above to expose the DesignPLUS editor.

  6. You can change these settings at any time by following these steps.

  7. To minimize the editor, select the X at the upper right of the Sidebar. To re-open, select the Open DesignPLUS Sidebar button at the upper right of the page, or use the hotkey combination if the launch button is not visible.

Seek Further Assistance

For additional assistance, please contact the ITRC at (208) 282-5880 or itrc@isu.edu.

For more information, please visit the following DesignPLUS support resources : 

  • DesignPLUS Sidebar Guide for New Users: Developed by eLearning Design & Services at Indiana University, this abbreviated guide is specifically designed for those who have no experience with the Sidebar. The content is organized from basic to complex so you can master core concepts and features before moving on to advanced features.

  • From Drab to Fab: Making Your Course Pop with DesignPlus: Developed by eLearning Design & Services at Indiana University, this self-paced tutorial will teach you just enough about DesignPlus to add some small but impactful visual enhancements to your Canvas course.

  • DesignPLUS Training Series: Developed by Cidi Labs, this collection of videos covers all the major features of the DesignPLUS Sidebar. UITS highly recommends it for new users and those transitioning from the legacy sidebar.

  • [New] DesignPLUS User Guide: Developed by Cidi Labs, this is the authoritative reference tool for DesignPLUS Sidebar users. Topics are organized alphabetically by tool or feature name. Each topic includes an introduction, a description of the interface for using the tool or feature, step-by-step instructions, examples, and best practices.

  • DesignPLUS Sidebar Training Resources: A listing, maintained by Cidi Labs, of all DesignPLUS training resources for end users and admins.

 

Creative Commons License

This work was created by the Idaho State University Instructional Technology Resource Center and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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