Organizing and Customizing Course Cards in the ISU Canvas Dashboard

This article provides instructions for faculty on how to organize and customize course cards in the ISU Canvas Dashboard at Idaho State University (ISU). The Dashboard is the landing page in ISU Canvas. 

• Course cards show an overview of course information, including the course name, course code, and term. In addition, each card provides a direct link to the course Announcements.
• An unread icon on the Announcement tab indicates a new announcement in the course. The icon shows the number of new items.

• Reordering Course Cards
• Customizing a Course Card Nickname
• Customizing a Course Card Color
• Customizing a Course Card Image
• Changing the Dashboard View
• Additional Information

Option 1: Moving Cards

1. Click the Options icon (3 dots) and select the Move tab.
   • Depending on the placement of the existing card, you can move the card to the top of the Dashboard, ahead of or behind a specific card, or to the bottom of the Dashboard. You can also manually drag and drop a course card to another location in the Dashboard. Click the course card and drag it to the desired location.
   • Once a dashboard card has been reordered, new courses added to the Dashboard always display at the end of all existing courses.

Option 2: Starring Favorites

The Dashboard displays up to 20 course cards by default. These are prioritized based on the 20 recent courses you were added to, along with any courses you have marked as favorites. You can customize your course card display by designating courses as your favorites.

1. In the Global Navigation menu, click the Courses link, then click the All courses link.
2. To favorite a course, click the star next to a course. Filled stars show that the course is a favorite.
3. To deselect a course from the favorite list, deselect the star.

Course card nicknames appear in the Dashboard, Course Navigation menu, course breadcrumbs, and notification emails. Nicknames do not appear on the global Grades page or in Dashboard sidebar elements such as the To Do list. Course nicknames are limited to 59 characters.

1. From your ISU Canvas dashboard, click the Options icon (3 dots), then enter the name in the Nickname field. Click the Apply button.
2. To remove a nickname, open the card options and delete the nickname. The Nickname field displays the course's original name. Then click the Apply button.
3. If you added a nickname but need to know the original name of the course, hover the cursor over the nickname and view the original course name in the tool tip hover text.

Instructors can customize the color of course cards, which is synced with the color shown for the course in the Calendar. To change the color:

1. Click the card's Options icon (3 dots), then select a new color. The check mark indicates the selected color, and the associated hex color code displays in the Hex Code field.
   1. To use a color not shown in the window, enter the color's hex code directly in the Hex Code field.
   2. Any variation of white is not accepted as a course card color, If you enter an invalid hex code, a warning icon appears.
2. Click the Apply button.

Instructors can upload an image to a Course Card or leave it blank. Canvas will accept JPG, JPEG, GIF, and PNG files as course card images.

Adding or Replacing an Image

1. Within your course, from the Course Navigation menu, select the Settings option.
2. On the Settings page, select the Course Details tab if it is not selected by default.
3. Select the Options icon (3 dots) on the course card image. 
4. Under Course Details, select Choose image.
   1. For the image you wish to use for a card, set the image size to either widescreen 16:9 for a sharper image or 262x146 pixels for a softer image.
   2. Leave space in the upper-right corner for the Options icon.
5. You can either drag and drop the image or you can select the Upload Image area to upload a file through a file manager. Once an image has been selected, the upload will begin automatically. 
6. To save the image, click on Update Course Details.

Removing an Image

1. Within your course, from the Course Navigation menu, select the Settings option.
2. On the Settings page, select the Course Details tab if it is not selected by default.
3. Select the Options icon (3 dots) on the course card image. 
4. Under Course Details, select Remove image.

There are three viewing options in the ISU Canvas Dashboard:

• Card View: Displays course cards for quick access to all your favorite courses
• List View: Displays all course to-do items in an agenda view
• Recent Activity View: Displays all recent activity for all your courses

To change your dashboard view, click the Options menu (3 dots in upper right corner) and select your preferred viewing option.

• How do I customize my Courses list? (external link)
• How do I use the Dashboard as an instructor? (external link)

• Chat with Canvas Support for Faculty (external link)
• Canvas Instructor Guides (external link)
• Visit the ITRC Portal for answers to common questions (external link)
• For additional assistance email AnswersITRC@isu.edu (external link)