Organizing Course Cards in the Dashboard in ISU Canvas for Faculty and Students

Summary

How faculty and students can customize course cards in the ISU Canvas Dashboard.

Body

Description

The Dashboard is the first thing you see when you log in to Canvas. The Dashboard helps you know what is happening in all your current courses. You can return to your Dashboard at any time by clicking the Dashboard link in Global Navigation. The Dashboard displays course cards for quick access to all your current courses (the same courses display in the Courses link from the Global Navigation Menu). Course cards are organized into published courses and unpublished course sections, and within those sections, they are ordered alphabetically by course name and your role in the course.

Instructions

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.

What is displayed on a course card?

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.

Can I customize a course card?

Instructors can customize course nicknames, the color of course cards, and the image displayed on the course card.

Course Nicknames

Course 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.

Customizing Nicknames

From your ISU Canvas dashboard, click the Options icon (3 dots), then enter the name in the Nickname field. Click the Apply button.
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.
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 tooltip hover text.
- Notes:
  - A course nickname does not affect the course code, which always displays on the course card for course references.
  - Course nicknames are limited to 59 characters.

Course Color

You can customize the color of course cards, which is synced with the color shown for the course in the Calendar.

Change the Color of a Course Card

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. Click the Apply button.
- Notes:
- To use a color not shown in the window, enter the color's hex code directly in the Hex Code field.
- Any variation of white is not accepted as a course color. If you enter an invalid hex code, a warning icon displays.

Course Image

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

Add or Replace a Course Card Image

Within your course, from the Course Navigation menu, select the Settings option.
On the Settings page, select the Course Details tab if it is not selected by default.
Select the Options icon (3 dots) on the course card image.
Under Course Details, select Choose image.
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.
To save the image, click on Update Course Details.

Remove a Course Card Image

Select Remove image.
- Notes:
  - For the image you wish to use for your card, set the image size to either Widescreen 16:9 for a sharper image or 262x146 pixels for a softer image.
  - Leave space in the upper-right corner for the Options icon.

Can I organize my course cards in the Dashboard?

Move a Course Card to Another Location or Remove a Card from the Dashboard.

Reorder Course Cards

Click the Options icon (3 dots) and select the Move tab.
- Notes:
  - 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.

Favorite Course Cards so that they Only Display in your Dashboard

In the Global Navigation menu, click the Courses link, then click the All courses link.
To favorite a course, click the star next to a course. Filled stars show that the course is a favorite.
To unselect a course from the favorite list, deselect the star.
- Notes:
  - Once you have selected at least one course as a favorite, only your favorite courses will appear in the Courses list. After you have manually favorited at least one course, Canvas automatically favorites any new published course enrollments for you.
  - You can only favorite active courses.

Seek further information...

Contact AnswersITRC@isu.edu if you need additional assistance.

Details

Article ID: 167997

Created

Mon 8/4/25 2:16 PM

Modified

Thu 2/12/26 10:49 AM