Building Your Syllabus Page with DesignPLUS

Owned by Janice Orcutt
Last updated: May 07, 2024
9 min read
IDD KB How-to-Guide

Your Syllabus Page Guides and Informs Students

The Syllabus Page in Canvas is not the formal syllabus you prepare for your course, instead it is a resource page that allows you to guide and inform students of what is coming up in the course and what activities are on the schedule. 

The Syllabus Tool in Canvas makes it easy to create a page that communicates information about your course to students, guides them to important sections of your course, and lets them know exactly what will be required of them throughout the course in chronological order. You can set the syllabus as your home page or add it to the global navigation bar in your course as a separate page. Using the Syllabus tool to create this jump-off point allows you to guide and inform students of what is coming up in the course and what activities are on the schedule.

The basic Syllabus page is simple in design and has three sections: (1) the course description, (2) the course summary, and (3) the sidebar of activities.


Using the DesignPLUS tools you can create an interesting, visually appealing and interactive resource page for your students. 


In this article we will provide instructions on:

Tip!

You can click on the images in this article to see them larger and with more detail.

Enabling the Syllabus Page

When a new course is created the Syllabus Page is normally already available to you and is accessed via the Course Navigation Menu. 


  1. If the Syllabus is not active in your menu, scroll down:


    1. You will find it near the bottom of the navigation bar with the "not visible" icon (meaning it is not enabled)

    2. Select the Settings link.


  2. Select Navigation from the tabs in the top of the page.



  3. Scroll down through the second table of items and locate the Syllabus item.



  4. Click on the settings (three dot) icon on the right of the item and select "Enable"



  5. The Syllabus item will now be moved up into the group of active items  



  6. You can move the item to another position by dragging the Syllabus item to the location you wish



  7. Scroll down and save the settings.



  8. The Syllabus will now appear in its new location in your Course Navigation Menu



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Applying a Theme to the Syllabus Page

Now you are ready to create a visually appealing page that will direct your students when they enter your course. To add a banner title to the Syllabus page:

  1. Open your Syllabus page in Edit mode. (Note: There will be no content in the Rich Content Editor Window!)



  2. Open the DesignPLUS Sidebar.



    1. Make sure you are in the Add New Element tab (tab with the + sign to add content)

    2. Enter "Theme" into the search window

    3. Select the Theme icon under the "Getting Started" category
  3. A Banner Title element will be added to the RCE window, where you can add your Course ID in place of the "Name ##" field!


  4. Refer to the section "Selecting a Theme" in the KB Article Creating Basic Content Pages with Themes for further instructions on how to change or modify the theme on your page.


Note!

If you don't see the rocket icon in the upper right corner of your screen, you can use a keyboard shortcut: For PCs press Alt+Shift+D, and if you're on a Mac press Option+Shift+D.

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Adding Your Course Description

  1. Next you want to add your course description to the Syllabus.


    1. Return to the Add New Element tab in the Sidebar.

    2. Enter "Syllabus" in the search field

    3. Select the "Content Block" icon under the "Getting Started" category
  2. In the "Edit" tab (target icon) in the Sidebar, enter a welcome to your course title in the field for the "Content Block Heading"



  3. In the RCE window enter the course description under the heading in the text area. Providing a link to your formal course syllabus is a good practice as well. If you are using this as a Home page for your course, you will also want to add any instructions you want students to follow when they first enter the course.




Tip!

If you are building the Syllabus page "from scratch", don't forget to periodically select the "Update Syllabus" button at the bottom of the window!


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Linking to Course Sections

Another important functionality you can add to the Syllabus page, especially if you are planning to use it as your Home page, is to add links to important sections of the course. Typically, it is recommended that you have a "Start Here!" or "Getting Started" section as the first link, then other links are dependent on the design of your course or what sections you think students will access most frequently. In this example we are using three links: Start Here!, Modules, and Course User Guide

  1. To do this:



    1. Return to the "Add New Element" tab in the Sidebar

    2. Enter "theme" in the search field

    3. Select the Theme icon under the "Getting Started" category


  2. In the "Edit Element" (target) tab, click on the "+" in front of the Link Grid option.



  3. A set of default links will be added below your banner title in the RCE window.



  4. In the Sidebar, click on the "Link Grid" title to edit the names or number of links you want to display.



  5. In the Link Grid tool, you can modify the titles of the links, change the number of links available, move the location of the links, and select or modify the style of the grid.



  6. Refer to the section "Adding a Link Grid" in the KB Article Creating Basic Content Pages with Themes for further instructions on how to change or modify this element on your page.

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Including the Course Summary

The Syllabus page provides you an option to include a Course Summary at the bottom of the page. The Course Summary is automatically generated for the course and contains a list of course assignments and course calendar events. In the listing the different items are identified with icons that represent what they are. For example, Assignments are indicated by the Assignments icon, and events are indicated by the Calendar icon. Non-graded items with a to-do date show the to-do date. All assignments (unpublished and published) are listed in the syllabus for instructors, but students only see published assignments.

To enable the Course Summary, select the tick box next to the "Show Course Summary" option at the bottom of the window.



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Making the Syllabus Page Your Home Page

Now that you have created an informative Syllabus page, you can opt to have this become the homepage for your course.

  1. Return to the Home Page of your course by clicking on the Home link in the Course Navigation Menu.



  2. On the right side of the page, click on the "Choose Home Page" button.



  3. In the pop-up window,


    1. Select "Syllabus" from the options.

    2. Save the selection.


  4. Students will view the Syllabus page when they link to your course.



After you have set the Syllabus as your home page, you will notice that the Syllabus appears as a link in the Course Navigation Menu. This may cause some confusion for students who think it is the formal syllabus for your course. To avoid this you can hide the link to the Syllabus, but allow it to remain has your Home Page.

  1. Click on Settings at the bottom of the Course Navigation Page.



  2. Select Navigation from the tabs in the top of the page. and locate the Syllabus Item in the first table of items.



  3. Click on the settings (three dot) icon for the Syllabus and select "Disable"



  4. Scroll down and save the settings.



Your home page will still use the Syllabus as the content, but students will not be able to access it separately from the Course Navigation Menu.



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Summary of Steps
 Enabling the Syllabus Page
  1. If the Syllabus is not active in your menu, scroll down:
    1. You will find it near the bottom of the navigation bar with the "not visible" icon (meaning it is not enabled)
    2. Select the Settings link.
  2. Select Navigation from the tabs in the top of the page.
  3. Scroll down through the second table of items and locate the Syllabus item.
  4. Click on the settings (three dot) icon on the right of the item and select "Enable"
  5. The Syllabus item will now be moved up into the group of active items  
  6. You can move the item to another position by dragging the Syllabus item to the location you wish
  7. Scroll down and save the settings.
  8. The Syllabus will now appear in its new location in your Course Navigation Menu
 Applying a Theme to the Syllabus Page
  1. Open your Syllabus page in Edit mode. (Note: There will be no content in the Rich Content Editor Window!)
  2. Open the DesignPLUS Sidebar.
    1. Make sure you are in the Add New Element tab (tab with the + sign to add content)
    2. Enter "Theme" into the search window
  3. Select the Theme icon under the "Getting Started" category
  4. A Banner Title element will be added to the RCE window, where you can add your Course ID in place of the "Name ##" field!
  5. Refer to the section "Selecting a Theme" in the KB Article Creating Basic Content Pages with Themes for further instructions on how to change or modify the theme on your page.
 Adding Your Course Description
  1. Next you want to add your course description to the Syllabus.
    1. Return to the Add New Element tab in the Sidebar.
    2. Enter "Syllabus" in the search field
    3. Select the "Content Block" icon under the "Getting Started" category
  2. In the "Edit" tab (target icon) in the Sidebar, enter your course title in the field for the "Content Block Heading"
  3. In the RCE window enter the course description under the heading in the text area.
 Linking to Course Sections
  1. To do this:
    1. Return to the "Add New Element" tab in the Sidebar
    2. Enter "theme" in the search field
    3. Select the Theme icon under the "Getting Started" category
  2. In the "Edit Element" (target) tab, click on the "+" in front of the Link Grid option.
  3. A set of default links will be added below your banner title in the RCE window.
  4. In the Sidebar, click on the "Link Grid" title to edit the names or number of links you want to display.
  5. In the Link Grid tool you can modify the titles of the links, change the number of links available, move the location of the links, and select or modify the style of the grid.
  6. Refer to the section "Adding a Link Grid" in the KB Article Creating Basic Content Pages with Themes for further instructions on how to change or modify this element on your page.
 Including the Course Summary
  1. To enable the Course Summary, select the tick box next to the "Show Course Summary" option at the bottom of the window.
 Making the Syllabus Page Your Home Page
  1. Return to the Home Page of your course by clicking on the Home link in the Course Navigation Menu.
  2. On the right side of the page, click on the "Choose Home Page" button.
  3. In the pop-up window,
    1. Select "Syllabus" from the options.
    2. Save the selection.

Removing Syllabus as a Link

  1. Click on Settings at the bottom of the Course Navigation Page.
  2. Select Navigation from the tabs in the top of the page. and locate the Syllabus Item in the first table of items.
  3. Click on the settings (three dot) icon for the Syllabus and select "Disable"
  4. Scroll down and save the settings.



Visit the DesignPLUS Training Series Tutorials for more videos. For more step-by-step guides, visit the DesignPLUS User Guide. (These links will overwrite this page.)


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