Table of Contents
- What
is DesignPLUS?
- Launch
the Design Tools
- Create/Edit
Content
- Upload/Embed
Image Tool
- Accessibility
Tools
- Tips
and Tricks
- Resources
and Help
1. What is
DesignPLUS?
If you feel like you have a comfortable
grasp of Canvas, then you may want to use
DesignPLUS to help style your Canvas
pages. DesignPLUS is a collection of
software tools that are integrated within
Canvas to extend and enhance many of
Canvas’s tools and features. As an example
of how DesignPLUS can enhance the layout
of your Canvas pages, take a look at these before and after
screenshots and watch the video
below.
DesignPLUS is a collection of tools, but
this help document will mostly focus on
Design Tools. There is also a small
portion of the training dedicated to the
Embed/Upload Image tool. The following
video mentions another tool, called
Multi-Tool, which is not covered by this
help document.
What can Design Tools for Canvas do
for you?
Because DesignPLUS has a lot of tools and
functionality, this Help Doc is designed to
introduce you to some of its most useful
features by directing you to specific sections
of the DesignPLUS User Guide.
As you read through the different features, we
strongly encourage you to experiment with
DesignPLUS in your Canvas development (DEV)
site.
If you do not have a DEV site, you can
request one by visitingHow do I request a Canvas
development (DEV) site?
The features and topics that we will
highlight in the rest of this Help Doc are:
- Launch the Design Tools
- Create/Edit Content
- Upload/Embed Image Tool
- Accessibility Tools
- Tips and Tricks
- Resources and Help
2. Launch the Design Tools
First off, you will need to know how to
open Design Tools in Canvas. See the
following guide on how to access Design
Tools.
Once you’ve launched Design Tools, watch
the video below to get an idea of the
interface. However, don’t get overwhelmed
by its many features. We will guide you to
the more essential features that most
faculty will find useful.
Introducing the Design Tools Interface
Useful Tips for Launching Design Tools
- When in Edit mode in the Rich Content
Editor, press Alt+Shift+D to turn the
tool on (Note: for mobile devices such
as Microsoft Surface, try Control-1 as a keyboard
shortcut)
- You can turn off Design Tools by
pressing the X in the top right
- You can toggle "Automatically launch
Tools" and "Show launch button" in the
settings
3. Create/Edit Content
The key feature of Design Tools is to
help you create or edit content on your
Canvas pages so that it is more visually
appealing, thus improving the student
experience. The before and after
screenshots mentioned above
illustrate some of what you can do to
enhance the look and layout of your
average Canvas page. Watch this next video
to get an idea of how to create content
using Design Tools.
Creating Content with Design Tools
Since there are different elements to
creating and editing content, we recommend
that you review each page in this module and
practice using each tool as you go.
4. Upload/Embed Image
Tool
You probably already add occasional
images to your Canvas course, but with
DesignPLUS, you’ll find that the process
is easier and has greater functionality.
Watch this video to see how to use the
Upload/Embed Image tool.
Working with Images Using Design Tools
You can also read over the pages below to see
how to use the upload and embed image tool.
5. Accessibility Tools
Design Tools has a tool to make sure the
content on your Canvas pages is accessible
so that students with disabilities can
easily understand the content and layout.
This video demonstrates how to use this
tool.
Improving Accessibility of Content Using
Design Tools
Read over the following page and follow the
steps to check your Canvas pages for
accessibility.
6. Tips and Tricks
Below are a few tips and tricks to keep
in mind as you start using Design Tools.
Using a new tool can be a bit difficult
and even frustrating at times, so keeping
in mind the following can help.
Undo Most Mistakes with Ctrl+Z
Pressing Ctrl+Z on your keyboard
initiates an “Undo” interaction with most
text editing programs, including the Rich
Content Editor in Canvas. This reverses
the last change made to the text. See the
following Canvas Guide to learn a little
more about the Rich Content Editor.
What this means is that when you make a
mistake using Design Tools, you can
usually press Ctrl+Z to reverse that
mistake and start over. This is a very
helpful skill to have when learning how to
create things using this tool. Though, be
warned, sometimes with Design Tools this
doesn't work, so make sure to practice
with it and see how you can use it.
Restore Previous Page History
Whether using Design Tools in Canvas
or not, sometimes it is easy to make
mistakes when creating Canvas pages
for your course. Occasionally, we even
make mistakes and accidentally save
the progress. Fortunately, Canvas has
a way to fix these mistakes. When you
save a page, it shows up in the page
history, and that page can then be
reverted to a previous version. The
following Canvas Guide shows you how
to do this.
We recommend saving often and using
the page history to restore previous
pages when you make a mistake.
Banner Text
When editing a page created by Design
Tools, there is usually some text at the
top of the screen giving the name of the
page, and sometimes more information such
as the module number. This is called
“banner text” by Design Tools.
We recommend that you use the Design
Tools interface, to the right of the
screen, when editing this text. Editing it
directly in the Rich Content Editor could
cause some problems.
To customize banner text, expand the
Create/Edit Content panel in the Design
Tools interface, then expand the Customize
Banner Text options.
Also, content block titles could cause
some similar issues, but there is no way
to use the Design Tools interface to
rename them. We recommend that you try to
edit them, but be ready to use Ctrl+Z or
to restore a previous version of the page
if the page accidentally formats poorly.
Copying Existing Content Saves
Time
There are multiple ways that you can
import content quickly from one page
to another. The first step is to click
the “Copy Existing Content” link,
which you can find through the menu,
or click the first icon in the top
left corner of the Design Tools
interface.
Template Pages
This is for people who have created
their own templates at the course
level. We generally do not recommend
using this tool.
All Course Pages
This allows you to quickly pull in
any page that you have already created
in your course. This is great if you
are using consistent page design, such
as if all of your quizzes have
different content but otherwise look
the same.
Institution Templates
This is a set of preprogrammed
templates that will help you get a
page started.
Copy Content by URL
This allows you to copy a URL from a
Canvas page in another course, and
bring in that content and design.
7. Resources and Help
Contact eLearning Support
If you have any other questions or
want more training, we would be happy
to help you. Feel free to email or
call us to schedule a consultation.
Email: elearningsupport@slcc.edu
Ext.: 5125 option #3
Cidi Labs Knowledge Base
You may find it useful to go straight to
the Cidi Labs Knowledge Base. Cidi Labs
created DesignPLUS and have several help
docs that answer frequently asked
questions.
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