Quick Tip: Customize the course cards on your Canvas Dashboard

POSTED: Oct. 26, 2022


Once you’ve been teaching in Canvas for a while, you may find that your Dashboard starts to look a little cluttered.  To make it easier to find the courses you need when you need them, consider taking a few minutes to customize how your course cards appear on your Canvas Dashboard. 

  • Add a course card image (Instructors only)
    As the instructor, you can add images to your course cards, which will show both on your dashboard as well as your enrolled students’ dashboards. 

    Tip: You can use PowerPoint to create your own course card image with the course name, number, instructor, etc.  You can also include section information, which is especially helpful for students if you have cross-listed/combined sections in Canvas.  Simply create a PowerPoint slide, save as a JPEG or PNG file, and upload it as the course card. 

     
  • Customize the course cards on your Canvas Dashboard (nicknames, colors, and layout)
    This guide walks you through how to add course nicknames, choose card colors, move course cards, and add/remove the color overlay.  All Canvas users can make their own customizations, and any changes you make will appear only to you, not to your students.

    Did you know?  Course nicknames don’t just show up on your Dashboard – they also appear in the course navigation menu, breadcrumb trail (upper left corner inside your course), and notification emails.

     
  • Customize your Courses list (favorite courses)
    This guide walks you through how to select which courses appear on your Dashboard and in your Courses list by “favoriting” them. 

    Tip: You can always access all courses in which you are enrolled by clicking the “Courses” button in the global navigation menu on the left, then clicking “All Courses” at the bottom of the panel.

 

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