Adding a custom link to navigation area?

[Richard-Miami]

How do I add a custom link to the Navigation Area?

A link that would point to a Module or a page I have created.

Thanks!

[TrishaMeyer1]

Hi @Richard-Miami ,

I think you want the Redirect tool. I tried to find Canvas documentation but couldn't, so here is a guide from Yale University that explains the process.

Creating a Custom Link in Your Course Navigation Using the Redirect Tool

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi @Richard-Miami ...

I agree with @TrishaMeyer1 that using the Re-direct Tool (and external LTI) is certainly one way you can add menu items to the left-hand side of your course menu.  You'd just need to paste in the URL of the page that you want to point to.  For pointing to a module, it's a little bit trickier...because you need to know the ID number of the module.  I tried this out in my own sandbox course.

• In a page, I typed some text and then made a link to the module on that text.
• Once the link was created, I then looked at the HTML code to see what the URL would be.  It showed something like this:
  • /courses/12345/modules/67890 (these numbers would obviously be different for you)
• When I added the link via the Re-direct Tool, I typed in the full URL.  For example: https://SchoolName.instructure.com/courses/12345/modules/67890

One thing you need to keep in mind, though, is that if you intend on importing/copying this course content into any other current course shells (maybe you are teaching more than one section of this course, for example) or you intend on using this course content in a future course in an upcoming semester...the links you create in this course will not be updated for other courses.  They will still point to the current course...where students do not have access.

Have you considered, instead, creating these links as part of a course announcement, as part of your "Course Home" page, or part of another page you might display at the very top of your "Modules" index page?  If you create these links on course content pages, when you copy/import the course content later on, those links should automatically update for you without you needing to do this yourself.

Anyway...I wanted to provide this information for you to consider, too...for what it's worth.  I hope it is helpful.  Sing out if you have any questions.  Thanks!

[Richard-Miami]

Thank you @TrishaMeyer1 , this is exactly what I need.

Currently I do not have it, I will ask my school if they do, and whether it can be made available!

[Richard-Miami]

Hi @Chris_Hofer 

Thank you so much for taking the time to provide a detailed and clear explanation, thank you for sharing your insight and experience.

I was able to create a link to my module, what I'm finding out, this is nothing more than an anchor link that takes you to the "Modules Page" and jumps to that specific module. I guess Canvas does not have the capability to display only one of the existing course modules on a page.

[Chris_Hofer]

@Richard-Miami ...

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I guess Canvas does not have the capability to display only one of the existing course modules on a page.

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That is true.  Canvas does not have that capability.  However, if you had the Design Tools (DesignPLUS) tool from Cidi Labs that integrates with Canvas, I believe this is possible (just one of the many things you can do with Design Tools).

[Richard-Miami]

Hi @Chris_Hofer 

I have DesignTool, maybe this is a scaled down version of DesignPlus. I played around with it, don't see an option to embed a specific Module.

[Chris_Hofer]

@Richard-Miami …

As far as I know, there is no “scaled down” version of Design Tools.  In my former position as a Canvas admin in higher ed, I got to test out Design Tools quite a bit.  There are some “hidden gems” that Kenneth has created that aren’t necessarily well known which can be used in Design Tools when building content pages.  I’m not currently at my laptop right now, but when I get home tonight, I’ll explore this a bit more for you.  I’m 99% sure there’s a way to display a single module (and the items in it) as an embedded element in a content page.  Stay tuned…

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi again, @Richard-Miami ...

So I've found a couple things in Design Tools that I think you'll want to check out:

• If you add a new content page to one of your modules, there seems to be a way you can use Design Tools to add the entire module list (the current module you are working in) as an embedded module list on that new content page.
  1. In Design Tools, click on "Add Advanced Elements".
  2. Click on "Module Progress/Navigation".
  3. Place your cursor on the area of your content page where you want to insert/embed the module list.
  4. Back on the Design Tools interface, click on the "Insert at Cursor" button under the heading "Module Item Details".  (The description of this is, "Module detail list similar to what is displayed on the modules page".)
  5. Save your page, and you should see an embedded module (the current one you are working on) should show up on that page.  Here's an example from my own sandbox course:
     
     
• I mentioned in my earlier response this evening that there are some "Hidden Gems" that Kenneth has created for use in Design Tools.  Those are located at: Hidden Gems: DesignPLUS User Guide (instructure.com).  There are a handful of these that you might want to take a look at:
  • Course/Module Navigation Button (you can actually see how this one works directly on the "Hidden Gems" page.  Notice on the upper right corner of the blue "DesignPLUS Hidden Gems" banner there is a gray "User Guide Navigation" button.  Click on that!  Notice all the modules listed.  🙂
  • Module Item Details (I think this is similar to the first option I've descrived above.)
  • Module Tabs Navigation
  • Module List active tab based on completion

Hopefully you'll find some good stuff in here to try.  I hope it will be helpful to you!