Home page won't display, modules show up instead

[ken_erickson]

I use pages (not modules) showing three weeks of content for my University course. I did have modules set up initially, but changed back to pages so that the home page for each three week block in the course looks pretty much the same (with zoom links and basic course info always accessible on the home page).

I went to set the page for the next three week block as a home page, and though it shows as "home page" on my list of pages, that's not what you see when you log into this course. You see the old modules page. I can work with this for now, but can't seem to fix it.

My other two courses do not have this problem. I broke something!

I have modules disabled from the settings menu, so it is doubly odd that the home page won't set as a home page, though I did that correctly. Sadly, I use "free for teachers" as our university is still stuck with that horrible competitor, so I can't get help from Canvas now. Any thoughts?

[SusanNiemeyer · Accepted solution]

You have to do three things:

a) Publish the desired page.

b) Designate that page as the "Front Page."

c) Then go to Home and Select "Choose Home Page." Here you need to choose your "Front Page" instead of "Modules."

[SusanNiemeyer · Accepted solution]

You have to do three things:

a) Publish the desired page.

b) Designate that page as the "Front Page."

c) Then go to Home and Select "Choose Home Page." Here you need to choose your "Front Page" instead of "Modules."

[PaulineYuan]

Hi! My home page didn't exist anymore, and I had issues viewing my assignments and grades, etc. Where can I find my home page for each course? Thank you

[Chris_Hofer]

@PaulineYuan ...

It sounds like you are a student.  When you sign in to your school's Canvas environment, you should see courses that you are enrolled in displayed on your Canvas Dashboard.  These are displayed as course "cards" (either with a rectangular color or a rectangular image ... along with the course name/number).  If you don't see your courses listed there, you can go to your "Courses" >> "All Courses" screen in Canvas, and hopefully they will be listed there.  (You can click on the star next to the name of a course to mark it as a "favorite" so that it displays on your Dashboard.)

All this is to say that once you click on a course, you'll be brought to the "Home" page.  However, depending on what your instructors have set up for their courses, the "Home" page may look different from course to course.  Some instructors want to display a "Welcome" page of some type for you and your classmates to read.  Other instructors may want to display the course "Modules" right away instead of a "Welcome" page.  It is really up to the instructor to make that decision.  If you have specific questions about the "Home" page of a course you are taking, I would highly recommend reaching out to your instructor directly.  Directions on how to do that can be found at: How do I get help with Canvas as a student?.

Hopefully this will be of some help to you.  Good luck!

[PaulineYuan]

Thank you so much, I figured it out.

[Oxuser]

I have had this exact problem for the last few weeks and this reply by @Chris_Hofer worked for me! Thanks! It turns out I had my institution log-in linked to my personal login and Canvas was defaulting to my personal account permissions, meaning that I did not have permission to change the home page (but there was no sign of this and I was logging in using my institutional log in so would never have guessed had I not come across this thread!)

[JessicaUrbaniak]

I have this same problem and the solution described did not work. I tried it on two courses, including a brand-new course with no imported content. Any ideas?

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi @JessicaUrbaniak ...

The directions that @SusanNiemeyer had provided above should still work.  So....

1. Make sure your content page is "published".  How do I publish or unpublish a page as an instruc... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)
2. Set your content page as the "Front Page" page so that there is a "Front Page" label next to the page name.  How do I set a Front Page in a course? - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)
3. Set your "Front Page" as your "Home" page that will show up ever time you and your students enter the course.  You'll want to choose the "Pages Front Page" option.  How do I change the Course Home Page? - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)
4. Refresh your course by either exiting your course or just clicking on your "Home" page course navigation button again.  It should now show the page you have designated as your new "Home" page.

Hope this helps!

[JessicaUrbaniak]

Hi @Chris_Hofer thanks for your speedy reply.

I've tried this multiple times and still no dice.

I have been changing the course homepage by going into 'course setup checklist' because it is not an option in my Global Navigation. Could this be part of the issue?

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi again, @JessicaUrbaniak ...

So, you don't have a button called "Choose Home Page" above the "Course Setup Checklist" button ... as illustrated on the right side of the first image in this Guide?

How do I use the Course Setup Checklist? - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

[JessicaUrbaniak]

Correct, I do not have this option on the global navigation.

[Chris_Hofer]

@JessicaUrbaniak ...

Hmmm...this sounds strange to me, but it might relate to the "Course Setup Checklist".  I just looked at my own sandbox course, and I do not have the "Course Setup Checklist" button, but I do have the "Choose Home Page" button.  I even tried creating a brand new course with no content in it, and I did not see the "Course Setup Checklist" button.  I don't know why you wouldn't be able to set your own course home page ... even if you used the "Course Setup Checklist" button.

[JessicaUrbaniak]

Yes, it's very frustrating. It will stay until I hit 'home' again and then it reverts back to modules. If you come up with anything, please let me know. Thank you.

[greydon]

Hello @JessicaUrbaniak 

Because of the complexity of the issue, and the concerns for privacy, it would be best if you contacted Canvas Support directly to pinpoint the source of the issue and provide a resolution:

How do I contact Canvas Support? - Instructure Community  

They will open a case and can look at the specifics of your course and  get to the bottom of it. I would do this next as you've been trying to resolve this with the Community for a long time. 

[SheriVasinda]

When I click on "Home" in the left menu, I get no options to choose my page as the home page. Nothing happens when I click on it.

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi @SheriVasinda ...

Have you tried the steps that I outlined above from 12/14/2022?  The below link should jump up to my posting for you:

Solved: Re: Home page won't display, modules show up inste... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com...

[SheriVasinda]

Thanks for your quick response, Chris. I finally resorted to turning my computer off and restarted. Then I could see the Course Status options. 

[lacy_bryant]

Question: What do you mean go Home and "select 'choose home page?" I did steps 1 and 2, but I can't find the option to select home page as the front page instead of modules. 

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@lacy_bryant ...

Assuming that you are the instructor, you will want to log into your Canvas course.  When you are on your "Home" page, follow the steps in this Guide to select the page that you want to make your "Home" page.

How do I change the Course Home Page? - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

Once the page is selected, you might need to navigate away from the "Home" page (by clicking on a different page in your course, for example) and then return to your "Home" page.  It should now show the page that specified to be your "Home" page.

Does this help to answer your question?

[jeffthompson_]

This worked, thanks! But what a mess, Canvas makes the simplest tasks so difficult...