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View Course Cards
By default, active course cards are automatically added by Canvas and display up to 20 courses.
Dashboard courses are ordered alphabetically by course name and your role in the course; nicknames and course codes do not apply to course ordering. Courses with instructor roles are listed first, followed by TA roles and student roles.
Note: If you want to remove the default course card setting, you can customize the course list and manually select your favorite courses to display in the Dashboard. When you favorite at least one course, the Dashboard will only display favorited courses. Canvas will also continue to automatically favorite new published course enrollments.
View Card Details
Course cards show an overview of course information including the course name, course code, and the term [1].
Each card can include up to four tabs [2], which represent the four main Canvas features for student course activity: Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, and Files. These tabs mimic visibility and order in Course Navigation, so for instance, if an instructor hides the Announcements link, the Announcements tab will not display on the course card.
An unread icon on the Discussions or Announcements tab indicates that there is a new discussion or announcement in the course [3]. The number in the icon indicates the number of new items.
Create Nickname
If one of your courses includes a long or confusing name, you can create a nickname for your course. Most courses are created using Student Information Systems (SIS) that generate course names based on terms, departments, and section numbers, and courses with similar names may be hard to distinguish.
Course nicknames appear in the Dashboard, Course Navigation Menu, course breadcrumbs, and notification emails.
A course nickname does not affect the course name at the account or course level; it only changes the name of the course for the individual user who created the nickname.
If you need to know the original name of the course, you can hover over the nickname and the original name will appear. Additionally, the course code is not affected and always displays on the course card for course reference.
Notes:
This feature does not currently apply to the global Grades page and Dashboard sidebar elements such as the To Do list.
Course nicknames are limited to 59 characters.
Manage Nickname
To add a nickname, click the More Options icon [1], then type the name in the nickname field [2]. Click the Apply button [3].
To remove a nickname, open the card settings and remove the nickname. The Nickname field will display the original name of the course.
Change Course Color
Course cards can help you organize your courses by customizing the color, which is synced with the color shown for the course in the Calendar. To change the color, click the card's More Options icon [1], then select a new color. The check mark indicates the selected color [2], and the hex color code displays in the text field [3]. If you want to use a color not shown in the window, you can enter the color's hex code directly in in the text field. The hex field will display a warning icon if the hex code is not valid. Additionally, any variation of white is not accepted as a course color.
Click the Apply button [4].
Note: If you change the color for a course in the Calendar, the Dashboard will also update with the new calendar color.
Move Course Cards
You can also move a course card to another location in the Dashboard. Click the Options menu [1] and select the Move tab [2]. Depending on the placement of the existing card, you can move the card to the top of the Dashboard, ahead or behind a specific card, or to the bottom of the Dashboard [3].
Once a dashboard card has been reordered, new courses added to the Dashboard always display at the end of all existing courses.
Drag and Drop Course Cards
You can also manually drag and drop a course card to another location in the Dashboard. Click on a course card and drag it to the desired location.
View Color Overlay
Some courses may include an image for the course behind the course color [1]. By default, course cards with an image include a color overlay.
To remove the color overlay from all course cards that contain an image, click the Options icon [2] and then deselect the Color Overlay link [3].
Remove Color Overlay
When the Color Overlay is removed, the course color will display as a circle behind the card's More Options icon.
View Sidebar Course Items
The sidebar shows various action items in all your courses. Each item is associated with a specific course. All items from all your active courses display in the sidebar—not just favorited courses in the Dashboard.
For course identification, each sidebar item displays the course code, or short name, for the course [1]. The course code is located directly below the full course name.
Course nickname scan be set in place of sidebar course codes that are long or otherwise confusing to remember which courses they represent. If you have created a nickname for a course, the nickname displays in the sidebar instead of the course code [2]. However, the original course code always displays in the course card.
View Student Sections
The sidebar helps you see what you need to do next and what feedback you've received across all your courses. However, assignments that are not graded or do not require an online submission only display until the due date.
The To Do section shows up to seven items with due dates or event dates in the upcoming weeks, including ungraded quizzes, assignments that do not require a Canvas submission, and course announcements [1]. Each item in the To Do list displays the assignment name, the course name, the number of points, and the due date for the assignment. Once the due date has passed, items remain in this section for four weeks.
The Recent Feedback section shows assignments with feedback from your instructor during the last four weeks [2].
The View Grades button links to the Dashboard Grades page and displays grades for all active courses [3].
Manage Sidebar Items
Each section item displays an icon to differentiate between different assignment types and other items in the To Do list [1].
If a section contains more items than can be shown, you can view all to-do items using the Show All link [2]. This link directs you to the List View Dashboard.
To remove a To Do item, click the remove icon [3].
Note:Assignments submitted through Canvas disappear automatically from the To Do list; no-submission assignments (submitted on paper/in class) can only be removed from the list manually.