About the DesignPLUS Sidebar for Canvas

Important:

On September 28, 2023, the Design Tools Content Editor underwent a major upgrade to become the DesignPLUS sidebar. If you created Canvas content with the Design Tools Content Editor prior to this date, see About the Design Tools content editor upgrade for information about how the upgrade impacts you and your content.

On this page:

Overview
Features
Enable the Sidebar
Get started
Get help

Overview

The DesignPLUS Sidebar, an external app in the DesignPLUS suite from Cidi Labs, is an advanced content editor for Canvas. It provides point-and-click access to advanced page design and formatting features that would otherwise require extensive knowledge of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. The Sidebar can be enabled in any Canvas page or tool where the rich content editor appears, with the exception of New Quizzes (that is, Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, Pages, Syllabus, and Classic Quizzes.)

Important:

The DesignPLUS Sidebar was developed for instructional designers and faculty with intermediate or advanced technology skills. Using the Sidebar without appropriate training and practice can result in time-consuming content formatting problems that can only be corrected by recreating the content or editing the HTML by hand. For a list of Sidebar training and reference resources, see the Get started section.

Features

The DesignPLUS Sidebar is not a replacement for the Canvas rich content editor (RCE). Rather, it complements the RCE with advanced content, formatting, and design capabilities. Here are some of the things you can do with the Sidebar:

Note:

To see the DesignPLUS Sidebar in action, including many of the features described below, watch Introducing the New DesignPLUS Sidebar.

Apply a theme to your content: A theme is a page layout with predefined text and heading styles, colors, graphic elements, etc. Applying the same theme to all of your course content can give it a professional, polished look.
Add a banner image to any page: Select from several sample banners (including IU-themed banners) or add your own.
Add a navigation menu to any page: Add set of links in a dedicated content block that jumps to a part of that page or another page. Each link can be modified once the navigation block is added.
Add/rearrange content blocks: Quickly create or rearrange reusable blocks of text while maintaining your current template design (if applied).
Copy existing content: Add content to a page from other sources, including from institutional templates, pages and templates from the current course, and your other courses.
Create reusable templates: Create model pages, assignments, quizzes, discussions, and announcements to ensure a unified design across your entire course. Then, use the Cidi Labs Multi-Tool to generate module items based on your templates.
Add accordions, expanders, or tabbed elements: Add interactive content that users can hide or show by clicking the title.
Add module progress indicators: Select from several page footers that help students understand where they are within the course structure.
Customize any HTML style: Use a graphical interface to customize any HTML style on the page. Select an element in the RCE to see the available style options for it.
Check accessibility: Use the built-in accessibility checker to confirm the accessibility of headings, links, images, and color contrast.

Enable the Sidebar

The Sidebar is disabled by default. To enable it:

Navigate to any course in which you are a teacher, designer, or TA.
Open any content item (page, assignment, course syllabus, discussion description, quiz description, etc.) and select Edit.
Press one of the following hotkey combinations:
- Windows: Ctrl-1 or Alt-Shift-d
- Mac: control-1 or option-shift-d
If you're using Chrome, you may be switched to a different tab. Navigate back to your Canvas page.

The Content Editor menu will appear on the right-hand side of the screen.
If you want to choose how the editor launches each time you open the RCE, open the Options menu ( ) at the upper right and select User Settings:
- To always launch the full Sidebar, check the box for "Automatically Launch Sidebar".
- To show the Open DesignPLUS Sidebar button (the rocket icon at the upper right of the current page) instead of the full Sidebar, check the box for "Show Launch Button" and uncheck "Automatically Launch Sidebar". With this configuration, you can launch the editor any time in any course by selecting the Open DesignPLUS Sidebar button.
- To hide the Sidebar completely, uncheck both "Automatically Launch Sidebar" and "Show Launch Button". With this configuration, you'll need to use one of the hotkey combinations given in step 3 above to expose the DesignPLUS editor.
You can change these settings at any time by following these steps.
To minimize the editor, select the X at the upper right of the Sidebar. To re-open, select the Open DesignPLUS Sidebar button at the upper right of the page, or use the hotkey combination if the launch button is not visible.

Get started

A variety of resources are available to help you learn to use the DesignPLUS Sidebar at your own pace:

DesignPLUS Sidebar Guide for New Users: Developed by eLearning Design & Services at Indiana University, this abbreviated guide is specifically designed for those who have no experience with the Sidebar. The content is organized from basic to complex so you can master core concepts and features before moving on to advanced features.
DesignPLUS Training Series: Developed by Cidi Labs, this collection of videos covers all the major features of the DesignPLUS Sidebar. UITS highly recommends it for new users and those transitioning from the legacy sidebar.
[New] DesignPLUS User Guide: Developed by Cidi Labs, this is the authoritative reference tool for DesignPLUS Sidebar users. Topics are organized alphabetically by tool or feature name. Each topic includes an introduction, a description of the interface for using the tool or feature, step-by-step instructions, examples, and best practices.

Get help

For help with Cidi Labs DesignPLUS, contact your campus teaching and learning center or email the eDS Instructional Design Clinic.