Request a DesignPLUS Extended or Shared Customizations course for your school, department, or workgroup

• Overview
• Extended Customizations courses
• Shared Customizations courses
• Request a customization course

Overview

Many of the options available to users of the DesignPLUS Sidebar are controlled by the content and settings in a Canvas course designated as the DesignPLUS Primary Customizations course. Choices made in the Primary Customizations course determine the default settings and visibility of specific tools in the Sidebar, the content and design of page templates and content blocks, the themes and styles available for the banner title, link grid, and page heading elements, and many other customization options. Additionally, Extended Customizations courses and Shared Customizations courses are available for units and workgroups that want to create custom styles, templates, content, and other types of custom assets for their users.

For more, see About Customizations in the DesignPLUS Admin Guide.

Extended Customizations courses

For schools and departments interested in developing their own templates, content blocks, themes, and/or styles, DesignPLUS supports the creation of Extended Customizations courses. Extended Customizations courses are created at the subaccount level, and their customizations are available in any course within or beneath the subaccount where the course resides.

Shared Customizations courses

Shared Customizations courses are intended to serve a specific group of users with common customization needs, and are not tied to a specific school or subaccount. Here are some potential use cases for Shared Customizations courses:

• Limit access to customizations: A department wants to create a set of custom themes, templates, and content blocks for a single online program or a specific set of courses within the department. These custom assets should be visible only to the designers and instructors of the designated courses.
• Provide access to customizations across unrelated subaccounts: A new IU Online program includes courses from multiple IU campuses and departments, and the instructional designers working on the program need a central repository to create, share, and access custom DesignPLUS assets for use across all courses in the program.

Request an Extended or Shared Customizations course

If your school, department, or workgroup makes extensive use of the DesignPLUS Sidebar, UITS can help set up a DesignPLUS Extended or Shared Customizations course to address specific needs. After the initial setup, the unit or workgroup will be responsible for creating and maintaining shared resources (templates, themes, styles, content blocks, etc.) and any other customizations added to the course. Before submitting a request, be prepared to provide the following information:

• Description of need: What is your unit or group trying to accomplish with the customizations?
• Type of Customizations course: Extended or Shared
• Subaccount name: For Extended Customizations courses only
• Primary and backup administrators: Provide the names and email addresses of two individuals who will assume responsibility for maintaining the course. These individuals should be proficient with the DesignPLUS Sidebar and be committed to learning about the administration of an Extended/Shared Customizations course, as described in the DesignPLUS Admin Guide.

To make a request, complete the DesignPLUS Customizations Course Request form.