Cidi Labs DesignPLUS
Review Tips and Next Steps

Congratulations! You're ready to apply your newly acquired DesignPLUS skills to your own Canvas courses. But before we part ways, let’s review a few essential topics:

Key tips and tricks for working with DesignPLUS.
Strategies for updating existing Canvas content.
Resources to continue learning about DesignPLUS.

Use the Sidebar Effectively

As you've likely discovered, the DesignPLUS Sidebar is a game-changer that gives your course a polished, professional appearance. However, if you're not careful, it's possible to break formatting accidentally. Follow these tips and tricks to protect your hard work and recover quickly if needed.

Open for Sidebar Tips and Tricks

Deleting DesignPLUS Elements

Never delete DesignPLUS elements (such as Banner Titles, Progress Indicators, or Icons) by selecting and deleting them in the Canvas RCE.
Instead, place your cursor in the element in the Canvas RCE. Then, in the DesignPLUS Sidebar, select the Edit Current Element tab and select the element as the active tool. In the Action Toolbar, select the Delete icon to remove the element's code from the page properly.

Theme Deletion Warning

Never remove the Theme element with the Delete icon, as described above. A Theme wraps the entire page, and deleting it will erase everything on the page!

Instead, to remove Theme styles from specific elements like Headings, Banner Titles, or Link Grids, select the element as the active tool and in the Action Toolbar, use the Clear Styles button.

Common Editing Actions

When working with DesignPLUS, forget your standard copy/paste habits.
Instead, to cut, copy, duplicate, or move DesignPLUS elements:
1. In the Canvas RCE, place your cursor inside the element.
2. In the DesignPLUS Sidebar, select the Edit Current Element tab and select the element as the active tool.
3. Use the Action Toolbar to complete the following actions:
  - Copy the element to your clipboard.
  - Cut the element into your clipboard.
  - Duplicate the element (create an identical copy beneath the original).
  - Move Up to arrange the element above other elements on the page.
  - Move Down to arrange the element below other elements on the page.
  - Add Paragraph Before to create a blank line of plain text before the element.
  - Add Paragraph After to create a blank line of plain text after the element.
  - Delete the entire element and its associated content.

Undo and Redo

If you make a mistake, use the Undo button at the top of the DesignPLUS Sidebar.
Important: Undo will remove any text added since the last save. Consider copying important work into another document before undoing major revisions.

Revert with Page History

Save your work regularly.
If major issues arise, Canvas Page History lets you revert to a previously saved version of the Page. You will lose all changes. Learn more at How do I view the history of a page in a course? (Instructure Community).

Warning!

Page History is only available for Pages! Other content, such as Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes, does not have this feature.

Stick with What You Know

Avoid using DesignPLUS elements not covered in this course without additional training.
The techniques you’ve learned should not interfere with using the Canvas RCE for regular edits.
The more complex DesignPLUS elements you add, the greater the risk of introducing formatting problems.

Update Your Canvas Courses

It's time to apply your skills where they really matter: your own Canvas courses. If you’re unsure where to begin, follow the steps below. Note: You'll likely need to edit nearly every content item, so plan time accordingly.

Refer to Integrating Content (Google Doc) and Styling Plain Content (Google Doc) for additional guidance.

Open for Instructions on Updating Your Courses

After copying your course content for a new semester, navigate to the copy of the course.
If your course uses a Canvas Page as the Home (Front) Page, edit it to make the following updates with the DesignPLUS Sidebar:
1. Apply a DesignPLUS Theme to the Page and note the selected Theme for other course content.
2. Customize the Banner Title text as needed.
3. If the content has section headings, set top-level headings to Heading 3, and consider adding icons thoughtfully and consistently.
4. Add a Banner Image.
5. Style any inline images using the DesignPLUS Image tool: set alt text (or mark as decorative if appropriate), add optional captions, size the image appropriately, and apply alignment and consistent style options.
For the remainder of your course content (Pages, Assignments, Classic Quizzes, Discussions, Syllabus):
1. Apply the same DesignPLUS Theme you used for the Home (Front) Page.
2. Update the Title and Prefix fields in the Banner Title as needed.
3. If the content has section headings, set top-level headings to Heading 3 and use thoughtful, consistent icons.
4. Add Banner Images to module overview pages if desired.
5. Style any inline images consistently using the DesignPLUS Image tool.
6. If utilizing Canvas Modules, consider adding a Module Progress Indicator at the top or bottom of each module item.
After updating your content, use Student View to review how everything appears.

Learn More About DesignPLUS

If you're excited to keep learning, plenty of resources are available! Start with the DesignPLUS Sidebar Training Series (Cidi Labs Video Hub): eight short, task-based videos perfect for building on everything you've learned so far.

You'll find these and many other resources below:

Open for DesignPLUS Training and Documentation Resources

Written Guides

Cidi Labs DesignPLUS User Guide (Cidi Labs Canvas)
DesignPLUS Sidebar Training Resources (Cidi Labs Canvas)
Upload/Embed Image Tool (Cidi Labs Canvas)

Training Videos from Cidi Labs

When time permits, we highly recommend the DesignPLUS Summer School series (Cidi Labs Video Hub), which offers an excellent, comprehensive introduction to DesignPLUS.

For more focused training, check out these playlists:

Sidebar Training Series (Cidi Labs Video Hub)
DesignPLUS Video Tutorials (Cidi Labs Video Hub)

If you enjoyed this DesignPLUS Basics training and want to continue building your skills with Cidi Labs DesignPLUS, check out our Intermediate course! Select the link below to self-enroll.

Cidi Labs: ODU Intermediate Training Course