Customize your course home page in myCourses
Your Course Home page is the first thing that students see when they log into your course. The below screenshot shows the default layout of the Course Home page.
Create a copy of a course home page
If you want to make changes to the homepage, you will need to first make a copy.To create a copy of a Course Home page:
On the Course Home page, click Course Admin on the course Navigation Bar.
Click Homepages under the Site Setup heading.
Click on the drop down menu next to the McGill Course Home page that you want to copy and select copy.
Click on the Name for the page that was copied.
Enter a new Name and Description for the page.
Click Save and Close.
Change course home page settings
On the Course Home page, click the three dots at the bottom-right corner and then select Edit this Homepage from the drop-down menu. On this page, you can change the following settings:
Description: Enter a description for the page in the list.
Homepage Header: Select the checkbox beside Include custom homepage header to display either the name of your course or custom text at the top of the page.
Homepage Type: Select one of the following options:
Design a widget-based homepage: Allows you to customize your Course Home page with widgets.
Make an existing tool the homepage: Allows you to select a tool as your Course Home page. All students will go to the main page of that tool when they access your course. This is useful if you are only using one tool in your course (e.g. Content, Discussions).
Make an existing URL the homepage: Allows you to make a web page appear below your Navigation Bar as your Course Home page (not recommended).
Customize your course home page with widgets in myCourses
Widget is the term used in myCourses for the boxes placed on the My Home and Course Home pages. These boxes serve various purposes, such as displaying or linking to information or media. For example, the Announcements widget allows you to view, create and manage course announcements.
You can personalize your Course Home page by adding, removing, styling, or rearranging the widgets that appear on it.
Although you cannot change the widgets on the My Home page, you can do the following for any Course Home page:
Create a new course home page with widgets by removing or adding, rearranging or changing the display options of the widgets.
Enable and create custom widgets in myCourses to display your own videos, text, images, RSS feeds, your course outline, or anything you think will enhance the students' learning.
See Available widgets in myCourses for a list of widgets that can be added to your Course Home page.
Create a new course home page with widgets
You can personalize your Course Home page by adding, removing, styling or rearranging the widgets that appear on it.
On the Course Home page, click Course Admin on the course Navigation Bar.
Click Homepages under the Site Setup heading.
Click Create Homepage.
Enter a new Name for the page.
Click Change Layout to select a layout for your widgets.
Click the Add Widgets button in the panel where you wish to add the widget.
The width of your widget depends on the width of the panel in which you place it and the width of your computer screen.
In the pop-up window that appears, select the checkbox beside each widget you want to add.
Click Add.
Click Save and Close.
Organize widgets on the course home page
On the Course Home page, click the three dots at the bottom-right corner and then select Edit this Homepage from the drop-down menu. On this page, you can do the following:
Click Change Layout to select a different layout for the widgets on your Course Home page.
Move a widget by dragging it to the desired location.
Remove a widget by clicking the X at the top-right corner of the widget. This will not permanently delete the widget.
With the new myCourses look and feel, you can no longer change the border style, change the title bar color, text and alignment, add a show, and mark the widget transparent.
Customize the banner of your course home page
Hover your mouse over the default image at the top of your Course Home page and click the three dots (...) to see the following options:
Change Image: Search for an appropriate image from the library or click Upload (top-right) to upload your own image.
Customize Banner Text: Select the Custom radio button to write your own banner text or select the None radio button to remove the text entirely.
Remove this Banner: Remove both the banner image and text.
Set the new course home page to be active
To apply the new page to your course, go back to Homepages.
From the Active Homepage drop-down list, select your new Course Home page.
Click Apply.
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