Navigation: Controlling Student Access to Course Content
As an instructor, you can control which links appear in Course Navigation. Canvas includes a set of default Course Navigation links that are shown by default and cannot be renamed. Depending on your course configuration, other links may be available and may be customizable.
Links to sections that don't have any content and that students cannot create content for will be automatically hidden for students and will display the Visibility icon to instructors. For example, if there are no learning outcomes set for the course, you will see the Outcomes link with the Visibility icon, but students will not see the link at all. Configured External Apps may create additional Course Navigation links (i.e., Box, Zoom, Panopto, Piazza).
Disabling a course navigation link creates the following redirects:
- Hidden only (cannot be disabled but still accessible via direct URL): Discussions and Grades
- Page disabled; redirected to Home page: Announcements, Assignments, Conferences, Collaborations, Files, Modules, Outcomes, Quizzes, Pages, People, Rubrics, and Syllabus
- Page disabled; won't appear in navigation: Any LTI links, such as Attendance, Chat, and SCORM (i.e., Zoom and Panopto Video)
Reordering and hiding Course Navigation links for Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, and Files also affects the course tabs in the Dashboard course view Links to an external site.for all users. Additionally, disabling the Files link will hide the Files tab in the Content Selector in the Rich Content Editor for students.
The following course navigation links will still be visible to instructors even if they have been hidden or disabled: Home, Announcements, Assignments, Collaborations, Conferences, Discussions, Files, Grades, Modules, Outcomes, Pages, People, Quizzes, Rubrics, Settings, and Syllabus.
Notes:
- If you disable the Course Navigation link for an external tool, the link no longer displays in your Course Navigation list (i.e., Zoom and Panopto Video).
- If the course navigation link for the page is disabled and hidden from students, the Student View button does not display.
Open Settings
In Course Navigation, click the Settings link.
Open Navigation
Click the Navigation tab.
Drag and Drop Navigation Links
You can use the drag and drop option to reorder navigation links. Click the navigation link you would like to move. Drop the navigation link in the desired location by releasing the mouse.
Move Navigation Links
You can also use the Move To option to reorder an navigation link. Click the Options icon [1] and select the Move link [2].
Note: The Move To option only moves a navigation link within its respective section (visible or hidden). Hidden items must first be enabled before they can be ordered among visible navigation items. A hidden item cannot be moved directly to the enabled link section using the Move To option.
Place Navigation Link Location
In the Move Navigation Item sidebar, click the Place drop-down menu [1]. Select the placement of the navigation link you are moving [2]. You can move the link so it is located at the top of the list, before a specific navigation link, after a specific navigation link, or at the bottom of the list.
Place Before or After
If you selected the Before or After option, click the second drop-down menu [1]. Select the navigation link that should be before or after the link you are moving, as indicated by the option selected in the previous menu [2].
If you want to move the navigation link to another location, change the sidebar placement options as needed.
Move Navigation Item
Click the Move button.
Hide Navigation Links
To hide a navigation link, click the link Options icon [1] and select the Disable option [2].
You can also drag and drop the link to the hidden section at the bottom of the page.
Enable Navigation Links
To enable a link in the hidden section [1], click the Options icon [2] and click the Enable button [3].
You can also drag and drop the link above the hidden section.
Save Navigation
Click the Save button.
View Course Navigation Links
View the Course Navigation Menu. Navigation links will display in the same order that you have designated in Course Settings.
Any Course Navigation link that is hidden from students displays the Visibility icon [1]. A link may be hidden to students because the feature area has no content [2] or because the link is disabled [3].
Note: If you have disabled a Course Navigation link to an external tool, that link will not display in Course Navigation and is hidden to all course users, including instructors (i.e., Zoom and Panopto Video).