Setting Up Your Course Homepage

The way you organize your homepage may differ depending on how your course is delivered (e.g., synchronously or asynchronously) and the extent to which you plan to utilize UB Learns. 

A course homepage contains three main areas:

• Navbar
• Banner
  
• Widgets (Announcements, Calendar, Work To Do, etc.) that you want your students to see regularly.
  

Using the course navbar is an efficient way to move between content, activities and tools in your course. The UB Learns default course navbar includes the most utilized course tools, but you can customize your course navbar to fit the workflow of your course. The course navbar should streamline the course navigation for you and your students, bringing access to the high touch points of your course, such as content, discussions and assignments into one place.

In addition to being one of the primary methods for navigating within UB Learns, the course navbar can also include links to external resources. However, keep in mind that space is limited. Adding too many links will force them into an overflow menu. To avoid overflow, group links together. This will allow for drop-down menus, making the navbar easier to use and improving course organization.

Note: Your department or program may have recommendations for course navbar layouts. Please check with your department before customizing your course navbar.

1. On the navbar, click Instructor Only and select Course Admin.
   
2. Click Navigation & Themes.
3. Click the chevron next to Course Navbar and select Copy.
4. Click the name of the new navbar you just created.
   
5. Enter a name for your new course navbar in the Name field.
   
6. In the Links section,
   • Add links by clicking Add Links. Use the search box to find the link you want, click the checkbox to the left of the name and click Add.
     • Note: There are several options for links: Custom Links, System Links and Custom Groups. Consider using Custom Groups to help organize your course links without forcing the links into a More... drop-down menu. 
       
   • Rearrange the order of the links by hovering over a link and dragging-and-dropping it in its new location.
   • Delete an unwanted link by hovering over the link and clicking X.
7. Click Save and Close.
8. Select your modified course navbar from the Active Navbar drop-down menu and click Apply.

The Brightspace Community has additional information about customizing your course navbar.

1. On the course homepage, hover your mouse over the course banner .
   
2. Click the ellipsis icon and select Change Image.
   
3. You can browse the image library or upload an image. The recommended banner image dimensions are 2400 px x 960 px.

You can also modify the banner text by selecting Customize Banner Text in step 2. Please note that this will not change the course name in the My Courses widget or the Course Selector.

1. On the navbar, click Instructor Only and select Course Admin.
2. Click Homepages.
   
3. Click the chevron icon next to Course Landing Page and select Copy.
4. Click the name of the new course landing page you just created.
5. Enter a name for your new course landing in the Name field.
6. Click Change Layout to modify the number of columns in the Layout section,
7. In the Widgets section,
   • Add widgets by clicking Add Widgets. Use the search box to find the widget you want, click the checkbox to the left of the name and click Add.
   • Rearrange the order of the widgets by hovering over a widget and dragging-and-dropping it to a new location.
     
   • Delete an unwanted widget by hovering over the widget and clicking X.
8. Click Save and Close.
9. Select your modified course homepage from the Active Homepage drop-down menu and click Apply.