Editing Pages

To edit a page, navigate to the page and click the "Edit" button. Or create a new page in the modules section or in the Pages view. For details, see the Canvas documentation: Creating a New Page.

When you're editing a page, Canvas uses the Rich Content Editor, which looks like this:

You can type text, make links, insert images and embed videos. To make links to other parts of your course on Canvas, use the "Content Selector" on the right hand side. When you click on a link, file, or image in that area, it will be inserted wherever your cursor is. You can also use the Content Selector to upload new files or images, and to create new content pages.

The editor is fairly self-explanatory and will work like a word processor. The official Canvas documentation has lots of extra detail. See What is the Rich Content Editor. Here are a few commonly-used items:

Creating Links

There are two separate ways to create two different types of links on a Canvas page:

1) To create a link to a web page (a page outside of Canvas), click on the "Create Link" icon that looks like a chain link. Then type (or paste) in the full link to the web page and click the "Insert Link" button.

2) To create a link to an item within your Canvas course, use the Content Selector on the right side.

For example, to link to a file which you had previously uploaded into your course:

    1. Position your cursor in the text where you want the link to appear
    2. Click the Files tab in the Content Selector
    3. Click the blue "course files" folder
    4. Find the file and click on it - a link will appear

If you haven't yet uploaded the file, you can use the "Upload a new file" link. Your file will be linked on the page and will appear in the Files section. See Organizing Content - Storage for more detail about this process.

Embedding Images

To embed an image, click the Insert Image icon. Next, choose where to find the image. Typically, you'll choose the "Canvas" tab and find an image you have previously uploaded. You can also use the Content Selector on the right hand side, under the Image tab.

Whenever you're inserting an image, be sure to fill in the "Alt text" - so that students with visual impairment using screen readers will know what the image is about.

In general, when you're uploading images to a web page, you should use images that are already correctly sized. Learn how to use a photo editing program to do these three basic tasks:

    • Rotate
    • Crop
    • Resize (change the pixel dimensions)

You can use the free online image editing program called Pixlr (click Pixlr Editor). For sizing, images should be less than about 500 by 500 pixels. A banner image across the top of a page could be 700 pixels wide by 100 pixels high.

See more details in the Canvas documentation: Embedding Images

Embedding YouTube videos

It's easy to embed YouTube videos:

  • Go to YouTube, find the video
  • Copy the URL link
  • Paste the link into the Editor
  • As soon as you press SPACE or ENTER, Canvas will recognize and convert the link

For more details in the Canvas documentation: Embedding YouTube Links

Formatting Text

Rather than using the Font Size to change the size of text, change the format from Paragraph to Heading 1, etc. (this is easier for screen readers to interpret for the visually impaired).

Copying from Word: If you're creating content by copying and pasting from a word processor such as Microsoft Word, you're likely to accidentally copy a lot of extra formatting code when you paste into the editor. We recommend that after you paste, you highlight the text then use the clear formatting icon (sixth from left) to remove all the formatting. Then put back whatever formatting you need with the icons in the editor.