Step 7 - Set Course and Canvas Settings
Step 7 - Set Course and Canvas Settings
One final and important component of the course development process is updating your course and Canvas settings to ensure the best possible experience for both you and your students.
Look over the information below to make sure your Canvas account and course are set up correctly.
Step 7-1: Set up and Select a Home Page

Canvas Page
The Home Page is the first impression of a course. Select a home page option that best fits the needs of your course.
→ Recommendation: Use a Canvas page as your home page to create a welcome to the course. Include information about the course and visuals to engage your students.
Template: Please note, a college template is available to be added to courses that has a fillable home page.Step 7-2: Create a Start Here Page
Create a Start Here page to let students know what to do the first few days of class. This can include:
- A link to the DFCAS Student Online Orientation
- How to succeed and be prepared for the course
- A "To do list" (e.g., read syllabus/schedule, begin Module 1, post in the intro discussion, etc.)
Step 7-3: Simplify Your Course Navigation
For an optimum course navigation experience, hide unnecessary links to reduce confusion and keep students focused. This also prevents access to restricted files or time-sensitive content that is located in Files and Pages.
→ Recommended Navigation Links: Home, Announcements, Syllabus, Modules, Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes, Grades, People, and any other tools you use.
Step 7-4: Publish Your Course and Content
Step 7-5: Set up Notifications
To ensure you receive communication from Canvas, set up your Notification Preferences and contact method in your Canvas account.
Important: If you have an OU Alias Email it must be set as the default contact method in Canvas in order for you to directly reply to Canvas messages from your OU Email account.
- Your default OU email (already in Canvas) looks something like this: Sooner.the.Horse-1@ou.edu
- Your alias email (a shorter, custom option) looks something like this: soonerTH@ou.edu – this is the one you should add to Canvas.
>>This concludes the section on Creating a Course Online.
Make sure to also review the Teaching Online section that discusses ways you can stay connected to students and also create a presence in your online classroom during the semester.