Canvas@Illinois, Automatically Launch the DesignPLUS Sidebar
Overview
The Design Tools Sidebar is available to everyone when editing content in Canvas. However, it needs to be activated with a keyboard short cut (see Canvas@Illinois, Access the Legacy DesignPLUS Sidebar with Keyboard Shortcut). If you would like to have this tool automatically launch and open by default to avoid using the keyboard shortcut each time, you can adjust your user settings.
How you automatically launch the sidebar will depend on which version you are using. If you are new to using DesignPLUS, we recommend starting with the New DesignPLUS Sidebar.
Click below to expand the instructions:
New DesignPLUS Sidebar Instructions
- When editing content, use the keyboard shortcut to open the DesignPLUS Sidebar: Canvas@Illinois, Enable the New DesignPLUS Sidebar
- Select the More options (kebab) menu button in the top right.
- Select User Settings from the drop down menu.
- In the Launch Sidebar section, select either Automatically Launch Sidebar or Show Launch Button.
Which Setting is Right for Me?
- If you plan to always use the DesignPLUS Sidebar and want it to quickly be accessible when you edit content, we recommend checking the box to Automatically Launch the Sidebar. This will help save time by automatically expanding the sidebar whenever you edit content such as a page, assignment, or discussion.
- If you won't frequently use the DesignPLUS Sidebar, we recommend checking the box to Show Launch Button. This will help save time by displaying a rocketship icon whenever you edit content but won't automatically expand the full sidebar if it's not needed while editing pages, assignments, or discusions.
Legacy Sidebar Instructions
- When editing content, use the keyboard shortcut to open the Design Tools Sidebar.
- For PC: Alt + Shift + D
- For Mac: Option + Shift + D
- Select the Design Tools Settings icon (the gear icon) to open your settings.
- In the tray that opens, select the toggle under Automatically launch Tools or Show launch button to enable these settings. These are enabled when the toggle changes from a gray background with a white "x" to a green background with a white checkmark like the screenshot below.
Which Setting is Right for Me?
If you plan to always use the Design Tools Sidebar and want this to quickly be accessible whenever you edit content, we recommend enabling the Automatically launch Tools setting. This will save you an extra click to launch the tools and you won't need to remember the keyboard shortcut in the future.
If you don't plan to frequently use the Design Tools Sidebar, we recommend enabling only the Show launch button setting. This will provide you with easy access to the tools without launching each time you go to edit content.
By enabling only the Show launch button setting, you'll see a rocket ship appear in the top right corner when editing content. To access the sidebar, select the rocket ship.
