How do I set up a Canvas Community?
You will learn how to set up a Canvas Community.
1. Submit Community Creation Request.
Email the community name(s) you would like created to [email protected] from your faculty/staff email account.
Communities may not have names in the matriculated course format, such as "Spring 2025 ART 101-01 12345".
2. Agree to Community Guidelines.
You will be prompted to agree to the campus community guidelines:
- Ensure all university policies are adhered to in the use of the community.
- Only allow faculty or staff (whose mandatory Data Security and FERPA certification training is up to date) to have the Teacher or TA role in the community.
- Do not post level 1 data in the community. Restrict use of level 2 data as appropriate. Details are available in the CSU Policy 8065 and Data Classification Guide.
3. Browse to the Community in Canvas.
When you are added as teacher in the community, it will be added to your Canvas dashboard.
The canvas dashboard has a limit for the number of courses it can display by default. If the course is missing from your dashboard, click "Courses" and then "All Courses" to find it. A guide for customizing the courses that appear in your dashboard is available in the Canvas Course List Guide.
4. Add Course Content.
The course will be empty. You can create a module to hold course activities with the steps in Canvas Create Module Guide. If you want the module to be visible to students you will need to publish it with the steps in the Canvas Publish Module Guide. Here are some guides for adding common Canvas activities:
5. Use Student View.
Teachers can use the "Student View" feature to view the course as a student with the steps in the Canvas Student View Guide.
6. Publish the Course.
Students may not access the course until it is published. Steps for publishing a course are available in the Canvas Publish Course Guide.
7. Enroll Users.
Users may be invited to join the course under the People tab. Details are available in the Canvas Enroll Users Guide.
Self enrollment may be enabled with the steps in the Canvas Self Enrollment Guide.
8. Send an Announcement.
If users are enrolled and the course is ready, you may want to send an announcement to the course. Details are available in the Canvas Announcement Guide.
9. Contact Support.
If you need help with any features in Canvas or encounter technical issues, please choose one of the contact methods listed in our help guide.
Article Summary
You have now learned how to get started with a Canvas community.